Brianna VanderWeide is an actor, designer, and musician based in the Seattle area. She participated in live theatre and short films over the years, with roles including Ariel in Footloose and Millie in Summer Brave. After taking a break from acting and receiving her bachelor’s degree in Interior Architecture/Design from WSU, she is thrilled to be a part of Ocean’s Arrival. Other passions of hers include singing, songwriting, playing instruments, being active, spending time outdoors, and watching comfort sitcoms in chronological order. She is grateful to her dad for his unwavering support, encouragement, and wisdom.

Tara

Olivia Kridle is an actor, writer, director, and producing board member with Dacha Theatre, whose joy for theatre and film is in tandem with their passion for diversity, equity, and new voices. This is their first film acting role, and she is thrilled to have worked on this project. Recent credits include: Dice: Romeo & Juliet (Dacha), Much Ado About Nothing (Dacha), and Picnic (CSUF). BFA Acting (CSUF), Seattle/LA -- more at oliviakridle.com. She’s thankful to her family & partner for their constant support: 사랑해.

Nikhil

Austin Dodd is excited to attend the first premiere of a movie that he has been in. He has previously performed onstage in live theatre productions, but he is grateful for the opportunity to expand into the world of film. Austin would like to thank his family, as always, and also the amazing team that worked on Ocean’s Arrival. He had a great time throughout the whole process and is looking forward to whatever endeavors his friends embark on next!

June

Annabel (Anna) Klein (she/they) is an actor, director, and theatre educator in Seattle, Washington. As a graduate from The University of Redlands with a double major in English and Theatre, Anna is a passionate storyteller and creator. Although she has been performing on stage since childhood, Anna is thrilled to be making her cinematic debut with Ocean’s Arrival. Favorite past roles include Juliet (Romeo and Juliet), Lydia (All My Sons), and Goblin (Goblin). When they’re not acting Anna spends their time engaging with artistic communities around the Seattle area, including work at Stone Soup Theatre, Penguin Productions, and the Seattle Rep. Her primary passions include fostering innovative, inclusive, and equitable artistic spaces, developing educational theatre programming for adolescents and adults, and connecting underserved communities with creative opportunities. You can learn more about Annabel, their work, or their performances by visiting annabelklein.com or email annabel.actor@gmail.com.

Adrian

Jordan Davis-Miller is a graduate from the American Musical & Dramatic academy (AMDA) in Los Angeles California. Recently, Jordan has been rigorously working and appearing in music videos such as Allen Stone’s, “Consider Me” and more. He is focused on publishing his book, “The Color of my Mama’s Heart”, a children’s book about being a biracial boy. More at @jordandavismiller

Doctor

Vanessa Miller has worked in Seattle for over twenty five years as a director, actress, script doctor, and teacher. She graduated from UCLA School of Film, Television and Theater, and continued her studies in London at LAMDA. Having worked as a stage actress at many Seattle area theatres, Vanessa’s favorite roles include Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing, Kate in Taming of the Shrew, Ruth in Blithe Spirit, Hecuba in The Trojan Women, Rona Lisa Peretti in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Violet in 9-5 The Musical, Stella in Streetcar Named Desire, Louise in Private Lives, and Lady MacBeth. As a stage director, she has directed productions for Wooden O/Seattle Shakespeare, credits include Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar (all female), A Winter’s Tale, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Othello. Her directing work has also been seen at ArtsWest, Seattle Opera, Village Theater, and Cornish College.

Ocean

Jordan Mielbrecht is a recent SPU grad based in Snohomish who likes to keep himself busy. In his day job, he is a software engineer at Symetrix, a commercial audio company. In the past four years, he has been involved in two plays, three film projects, and is currently rehearsing for the upcoming musical “String” at SPU. Jordan would like to thank Giao for giving him this incredible opportunity, his boss for giving him a week off of work to make his involvement possible, his family for their incredible love and support, and his fellow cast and crew for being seriously AMAZING people. To connect with him on LinkedIn and browse some of his coding projects, visit JMielbrecht.GitHub.io

CREW BIOS

Writer/Director/Editor

Giao Nguyen (he/him) is a Vietnamese-American actor, director and filmmaker based in the Seattle area. He will be graduating from Seattle Pacific University with a degree in Theatre Performance and minor in Art: Digital Media. Notable acting roles include Gordon Hirabayashi in Hold These Truths, and Constantine in Big Love. Recent film works include: The Mesmerism (2020) and Unseen Cualtzin (2019). Above all, he is passionate about creating space for all voices in art, especially young BIPOC actors. He gives his thanks to his family, friends, and mentors who’ve been the guiding light through his journey. More film work at giao-nguyen.com

Producer

Marc Horsfield (he/him) is a senior Political Science/History student at Seattle University. He has been working with Giao on his films since their time together in high school theatre. Marc enjoys writing, light administrative work and is far less qualified than the rest of the very talented Ocean’s Arrival team. He hopes you enjoy the hard work the cast and crew put in to make this film.

