In The Mood For California

"A listener that plays", Daniel Rotem is a saxophonist, composer, artistic director, and educator. Growing up by the Mediterranean Sea, Daniel fell in love with music and started to play saxophone as a teenager. He is a graduate of Berklee College of Music and the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz (now the Herbie Hancock Institute) and had the privilege to perform and record with artists such as H...

Michael-Leon Wooley - Actor/Writer/Producer. He Costars opposite RuPaul in the Netflix series AJ & The Queen, as Louis, a blind diabetic Drag Queen and is also the voice of Louis, the high-strung jazz singing, trumpet playing alligator in Disney's Oscar nominated animated feature film, The Princess and the Frog. Other films are Dreamgirl’s, Premium Rush, Hotel Transylvania 1,2,3&4, Ghost Town, My...

Jordan Ladd is an American actress born in Los Angeles, into a family woven into Hollywood history. The daughter of Cheryl Ladd and granddaughter of classic film star Alan Ladd, she grew up surrounded by storytelling, yet chose to shape her own artistic path. She began acting at a young age and gained recognition in films such as Never Been Kissed, Cabin Fever, and Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof....

Jeff Hull is an Oakland-based American artist and producer known for creating large-scale participatory experiences that blend storytelling, performance, and real-world environments. He is the founder and director of Nonchalance, a studio focused on immersive experiences and “pervasive play,” developing projects such as The Jejune Institute (2008–2011) and Latitude Society. The Jejune Institute wa...

Andrew Miliukoff was born and raised in Los Angeles in a musical household, studying classical piano with his mother and rock guitar with his older brother. His parents were part of the White Russian community — émigrés who fled post-revolutionary Russia, loyal to the Tsar and devoted to preserving their traditions in exile. After graduating from Cal State LA, Andrew toured with Ray Charles before...

Kim Krizan is an American writer, actress, and educator best known for originating the story and characters in the Before trilogy with her writing on Before Sunrise (1995) and Before Sunset (2004), the latter earning her Academy Award and Writers Guild nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay. She first emerged from the independent film scene in Austin, appearing in Slacker, Dazed and Confused, and...

Shelley Callahan is a strategic marketing executive and growth-focused brand builder with over 20 years of experience transforming B2B brands across life sciences, healthcare, technology, and financial services. As Senior Director of Marketing Operations at Maravai, she leads the digital and technology roadmap that powers scalable growth across multiple brands. Previously, she drove major marketin...

Barry Shimelfarb is Founder of Carmel Retreats and Steward of Cuddle Doon. In 2019, as a single father raising twin boys, Barry was diagnosed with advanced cancer. Multiple surgeries and radiation left him weak, unable to swallow, and facing a grim prognosis. During this time, the family’s historic Carmel cottage became his refuge. Planting lavender, walking the shoreline, and resting beneath the...

Hamlet Ayvazian is a Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist, NLP Practitioner, Guided Imagery Facilitator, Life Coach, and Teacher, specializing in fears, phobias, anxiety, pain management, ADD/ADHD, PTSD, tinnitus, habits, and addictions. A Certified Handwriting Analyst and Honors graduate of the Nationally Accredited Hypnosis Motivation Institute, Hamlet combines Western psychology with Eastern wisdo...

Katharine “Kat” Kramer is an award-winning actress, producer, and founder of Kat Kramer’s Films That Change The World—a film series that spotlights movies and documentaries raising awareness of vital social issues. The daughter of legendary filmmaker Stanley Kramer and actress Karen Sharpe-Kramer, and godchild of Katharine Hepburn, Kat has built her own legacy on stage and screen. She’s starred in...

Meet Claire Strofield, founder of End of Life Concierge Beverly Hills and a compassionate guide for life's most profound transition. With a Bachelor of Science in Pre-Med and five years as a cytotechnologist at the Southern Hemisphere's largest private pathology laboratory, Claire brings both scientific understanding and deep humanity to end-of-life care. Her journey has been beautifully varied—fr...

Ashley Archer Tindall is a film Director, Producer and Writer. She connects individuals’ stories with contemporary public conflicts and policy debates through documentary filmmaking and fiction scriptwriting. In addition to her independent feature documentary “27 Months: Journeys in the Peace Corps,” she has produced documentaries for National Geographic Television, HBO and PBS. She runs Film Arch...

