Don Cato
Writer, Producer, Director
Don has made over 25 films. His first short, “Pipeline Patrol,”” won a silver medal at Cannes, a National Film Board Canada selection at Stratford Ontario Film Festival, a Tokyo Film Festival Selection and it was chosen to tour with Ann Arbor Midnight Trip. His Skinners’ Beaut, a bi-centennial film for the City of Eugene, Oregon was screened as a tribute to Margaret Mead at the Chautauqua Institute, Chautauqua, New York. At the Laszlo Kovacs workshop in Camden, Maine, Cato won the “Most Electricity Award.” He packaged and directed his first feature, Dixie Lanes, with Karen Black, Hoyt Axton, Moses Gunn, released in 1987 by SC Entertainment. Don has produced most of his own films, including A Worm Tale, that grossed over $750,000 in sales from an Oregon wormery; Behind Silk Curtains, an award winning documentary on the People’s Republic of China (1978).
Katha Cato
Producer, Actor – “B”
Katha earned a Masters in Theater from the University of Oregon, moved to New York with her theatre company Forplay Improvised Theatre and pioneered the Improvisational Herald format into the mainstream comedy scene. She won a Backstage Magazine Bistro Award for “Best Director,” a Manhattan Association of Cabarets award for “Outstanding Comedy,” and was named New York’s “Most Exciting Improviser” by the New York Post. Currently, she is the director of After-School Services for Henry Street Settlement, directing after-school sites with arts, technology, and youth development programming for the Lower East Side.
Jeannie Noth Gaffigan
Actor – “A”
Jeannie is a company member of Assembly, an Off Off Broadway NYC theater company dedicated to original works by new Playwrights. Most recently she originated the role of “Chopper” in Steven Gaydos’ Not in Front of the Baby. She is a founding member of King Baby, a sketch comedy and improv ensemble that performs regularly in NYC. Recent television includes the NBC pilot, Random Acts, The Late Late Show on CBS, Celebrity Charades on AMC where she competed against her husband, Jim Gaffigan. Indie film credits include Hacks (DVD), and Maybe it’s Me (Festivals).
Patrick Direnna
Editor, Co-Producer
Patrick is the founder and former director of the Shakespeare Street Theater in Chicago and has twice been the recipient of the Joseph Jefferson Citation for Excellence in Theater. After shooting his first feature, Train of Illustration, he became aware of the necessity of being trained in all aspects of film production to be an independent filmmaker and founded the Digital Film Academy in his Digital Film Center NYC.
Joe Dell’olio
Director of Photography
Joe earned his MFA from NYU Film School while on active duty as a New York City cop. After retirement, Joe shot TV commercials, documentaries, episodes of “Cops” and several independent features including Gravesend for Executive Producer Oliver Stone.
Guy Mor
Sound Production, Post Production
After a three-year stint in the Israeli Army, Guy Mor’s interest in jazz led him to the renowned Berklee College of Music, where he studied music technology, synthesis, production and engineering. Currently Guy designs and edits post-production sound.
Mark Whitney
Special Effects
Mark showed promise in photo and graphic arts by 5. His film lab and R & D work paid for his degree in Theater from the University of Oregon and he began his degree in LA by lighting for several Roger Corman films. After working on Pacific Blue for the USA Network and the short feature RetroActive, Mark began modeling & miniature lighting at Digital Domain with his work on The Fifth Element. Mark’s work appears in riggigging features including: Minority Report, Catch Me If You Can, The Italian Job, Flight plan.
James Halfpenny
Original Score & Performance
James had his first band by age 14 and went on to record with many bands in Los Angeles. A graduate of the Musician’s Institute, he also attended UCLA to study film composition and has scored over 25 feature films (Wilber Falls with with Danny Aiello; Quite Fire with Karen Black) and 13 episodes for The Animal PLanet. He has written for the stage, composed for trailers and commercials, including Southwest Airlines. He is also a featured columnist in The Score, the Society of Composers and Lyricists quarterly.
Cat Fisher
Costume Designer
Catherine Fisher thrives on creating costumes, props, fabric art, home furnishings, etc. for the entertainment and amusement of family, friends, pets, and public audiences. Her numerous theatre credits often receive published critical review, and in 2006 she was awarded an individual artist grant by The New York State Council on the Arts.
Juan Gutierrez
Graphic Designer
Juan is a Graphic Designer, Illustrator, Web Designer, 3D Modeler and college student from NYC. He achieved an A.A.S. in New Media Technology from LaGuardia Community College and is currently pursuing a B.F.A in Design from Queens College. He’s also interned at the Queens World Film Festival from May to August 2019.
Leslie Bramm
Suggested by a play (the menaced assassin)
Leslie Bramm’s plays have been produced regionally all over the U.S. He is a recipient of a Stanley Drama Award (Oswald’s Backyard), a Tennessee Williams Award (Big Ball) and The Paul. T. Nolan Award (Island’s of Repair). His plays are published by Smith and Kraus, One Act Play Depot, Brooklyn Publishers, and JAC Publications. Leslie co-authored the screenplay This is Not Here (about John Lennon) with Kevin Corrigan.
“A SERIOUSLY DERANGED DRAMEDY ABOUT FINDING YOURSELF THROUGH TERRORISM…”
-New York Times
BEST FEATURE FILM
“Be My Oswald from the craftsman Don Cato exemplifies the spirit of independent film making at its zenith. The care and attention shown by the ‘Oswald’ team over the entire gestation of this self financed project shines as a beacon to any film maker who believes that they could also make a great movie. Don and Katha show that with determination and skill you can.”
-Director, Swansea Bay Film Festival