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Top: Ann Malinowsky, Stephanie Schweitzer; Bottom: Naomi McDougall Jones, Candice Holdorf, Erin O'Connell, Danielle Tafeen
Photo Copyright Kurt Mangum
James Duff (Director/Script Collaborator)
hopes that directing 36:24:36 will help bring this shockingly prevalent issue to the forefront of our society's consciousness. Family members and loved ones closest to him continue to suffer the devastating effects of bulimia, and he has experienced how the denial and shame can tear apart a family. A theatre and film director based in NYC, James recently spent six months in India directing a feature film. His films have been broadcast on PBS and have won numerous awards at festivals around the world, and he also directed human rights films in West Africa for two years. In New York, he has worked with theatre companies such as the 42nd Street Workshop, The Ensemble Studio Theatre and Vital Theatre Company, and has served as director for the sketch comedy troupe Spurn. He instructs NYU Tisch drama students at Stone Street Studios in acting for the camera, is currently the directing instructor at the Digital Film Academy and teaches a directing workshop in Kenya funded by UNESCO. James earned his MFA in directing from USC's film school, where he won a fellowship for excellence in directing actors.
Candice Holdorf (Script Collaborator/Performer [AEA, AFTRA])
is a recovering anorexic who hopes that her work in 36:24:36 will inspire other men and women facing eating disorders to lose the shame associated with the neurosis and find tranquility within. She is an Atlanta native who moved to New York City to attend NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts (Stella Adler Conservatory). Since graduating, she has performed in a number of plays throughout New York and the Southeast, including: Chuck in Rue (Flux Theatre Ensemble at Theater for the New City); Jill in Conference Room A (Kids With Guns); Margot in Dial M for Murder (Cortland Repertory); Mary in Vanities (Atlanta’s Neighborhood Playhouse); and The Dauphin in Henry V (14th Street Playhouse). She is now the Marketing Director and Founding Member of Flux Theatre Ensemble, a NYC collaborative which is planning its next production, The Dream Project, in Spring 2007. She is also a professional commercial actress and model (Fit Yoga Magazine, Mind Over Muscle, Midoma Hair Salon, Plus Media SMT), as well as a yoga teacher with specialties in pre and post-natal work. But her most fulfilling role of all is wife to Jonathan, who supported her through the darkest periods and continues to do so today.
www.candiceholdorf.com
www.fluxtheatre.org
Ann Malinowsky (Creator/Script Collaborator/Performer)
was often referred to as ‘Big Ann’ by her peers. She had a larger shoe size than her third grade teacher and was crushed to find out her dreams of becoming a Olympic gymnast and figure skater were not possible for a girl who was born 5’7”. She was able to attend The Minnesota Center for Arts Education, the Midwest’s version of the ‘Fame’ school, as a theatre major and after surviving five brain surgeries her senior year of high school, attended The University of Washington, Seattle. Ann soon returned to her hometown of Minneapolis to pursue her artistic adventures, which included work with several improv troops and her interpretation of Alice in Alice in Wonderland as well as several roles in Dylan Thomas’ Under Milkwood. After struggling through seven years of bulimia in order to ‘look like the other girls,’ Ann was finally able to embrace herself as a woman who would never be referred to as ‘petite.’ She also embarked on a film career by attending The School for Film and Television in NYC and since has been involved in several independent films. She came to create the idea for 36:24:36 after realizing the limitations she and many of her fellow actors were placing upon themselves because of their appearance. Ann has since been devoted to changing the idea of ‘a smaller dress size makes a better person’ and will do her best to prevent any little girls and boys from crying because they’ve been selected as ‘The Fat One’, the worst place to be in today’s eyes
Naomi McDougall Jones (Script Collaborator/Performer)
has been an actress and ballerina since she was four years old and has spent her life around people with eating disorders and/or body issues (of course, there's nary a woman in our society who doesn't face this). In high school, she started an eating disorder awareness campaign in her hometown to help deal with the enormous threat which this sickness posed to both the teens and older men and women. She went to Cornell University for a year as a theater major and then transferred to The American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City, which she is currently attending. Last summer she made her New York debut as the Devil in Going Up? at the SoHo Playhouse. Other favorite roles include Juliet in Romeo and Juliet at Cornell University, Eve in The Apple Tree, and Polly Browne in The Boy Friend. Having watched many a friend and loved one deal with the crippling self-loathing and self-destruction that almost come as part of being a woman today, she hopes that 36:24:36 will open up a dialogue among women that will bring us all to a place of healing.
Erin O'Connell (Script Collaborator/Performer)
wants to make a difference in how our society defines "healthy and "beautiful". In 36:24:36, she hopes to show all men and women that they are not alone. Although never having had an eating disorder herself, Erin is a woman of this society and has been victim to the pain it can cause. Erin is from a small town in Ohio and, after a year at Kent State University, she moved to New York to attend The School for Film and Television. She has performed some theatre, but her main focus is film, with favorite roles including: Vivian in 100's Confidence, Principal in Not Without my Doughnut, and most recently Sara in Oh! Be Joyful which is currently screening in numerous film festivals. She has also worked on several commercials, including those for Entertainment Weekly and Shop Rite. Erin is thrilled to be a part of 36:24:36 and to work with these amazing women.
Stephanie Schweitzer (Script Collaborator/Performer [AEA, AFTRA, SAG])
has appeared in numerous award-winning short films including Swept, a 12 minute short which she also co-wrote and co-produced. Based on her own battle with an Eating Disorder, Swept was generously funded by Linden Oaks Hospital at Edward in Naperville, IL. It chronicles a brother and sister’s desperate attempts to cope and communicate as he visits her in the hospital where she is struggling to recover. Swept is currently being used in therapeutic settings across the country to provide a springboard for discussion and healing. Her other credits include: Television: Law & Order: SVU, All My Children, One Life to Live. Theatre: Off-Broadway: Like You Like It, Constellations; Regional: Syracuse Stage, American Heartland Theatre, Stamford Theatre Works. Dedicated to exploring and exposing the devastating nature of Eating Disorders, Stephanie is thrilled to be a part of 36:24:36.
www.sweptfilms.com
Kimberly Smith (Script Collaborator)
is a recovering bulimic who wanted to be a part of this project not only to prevent others from succumbing to this painful disease, but also to continue her own recovery, which is a daily struggle. Born and raised in Texas, she moved to NYC to pursue acting. She co-founded Visionary, a film company, in her first year here and found a life-long bond therein with Ann Malinowsky and Danielle Tafeen. She also owns StripXpertease, a company that is on the forefront of empowering women through movement to bring them in touch with their own inner beauty and sexiness. She has appeared in several theater productions, independent films, television shows, and commercials produced in NYC and Texas, including The Grace to climb with Eagles, Most Evil, and Unraveling.
www.stripXpertease.com
Danielle Tafeen (Script Collaborator/Performer [SAG])
is excited to be a part of 36:24:36, a project she believes will help to increase awareness about the commonality and severity of eating disorders, as well as other negative body-image issues facing women in today's society. A survivor of anorexia and exercise anorexia, her greatest struggle with the disease has been dealing with a close loved one's continuous battle. She is confident that this project will help to mend the hearts, minds, and bodies of those suffering from eating disorders. Born and bred in North Carolina, her acting aspirations brought her to the "Big City" to attend NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. Since graduation, she has performed in numerous plays around town including the long running Off-Broadway hit Birdie's Bachelorette Party.