Cilton Beard (Hardball – Lead Actor)
Cilton Beard is an actor,
singer, and composer. He is renowned for his performance art pieces and
remarkable physical agility. Mr. Beard studied acting and mime at the
University of Miami. He has also extensively studied Muy Thai
kickboxing and the Israeli fighting system Krav Maga. Mr. Beard
recently toured the United States with the Austin-based music group
Attack Formation. In his spare time he performs original works under
the name Horse Rappaport.
Anthony Watson (Tony, Screenplay co-author)
Anthony Watson studied screenwriting at the University of Texas at
Austin, where he received numerous accolades in the Creative Writing
Program. He has written several feature-length screenplays, both
independently and as a collaborator. Mr. Watson is a regular performer
in Austin independent films, and is a founding member of the nationally
recognized comedy troupe, The Day Job.
Danny Kamin (Nicolai Ulyonich)
Danny Kamin has had a distinguished career both in acting and law.
As Assistant U.S. Attorney he pioneered the federal criminal
prosecutions of film piracy (criminal copyright infringement) in the
United States Fifth Circuit, and is responsible for initiating the now
well known anti-piracy warning appearing at the beginning of all
commercial videotapes and DVDs. Mr. Kamin's acting credits include a
co-starring role in NBC's 'The Return of Desperado' (1988), as well as
numerous character roles in such films and shows as 'The Pelican
Brief', 'The X Files', 'Ms. Congeniality', 'The Rookie', and 'Mr.Hell',
another fully independent film recently produced in Houston.
Caleb Curtis (Dmitri)
Caleb Curtis
attended the University of Texas school of theatre and dance and has
stage acting experience in both Austin and New York. Mr. Curtis was awarded the role of Dmitri in Hardball: All Balls Don't Bounce after nailing the character in the very first cold read of his audition.
Terry Wong (Fat Tiger)
Terry Wong's
eclectic career has included being a fire-arms instructor, a tutor for
schoolchildren, and a well-known party promoter in the Houston club
scene since 1993. Despite being a first time actor and one of the
nicest people on the planet, he makes a mean villain as the Fat Tiger
in his acting debut in Hardball: All Balls Don't Bounce.
Venda D'Abato (Karina)
Venda
got her start in filmplaying featured extra roles in acclaimed films
such as "Juwanna Mann" and "The Judas Kiss". After a year of working
behind the camera Venda decided to pursue an acting career, and in a
short time has landed numerous principal roles in independent films.
Her recent feature film credits include "The Magnificent Dead", being
released on dvd by Silver Nitrate, and "Over Due" slated for the
Spindletop Film Festival. Venda aspires to showcase her diverse talent
in indie films in hopes of taking the film world by storm!
Jill Brumer (Svetlana)
Jill
Brumer received her BA in drama from Queens College, a small liberal
arts school in Charlotte, NC. She continued her education and recently
completed her Master's degree in Performing Arts from the Savannah
College of Art and Design in Savannah, Georgia. She has done various
independent film work, included a piece that was a National Film
Challenge finalist in 2004, and a short shown at the Tulsa Film
Festival in 2005.
Michael Roy (Police Chief Charles)
Michael
Roy has been a model for various covers and ad campaigns, and played
the umpire in the 2005 production of Friday Night Lights. Prior to
being bitten by the acting bug, Michael was a security agent for
various companies, and claims there isn't much difference between
Police Chief Charles and corrupt people he's met in the real world.
David Blomquist (Russian Boss #1)
David
H. Blomquist has been involved in acting in one form or another since
the age of 8 years. While performing mostly on stage, he was also
actively employed doing industrial narration, voice overs, and
educational projects. He has worked on films with Beau Bridges and
Dolph Lundgren, among others. HB:ABDB will be his fourth film project
of the 2006 year. He is also the loving and devoted husband of actress
Marcelle Wong and father of two beautiful children.
Greg Harbar (Russian Boss #2)
Greg Harbar grew up speaking Polish, Russian and Ukrainian in a close-knit community of Eastern European immigrants in New Jersey. Immersed
in the culture, lifestyle, traditions, cuisine, and music. He learned
many Gypsy songs from his aunt who sang and played balalaika and 7
string gypsy guitar, and began his musical career playing accordion at age 15, performing ethnic music with his brothers. The brothers played many weddings, picnics and polka dances, and appeared on the Steel Pier in Atlantic City.
In 1974 Greg got together with like minded musicians and formed The
Gypsies, a European-style strolling and ethnic dance band. The Gypsies
were 5 time Houston Press award winners in the category of Best Ethnic
and Traditional Band. Through the years he has been associated with
outstanding ethnic, jazz and classical musicians from America and
abroad, and has played for 5 presidents, royalty, world leaders, toured
with the Ukrainian Cossack group Bulava, performed on cruise lines, in
engagements throughout the states, festivals in Europe, and at Houston
cultural and social events. In addition he has collaborated on books
about gypsy and eastern European music.
In addition to accordion, Greg also plays guitar, bass balalaika and
bass mandolin. Continuous research, practice and jam sessions with
world musicians keep him at the forefront of his unique profession and
committed to keeping the music of other cultures alive.
Anelle Luna (Crazed She-Bitch)
Anelle
Luna was born in 1979 in Almaty, Kazakhstan, and graduated from Kazakh
State National University in 2000 with a BA degree in Economics. She
has worked for an oil and gas company since moving to the United States
in 2002. While HB:ABDB is Anelle's first acting role, she has an
eclectic set of skills to rival any action star, including horseback
riding and classical guitar ability, and a black belt in Taekwon-Do.
Inessa Wright (Svetlana's Mother)
Inessa
Wright was born in Kazakhstan, and lived most of her life in St.
