Ryan J. Haddad stars in The Netflix series - The Politician . He is an actor, playwright and autobiographical performer based in New York. His acclaimed solo play Hi, Are You Single? was presented in The Public Theater’s Under the Radar Festival and continues to tour the country. Other New York credits include My Straighties (Ars Nova/ANT Fest), Noor and Hadi Go to Hogwarts (Theater Breaking Through Barriers), and the cabaret Falling for Make Believe (Joe’s Pub). Regional credits include The Maids, Lucy Thurber’s Orpheus in the Berkshires (Williamstown Theatre Festival), and Hi, Are You Single? (Guthrie Theater, Cleveland Play House, Williamstown Theatre Festival). Television credits include “Bull,” “Madam Secretary,” and “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.” Haddad has performed original work at La MaMa E.T.C., the New Museum and The LGBT Center of New York City. His plays in development include Good Time Charlie and Dark Disabled Stories. He is a member of The Public Theater’s Emerging Writers Group and a former Queer|Art Performance and Playwriting Fellow under the mentorship of Moe Angelos. Learn more at www.ryanjhaddad.com and follow him on social @ryanjhaddad.
EPISODE 167- LANG LEAV
With over two million followers worldwide, Lang Leav is a leader in modern poetry. She is an international best selling author and the winner of a Qantas Spirit of Youth Award and coveted Churchill Fellowship. Her books continue to top bestseller charts in bookstores worldwide. She is the author of 7 volumes of poetry and 2 novels. She lives in New Zealand with her partner and fellow author Michael Faudet.
Photo Credit for Ms. Leav - Carolyn Haslett
EPISODE 154- LESLIE DIXON
For more than thirty years, screenwriter Leslie Dixon has been writing some of the seminal comedies of our time—from Mrs. Doubtfire to Overboard—imagining into existence iconic characters who have been brought to cinematic life by the greatest comedians. And, as if that weren’t enough, Dixon has also kept audiences on the edge of their seats with smart and suspenseful screenplays like Limitless and The Thomas Crown Affair. Some little known facts about Leslie Dixon:
Dixon was raised in San Francisco by a single mother. She recalls, “My delightful mother just laughed when I was rude, or bratty. I grew up to be rude and bratty.”
Dixon knew no one when she moved to Hollywood at 26. She worked as a secretary and wrote a script on the office computer in secret.
Dixon is the fourth highest grossing female screenwriter of all time, more successful than Nora Ephron. (“But we don’t gloat at the dead.”)
Photographer Dorothea Lange and painter Maynard Dixon were her grandparents. She notes, “Both my grandparents’ work goes at Sotheby’s for a million, but these artists made no real money in their lifetimes.”