Rough River Lake

PROJECT ACHIEVEMENTS

• Audience Pick Award and Best Short FIlm at the London International Film Festival

• Semi-Finalist of Camera Ambassador Community Builders Grant: June 2020

• The film shot on a SAG-approved, COVID-safe, Queer-Femme led set with 19 Chicago-based artists in October 2020.

• Film completed in September 2021.
  

Current fundraising efforts will go to film festival submissions and finishing costs.

Thank you for supporting work that advances and uplifts Queer, Feminist artists in telling a story meant to spark new insights around the complexities of sharing and cultivating inclusive space.

Creative Team

Mary Tilden (Writer, Director, Actor, Producer) (she/her) is a Chicago-based artist, originally from South Carolina. Her most recent film project Cool for Five Seconds, for which she served as a producer and lead actor, has been featured in film festivals all over the country, including winning Best Illinois Short at Beloit International Film Festival. Mary is a Chicago improviser and theatre artist and is passionate about comedy, narrative storytelling, and creating space for queer, femme voices on film. 

Leah Raidt (Producer, Actor) (she/her) is an actor/director/educator based in Chicago, IL by way of Louisville, Kentucky. She is an instructor at The Green Room Studio and Actors Training Center, where she founded ATC’s College Audition Clinic. Acting credits include work with The Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, American Theatre Company, Cloudgate Theatre, Griffin Theatre, and more. Leah is one of five directors in the inaugural Chicago Director’s Workshop at PROP Thtr. Leah holds a B.F.A from The Theatre School at DePaul University, and is a graduate of The School at Steppenwolf. She is represented by DDO Artists Agency and Heyman Talent. www.LeahRaidt.com

cast

Jyreika Guest (she/her) is an actor, dancer, poet, and intimacy director based in Chicago.She's also the creator of Black Queer+ Voices which is a virtual open mic. Chicago credits include: Lindiwe U/S (Steppenwolf); Frankenstein (Remy Bumppo); columbinus (The Yard Theatre Company); In the Blood and I Saw Myself (Red Tape Theatre); Fly Honeys Show (The Inconvenience Project); The Wiz (Kokandy Productions); Octagon (Jackalope Theatre Company); The Adventures of Robin Hood (Filament Theatre). Intimacy direction credits: Sheepdog (Shattered Globe); Intimate Apparel (Northlight Theatre); The Tasters (Rivendell Theater Ensemble); The Children of Edgar and Nina (The Neighborhood Theatre); Hoodoo Love- Asst. (Raven Theatre); First Deep Breath - Asst. (Victory Gardens). She is proudly represented by Shirley Hamilton Talent.

Juliet Barrett (she/her) is an independent performer and writer based out of Chicago, IL. Her work is an excavation of identity processing themes of the body, pleasure, power, and belonging. Her solo show "Reverse Missionary" premiered in residency with Haven Theatre's Guest House Project in 2019, and continues to be in development in collaboration with creative partner Leah Raidt. Her performance and original work has been featured throughout Chicago at The Fly Honey Show, Salonathon, and The Potluck Variety Hour. She is also a fellow with Jackalope Theatre's Playwriting Lab Fall of 2020. She holds a B.A in Theatre & Drama from Indiana University, and has trained internationally with The Workcenter of Jerzy Grotowski & Thomas Richards.

Jasmine Henri Jordan (she/ her) is a writer, performer, and teaching artist living in Chicago. She is an ensemble member at The Neo-Futurists, a company member at Playmakers Laboratory, and a founding member of Hot Kitchen Collective. She is an Florida State University School of Theatre alum. Her work is overwhelmingly about queerness, Blackness, pop culture, youth, and making messes.

George Elrod (He/Him): Born and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas, George is a Chicago based actor and comedian. George is an understudy for the Second City National Touring company, and performed in Second City’s first original LGBTQ+ pride sketch show, Salute to Pride: Not Safe For Werk, directed by Mick Napier. He is a 2018 NBC Universal/Second City Bob Curry Fellow, and performed on the iO Harold Team, Comet. George is a DePaul University alumni, and soon to be Black Box Acting Academy graduate. Other Chicago sketch comedy credits include Deck the Hallmark (The Second City), Trigger Happy (Annoyance Theatre), Legendary Laughs (The Second City), and Let’s Make this Perfectly Queer (The Second City). You can check out his original web series, Peas and Carrots, featuring his comedy partner, Elizabeth Andrews, at  www.georgeelrod.com. Feel free to follow him on instagram and twitter @XoGossipGeorge

Mike Geraghty (Actor): Mike Geraghty (he/him) is an actor, improviser, and writer. Geraghty is from Reno, Nevada where he graduated from the University of Nevada with degrees in Spanish and Journalism. It is also where he got his start performing stand-up comedy and Hip Hop music. He can be seen in feature films such as The Trial of the Chicago 7 and The Candyman; as well as in TV shows on FOX, NBC, CBS, Amazon Prime, and Netflix. He also performs weekly on stage at the iO Theater with his long running improv teams, Big Spoon and Dumb John; or with his all Spanish speaking Harold team, Heraldo. He has performed in theaters all over Chicago, including The Annoyance Theater, The Second City, CiC, iO, and The Public House Theater. Mike enjoys playing rugby, wrestling, weight lifting, hunting, fishing, reading and writing.

Jose Molina is a graduate of the Second City Conservatory as well as the iO training center. Jose has performed with Second City E.T.C, House Ensemble, and was a veteran improviser with the Del nominated Harold team Big Spoon at the IO Theatre.  Check him out on IG @molijos or twitter @brosemolina for pictures of his dogs and hot takes about rec league basketball. 

• Garrett Kelly

• Gretchen Eng

Crew

Production Sound Mixer: Hardy Willis
COVID Compliance Officer: Tina Smothers
1st Assistant Director / Producer: Ed Tilden
Gaffer: Matt Hatleberg
1st Assistant Camera: Hex Yang
Production Design: Lisa Burton
Intimacy Coordinator: Jyreika Guest
Off Site Food Coordinators: Brittany Devon
On Set Chef: Katherine Duffy
Still Photographer: Tina Smothers
Production Assistant: George Elrod
Post Production Sound: NoiseFloor Inc., Katie Waters, Creative Producer
Post Production Color: Carbon, Laurie Adrianapoli, Executive Producer of Color
Colorist: Ale Amato