Bruce Jennings ("Robert"/Music Composer) has appeared in regional and professional theater in Ohio, New York, Hawaii, Lyon, France and Amman, Jordan. The Way Home is his second film acting project. He appeared as Jonathan Brainin in Seekers of the Statue. "I'm hooked now! Seekers was such a great experience - and such great fun - that I want to do more film than stage acting." Acting is Mr. Jennings second love, the first being music. He has composed and performed music for children and families he calls DadSongs (www.dadsongs.com). He frequently appears in area clubs playing percussion and blues harp. The Way Home is Mr. Jennings' second film-scoring project. He is looking toward more traditional sources for inspiration for his score. "One doesn't have to look too far to find great movie music, especially since some of the greatest film composers of all time are alive today....The greatest of all? The near greatest is John Williams (Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Star Wars, A.I.). But don't ignore Howard Shore (The Lord of the Rings Trilogy), Hans Zimmer (The Crimson Tide, Gladiator), or James Horner (A Beautiful Mind, Braveheart, Titanic). All contemporaries. That's a wonderful thing!"
Mr. Jennings works with high school students with special needs for the Shaker Heights Board of Education. He is married and lives in Shaker with three children and two cats.
Cheryl Eitman ("Rebecca") is thrilled to make her independent film debut in The Way Home and thanks Bruce Jennings and for getting her involved and Peter Gould for taking a chance! Cheryl was most recently seen as Rose in The Secret Garden at Beachwood Community Theater, and performed in the Cain Park production of Fiddler on the Roof last summer. Other favorite roles have included "Yonah" in Children of Eden, and "Marion Paroo" in The Music Man. She sings in the choir at Park Synagogue, as cantorial soloist at The Temple Tifereth Israel and teaches Kindermusik through Kindermusik of Cleveland. Her very favorite role is that of "Mom." Cheryl thanks everyone in her "Village," including her parents, husband Scott, and their girls Blaise, Tanner, Saige and Jolie for their love and support as she pursues her other love!
Joy D. Borland ("Victoria Hamilton") Ms. Borland has worked as an actress and model for over forty years. She moved to Ohio from Florida, where she performed in and directed Murder Mysteries, Dinner Theatre, and repertory theatre projects. Since coming to this area, Joy has worked with the East 1 Playlights Theatre, Tri-C Metro, The Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival, Aurora Community Theatre, Boulevard Theatre, Cleveland Black Box Theatre, Willoughby Fine Arts Center, Maple Leaf Theater, CVLT, and two independent film companies. Some of her favorite roles were Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Aunt Ruth in Marvin's Room, and Gertrude in Hamlet. Joy is the District Media Specialist for the Richmond Heights School District and a member of the Boulevard Theatre Board of Directors and the Shaker Heights Arts Council.
Robert Abrams ("David"). The Way Home is Mr. Abrams second film, but his first feature length motion picture. "Robert is an incredibly smart young man and a natural performer," says director Peter Anthony Gould. "His performance in The Way Home is outstanding. We needed a young actor who could carry an important lead role--he's in almost every scene--and Robert fulfilled that need wonderfully."
Gould "discovered" Robert Abrams in 2002 while teaching a class on filmmaking at the Shaker Heights Summer Theatre.
Eudi Tracey ("Emma") has been a performer since age four, when, with her twin sister, Euni, she sang and tap danced at the old Cleveland Arena in between boxing matches. As the Margolis Twins, Eudi and Euni sang at various venues in the Greater Cleveland area, had their own radio and television shows from the age of 15-18 and on the "old" WXEL TV station as well as on WERE radio. Bill Randle was responsible for their recording, "Tonight You Belong to Me" at age 19 when they became professional under the name of The Tracey Twins. Their national televison credits are The Arthur Godfrey Show and Midwestern Hayride and in every city in which they appeared, they did the local televison shows as well as the disc jockey radio shows, plugging their recordings. The Way Home marks Ms. Tracey's second film appearance.
