≡ Advisory Board
Pun Bandhu * Camillia Monet * John Gould Rubin * Elyse Singer * Nina Steiger
Pun Bandhu is an actor and producer. As an actor, he trained at the Yale School of Drama and has appeared in films, TV and on stages across the US. Originating roles in over 50 world premieres, Pun has a special affinity for new work. He recently received the Colorado Theatre Guild’s 2010 Henry Award for Best Supporting Actor. As a producer, Pun’s company, ZenDog Productions, produced Glengarry Glen Ross (Tony Award Best Play Revival 2005) and Spring Awakening (Tony Award Best Musical 2007) and was an associate producer on the Olivier-nominated revival of Fiddler On The Roof on the West End. www.punbandhu.net
Camillia Monet, founder and CEO, manages the daily operations of Esperanza Productions, including production, business legal affairs, and finance, while collaborating with writers and directors to help achieve their vision. She has a number of films in various stages of development including the horror/thriller DARK DESERT HIGHWAY, and the suspense thriller, THE VOW, which will be directed by Nestor Miranda (HARLEM HOSTEL, DESTINATION UNKNOWN). She is also working with famed producer/director, Walter Salles (CITY OF GOD, THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES) on a film by Oscar nominated writer, Jose Rivera, entitled CELESTINA. Monet has several short films on the festival circuit.
In front of the camera, Camillia has been directed by industry icons such as Steven Spielberg and Gary Ross in the award-winning blockbusters, WAR OF THE WORLDS and SEABISCUIT. She has shared the screen with Tom Cruise, Toby Maguire, Holly Hunter and other major screen stars. Her acting has also been enjoyed by television and theatre audiences alike. In television, she is known for her fiery role as Aurora Aceveda in the multiple Emmy-award winning show, THE SHIELD. She is the annual guest instructor at the highly renowned Scuole di Teatre in Bologna, Italy. Monet received a Master’s from Yale University and continued studies in producing at the UCLA film school.
John Gould Rubin (Director) recent directing credits include: Hedda Gabler which he staged in a Town House for 25 people per performance, Little Doc at Rattlestick, The Importance of Being Ernest for Twin Tiers Theatre and In the Daylight at the McGinn-Cazale. Was Co-Artistic and Executive Director of LAByrinth Theater Company for which he directed the premieres of Philip Roth in Khartoum and Penalties & Interest (both as part of Public/LAB at The Public Theater); STopless; The Trail of Her Inner Thigh by Erin Cressida Wilson; John Patrick Shanley’s A Winter Party; (and co-created and directed:) Dreaming in Tongues; and Mémoire. He co-created and directed The Erotica Project for the NYSF; Trial By Water for Ma-Yi; A Taste of Honey at Playwrights Horizons; Blood in the Sink at Urban Stages; both A Matter Of Choice and NAMI for Partial Comfort; Rebecca Gilman’s The Land of Little Horses, Frank McGuiness’ Factory Girls, Timberlake Westenbaker’s Three Birds Alighting on a Field and Richard Nelson’s Franny’s Way, for the Stella Adler Studio; EST’s and Naked Angel’s Marathons; The Fartiste for the NY Fringe Festival (Best Musical.) He wrote (and played Ivan Boesky in) The Predators’ Ball (collaborating with Karole Armitage and David Salle) for the Teatro Comunale in Florence, Italy, and at BAM’s Next Wave Festival. He recently directed his first film, Almost Home for Trigger Street Independent, which was presented at The Berkshire Film Festival.
(Producer) For LAByrinth Rubin produced Our Lady of 121st Street (and it’s commercial production off-Broadway), and Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train at Center Stage/NY; Off-Broadway (two Drama Desk noms.); at the Edinburgh Theatre Festival (Fringe First Award); at The Donmar Warehouse; and at The Arts Theatre on the West End in London (Olivier Award nom.) Mr. Rubin produced a tour of Macbeth with Stephen Dillane playing all the roles at the Almeida Theater in London, the Sydney Theater in Australia and New Zealand.
(Actor) As an actor, Rubin appeared at The Public Theater/NYSF in the SPF production of The Sacrifices, Second Stage in John Patrick Shanley’s play, Cellini, on B’way opposite Glenn Close and Gene Hackman in Death and The Maiden, under Mike Nichol’s direction; in the title role of Moliere’s Don Juan, at The Mark Taper Forum in L.A. under the direction of Travis Preston, for which he received the DramaLogue Award in Acting; as Jacques in John Tillinger’s production of As You Like it; in Martin Crimp’s adaptation of The Misanthrope, with Uma Thurman and Roger Rees; as well as in the lead role of Mr. Crimp’s Play With Repeats, with Francis McDormand. Rubin’s film appearances include the Spanish film by Juanma Bajo Ulloa, Frágil, The Out-of-Towners, Three Men and a Baby and Dead Again. Television appearances include New York News, Good Advice, Law & Order (all versions, many times) and The Story Behind the Story.
Elyse Singer is a director/writer/producer and the Founding Artistic Director of the OBIE-winning theatre company Hourglass Group. Her work has been seen Off-Broadway, regionally and internationally. Her original multi-media play Frequency Hopping won the International STAGE Playwriting Competition and ran at 3LD Art & Technology Center. Singer’s Off-Broadway directing credits include Trouble in Paradise; the first NYC revival of Mae West’s 1926 play SEX; the first US revival of West’s Pleasure Man (starring Charles Busch); and Deborah Swisher’s Hundreds of Sisters & One BIG Brother. Singer’s other original works include Love in the Void, Care-less: Eva Tanguay and Private Property. As producer: Beebo Brinker Chronicles Off-Broadway at 37 Arts (co-produced with Lily Tomlin, Jane Wagner and Harriet Newman Leve), winner of the 2008 GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding New York Theater. A Yale graduate, Singer is a Usual Suspect at NYTW, an alum of the LCT Directors Lab and a member of the League of Professional Theatre Women. She is represented by Bret Adams, Ltd. and is a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.
Nina Steiger is Associate Director at Soho Theatre (London) and leads the Writers’ Centre there. Prior to this post, Nina worked for seven years in the New York and regional theatres with such organisations as Ensemble Studio Theatre, New York Stage & Film and Hartford Stage Company alongside freelance work with companies such as The Foundry Theatre, Roundabout Theatre and Manhattan Theatre Club.
Nina also serves as a freelance dramaturg for screen writers, is on the editorial boards of Brand literary journal and Theatre Forum magazine and is a Board member for ON Theatre and proto-type theater, an International Affiliate Member of the League of Professional Theatre Women and a consultant for the UK Style Council, Theatre Sandbox, the Hospital Club and INN, an international performance project. As a writer, her work has been commissioned, produced and published in London, New York and Montreal.