MEET THE ALUMNI
In January 2021, 25 up-and-coming theatre makers completed the inaugural Producing 101 course from TPOC. The program, committed to supporting the next generation of BIPOC producers, ran for 10 weeks and taught the fundamentals of commercial producing, including development paths, financing, and budgeting, with experienced BIPOC and White ally leaders as their guides.
Tony-winning producer Rashad V. Chambers (The Inheritance, Betrayal) served as the program mentor with guest appearances by Tony–winning and nominated producers Stephen C. Byrd, Arvind Ethan David, Mara Isaacs, Alia Jones-Harvey, Brian Moreland, Greg Nobile, Joey Parnes, Ron Simons, and Barbara Whitman, as well as Woolly Mammoth Artistic Director Maria Manuela Goyanes and Lisa Davis, partner at Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz.
Learn more about the inaugural cohort below.
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Cherine E. Anderson (she/her)
has been involved with the television, film, theater and entertainment industry with a background in consumer and promotions marketing, media relations and partnership development, having held key positions with such companies as MTV Networks/Nickelodeon, DC…
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Sophie Aung (she/they)
is an arts enabler with a background in general management and placemaking. She recently joined the leadership team at Target Margin Theater in Sunset Park as Artistic Producer. Prior to TMT, Sophie was the Senior Manager of Programming for the Times Square Alliance, where she…
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Rashad Bailey (he/him)
is an American artist & producer. He has close to two decades experience raising capital, developing partnerships & impact strategies and structuring business development operations for organizations such as Asia Society, The Studio Museum in Harlem, The New Press, The Play…
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Adam Coy (he/him)
is a Ukrainian-Tejano director, curator of vibes (producer), and actor based in New York City, originally from San Antonio. He currently serves on The Fled’s leadership circle and is the Associate Artistic Director of The Egg & Spoon Theatre Collective. Recent Directing: THE ALIENS (Syracuse University), YOU…
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Lady del Castillo (she/her)
is a Latina theatre professional based in NYC. Raised in vibrant Miami, Lady moved to NYC in 2016 to receive her B.A. in Stage Management. During her time at Pace University, she worked on nine educational productions, co-founded a new club with the mission of…
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Victoria Detres (she/her)
is a Puerto Rican and Albanian producer and director born and raised in New York City. She is passionate about building a platform for contemporary theatre’s innovative voices; particularly those of marginalized communities. Victoria, while highlighting these voices, also...
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Ryan Duncan-Ayala (he/him)
is an emerging Latine arts administrator and producer from Laredo, Texas that prides himself on creating diverse and challenging work and creating access for underserved communities. Currently, Ryan is the Development Assistant at Syracuse Stage and the…
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Eric Emauni Ross (he/him)
is a spiritual being having a human experience and nothing else is ever true. His belief is that Theater is a sacred & communal act that deserves deep investigation, great care, and intentional collaboration. He approaches his work from a grounded perspective and with a griot…
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Jacqueline Flores (she/her)
is a producer, theatremaker, and arts advocate. She is currently the Producer for the Latinx Theatre Commons and serves on the National Steering Committee for the Latinx Theater Initiative. Broadway producing credits include: IS THIS A ROOM and DANA H. Jacqueline spent…
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Isha Gulati (she/her)
is an avid consumer of theatre with a dream of producing a Broadway show. Her passion for theatre began in grade school, where she quickly learned that she preferred stage managing and fundraising to being on the stage herself. She chose to attend college at New York University to be in the…
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Naomi Horibe (she/her)
is a producer from Tokyo, Japan. She was an Associate Producer for IS THIS A ROOM and DANA H. on Broadway. She has worked for various theatrical organizations in NY, including Ars Nova, Manhattan Theatre Club, and New York Musical Festival. Before she moved to the United States from Tokyo, she sold musicals…
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Marisa Kennedy (she/her)
is a writer, a producer, an advocate for social justice, the founder of The Diversity Editor LLC, and the co-founder of BlackBee Entertainment. She aims to heal, rebalance, and elevate Black and other historically excluded voices in all her work. A member of both SAG…
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Olivia Lilley (she/her)
is a screenwriter, director, playwright, and producer who came up in Chicago's DIY and Storefront Theatre scenes. Olivia is the Artistic Director of Prop Thtr and a Board Member at The National New Play Network. She was the founding Artistic Director of The Runaways Lab Theatre (Voted Best New Theatre…
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Freddy Mancilla (he/him)
is a DC-based producer / director / dramaturg / historian and Co-founder of the digital incubator #BINGE. As a director/producer in NYC, he has had the opportunity to work at various institutions, including serving as the inaugural Resident Director of the Off-Broadway venue The…
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Vaibu Mohan (she/her)
is an Indian-American writer, singer, songwriter, dancer, and storyteller currently based in Brooklyn. Vaibu began her journey has a Bharatanatyam dancer (South Indian classical dancer) and Carnatic vocalist. She gained a deep appreciation for the stories she was told and portrayed as a child through music and…
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Marina Montesanti (she/her)
is an NYC-based theatre director and producer. She has worked in theater in Johannesburg, São Paulo, Buenos Aires, and New York City. As a producer, Marina transfers Broadway Musicals to Brazil. Upcoming NYC Musicals: LIZZIE, DEAR MR. C…
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Sammie Paul (she/they/he)
is a twenty-year-old Brooklyn Native currently studying Dramaturgy at Carnegie Mellon University with minors in Literature and Culture and Professional Writing. As the only child of Caribbean immigrants, Sammie is passionate about first…
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Cat Peoples (she/her)
is an Actor, Producer and Businesswoman. She is a graduate of Howard University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre who has worked in music, fashion, television and theatre as a talent and producer. In 2007, Cat Peoples founded CP Live, an entertainment and…
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Daniel Perez (he/him)
is a Cuban-American theatremaker and live entertainment producer born and raised in Miami, FL. He is the Director of Entertainment Creative at Universal Studios Japan, where he leads a team of directors, designers, choreographers, and writers…
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Brayden Simpson (he/him)
is a Los Angeles-based producer, writer, and actor originally from Baltimore, MD. As a creative producer, Brayden works to bridge the industry gaps between film & TV and theatre, enterprising projects and…
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Camille Simone Thomas (she/her)
is a bi-cultural African-American/Jamaican actor, writer, arts educator, and producer from Detroit, Michigan. As an arts educator she has taught with Harlem School of the arts, Dreamyard in the Bronx, and worked with…
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Traci Tolmaire (she/her)
Multi-disciplinary artist and Chicago native Traci Tolmaire has a career spanning over 15 years collaborating with innovative leaders in the arts. She received a BA in Theatre from Spelman College with studies at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and trained in dance at various…
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Leah Vicencio (she/her)
is a Filipino-American director, producer, dramaturg and administrator. She aspires to uplift and amplify stories and artists that truly represent the human experience in all of its forms and cultivate community through theater. She was a part of The 24 Hour Plays: Nationals 2019 cohort…
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Dedra D. Woods (she/her)
is an Actor / Creator / Playwright and Change Agent who has been working in the Seattle Arts scene since 2012. Dedra is the current Producing Director for The Williams Project. She has had the privilege to perform with several companies around…
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Danielle Zarbin (she/her)
is a second year MBA student at Cornell University. She has previously worked at Manhattan Theatre Club and Playwrights Horizons. In her spare time, she sits on the New York Wellesley Club Board as an Alumnae Admissions Representative, and is the volunteer digital…