Ray Garcia De Leon - Director / Writer
Born in 1981 in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico, writer/producer/director Ray Garcia De Leon always held an interest in cinema. Some of his earliest memories were of watching the Christopher Reeve Superman films obsessively - his parents grew amazed at his ability to recite every line of dialogue at 6 years old - particularly because he understood no English at the time and had learned them phonetically.

After a brief flirtation with the idea of becoming a comic book artist, Ray settled on filmmaking as his true love after conning his way into seeing "A Clockwork Orange" at the age of thirteen (his parents were not amused). He credits his desire to understand these films as his impulse for learning the English language. In the process of mastering it, he also became a voracious reader, liberally borrowing books from his father's collection of English literature.

Peers and teachers always regarded Ray's choice of passion with a degree of skepticism, but his family stood by him when he enrolled into the Film School at Scottsdale Community College. Ray won academic and writing awards and even got some of his prose stories and poetry published. His collegiate film work was honored with awards for "best comedy" and "best original music."

He met Bob Dolan during a trip to the 2003 Sundance Film Festival, and they became fast friends. Ray sees their mutual respect for their complementary nature as the secret to working together. He explains: "One of us is a little bit country, the other one is a little bit rock n' roll. Of course, we'll probably spend half the day arguing over who gets to be rock n' roll."

Ray has recently completed his first feature length film The Governor, an Official Selection of the 2007 Phoenix Film Festival.

While in college at Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Telecommunications, Philipps competed on ASU's Forensics team, winning many accolades, including an International Duo Interpretation Championship. Philipps taught and performed with many improvisational comedy shows in the Valley. She also was chosen as one of 30 college students from around the nation to participate in Warner Bros. Studios' College Marketing Internship program.

After graduating from ASU, Philipps started working for the top-rated independent station in the nation, KTVK-TV in Phoenix, AZ. She created fun and creative promotional campaigns for both KTVK and sister station, WB6. Philipps was instrumental in the branding an imaging of WB6, creating a new look and feel for the station and introducing The WB SixPak, WB6's on-air talent. While at the stations, Philipps was recognized for her outstanding work with three regional Emmy® Awards.

Philipps went on to produce both television shows, such as the nationally syndicated cooking show, "Cooking's a Drag", and events, like the prestigious Russo and Steele Collector Automobile Auctions in both Scottsdale, Arizona and Monterey, California, and Phoenix's Urban Affair 48-Hour Film Challenge.

Philipps recently finished production on her first feature film, The Governor, which was chosen as an Official Selection of the 2007 Phoenix Film Festival.

Before graduating Magna Cum Laude from the University of Arizona, Bob had dreams of attending law school. Those dreams quickly changed after an internship at the Arizona State Legislature. While interning Bob realized that in order to be successful professionally he would need to find a way to incorporate his artistic side. Eventually he came back to a repeated comment by his father, "You know Bob, you love movies. Have you ever thought about that as a career?"

Enrolling in the Film School at Scottsdale Community College made the decision easy for Bob. Years of casual movie watching gave way into exploring the reasons why certain stories, characters and genres connected with people. Bob's experiences traveling in Europe, studying political science and language at U of A and his formative years among the variety of cultures in Hawaii all fell into place and became fodder for his writing.

While production remains his true passion, Bob has found success as an actor and voice-over artist as well. He beat out hundreds of applicants and went on to become one of the six on-air personalities in the WB Six
Pack. He currently stars as John Dorian in The Governor, an Official Selection of the 2007 Phoenix Film Festival.

On top of her full class schedule, Clifford and her husband of four years enjoy remodeling old houses and traveling. An avid backpacker, Clifford seeks out new and exciting places to explore. However, whether it's acting, remodeling or adventure-seeking, Clifford always makes time for her first passion, reading. Her favorite book? "A Confederacy of Dunces".

Travis Thurman - as Wade French
An Arizona resident of 35 years, Travis is a rising star in the world of stand-up comedy. He has opened for such notables as Bret Butler, Louis Anderson, Bobcat Goldthwait, and Ralphie May. A familiar presence on stages around Phoenix, Travis has been perfecting the art of improvisational comedy for eleven years, performing with the Oxymoron'z, Nothing Personal and the Comedy Sportz. (His reputation for dead-on impersonations of celebrities like Michael Jackson and music artists like New Kids on the Block is near-legendary in several small neighborhoods in the Phoenix area.)

