The FYC Independents hosted their 2nd inaugural event at the Van Nuys/Reseda Elks Lodge on Friday, May 31. Born out of the need to give undiscovered actors a platform to showcase their work during the competitive Emmy awards season, actress/producer Meredith Thomas founded FYC Independents in 2018.
This year, 50 clips were screened in front of an audience of over 220 attendees, with proceeds benefiting the Elks’ local charity initiatives. The event included: projects produced and/or starring women, minorities, in addition to promoting disabilities, and child actors.
Jordan Brady and Tom Jenkins. Credit: Bob Delgadillo
Projects that screened included:
Meredith Thomas- A Christmas in Royal Fashion (ION Television); Actress/ Producer.
Kelly Jenrette – Emmy Nominee, Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series, The Handmaid’s Tale;
Melvin Jackson Jr.- Emmy Nominee, Outstanding Actor in A Short Form Comedy or Drama Series, This Eddie Murphy Role Is Mine, Not Yours (YouTube). Jenrette and Jackson made history for being the first African American married couple to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy at the
same time.
Kelsey Scott- Emmy Nominee, Fear the Walking Dead: Passage; Kristos Andrews – Class Act (Amazon Prime), past Emmy winner for The Bay.
Patrika Darbo- Emmy Winner, Outstanding Actress in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series, Acting Dead.
Miles Tagtmeyer, Emmy Nominee, Outstanding Actor in a Short Form Comedy of Drama Series, Broken.
Naomi Grossman – Outstanding Actress in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series, ctrl alt delete (Digital Series).
Kim Estes – Dicks (Vimeo); past Emmy winner for same show.
Laura Niemi- This Is US (NBC).
Christian Ganier- Grey’s Anatomy (ABC).
Dajuan Johnson- Grey’s Anatomy (ABC).
Roberta Bassin- Shameless (Showtime).
Maggie Parto- The Rookie (ABC).
Kurt Aeger- NCIS New Orleans (CBS).
Livia Trevino- Will and Grace (NBC).
Tim Lounibos- Hawaii 5-0 (CBS).
Elizabeth Frances- The Son (AMC).
Karimah Westbrook- All American (CW Network).
Kat Kramer- Turnover (Runaway Productions/ Sea Sand Ent.), acclaimed filmmaker and daughter of legendary producer/director Stanley Earl Kramer.
Wendy Braun- Atypical (Netflix).
Ren Hanami- 13 Reasons Why (Netflix); Santa Clarita Diet (Netflix); Shameless (Showtime); Glow (Netflix).
Kate Linder- Young and the Restless (CBS); Mother’s Day (Open Road Films).
Ray Proscia – Suits (USA Network).
Elena Campbell-Martinez – Vida (Starz).
Michael Campion- Fuller House (Netflix); among others.
FYC Independents’ organizer Thomas is a distinguished actress known for her work in A Christmas in Royal Fashion (ION Television); A Christmas in Vermont with Chevy Chase, Howard Hesseman and Abigail Hawk (ION Television); and The Ugly Christmas Sweater (Lifetime). Other starring roles include, The Wrong Crush, Fiance Killer and The Wrong Boy Next Door with Vivica A. Fox (Lifetime).
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