Alex Dobrenko

Alex is the writer and creator of "Distance." He recently acted in "Krisha," which won SXSW 2015's Grand Jury and Audience Choice Awards before being purchased by A24 and released theatrically. Before that, Alex starred in the comedy-mystery "Arlo 
 and Julie" which premiered at SXSW 2014 to rave reviews from Variety, BadAss Digest, Austin Chronicle and others including Wired Magazine calling Alex one of the "15 Most Fascinating Filmmakers and Stars at SXSW." Alex has also acted in "The Program" starring Ben Foster, Lee Pace and Dustin Hoffman (Alex played Dustin Hoffman's son - a personal dream come true), the indie comedy "Here We Are, and the horror comedy, and “Quaker Oaths” which premiered at Austin Film Fest in 2016. can also catch Alex at improv theaters across Los Angeles CA. He is currently taking classes at the Upright Citizens Brigade. Alex also retains an active role at Tugg, a film start-up based out of Austin.

Ashley Rae Spillers

Ashley is an actor and executive producer on Distance. You can catch her on 2 seasons of HBO’s Vice Principals, Todd Phillips' dark comedy, War Dogs and most recently in NCIS: LA season 9 as Special Agent Sydney Jones. Coming in 2018, find her in Happy Madison's Netflix movie Graduates starring David Spade, the indie flick Dr. Brinks and Dr. Brinks and a brief appearance in Paramount Networks' upcoming American Woman. Her earlier work includes a role opposite Robert De Niro in Last Vegas and several SXSW selected films, most recently SXSW & Sundance 2018 selected short film Don't be a Hero. She lives in Los Angeles, hails from Texas and aims to a be a woman of the world.

Carlyn Hudson

Carlyn is a writer/director whose latest short film, NICE ASS, premiered at SXSW in 2018 and is now a Vimeo Staff Pick. She's currently writing and directing a comedic digital series about competitive cheerleading called BOSS CHEER for Brat Studios. See more of her work at www.carlynhudson.com. Carlyn tried a long-distance relationship once, but it failed miserably and she does NOT recommend such torture to anyone.

Jack Lawrence Mayer

Jack Lawrence Mayer was born in Atlanta, Georgia. He is a writer and director known for the digital series, Single Long (HBO GO, 2013), Moonlighter to Mars (College Humor/Big Breakfast, 2017) and L.A. Famous (Snacktime Productions, 2014). Most recently he was the director and co-writer of the comedy series, Distance, which premiered at the 2016 SXSW Digital Domain and went on to the 2016 New York Television Festival. Jack was the recipient for the prestigious Edes Prize for Emerging Artists out of Chicago.

Lauren Wilde

Originally from Peachtree City, Georgia, Lauren works in film and television as a makeup artist specializing in special effects, beauty, and wig making. She also started Wilde Animals, an organization to aid in stopping animal poaching through the use of SFX makeup and faux taxidermy. Her years of experience on set gave her the courage to help produce Distance. She feels especially tied to the project seeing as Alex is her long term boyfriend of seven years, and their relationship was long distance for the first three years thus loosely inspiring the whole show. She currently happily lives in Los Angeles with Alex and their adorable dog Robert chasing the dream of making meaningful art.

Chase Joliet

Chase (producer / actor) is the recipient of the Independent Spirits Awards John Cassavettes Award for Best Feature Under $500,000 as well as winning both the SXSW 2016 Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award for his work on Krisha. He recently produced It Comes at Night for A24 Films.

Phil Kaye

Phil Kaye is a writer, actor and producer living in New York City. He is one half of Thanks Laura, an artistic duo with Alex Dobrenko. As a writer and performer, Phil is perhaps best known for his poetry, which he has performed in sixteen countries, has been viewed millions of times online, and featured in settings ranging from NPR to the Museum of Modern Art. Phil is also a writer and producer on Distance. LDR Experience: Because I spend most of my life on the road, my last two major relationships I’ve had have been, in effect, LDRs (ugh). It means battling a lot of changing time zones and jet lag, but in the end, it’s worth it!

Brian Parsons

In addition to mixing it up with the rest of the Distance team, Brian serves as the Director of Content Partnerships at Tugg - the first of its kind cinema on-demand model. A part of Tugg since outset, Brian helped develop the Tugg theatrical model, working with promoters, filmmakers, and theater partners to bring on-demand cinema to cities across the country.

Bill Meese

Bill Meese (Director of Photography) was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan and studied film and cinematography at EmersonCollege in Boston, MA where he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts. He now lives and works in Los Angeles, California, known to many as “the People’s D.P.” and founding member of the L.A.B. Crew, Meese is a cinematographer with over 10 years of production experience and he recently finished principal photography on his first feature length film “U.P. There” which is set to release in 2018. Meese has also photographed a plethora of short narrative films, documentaries, non-scripted television and music videos some of which have been featured in film festivals internationally as well as on Vice, Billboard, MTV, Discovery Channel, CNN , New York Post, and Bravo.

Margaux Rust

Margaux Rust (Production Designer) With a background in ceramics and installation art, Margaux Rust received her BFA in Sculpture from Mass College of Art and Design in Boston in 2008. Shortly after, she moved to the west coast, opening a gallery and retail space in Portland, Oregon in 2010. From connections made there with the local film-making community she made the jump to production design, relishing in the collaborative and adventurous world of music videos,short films, and commercials. She designed the short film BEST WISHES FROM MILLWOOD, which won the 2015 Austin Film Festival Audience Award for a narrative short; and her most recent short film work, COME SWIM, is written and directed by Kristen Stewart and is premiering in competition at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival.

