Fernando Gambaroni (The Guy) was born in Buenos Aires and came to New York in 2001 to study at the Michael Howard Studio and HB Studio. He is featured in the upcoming film "Underdogs" (DV, to be released in late 2005, directed by Silvana Jakich). Off-Broadway, Fernando played Rick Costello in A.R. Gurney's hit play "Mrs. Farnsworth", starring Sigourney Weaver and John Lithgow and directed by Jim Simpson (at both the Flea Theater and the Long Wharf, New Haven); 5 different characters in "Like I Say" (written and directed by Len Jenkin); and performed the piece „S'Sake 2‰ in Mac Wellman's 'Cellophane' (also directed by J. Simpson). He was recently seen in "Caligula," the Comedy Hour‚ at the Jean Cocteau Repertory Theater and in the role of the MC from "Cabaret‚" at the HB Playwrights Foundation. Fernando now lives and works in New York City.
Lou
D’Amato (Robber 1)
originates from Enfield, Connecticut. After years of dabbling in acting, and with the support of
his wife Debbie, Lou decided to leave the corporate world of finance to pursue his passion of acting on a full-time basis.
He has since trained in LA at the Aaron Speiser Acting Studios in Uta
Hagen techniques and method; HB Studios in NY, studying under Jill
Clayburgh for Film/TV; and The Acting Corps in LA to get a taste of the
Meisner technique. He
continues to coach with Jill, and has performed in theater regularly with
the Center Stage Players in Hartford, CT.
Solidarity is Lou's film debut where he gained a tremendous amount of
respect for folks on both sides of the camera and would like to thank
Nancy Kiang for not only the opportunity but showing that passion is not
only for the actor.
Julio C. Peña (Robber 2) born in Peru, has been active in the music industry for many years as an audio engineer, producer, and guitarist. He is recently turned to acting, studying at HB Studio in New York City with Austin Pendleton, and improvisation with the likes of John Monteith of Second City and Holly Mandel, formerly of The Groundlings in Los Angeles. He is an active member of the Producers Club Theatre-NYC. Julio's credits include several industrial videos, improv in "The HB Improv All-Stars!" (dir. Holly Mandel); theatre, Arthus Miller's "American Clock" (dir.Austin Pendleton), and most recently "Othello" for the Hudson Shakespeare Company.
Akiva Saltzman (Robber 3). Born in Medellin, Colombia, Akiva Saltzman has lived in Israel, the U.S. and Canada. He trained at Circle in the Square Theatre School Professional Program and at the T. Schreiber Studios in NY. Akiva has played principal roles in episodes of Goosebumps and Soul Food as well as lead roles in several short films. His theater credits include Romeo in “Romeo and Juliet” and Stone in “Bloodsky” at the Looking Glass Theatre. His other interests include martial arts and basketball.
Mark Shock (Robber 4) is thrilled to have been a part of "Solidarity". Originally from Michigan and now living in New York, he holds a BFA in acting from Wayne State University in Detroit. Some of his favorite roles include Michael in "Dancing at Lughnasa" and Mikey in "Shear Madness". He can also be seen periodically in the teen-idol revue "Heartthrobs" at Casino Windsor in Ontario. Recently, he played the role of Gene in a feature film by Dan Jones, "Human Achievement," which took the top award at the 2006 East Lansing Film Festival.
Manny
Piatos (Cop 1).
Born on the Greek Island of Lesvos, Manny Piatos came to the U.S. at the
age of four. He studied computer science at NYU and is currently a
Manager for Network Administration at the publishing house of John Wiley
& Sons. Recently turned
to acting, he studied at HB Studios with Aleksey Burago, and has landed
principal roles in eight films, including “Fairview Falls” (Light
& Dark Productions) , “Dead Serious” (Moodude Films), and
“Homesickness & Schmaltz on Death Row” (student film).
In addition, he has been a lead guitarist for 25 years, and in 1992
published an instructional guitar book called Guitar
Solo in an Instant with Hal Leonard music publishers.
J.J. Huckin (Cop 2) came to New York from Missouri in 2004 to pursue acting full time. He is currently training with Terry Schreiber at the T. Schreiber Studio. His numerous credits include national commercials (Principal in Levitra Super Bowl Campaign), several films in circulation at festivals (“Amphetamine”-St. Louis International Film Festival, Three Man-Long Island Film Festival, “Jungle Gym”-Downstream International Film Festival, “Apocalypse and the Beauty Queen”) the lead role in a film soon to be distributed through Hollywood Video, (“Return In Red,” directed by Tyler Tharpe), and bit parts in films that have had theatrical release. In addition to acting, he has published a coffee table book of black and white photography of New York, titled "Inspire."
John
Nelson (Cop 3) is an actor and martial artist. John has recently
appeared in Spike Lee's "Inside Man," as Dick Masters in the comedy TV pilot
Rip Off (ripoffshow.com), and in "Fight Night," a feature length film about
the shady world of underground fighting and online gambling (35 mm, directed
by Derek J.W. Wybourn). More information about John may be found at www.JohnNelson.tv.
Tommy
Migliorelli (Cop 4) is
new to the world of acting. He
began taking classes in January 2005 and has had the pleasure of working
on several student shorts since. His
roles include two shorts by Dylan Raycroft ("Twisted",
"Point of View"), and on the stage several times at the Royale
Theatre and Crown Theatre in New York.
In addition to acting, he is also a musician (guitar/bass/drum),
kickboxer, and sharpshooter.