Real-Life Husbands Nominated for 2015 LGBT Iris Prize for CHARLIE Film

It was announced today that "charlie" has been short listed as one of 30 films in competition for the highly coveted Iris Prize, which is the world's biggest award for LGBT short films. The Award will be presented at the International Iris Prize Festival from October 7 - 11, 2015 in Cardiff, Wales.

Real life husbands John Ainsworth and Shawn Ryan will be in attendance at the festival with high hopes and as Ryan says, "It is truly an honor just to be nominated." Ryan has previously won the Best Actor award for his portrayal of the lead character Charlie, a young man who goes hysterically mute and does not speak for the majority of the film. Ryan, who also wrote and directed the film, says, "I couldn't have done all those jobs without the amazing Director of Photography, Kelly Jones and my Producer and the best husband in the world, John Ainsworth."

Ryan and Ainsworth have been legally married for 7 years, having been one of the 16,000 people to marry in California in the small window of legality. "Each day I wake up next to an amazing man, with an amazing career, and thank my lucky stars. How any of this could threaten anyone else's marriage is beyond me." Ainsworth's biggest project to date is the re-enactment of the entirety of the Proposition 8 Trials with Producing partner John Ireland. "When they wouldn't allow cameras in the court room, we decided to get a Youtube channel, some wonderful actors (including Academy Award Winner Tess Harper) and made the longest Independent Film in history," says Ainsworth.

Whether it's fighting for equality or shining a light on the stories of LGBT, Ryan and Ainsworth (Shawn-John as they are commonly referred to) are making waves and fans alike with their new film, "charlie". The winner of the Iris Prize will be announced at the Iris Awards on Sunday, October 11, 2015.

About the film... No one ever listened to charlie, until he stopped talking. 'charlie' is the story of a young man who goes hysterically mute when choosing to leave his abusive past behind. It's Christmas Eve as he stumbles upon the Sanderson family who take him in as their own. Charlie's silence acts as a mirror for the Sanderson family who discovers what bravery, compassion, and accepting one's self are all about. Starring Shawn Ryan (Bones), Jim O' Heir (Parks and Rec), Mo Collins (MADtv), and Golden Globe Nominee Andrea Marcovicci.

Biographies for Cast/Crew:

WRITER/DIRECTOR/LEAD ACTOR:

Shawn Ryan - charlie is written and directed by the film's star, Mr. Shawn Ryan. Having what the New York Times called "a charm that is rare," Shawn Ryan is one of the promising young Actor / Writer / Directors of today. Since making the semi finals on "America's Got Talent" Shawn's star has continued to rise. Ryan has been seen on CBS' "The Mentalist" for which he received a GLAAD Media Award Nomination, appeared as the gender bending Drag King, Karen Adams in ABC's "Women's Murder Club," Logo TV's "One Night Stand Up" and most recently, Ryan was seen on the hit FOX Show "Bones" starring as Destiny Childs/Lloyd Egan. He has directed for the stage and makes his short film debut with charlie as a writer/director. He is married to Actor/Producer John Ainsworth for the last 14 years and resides in Los Angeles. Twitter: @TheShawnRyan Site: www.Shawn-Ryan.com

CAST:

Andrea Marcovicci - ANDREA MARCOVICCI - Film credits include: "The Front" (nominated for a Golden Globe Award) with Woody Allen, (directed by Martin Ritt), "The Hand" with Sir Michael Caine (directed by Oliver Stone), "The Stuff" with Michael Moriarty, "Spacehunter" with Peter Strauss, "The Canterville Ghost" with Sir John Gielgud," "Jack the Bear," as Danny DeVito's wife, and two Henry Jaglom films - "Someone To Love" (featuring Orson Welles in his last film appearance) and "Irene in Time," Her many television appearances include "Arli$$" for HBO, "Cybill," "Taxi," "Magnum P.I.," "Hill Street Blues," "Trapper John, M.D.," and "General Hospital," among others. She's appeared on and off-Broadway including as Ophelia to Sam Waterston's "Hamlet" for "Shakespeare in the Park." In addition, Andrea has created over 35 nightclub acts and has appeared at THE WHITE HOUSE as well as CARNEGIE HALL, THE LICEU OPERA HOUSE, BARCELONA, and PIZZA-ON-THE-PARK, LONDON. Her work had been commissioned by LINCOLN CENTER, THE CAROLINA BALLET and THE SAVANNAH MUSIC FESTIVAL. Andrea holds the record - an unprecedented 25 seasons - at the legendary Oak Room of the Algonquin Hotel, and was the final performer ever to grace that stage.

Mo Collins - Mo Collins was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. She attended Dudley Riggs Brave New Workshop, honing her improvisation and sketch-writing skills. After many theater productions, dozens of commercials and two films, including Jingle All the Way, she moved to LA. Within a year, she landed her big break on MADtv. Mo is currently (2010) living with her 15 year old son in Los Angeles.