Petersburg, Russia, where she graduated from the St. Petersburg State
University with a BA in Modern Languages. She immigrated to the United
States in 1999, and has been helping nurture her daughter's acting
ability, which obviously runs in the family.
Alex Pominov (Svetlana's Father)
Alex
Pominov was born in Russia, and graduated from the Moscow State
Technical University as an optical engineer. After moving to Houston,
Alex participated in the Houston Russian Theater, an amateur theatre
group that specializes in performing the works of Russian playwrights'
in the Russian language.
Viktoria Cheung (Russian Girl on the Boat A)
Viktoria
Cheung was born and raised in Ukraine, and lived for several years in
Eastern and Western Europe. She immigrated with her mother to Boston in
1990, before moving first to Miami and then to Houston. A native
speaker of the Russian and Ukrainian languages, Viktoria is fascinated
by different cultures, languages, and customs all over the world, and
enjoys yoga, painting, swimming, running, dancing, traveling, outdoor
activities, and modeling. Viktoria had worked in the oil and gas
industry and never acted in more than school plays before auditioning
for HB:ABDB. She is currently loving every minute of being a full time
mother to her 2 1/2 year old daughter.
Jelena Susloparova (Russian Girl on the Boat B)
Jelena Susloparova came from Estonia to Houston with her parents
in 1995, and is fluent in both Russian and English. Currently an IT
student at American Intercontinental University (AIU) due to graduate
in December, Jelena works part time as a student tutor at AIU, is a
member of the AIU Ambassadors club, is a self-employed Mary Kay agent,
and owns her own small business, IND (Innovative Networks and Designs).
In her spare time, Jelena enjoys dancing and since the age of 4 has
practiced many forms and styles, including ballroom. She also does some
part-time modeling and is looking to get more into acting.
Kimberly Ensey (Trafficked Woman)
Kimberly
Ensey's first love was sports, and before deciding to act, she was a
Professional Inline Speed Skater. In her skating career, Kimberly has
won over 80 medal, plaques, trophies and cups, highlighted by a
National Championship and a National Record. She is now a full-time
actress, print model, and television host. Highlights of her career so
far include: TV Host for Bikini-USA Live, movies include: Hardball,
Eternal, Friday Night Lights, "Z" A Zombie Musical, No Pain No Gain,
Paradise Texas, Jessica and No Pain.
Keri Lewison (Trafficked Woman)
Keri Lewison has been involved in the entertainment
& film industry since the wee age of 5. She was with the Ford
Children's division in NYC and Wilhelmina in L.A., CA. Keri can
currently be seen in the NBC movie "Escape from Terror", The Teresa
Stamper Story, in the role of Teresa Stamper's daughter. She is also
featured in several current national commercials for such entities as
'Academy' and 'Citgo'.
Binh Nguyen (Venom)
Binh
Nguyen enjoys building and selling restaurants for a living, and claims
racing motorcycles at 150+ mph as an addiction. Binh hopes that HB:ABDB
will be the first of many acting roles for him. He also wishes to be
Master of the Universe, to never again pay taxes, and to win the
lottery multiple times, but contractually, the producers of HB:ABDB can
only help him with the acting thing.
Chung Lee (Dynamite Thug)
Chung
Y. Lee was born and raised in Dallas, TX. He earned a B.A. in economics
from the University of Texas. Currently in his 3rd year at the Thurgood
Marshall School of Law in Houston, he works at the Law Office of
Attorney Kevin M. Hall, and claims HB:ABDB as his first acting credit,
unless "Mock trial is considered acting".
Timur Tsend (Dynamite Thug)
Timur
Tsend was born in Mongolia, and came to America in 1996 to pursue a
degree in business. After earning his degree in 2001, he decided he'd
rather do nursing, and has worked as a nurse since finishing nursing
school in 2002. In addition to helping the ill, Timur has studied
martial arts for many years, and knows how to convert a wristwatch or
egg-timer into an onscreen detonator for dynamite.
Jayming Fang (Slave Guard Thug)
Jayming
Fang, currently completing his senior year at Texas A & M, has
found time away from his busy student schedule to give 100% to various
acting endeavors. He has appeared on CBS's 'Moochers', ABC's 'I Wanna
Be A Soapstar', and in plays such as 'All in the Timing', as well as
musicals such as Aida.
Van Skam (Fat Tiger Guard)
Van
Skam does not write complete sentences for biographies. He does not sit
still long enough. This is what we've managed to glean from the
wreckage left in his wake: "Business Profesional by day, badass
Bartender at night at Dallas's hottest club EPISODES! A jack of all
trades and master of none...Currently studying for Muay Thai - yeah, I
SO WANT TO DO SUPER FLIPS...Being bitten by the acting bug, currently
trying to get my feet wet... well drown myself in any future projects
as much as possible..." His car is also the cornucopia of anything
needed on set that the producer forgot to pick up.
Mikhail Sebastian (Russian Crew Member)
Mikhail
Sebastian was born on February 26, 1973 to Armenian parents in Baku,
Azerbaijan, USSR. In 1988, the war conflict between Azerbaijan and
Armenia caused him to flee Azerbaijan for Armenia to continue his high
school education. In 1989 the intensification of the war between
Armenia and Azerbaijan forced local Armenians to abandon everything
they had and move to other part of the ex-USSR, and Mikhail moved with
his parent to the Central Asian Republic of Turkmenistan where he
attended the Turkmen State University and majored in English. Fluent in
Russian, Mikhail lived in Moldova, Russia before moving to the USA. He
has had a passion for acting since childhood and just recently was able
to turn his dream into reality, and says "Acting is the air I cannot
live without. Acting gives unique way of transforming from one
character to another." His credits include: "Bleep Love", "House of
Demon", "The Big Bend", "The Bong Connection".
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