Producer
Laura Wagner is an award-winning creative producer of feature films and documentaries. She recently produced the feature documentaries ARTIFISHAL, which premiered at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival, and ART 21 “San Francisco Bay Area,” which premiered on PBS.
Her films have premiered at top-tier film festivals including Sundance, Tribeca, SXSW, BAMcinemaFest, Seattle, Rotterdam, Melbourne and many more, and have enjoyed success worldwide in theatrical markets, on television and on digital streaming platforms.
She is the recipient of the Sundance Institute’s Creative Producing Fellowship and Lab, the San Francisco Film Society’s Kenneth Rainin Foundation Fellowship and Grant, and the IFP/Cannes Marché du Film Producer’s Network Fellowship. She is also a Film Independent fellow and grant recipient and an alumna of the Trans Atlantic Partners program, the Rotterdam Lab and Berlinale Talents.
Co-Producer
Reena Dutt Is founder of Painted Tree Productions and co-founder of Off-Chance Productions. She’s an alum of the San Francisco Film Society/Kenneth Rainin Producing Fellowship, Trans Atlantic Partners, and Film Independent’s Project Involve.
Her producing credits include the feature AS GOOD AS YOU (Releasing June 2017), line producing the feature CHEE AND T, as well as JUNE, ADRIFT. She has produced a wide array of short films including; AWAREWOLF (Potluck Productions), THE FIRST SESSION (AmPav's Emerging Filmmaker showcase @Cannes Film Festival), EL DOCTOR (Acquired by Latino/PBS, Executive Produced by Sport of Nature Pictures), and TOUCH directed by LuLu Wang (THE FAREWELL).
Writer / Director
Dan Damman started his career in comedy as a weekend player with a group at The Second City in Chicago. He came to San Francisco and the post facility, Rough House Editorial, where he worked on narrative films, documentaries, and commercials.
After co-writing a musical comedy with Chris Thomas, the two partnered to form Potluck Productions to pursue self-initiated creative projects and filmmaking. The company specializes in using humor as a hook whenever possible.
Dan served as Head of Production for the online video website, Sports ID, where he oversaw all aspects of production, writing, and editing for over 1,300 instructional sports videos, directing athletes like Bill Walton, Gabrielle Reece, and John Elway. He has worked as a freelance Director/Producer for Levi Strauss & Co since 1998 creating content for internal purposes, the web, and for their flagship stores (other clients include Mervyn’s, AT&T, Netforce, and Cisco Systems.)
Dan recently completed a year as an “Artist in Residence” at the San Francisco Film Society’s FilmHouse along with a dozen other independent filmmakers and producers.
Writer / Director
Chris K Thomas recently completed a year long residency at the San Francisco’s FilmHouse. He and Dan formed Potluck Productions in 2004, producing web videos and providing live streaming and media services for San Francisco businesses and nonprofits. After graduating from MIT with a double Master’s degree in Technology and Policy, Chris spent several years working on environmental protection and poverty alleviation projects in Colombia, Mongolia, and Oakland, CA.
In 2003 he began to focus on provocative story telling as a method for social change. He co-wrote, directed, and produced the musical comedy Goin’ Dot Com! and then a successful comedic political commercial for Moveon.org before co-founding Potluck. He also ran the game changing “Do More Than Vote” civic engagement campaign in 2006, and Video the Vote in 2008, a national campaign to film voting booths for irregularities on election-day, producing 1000 videos in 24 hours.
Chris and Dan have been co-hosting “Script to Screen” for five years, a monthly event that brings together the SF film community to read scripts, watch films, and have nerdy conversations about theme, metaphor, and story.
Bios
Cast (attached)
We’re excited to already have Arash Marandi attached as Tashu, the sexy, spiritual, and untouchable yoga teacher. We met him at a Sundance Festival party and got along so well that he flew in from Berlin to act in Awarewolf the following year. Arash said Dan's directing style was "so personal and supportive that it re-inspired my love for the study of acting." He is amazing in the Sundance film A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, and more recently opposite Glenn Close in the Apple TV hit series - TEHRAN.
Cast (prototypes)