Adrian Grand is a Los Angeles–based photographer who captures both people and pets with warmth and authenticity. Born in Ukraine to a Ukrainian mother and a Cuban father, Adrian brings a unique cultural perspective to his work, blending sensitivity, curiosity, and an eye for connection. Now living in Chatsworth, he draws daily inspiration from the Valley’s rugged landscapes and the creative spirit...

Jennifer Herrera is a Los Angeles–born writer, speaker, and educator devoted to emotional mastery, conscious leadership, and the healing of inherited patterns. She hosts the podcast Heal Your Part, a space for honest conversation, self-inquiry, and the kind of personal healing that ripples outward into collective change. With over two decades of experience studying human behavior and supporting le...

Song Yi Jeon, a South Korean singer and composer, weaves modern jazz harmony and odd meters with lyrical, memorable melodies. Trained in classical composition in Graz and jazz vocals in Basel and at Berklee, she became the inaugural Quincy Jones CJ&E Fellow and a Billboard Endowed Award recipient. She has performed at major venues and festivals worldwide—Blue Note NY, Bimhuis Amsterdam, Moods Züri...

Billy Riback (born in Montreal, Canada) is a veteran comedian, writer, and producer whose career spans stand-up, hit sitcoms, and family television. After moving from Montreal to Los Angeles, he built a reputation as both a sharp comedy writer and a trusted producer. He was a consulting producer on Home Improvement for over 120 episodes and wrote for shows including Murphy Brown, Thunder Alley wit...

Aengus James is an award-winning television and film producer, director, and cinematographer whose work blends powerful storytelling with a passion for community. He has created and led acclaimed documentaries and features including After The Murder of Albert Lima, Scandalous: The Untold Story of the National Enquirer, Inheritance, Crestone, and American Harmony. His projects have premiered at maj...

Dr. Nils W. Lambrecht, MD, PhD is a distinguished Clinician-Scientist, Professor of Pathology, and accomplished medical educator with over 25 years of experience in clinical practice, teaching, and translational research. Based in Southern California, he serves as a surgical pathologist at the VA Hospital in Long Beach and is the Associate Dean of Curricular Affairs at the American University of H...

Ashley Anne is a passionate curator of all things vintage. With a thriving Instagram community of 27K followers, she shares her love for vintage fashion, beauty, dancing, and lifestyle — bringing the glamour of bygone eras into the modern day. She also leads Ashley Anne and The Carnations, a dynamite swing jazz band that channels the golden age of Hollywood with a repertoire spanning 1920s–1960s J...

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Dion Ramos found his voice early—singing in his church choir by fourth grade. Music became his passion through high school and college, where he spent most of his time in the music building and student government. It was during this time, as a standout vocal student helping others, that he discovered his love for teaching and coaching. Though classically trained, Di...

Originally from Tasmania, Australia, Catherine Joy is a composer, music producer, community leader and educator. She's received multiple awards and nominations including best score for the doc Gold Balls, an ASCAP Composers Choice Award nomination for Naughty Books and the David Raksin SCL Emerging Talent award for Home Is A Hotel. She has scored a number of Romantic Comedies for Reel One Entertai...

Christine Dickson is an international speaker, mentor, and transformational guide who has spent over a decade helping people break free from toxic relationships and reclaim their power. With over two decades of lived and professional experience, Christine has guided hundreds of individuals out of cycles of addiction, abuse, and generational trauma. She’s known for walking beside her clients throug...

Born on Halloween with two different colored eyes and the last name Bible, Karie always stood out. Raised in suburban Fort Worth, Texas, she knew early on she was destined for something different—and classic Hollywood films lit the path. Karie made the move to Los Angeles in 2000 and have worked behind the scenes at HBO, Miramax, and for an agent, eventually finding a long-term home at a box offic...

Keith Bush is a gifted pianist and lifelong musician whose music speaks directly to the soul. With over 25 years of experience, he has performed at fine resorts, art shows, music festivals, and with orchestras across the country. Raised in Montecito, California, Keith’s connection to the piano began at age two. Described as a genius savant, he blends masterful technique with deep emotion, creating...

Experienced and respected in theater from coast to coast, Robert Yacko is known as a remarkably versatile actor & singer, equally at home in Repertory, on Broadway and in front of a camera. An admitted character actor from his early years, and blessed with a rich, lyric baritone of effortless range, he has garnered epithets for his work that lean from "raucous" and "hilariously deadpan" all the wa...