Jenn Romero

Jenn (composer) is a songwriter/multi-instrumentalist based in Chicago. She has composed and developed original scores for theater and film including Single Long (HBO GO, 2013), Distance (premiered at the 2016 SXSW Digital Domain and featured at the 2016 New York Television Festival), and Wake: A Folk Opera (The Whiskey Rebellion, 2012). She is the songwriter and front lady of her band, The Jellies, whose latest record “Bluebeard” made CHIRP Radio’s Top 50 weekly charts in March 2018. She works full-time as an advocate and educator for first generation college-bound Chicago youth and was the first in her family to graduate college.

Paige Collins

Paige is an LA based actor. She's currently working on producing her own work while also enjoying the California sun. Thanks to the Distance team for letting her be a part of this. *I have had one experience with a long distance relationship. It didn't end well.

Nicole Wolf

Nicole Wolf hails from Palo Alto, California. She moved to Los Angeles in 2011 and graduated from USC's Dramatic Arts school in 2015 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre. Her credits include La La Land, Marvel's Runaways, and she is thrilled to be a part of Distance. LDR Experience: I have no direct experience with long distance relationships. However, my college roommate and best friend was in one for 5 years, 4 of those were college. I was a bunk bed away from every Facetime fro-yo date and phone call. I played Rachel in real life, which undoubtedly is the only reason I was cast.

Atsuko Okatsuka

Atsuko's comedy has been described by Margaret Cho as "a silent slow fart that fills up a room with laughter." She tours around the U.S. at colleges & universities as well as withDis/orient/ed Comedy, the first ever all Asian, mostly female stand up comedy tour. She uses her whimsical sense of humor to comment on social and political issues and can often be found video-ing dogs she's fallen in love with. You can find more of her work on Twitter and Instagram.

Monica Parks

Monica is delighted to have joined the cast of Distance: the Series. On television, she’s had roles on Scandal, You’re the Worst, Grey’sAnatomy and General Hospital, among others. She comes from a theatre background having worked at Indiana Rep, Capital Rep, Arkansas Rep, The St. Louis Black Rep, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis and and the St. Louis Shakespeare Festival. She holds a MFA in Classical Acting.

DeMorge Brown

DeMorge studied and performed with The Groundlings and the Upright Citizens Brigade Los Angeles and has been a featured performer at the Bridgetown Comedy Festival in Portland, Oregon. He has been a regular performer on Jimmy Kimmel Live and been seen on According To Jim, Bajillion Properties, Hidden America With Jonah Ray, the web series Gumbel and Yacht Rock and the festival hits I Was There Too, Dr Brinks & Dr. Brinks and On The Rocks. He is also responsible for the Black Empowerment Network library of absurdist comedic shorts. That notwith standing, DeMorge is trying as hard as he can.

Ellie Reed

Ellie is an actor and writer based in Los Angeles, originally from Chicago. She was in a long-distance relationship between those two cities, so she's keenly aware of the 2-hour time difference. She's done some theater, some commercials, and some TV, most recently Girlboss on Netflix!

David Lee Hess

David Lee Hess is a guitar player from Tulsa, a singer from Austin, and an actor/director in Los Angeles. LDR Experience: Arguably the most significant relationship in my entire life was a long-distance relationship. At one point I was driving every weekend to see my girlfriend: three hours on Friday until Sunday, three hours back. At some point I learned (from her) that she'd been cheating on me, routinely. Right there on the phone, my heart broke in 1,000 pieces Not since hearing the truth about Santa Claus had I felt so abandoned. It was a late-bloomed revelation to me that something existed other than the truth. That heartbreak taught me so much and in smaller and smaller and smaller waves, I'm still flinching from the experience. Contact David at davidleehess@gmail.com with the password: “Shandling,” and he'll send you a song he's written and performed.

Irina Dubova

Irina Dubova was born and raised in the former Soviet Union. She aspired to be an actress from a very young age, mainly inspired by her grandmother. Acting will always be her passion, and if she had to choose all over again - she would follow this path without a doubt.

Clark Moore

Clark is a storyteller interested in the intersection of entertainment, media, and technology. Born and raised in Atlanta, GA, he got his start in regional theater before attending Dartmouth College where he studied History. He has appeared on NBC’s The Sing Off, Glee, and numerous national commercials. He can now be seen playing ‘Ethan’ in 20th Century Fox’s hit teen rom com, Love, Simon. He has a background in content and brand storytelling from his time at Snapchat. He is also a freelance writer. Long distance relationship experience: I had a "skype boyfriend" in high school that I met at summer camp but it didn't work out because he lived on the opposite end of the state - and because he identified as straight. :-)

Igor Hiller

Igor is giving up his bio to promote a slow cooker chicken soup recipe. It's seriously so easy and tasty, and will feed you for a week. https://nourishedkitchen.com/slowcooker-chicken-soup/. The only long distance relationship Igor's been in was with his slow cooker, when he let his friend borrow it and then it took three months to get it back. You can find Igor's comedy at instagram.com/igorhiller.

Cyndi Williams

Cyndi Williams is an actor/writer based in Austin Texas. She was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best Lead Actress for her performance in director Kyle Henry's Room. Other films include Computer Chess (again married to Chris Doubek!), Zero Charisma, Four Play, and Temple Grandin. Her only long-distance relationship was with the first guy she agreed to marry, but once they lived in the same town, she discovered he was rude to wait staff and broke up with him over the phone.

Chris Doubek

Now based in Los Angeles Chris had a 16 year career in independent film in Austin. Not always ‘independent ‘ of being seen or making $. All relationships are long distance. Proximity doesn’t make up for the miles in between us.