Jim O'Heir - Jim O'Heir is best known for playing Jerry Gergich on the hit NBC show Parks and Rec. He was active in the Chicago theater during the 1980s and 1990s as part of the theater group White Noise, and appeared in such plays as The Book of Blanche, Stumpy's Gang and Ad-Nauseam with the group. O'Heir has appeared in several films and made guest appearances on such shows as Friends, Boston Legal, Malcolm in the Middle, Star Trek: Voyager, ER and Parenthood. In 2000, he starred in a regular role in the Comedy Central series Strip Mall as Harvey Krudup, the unattractive husband of protagonist Tammi Tyler, who was played by Julie Brown.

Nick Rhys - Some young boys want to be firemen or baseball players or superheroes when they grow up. Nick knew from the age of seven that he wanted to be an actor, and it remains the one and only career ambition he has ever had. However, he was raised in a place just about as far away from Hollywood as it's possible to be in this country- Portland, Maine. Despite being geographically challenged, Nick soon began taking acting lessons and performing in local theater productions at the age of nine and winning his middle school talent competition by doing a solo of the famous Napoleon Dynamite dance. As a teenager Nick gained additional knowledge of the business by tagging along with his father while he interviewed filmmakers such as Francis Ford Coppola and Ben Stiller for his magazine, MovieMaker. Nick continued acting in Portland until his family moved to Los Angeles when he was 16. Since moving to LA Nick has acted in numerous short films and recently graduated from the prestigious Joanne Baron/ DW Brown Studio in Santa Monica. He is currently represented by Bold Management.

Chris Conner - Chris Conner is a stage and screen actor born and raised in Silver City, New Mexico. He moved to Houston, Texas at age 15 where he discovered a talent for acting. He has appeared in multiple TV shows and films since receiving a B.F.A. in Acting from Carnegie-Mellon University, most notably "Gods and Generals". He resides in Pasadena, California with his wife, actress Erin Way.

Nancy Kimball - Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, Nancy Kimball is a student at Oakland School for the Arts' School of Theatre where she is involved in many productions, most recently Anton Chekhov's The Three Sisters and the 2014 New Works Festival. Her film credits include Charlie (Amanda), Holden (Margot), Knowing Nothing Cold (Nancy), and Raise Your Kids on Seltzer (Chloe). Nancy will graduate from OSA in 2016.

CREW:

John Ainsworth | Producer - John Ainsworth's theatre Credits include, Marcus G. (u.s.), "Yellow Face" (World Premiere) Center Theatre Group/The Public Theatre. Reprising his role as Billy Bibbitt in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", at the Rubicon Theatre Company after earlier performing the role at The Theatre District at The Cast as well as performing the lead in the West Coast Premiere of "Carpe Dream". Film credits include the independent feature film "Nate & Margaret", opposite Natalie West, and shorts Looked "Like Bliss", "August Peaches", "In Discretion", "Roommate Revenge", and "True Love". Recent TV credits include CBS's "The Bold & The Beautiful", F/X's "Justified", ABC's "Grey's Anatomy", Fox's "Justice", NBC's pilot "Haskett's Chance", opposite Cary Elwes, and "Next Action Star" produced by Joel Silver. Other: John is the Co-Founder & Producer of the Young Actors' Theatre Camp with his partner, Shawn Ryan.

Kevin M. Slee | Producer - Kevin Slee is a Los Angeles based director/producer beginning his career as a Development Executive at David Foster Productions where he developed numerous projects - most notably with Universal and The Weinstein Company. In 2013, Slee began work at Bully Pictures developing and financing features as well as participating in their commercial production operations. He recently produced The Sublime & Beautiful, which premiered at the 2014 Slamdance Film Festival, and is currently developing One Night Right with Queen of Carthage director Mardana Mayginnes. Slee is repped by attorney Matthew Wallerstein of Hirsch/Wallerstein.

Geralyn Flood | Casting Director - Geralyn Flood has worked on projects for ALL of the major networks in the industry: ABC, NBC, CBS, The CW, The WB, ABC Family, Disney, Nickelodeon, and others. Previous TV credits as Jeff Greenberg's Assistant include Frasier, According to Jim, I'm With Her and the fabulous Baby Bob. During her 4 years at Zane/Pillsbury casting, some highlights include Casting Director on the Disney pilot, GOOD LUCK CHARLIE and as the Associate on the usa network pilot,White Collar and Gary Unmarried, as well as countless other unseen pilots. In addition to her TV credits, Geralyn has worked on indie and studio films including three Mark Waters features (with Marci Liroff)- as an Assistant on Just Like Heaven, an Associate on The Spiderwick Chronicles and a full Casting Director on Ghosts of Girlfriends Past starring Matthew McConaughey and Jennifer Garner. Geralyn did all 4 seasons of the Nickelodeon show BIG TIME RUSH and is currently doing the new Nickelodeon show, 100 Things To Do Before High School!.

Pictured: The real-life husband team of Shawn Ryan and John Ainsworth at the Sundance Film Festival, 2015 with the film "charlie".

To post a comment, you must register and login.