About Us

Creators

Marc and Maria Unger are a husband and wife team, co-creators, and executive producers of the independent series Thespian. After shooting the first two episodes out of pocket, Marc and Maria launched an Indiegogo campaign to fund a full season, which went on to raise nearly $10,000 for the first season of the 8 episode series. The couple completed Season 1 over the period of one year. 

Marc Unger

  • About

    Marc’s writing and film directing credits include two optioned screenplays (“Adam’s Rock” and “Go With the Dog”) as well as s everal short films. His first directorial effort, a short film called The Filchaks Take a Gamble, a piece which he also wrote and costarred was called “funny… infectious… memorable” by filmthreat.com, one of the leading online movie review sites and this quirky, dark comedy was featured at film festivals including the Sarasota Film Festival and Cinequest online.

Maria Unger

  • About

    Maria received her Masters Degree with honors from the Johns Hopkins School of Education in Baltimore and a Bachelors degree with honors from West Virginia University in Psychology. As a passionate teacher of  of 13 years, Thespian marked her debut as a filmmaker. She became hooked on the process instantaneously and quickly learned to steer a ship with a skeleton crew, plan a production, edit, direct, and everything in between. She pursues filmmaking in whatever capacity she can when she is not teaching middle school.

PRESS

  • CAST

     The cast of Thespian is drawn from the DC/MD/VA market.

    Marc Unger

    as Adam Kelner

    • About

      Marc’s been a national headliner for years and has performed regularly at many of the nation’s top comedy clubs including The Comic Strip and Gotham Comedy Club in New York and the world famous Comedy Store in Los Angeles.   His television credits include appearances on Comedy Central, 

    Nikki Estridge

    as Abby Kelner

    • About

      Nikki was born in Knoxville, Tennessee. She earned an athletic and academic scholarship to the University of Tennessee, Knoxville where she played softball for the Lady Volunteers, and graduated with honors and with a B.A. in Communications. After achieving success as an actress via guest star roles in House of Cards, Law and Order:SVU as well as in many films and national commercials, Nikki followed her intuition and found the missing puzzle piece to her life. She discovered her biological father is famous actor, athlete and philanthropist, Cylk Cozart. Neither Nikki or Cylk knew the other existed however, since meeting, they have been grateful for this second chance and have vowed to make up for lost time.

    Sasha Carrera

    as Petra Antonelli

    • About

      Sasha Carrera lives in Maryland, having returned to the familial embrace after 14 yrs in LA acting in numerous indie film projects (Prodigal, Forfeit of Grace, Anonymous Dreams) and plays (Dinner with Friends, The View from Here, Frankie and Johnny, In the Clair de Lune) writing, producing and starring in her own film Mr. Hopewell's Remedy (also starring Steve Tom and James Patrick Stewart). Before moving to LA, Sasha worked in theatres from Boston to DC (National Children’s Theatre for the Environment, Worcester Foothills Theatre, Spiral Stage, Source Theatre). She completed her formal Conservatory training in NCY at the New Actors Workshop where she studied with Mike Nichols and Paul Sills. Sasha holds a BA in theatre from Wesleyan University.

    Mathew J. Bowerman

    as Greg Mullins

    • About

      Matthew J. Bowerman is an actor/writer/director/choreographer and arts educator. Recent work includes TV/Film: Thespian, Saturday Night Live, The Night Watchmen, One Penny, House of Cards, Braindead and VEEP; Theatre: DC/NYC productions of Children of the April Rain (Ross/Director) and the Off-Broadway/Original MD Cast of The Awesome 80's Prom (Swing). He is the recipient of an EMMY Award for Best Educational Short (Writer/Co-Director), as well as a CINE Golden Eagle Award for

    Christopher Walker

    as Chuck West

    • About

      Christopher Crutchfield Walker is an actor, known for Fallout 4 (2015), Eat Me! (2000) and Shot in the Heart (2001).

    Bart Debicki

    as Brian Kelner

    • About

      Bart trained at New York’s Stella Adler Studio of Acting. Some of his most prominent screen credits include Killing Kennedy, House of Cards, The World Wars, and a number of short films, such as Clara, Memory, and Fortune. On stage, Bart could be seen in the Chesapeake Shakespeare Company’s productions of Richard III and A Christmas Carol, and the Fells Point Corner Theatre’s The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged), to name a few. Bart’s musical theatre roles include El Gallo in The Fantasticks, Cornelius Hackl in Hello Dolly!, Jamie in The Last 5 Years, and Juan Peron in Evita (Spotlighters Theatre). He has a PhD in Management Strategy and teaches management and international business at Towson University.

    Michael J. Patterson

    as Wendall Stackhouse

    • About

      Michael Jermaine Patterson, a native of Washington, D.C., began acting at the age of twelve years old after an introduction to theater arts. Years later, he took a serious interest in a number of martial arts disciplines as well as conditioning himself for many years as a track & field sprinter/hurdler. Although he enjoyed the number of other talents God blessed him with, Michael continued to have a huge passion for becoming a successful actor. Michael's previous works include Spider-Man Lives: A Miles Morales Story, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2, The Rangers, Love Different, Greed and a host of other films he has enjoyed being a part of. Michael continues to excel while at the same time remain a student of the art of acting. He thanks the Lord and the number of close friends and family that support him in the challenging realm of the entertainment industry.

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