Nor has his talent escaped the attention of the acting world, where he has padded his portfolio with roles in stage productions like A Flea in Her Ear, The Diviners, and The Curious Savage. The camera has also proven friendly to Travis, as he has been tapped for several commercial television appearances from Presto Title Loans, Gila River Casino, Ford F-150, and Pure Fitness. From 2004 ? 2006, Travis was a member of the WB6?s Six-Pack touring Arizona promoting the television stations and it?s programming. His other acting talents include several other independent films such as Byline and The Best Movie Ever Made. And he can even be found in a Playstation II video game as the voice of Jonah Barret in Splashdown Rides Gone Wild.

Travis has been happily married for 5 years and has a wonderful 3 year old son who he enjoys sharing his many toys with.

Travis is represented by the Ford Robert Black Agency in Scottsdale, AZ.

Heather Kole - as Frances Dorian
Chicago Girl, Heather Kole, was born to parents who weren't quite prepared for such a carefree spirit. As the only first grader in a seventh grade production of The Grinch - acting had suddenly become a part of her genetic make-up. When she wasn't on stage vying to be the center of attention, she could be found in the art room creating just about anything that her over-active imagination would allow.

After high-school - she left stage plays for improvisational comedy, where she found her truly bodacious self. However the nagging of the real world took her to work in graphic arts for years, leaving acting behind.

In 2000 she moved across country to Arizona and continued to work in print and web design. But the lure of acting began to call on her again. So she signed with Ruth Leighton and the Leighton Agency for representation, and has not looked back. Since then she has appeared in varied commercials, television shows and movies.

Heather now resides in Mesa, Arizona with the love of her life Enzo (her Chihuahua), and her husband Michael.

Laura Durant - as Madison Orvile
Laura Durant''s extensive resume includes film, voice-over work, and press publicity/photography along with nearly two decades of stage acting.

She is represented by the Ford Robert Black Agency with a long list of film, broadcast and voice over credits. Recent film credits include The Governor (an official selection in the 2007 Phoenix Film Festival), Netherbeast Incorporated, starring Darrell Hammond, Steve Burns, Dave Foley, Jason Mewes, Judd Nelson, Amy Davidson and film legend Robert Wagner, and the award-winning Little Victim, with co-stars Robert Wagner, Lori Singer and Brian Ronalds. She is also co-host of the IFP/Phx Emmy-winning television show SCREEN WARS on KAZ-TV.

Laura is the driving force behind Durant Communications, but is probably best known to thousands of cybercitizens as "DurantCom". Her website, ,www.durantcom.com, is the most widely used actor resource in metro Phoenix. The DurantCom site publishes metro phoenix audition notices as well as distributing them to an ever-growing listserve.

Her accolades include "Women in Film", "Movers & Shakers" in Valley Theater (Az Republic), Distinguished Service Award (AriZoni Awards). Most recently, an opinion poll conducted by Arizona Business Magazine listed DurantCom among the top ten marketing/internet companies in the state.

Laura is an instructor at Scottsdale Community College teaching Advanced Television and Film Acting for the Theater and Performing Arts department and a contributing arts writer for Phoenix Downtown Magazine

Laura is on the advisory board of the Independent Feature Project/Phx which is dedicated to the advancement of independent filmmaking in Arizona.

In college he walked on and became a member of the storied Ohio State University Buckeye's football team. His football career was cut short when he survived a 40 foot fall from a fraternity house that resulted in a broken neck. The injury resulted in an Honorable Discharge from the Marine Corps and forced Rich to divert attention from the prestigious flight school at Quantico to broadcast journalism.

Skidmore was quick to find success in television as an investigative report and anchor. He went on to win seven Emmy awards for his work. Never one to rest on his laurels Rich decided the time was right to move to Los Angeles and focus his talents on creative endeavors.

Rich has been a recurring principal actor and voice-over artist on JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE for over two years now. He's co-starred on the shows STUDIO 60, CRIMINAL MINDS, INVASION, and THE PRACTICE. Rich appeared on the E! Network as a sketch comedy artist for the CHELSEA HANDLER SHOW, and now hosts the syndicated travel show DISTANT ROADS. He co-created and stars in the comedy webisodic show "MySkidmarks", and co-anchors "The Actual News" as "Jon Dohnson" for GoPotato.tv. Now the spokesman for ING's Canadian insurance company, Rich is no stranger to offering help to consumers - he worked for five years as the "3 On Your Side" guy at Phoenix's KTVK. He recently returned to his old stomping grounds of Phoenix to shoot the role of escort service owner "Stanley Crowe" in The Governor, an Official Selection of the 2007 Phoenix Film Festival.

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