Swimming with the Polar Bears  written and performed by Mel England

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The Climate Project
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THE OFF BROADWAY PRODUCTION TEAM
MEL ENGLAND (Actor/Writer) is no stranger to one-man land: he starred in the NY premiere of Israel Horovitz's One-Man play about September 11th "3 Weeks After Paradise" at the Cherry Lane (also Los Angeles premiere), and his own one-man show "Navajo Memoirs" was seen at the NY Fringe and Los Angeles. Off-Broadway he's appeared in Pearl Theatre's "Hecuba", and he's the recipient of the NY Fringe Festival's 'Best Acting Ensemble Award' for "Lucky Man", and 'Best Play of the Year' in Denver for the Regional Premiere of "A Shayna Maidel". He's been a proud part of several original New York productions, including "Midsummer Night's Dream" in Washington Square, "Honeysuckles", developed for television by FOX, and "King of Connecticut" with Phillip Seymour Hoffman. On the big screen, he starred opposite legendary character actor Sid Haig in "Little Big Top", starred in "Highlights" (nominated for the Moviefone Film Fest's dramatic competition) and in the dark comedy "Persona Au Gratin".
JILL ANDRÉ (Director) is a Director and Actress. As an actress she has an impressive set of film credits including Ghosts of Mississippi, Lost in America, Twin Falls, Idaho, Return of the Living Dead III, True Vinyl, Milo, Land of Mile and Money, And the Band Played On. On Broadway she appeared in Children of a Lesser God, The Trip Back Down and The Great White Hope. TV credits include “The Practice”, “Grounded for Life”, “NYPD Blue”, and “The Addams Family”. As a Director her credits include Bus Stop, Bodies Unbound, Last Summer At Bluefish Cove, Navajo Memoirs and Three Weeks After Paradise (NY, LA, Edinburgh & Kansas).

TRISTAN BAYER - EARTHNATIVE (Background Projections / Cinematographer) experienced his first overseas wildlife film production when he was one year old. His parents traveled with him on location to East Africa, making a film on elephant poaching. As Tristan grew older, he would take the opportunity to travel and work as a crew member making nature films for television with his father, the world-renowned wildlife cinematographer, Wolfgang Bayer. At age 19, Tristan was hosting wildlife documentaries, which aired on Turner, Fox, and National Geographic. At 29 Tristan was nominated for an Emmy in cinematography for his work on the Animal Planet series, “Caught in the Moment”, which he created and hosted. Since 1996, Tristan has spent six seasons living on the tundra filming polar bears as they journey north, awaiting the sea ice to freeze and allow the world's largest land carnivores to begin their annual seal hunt -- after fasting for more than half a year. The father/son team captured these wild polar bears on 35mm film and digital video near the Hudson Bay in Canada during their expeditions as part of an upcoming feature film project. Tristan is currently directing a short film on Ocean Acidifcation 'the other carbon problem' for the NRDC (http://www.nrdc.org) and will be narrated by Sigorney Weaver. EARTHNATIVE is a film production company founded by Tristan Bayer to bring awareness of global issues to the masses through multimedia campaigns. For more go to (http://www.earthnative.com)

THOMAS SILCOTT (MUSIC) Thomas hails from Boston, MA. He graduated from NYU Tisch Graduate Acting School. Since, he has performed in To Kill A Mocking Bird at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, Broken Jug at Lincoln Center in New York and a national and international Broadway tour of Bring in Da Noise/Bring in Da Funk. While on the east coast, Tom has also appeared in Hamlet and As You Like It at The Colorado Shakespeare festival and Raisin In The Sun at the Salem Theatre Festival. Tom has performed in Othello at Kingsmen Shakespeare Co. and Twain and Friends with the Interact Theatre Co. Tom’s television and film credits include God’s and Generals, The Others, Get Real, “Entourage”, “Stand Off”, “Desperate Housewives”, “Girl”.

C. J. THOM (STAGE MANAGER) - C. J. is a native Angeleno.  He earned his BA at UCLA, majoring in American Lit & Cultures.  He moved to New York in 2006, and now resides in Astoria.  He has written over twenty full-length plays, including: How to Major in Foosball, Franklin Grimes and Eye Tooth, many of which were staged in L.A. and San Diego, among other venues.  Eightballs, produced at The Theatres at 45 Bleecker in 2008, marked his NY premiere, both as an actor and a playwright.  He currently works on the Off-Broadway hit, Sleepwalk with Me, and is very happy to be working with such a wonderful cast & crew.

