Comedy Short to Star Nestor Serrano (‘Act of Valor’) and Vanessa Marano (‘Switched at Birth’)
Who: Carlos Bernard, who played Tony Almeida on ‘24’ and stars in TNT’s reboot of TV classic ‘Dallas,’ will make his directorial debut this summer with Your Father’s Daughter, a short comedy Bernard also wrote.
The project stars Nestor Serrano (Act of Valor, Homeland, Secretariat) and Vanessa Marano (Switched at Birth, Dexter, The Secret Lives of Dorks).
What: To include fans in the filmmaking process, the film will be partially funded by a Kickstarter campaign (www.kickstarter.com/projects/giantleapindustries/your-fathers-daughter-directed-by-carlos-bernard). Rewards for donors include autographed pictures and scripts, authentic props from the film, one-of-a-kind handmade jewelry from acclaimed designer Deborah McClain (www.deborahmcclain.com) and even a walk-on role in the film.
Your Father’s Daughter tells the story of a well-to-do family in a small Spanish village. On the day of the patriarch’s wedding anniversary, a long-held secret threatens to shatter the family’s shiny veneer.
When & Where: Production on Your Father’s Daughter begins Summer 2012 on the Universal Studios lot in Los Angeles, California.
About Carlos: Carlos began his acting career performing at various theater companies around his native Chicago. He then moved to San Francisco to train in the Masters of Fine Arts program at the prestigious American Conservatory Theater. While there he performed in such plays as Hamlet, The Cherry Orchard, As You Like It, Good, and Heartbreak House.
His Los Angeles stage credits include Scenes from an Execution at The Mark Taper Forum, Bobby Gould in Hell at The Ashbury Actors Group, Blackout at The Egyptian Theater, and The Malleable at The Beverly Hills Playhouse.
Carlos has also written and directed for the stage. He received an LA Weekly Theater Award nomination for Best Director for his staging of Vaclav Havel’s The Memorandum. He is currently producing two television projects, which he also co-created.
Carlos stars in TNT’s upcoming drama Dallas. He has also starred on CSI: Miami, ABC’s dramatic comedy Scoundrels, but is probably best known for his portrayal of CTU Agent Tony Almeida on Fox’s Golden Globe and Emmy Award winning series 24, for which he received two Screen Actors Guild Award nominations, three Imagen Award nominations and two Alma Award nominations.
About Kickstarter: Kickstarter is the world’s largest funding platform for creative projects. Every week, tens of thousands of amazing people pledge millions of dollars to projects from the worlds ofmusic, film, art, technology, design, food, publishing and other creative fields.
About Nestor Serrano:
Nestor Serrano, a native New Yorker, started his acting career almost thirty years ago at Queens college, where he was studying computer science. Joining the drama club was his attempt to meet new people – what he found was a lifelong passion for the performing arts. Although Nestor has traveled all over the world, he still calls New York his home. He lives in Manhattan with his wife Debbie, his son Spike and two dogs, Blackie the yellow Lab and Elvis.
About Vanessa Marano:
Vanessa Marano started acting in the theater when she was seven years old, performing in numerous plays at A.C.T. in Agoura Hills, California. She began her professional career with several national commercials.
Marano is most recognized for her roles as “April Nardini”, the daughter of “Luke”, in the highly popular show, “Gilmore Girls” (2000) and for the role of “Francesca”, the daughter of the Emmy Award-winning Lisa Kudrow, in the HBO original series, “The Comeback”(2005). Recently, she starred in “Scoundrels” (2010), playing the scheming, school-skipping daughter of Virginia Madsen. She has had recurring roles in shows including “Dexter” (2006), “Without a Trace” (2002), “Trust Me” (2009) and “The Young and the Restless” (1973). Her guest-starring credits include “Parenthood” (2010), “Medium” (2005), “Ghost Whisperer” (2005), “Past Life” (2010), “Six Feet Under” (2001), “Malcolm in the Middle” (2000) and “Grounded for Life” (2001).
She starred as a young girl who becomes a quadriplegic in the critically acclaimed television movie, The Brooke Ellison Story (2004) (TV), directed by Christopher Reeve.
Marano’s first film was the animated hit, Finding Nemo (2003), followed by the independent films, Easy (2003), The Clique (2008) (V), Stopping Power (2000), Dear Lemon Lima (2009) and, most recently, The Secret Lives of Dorks (2013).
Vanessa is working with Lucy Liu on a miniseries, playing the troubled foster teenager, “Imogene ‘Immy’ Hicks” in “Marry Me” (2010).
Vanessa speaks Italian and is enrolled in her sophomore year in college.
