Artists and Writers:
Whitfield Cook (1909 - 2003) was an author and screenwriter, best remembered for his contributions to Alfred Hitchcock’s films Stage Fright and Strangers on a Train. He is the author of the short story collection Violets and the novels Roman Comedy, Taxi to Dubrovnik, and A Choice of Disguises, and his work appeared in magazines including The American Mercury, Story, Cosmopolitan, and Redbook. Cook’s story “The Unfaithful” was honored with the O. Henry Award in 1943.
Laura Grey is a writer and performer who got her start onstage at the Second City Chicago. Recently she served as head writer on Comedy Central’s Jordan Klepper Solves Guns and debuted her series Ex-Girlfriend, which won the TruTV development award at the New York Television Fest. She co-created Engaged for UCB Comedy, Faeries for IFC, and The Brothel, featured on Funny or Die. As an actor, she's appeared in Seriously Distracted,Younger, RePlay, Rough Night, and The Opposition with Jordan Klepper. Her short films have premiered at SXSW, Slamdance, and the Tribeca film festivals.
Tony Hale is a two-time Emmy winner for his work on Veep. He is also known for his roles on Arrested Development, Chuck, Ctrl, Drunk History, and A Series of Unfortunate Events. Additional film credits include Happythankyoumoreplease; The Heat; American Ultra; and Love, Simon. Most recently Hale is featured in the films To the Stars and Toy Story 4.
Jordan Klepper is perhaps best known for his work as a correspondent on The Daily Show and his comedy series The Opposition with Jordan Klepper. He is an alumnus of the improv troupes The Second City and Upright Citizens Brigade. He and his wife, Laura Grey, are co-creators of short films including TMI, a featured short at the Slamdance Film Festival, and Peepers, which premiered at South By Southwest, among others. His new Comedy Central show, Klepper, premiered in May 2019.
Stephen Leacock (1869 - 1944) was a renowned humorist, best known for his works Literary Lapses, Nonsense Novels, Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town, Arcadian Adventures with the Idle Rich, Humour: Its Theory and Technique, and his unfinished autobiography The Boy I Left Behind Me, among numerous additional volumes. His summer cottage is now preserved as the Stephen Leacock Museum National Historic Site. The Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour was established in 1947 and has been awarded annually since to honor Canadian humorists and preserve Leacock’s legacy.
Sonia Manzano is known to millions as Maria on Sesame Street, a character she played from 1971 to 2015, and has earned fifteen Emmy Awards as a writer for the show. Her theater credits include The Exonerated; Love, Loss, and What I Wore; and the original production of Godspell. She is the author of the picture books No Dogs Allowed!; A Box Full of Kittens; and Miracle on 133rd Street, as well as the middle-grade novel The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano and her memoir, Becoming Maria: Love and Chaos in the South Bronx. In 2016, Manzano received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 43rd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards.
Maulik Pancholy is best known for his roles on the award-winning NBC comedy 30 Rock and on Showtime’s Weeds. Additional television credits include Star Trek: Discovery, Whitney, Web Therapy, The Comeback, The Good Wife, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, The Sopranos, and the animated series Sanjay & Craig and Phineas & Ferb. His film credits include 27 Dresses, Hitch, and Friends with Money, among others. On stage, he has appeared in Guantanamo: Honor Bound to Defend Freedom, India Awaiting and the Broadway production of It's Only a Play and has performed at The New Group, Culture Project, Samuel Beckett Theatre, and the Summer Play Festival at the Public Theatre, among others. He will appear on Broadway this winter in Bess Wohl’s Grand Horizons, and his first book, The Best at It, will be released this October by HarperCollins.
Charles Yu is an author and screenwriter. His works include the novel How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe and the short story collections Third Class Superhero and Sorry Please Thank You. Yu has also written for the television series Here and Now and Westworld, for which he was nominated for two Writers Guild Awards. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, Slate, The New York Times, and Wired, among other publications. His forthcoming novel, Interior Chinatown, will be published in 2020.