JESS PETELLE (PRODUCER) began her career at Gracie Films as an Executive Assistant. After 4 years of Hollywood “boot camp”, she formed Drexel Box Productions with fellow Indiana University Alums. DBP has produced independent feature films including Travis Betz’ cult horror film, joshua, and Lo, a demon love story - currently playing festivals. Along with Little Big Top, written and directed by Ward Roberts starring Jacob Zachar (“Greek”) and Sid Haig (The Devil’s Reject). As a new media producer, Jess has created original content for Comedy Central, Atom.com, 60 Frames, Volkswagen, Warner Brothers and Sony BMG. She is an active member and co-founder of the Indiana Media Industry Network, Advisor to Film Indiana and founder of Hollywood Hoosiers (H2).

PAUL DAVIDOVAC (PRODUCER) Paul has acquired a global network and considerable hands-on experience as Head of International Business Development for Quintessentially. He has started offices from the ground up across the world (London, New York, Beijing, Dubai, Cape Town) and was integral in developing other divisions within the company (Events, Travel, Publications). Paul then began a successful talent management and PR firm whose clients included actors, musicians, athletes, presenters and models. This allowed him to work with companies and brands such as ITV, BBC, CBS, Universal, Sony BMG, Virgin and Saatchi & Saatchi and work at international Film Festivals including Cannes and Venice Film Festival. Paul most recently was involved with the Off Broadway hit show, Sleepwalk With Me, which continues to gain critical and audience favor.

GINA M. DUNCAN (PRODUCER) Gina is very proud to be involved with Swimming with the Polar Bears. She began her career at NFL Films in Mount Laurel, New Jersey where she was an Emmy award-winning Segment Producer on HBO's Inside the NFL. In 2005, she moved to Los Angeles, where she worked for the Broder Webb Chervin Silbermann Agency and Verso Entertainment before joining QuasiWorld Entertainment in 2007. As a part of QuasiWorld, Gina has helped produce the Off-Broadway hit, Sleepwalk With Me (dir. Seth Barrish) and the Los Angeles production of The Catholic Girl’s Guide to Losing Your Virginity (dir. Eli Gonda). Upcoming: Producing the feature film adaptations of the novel Smart Girls Like Me by Diane Vadino and The Catholic Girl’s Guide to Losing Your Virginity. Gina is a graduate of Northwestern University.

TONY WANDELL (PRODUCER) is thrilled to be making his Producing debut with “Swimming with the Polar Bears.” He has worked in Interior and Furniture Design for 20 years. As founder and owner of his own store, he also designed, created, and produced original furniture from his San Francisco studio. In Los Angeles, as an Interior Designer and Consultant, he has consulted for, among others, Ridley Scott’s “Body of Lies” and CBS’ “The Bold and the Beautiful”. His wide range of clients have included one of Century City’s most prestigious law firms and Academy Award winning movie stars.

KATIE ROSEN/Kampfire PR (PR and Marketing Consultant): Off-Broadway: Glimpses of the Moon, Algonquin Hotel; Elizabeth Rex, Center Stage; Play About the Naked Guy, Claymont, & Sisters’ Dance, Baruch Performing Arts Center; Mother Load, Sage Theater; Wasps in Bed, Beckett Theater; Anaïs Nin: One Of Her Lives, Beckett Theater; Triple Threat: 2007 Drama Desk Nominee (mis)UNDERSTANDING MAMMY: The Hattie McDaniel Story, Real Danger & Elephant Girls, Theatre 5; The Monument, Clurman Theater; Don Juan in Chicago, Kirk Theater. Rosin was instrumental in the launch of the Broadway musical Brooklyn and the National Tour of Mother Load. Rosin's clients include: Astoria Performing Arts Center, The New York Innovative Theatre Awards, Nicu's Spoon, The Production Company and upcoming festival The Planet Connections Theatre Festivity. Rosin worked in the publicity office at Miramax Films. Rosin teaches Arts Marketing at NYU.

KAROLYN VACH (ASSOCIATE PRODUCER)

GALICIA VACA (ASSISTANT TO PRODUCERS)

4CORNERS ENTERTAINMENT (Producer) is a production/management company formed by partners Jess Petelle and Paul Davidovac. The company was born of the desire to create a collaborative environment to further develop artists and projects in Theater, Film, Television, and New Media.

THE CLIMATE PROJECT (TCP) is a nonprofit organization based in Nashville, Tennessee, which began operations in June 2006 with the mission of increasing public awareness of the climate crisis at a grassroots level in the United States and abroad. It consists of a professional staff and diverse group of more than 2,600 volunteers throughout the world who have been trained by Al Gore himself to present a version of the slide show featured in the Academy Award-winning film An Inconvenient Truth. In 2009, TCP expanded its mission with a new commitment to advocacy and activism to combat the climate crisis.
 
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