Artist Bios:
Dmae Roberts (Director/Writer/Producer) is a veteran writer and multimedia producer whose work often airs on NPR and PRI. Her Peabody-winning documentary, Mei Mei, a Daughter’s Song, is a harrowing account of her mother’s childhood in Taiwan and their cross-cultural differences. Her Peabody-winning Crossing East is the first Asian American history series on public radio. She received the Asian American Journalists Association’s Civil Rights and Social Justice award, a USA Fellowship and Oregon Book Award. Her plays and essays were published in Oregon Humanities magazine, But Still, Like Air I’ll Rise (Temple University Press), Reality Radio (UNC Press), Alexander Press and The Sun Magazine. She has produced five multimedia short films including “Secret Asian Woman” and “Coming Home: The Return of The Alutiiq Masks.” She has been executive producer of MediaRites since 1991 and has led the majority of projects for the organization.
Tammy (T.) Howard (Editor) is a visual artist, actress and emerging filmmaker, who has produced some 3 short feature films and two documentary including her personal story of her mother’s experiences during the Korean War called “Finding Home.’ Her commissioned art has included abstract triptychs and single canvas work as well as installations. She has appeared as an actress in TV shows, movies and commercials for over 20 years such as Leverage, 21 Grams, Suspect Zero, Untraceable, Train Master, Nike, Nintendo, Prefontaine. She was also part owner Superhero Stuff: online and convention booth selling of superhero themed merchandise and designed and managed the store website as well as social media integration, marketing and graphic design. Education: University of Oregon, University of New Mexico and MHCC’s Integrated Media Film Program.
Grant Abbett (Videographer) Need to get this still…
Willow Zheng (Illustrations) creates traditional brush painting and watercolor landscapes and portraits. She got her MFA at the Xi’an Academy of Fine Arts in China. Her work has been shown in China and in Portland at the Classical Chinese Garden, Gresham Juried Art Exhbit and Beaverton Art showcase. She received a RACC commission in 2002 for the City of Portland Public Art. She is a painting instructor at Northwest China council. She survived China’s Cultural Revolution to become an artist and emigrated to the U.S. in 1988. She will work with Roberts and Conser to create illustrations of the more mythological sections of Mei Mei involving a folktale, Kuan Yin and young Mei Mei in Taiwan.
S.W. Conser (Animation Effects) runs the media arts house Conch Communications out of a century-old doctor’s surgery on the flank of a volcano in Portland, Oregon. Conser studied under National Film Board of Canada filmmaker Ellen Besen at Sheridan College, crewed on feature films and commercials in Chicago, and now specializes in animation, storyboards, and concept art in Portland. Recent projects range from character modeling for games, including Leapfrog’s Wall-E and Star Wars titles, to identity, branding, and logo design for an off-road racing company. A longtime radio theater fan turned audio producer, he’s adapted the Jim Woodring stories. Dinosaur Cage and Hour of the Kitten for KBOO-FM, where he also produces and co-hosts the programs The Film Show and Words and Pictures.
Sarah Mora (Photo Effects) (there’s a better term for this…Sarah?)
Clark Salisbury (Web Designer)
Cast:
Wynee Hu is a founding member of MediaRites’ Theatre Diaspora who has appeared in staged readings of “Red” and “Breaking the Silence.” Other credits include “Women of Troy” (dir. Jeffrey Puukka), “Tea” and “A Christmas Carol” (Readers Theatre Repertory), “Going Dental” and “Garbage Days” (Todd Harold Productions), and “Varsity Cheerleader Werewolves from Outer Space” (StageWorks Ink).
Samson Syharath earned his Theatre BA at the University of Arkansas Fort Smith and a certificate from Portland Actors Conservatory. He has worked with Portland Actors Ensemble, Imago Theatre, Portland Shakespeare Project, Shaking the Tree, Portland Actors Conservatory, Lakewood Theatre, and Anon it Moves. MediaRites’ Diaspora Theatre credits include The Dance and the Railroad and Breaking the Silence.
Chisao Hata is a performing artist and peace activist. Her parents were interned during WWII. Her maternal grandparents were from Hiroshima and settled in the Hood River Valley. Her original choreopoems focus on themes of Asian American identity and history. She works in the Portland Public Schools as a dance educator and has an extensive performance resume, including two of Nikki’s Readers’ Theater shows, Breaking the Silence and Most Dangerous Women. She is trained in modern dance/expressive healing arts, physical theatre, taiko, Japanese dance and Art and Social Change with the Urban Bush Women’s Leadership Institute at Tulane University, and the Dance Exchange in Washington, D.C.
Elaine Low has performed in numerous plays and productions by Dmae Roberts including Breaking Glass at Willamette Repertory Theatre, Volcano Embrace at Dreams Well Studio, Tell Me, Janie Bigo and the original stage play of Mei Mei, A Daughter’s Song both at the Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center Theatre.