Aja Martin ("Laura") has been performing since she was in kindergarten but became serious about her acting when she entered the seventh grade. She has performed with such theatre groups as Heights Youth Theatre (HYT), Shaker Summer Theatre and Hawken Players Society (HPS). The Way Home marks her second film appearance. Aside from theatre, Aja loves to sing, dance, play piano, read and hang out with her friends.
Lauren Geber ("Sharon") is a sophomore vocal jazz major at the Manhattan School of Music. She has been performing since age 4 at different theaters around Cleveland. She is an alumnus of Shaker Heights as well as Heights Youth Theatre and The Cabaret Troupe. Lauren is very thrilled to be working on her first movie.
Daniel Anstandig ("Matt") is a newcomer to the visual medium. For over a decade, he has worked in radio at various stations in Northeast Ohio and around the country as a Consultant for McVay Media. Daniel is excited to be a part of The Way Home cast.
Joanna Mitchell ("Jenny") has been involved in theatre since she was 11 years old, and since then has become addicted to performing. She has been under the direction of Dr. Martin Freidman, Mrs. Elizebeth Vokes, and Mrs. Laura Gee. Favorite roles include: Emily Webb in Our Town and Betty in a few scenes from The Crucible. Joanna loves to sing and often drives her sister, Leigh, mad in the process. She also has been playing violin for about five years at the Music School Settlement. This is her first role in a movie and is ecstatic to embark upon the road of film making.
Rick Jennings ("Kyle") works as a host at the Second City Cleveland, and will be attending the University at Albany in the fall. He plans to major in theatre management. Before graduating in June, Rick participated in various aspects of theatre at Shaker Heights High School, including stage and production management, writing, directing, and acting. Rick has appeared in the 2001 independent film CODA, and tried not to bother dad, Bruce, while he was memorizing lines for Seekers of the Statue. Rick would like to thank all his friends as well as Kelly Myers for all the guidance over the years at Shaker, and Jerry Springer for setting the bar so darn high.
Peter Anthony Fields (Director/Editor/Producer/Co-story) The Way Home is Peter Anthony Fields' second feature film. He has directed a total of fourteen productions (short films, medium-length features, independent features, television commercial, short documentaries, special productions) since 1990, including: "Martin Luther King Jr.: A Beloved Community" (2004--produced for the City of Shaker Heights), Seekers of the Statue (2003), and The Walk (1996). Additionally, Mr. Fields is the director of the Performing Arts Group for the School Age Care program of Shaker Heights where he has directed children, ages seven through ten years, in original motion picture adaptations of Cinderella (2002), Pinocchio (2003), and Aladdin (2004).
Evonne Fields-Gould (Screenwriter/Co-story/Producer/Production Manager) has worked as writer/co-writer, producer, and production manager with her son, Peter Anthony Gould, on the short films, "Out of Nowhere", "Through the Window", "Another Place", and "The Lantern and the Well", and the feature film The Walk. Ms. Fields-Gould has also written the television commercial for N-Styles Clothing Store, as well as the documentary-style productions for Christian Family Outreach and St. Michael's Church. She has also written and performed in several radio plays produced by Little Beth Entertainment that aired on 88.7 WJCU.
Laura Mankowski (Director of Photography) attends Ohio State University majoring in technical theatre. Ms. Mankowski has had extensive experience working with lights at the Dobama Theatre in Cleveland Heights. The Way Home is Ms. Mankowski's second film as a director of photography.
Elizabeth Gould (First Assistant Director/Property Master) has been working with her brother, Peter, and mother, Evonne, since the age of 3, beginning with the short film "Another Place" and continuing with the feature film The Walk (in which she has a cameo appearance), a television commercial and two documentary-style films. Ms. Gould has also written a radio play which aired on 88.7 WJCU and performed in several others. The Way Home is Ms. Gould's first film as an assistant director. The company, Little Beth Entertainment, Ltd., is named after her.
Cornelius Gould IV (Post-Production Sound Designer/Mixer) is the Senior Staff Engineer for Infinity Broadcasting in Cleveland, and chief engineer for 88.7 WJCU. Mr. Gould (Peter Gould's older brother) created and manages the internet radio station, LegatoCafe.net. He has worked in Cleveland radio for close to 20 years; The Way Home is his second outing as sound mixer for a motion picture.