Director of Photography

Suzanne McAuley grew up in the PNW and has been making movies since she was 10 years old — it all started with her 3 best friends, the family camcorder and some goofy costumes. Eventually that fun pastime grew into a passion. She graduated from the Seattle University Film Studies program in 2021. She would like to thank her friends and family for the many years they have allowed her to point her camera at them (often without much warning). Above all, she is grateful for the unwavering belief and support she has received from her very creative and compassionate parents, Bob and Rebecca. More work at @suzannecam_

Composer

Ariel Loud is a saxophonist, pianist, composer, producer, and educator born and raised in Seattle, WA. From learning some breakdancing from members of the Massive Monkees crew in grade school to studying ballet through Pacific Northwest Ballet’s DanceChance program, music has always been in his bones. After growing up in Robert Knatt’s Washington Middle School and Clarence Acox’s Garfield High School jazz bands, Ariel attended the Berklee College of Music on a saxophone scholarship, where he graduated in May of 2018 with honors, completing a double major Bachelor of Music with concentrates in Film Scoring and Contemporary Writing & Production. While at Berklee, he studied saxophone with George Garzone, Frank Tiberi, Shannon LeClaire and Dino Govoni. Ariel is currently based in Portland, OR where he teaches piano and saxophone lessons independently and with Ethos Music Center, a local music education nonprofit; and works as a freelance composer, producer, and engineer. www.arielloud.com/

Gaffer

Barb Hoffman is a 23-year-old award winning filmmaker/animator that resides in the Seattle area. She loves making animations, music videos, and all types of filmmaking! She has premiered films in festivals such as NFFTY and SIFF. To see more of her work, visit www.barb3films.com

Costume Designer

Sanskruti Tomar (they/he) is a theatre artist that has worked in almost all aspects of show creation. For this film, they are honored to be the costume designer, working with the most incredible team. Recently, they costume and makeup designed, acted, and directed multiple shows during their undergraduate degree at Gonzaga University, and worked with local theatres like Village Theatre, in costume design and building. Thanks for joining all of us in celebrating the incredible film Ocean’s Arrival and all the work our team has done! More at sunnymindia.wixsite.com/stomar

Camera Op/Key Grip/Editor

Quang Nguyen is an 19-year-old cinematographer and photographer that works to create commercial and narrative media. While his interests in visual creative work started from a young age with drawing and photography, his start in video began just 4 years ago with creating videos covering high school sports, events, and promotions. Since then, he has moved into creating advertisement and short-form social media content but hopes to soon apply his skills to telling impactful stories and exploring his creativity through projects like this feature film. Outside of working in film and video, Quang studies at Pacific Lutheran University–now finishing up his last 2 years of nursing school. Feel free to contact or view his latest work at www.cinequang.com

Drone/Grip/Electric

Jackson Scallen is a Video Producer for Colormatics in Spokane, WA. He graduated with a degree in broadcast media from Gonzaga in 2020 and has since worked full-time in commercial film production. His experience ranges from producing, shooting, directing, and editing work for brands on both a regional and national level. More at jacksonscallen.com

Boom Op

Matthew Greisen is a music student at SPU, he spends most of his time playing guitar and studying music. This is Matthew’s first feature length film as a boom operator, although he also helped Giao in the past as a Boom Op in Giao’s short film series The Mesmerism. Matthew sings in the choir at SPU as a tenor and is working to complete his major in Music Production and Technology. At SPU, Matthew began to study jazz guitar with Professor Greg Fulton. He has multiple shows coming up in the next few months with his jazz quartet. He has also been teaching guitar lessons independently for 5 years to students ranging from 4-70 years of age. For inquiries about lessons or shows, please email greisenguitar@gmail.com

Slate

Atlas Peek (they/them) is currently an undergrad at Seattle Pacific University studying Theatre Performance. While this was their first time helping behind the scenes on a film, they have worked with Giao before as an actor in his short film series The Mesmerism. Atlas is more often found working in live theatre as an actor or scenic painter and is currently in rehearsal for String at SPU. They are extremely grateful for this amazing team that have taught them so much!

Colorist

Rohan Merrill is a colorist and visual poet. As a Colorist at RM Color, Rohan has a passion for making the most of any shot through a deep knowledge of color science and creative image manipulation. To see more of his work, visit www.rmcolor.com, Instagram: @lettersfromro, YouTube: Letters From Ro

Post-Production Audio

Jake Escobar is a Sound Designer and Post Audio Specialist. Outside of sound design work, Jake is a private music and audio production teacher. Contact: audiohausredmond@gmail.com

Sound Designer/Editor

Tobias Provan, 23, from Stockport is a recent graduate of ‘MA Sound Design’ from Leeds Beckett University. Despite re-doing the sounds for a series of Hollywood productions such as ‘Wall-E’ and ‘Tron Legacy’ for his portfolio, Ocean’s Arrival was his first original picture in which he was assigned sound designer and editor. With inspirations such as Ben Burtt, he enjoyed creating and recording all aspects of sound such as; effects, Foley, and atmos. Tobias feels Giao is extremely talented and enjoyable to work with, but most importantly he is thankful Giao has given him this first big opportunity. He hopes this film may make him noticed in this industry. Contact: tubsprovan23@gmail.com

Graphic Design

Sabrina Seang is an SPU Graduate with a Bachelors in Visual Communications. She works as a Visual Content Coordinator at Moss Adams and takes on a variety of freelance projects. To see more of her work, visit www.sabrinaseang.com

Production Assistant

Raviv Cohen, 22, is currently serving as a combat soldier in the IDF. He enjoys skiing, traveling, and cutting up a good handful of olives for that perfect sourdough loaf. Raised on the values of friendship and presence, Raviv's artistic aesthetic is guided by the concept of "The Cameo". Feel free to check out his other work!