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ABOUT THE WRITER
David Chester
Executive Producer/Writer, "Tomoko's Kitchen"
A "real" Los Angeles native, David Chester is an accomplished pianist, songwriter, voice actor, and producer/writer.
As an accompanist, he has provided musical support for film and TV stars at L.A.'s nightclubs, as well as mood music for the city's top improv groups, including L.A.'s legendary Groundlings. His music or lyrics for over 60 pop songs have been recorded by such artists as Richard Marx, Roberta Flack and Deniece Williams, and released by BMG/Victor, Columbia Nippon, Sony, Toshiba-EMI and Warner Brothers (WEA). David has also provided character voices for game software produced by Sega, Namco, and Sony Playstation (including, oddly enough, the "action sounds" for a game featuring Japanese kickboxers!).
While working in Tokyo as a musician he met Philadelphia native Blake Pinter and Flagstaff native William Tyree, both who proved excellent matches for his writing style. David and Blake's quirky comedy feature "Do It Yourself" and comedy short, "At Last, My Love," honed in Sheree Guitar's screenwriting course, placed as semi-finalists in The Chesterfield Screenwriting Competition (2003) and The Writer's Network Screenplay and Fiction Competition (2004); "Do It Yourself" was also a finalist in the 2005 Screenplay Festival Competition. David and William's spec script for "Desperate Housewives" and David and Blake's sitcom pilot, "The DeVols," were both quarterfinalists in The Writer's Network Screenplay and Fiction Competition (2005). David has also written several sitcom specs and a non-fiction novel, and is a proud alumnus of Writers Bootcamp (2005) where he started work on his next comedy feature "Everygirl."
His most recent accomplishment is writing and executive producing the comedy short "Tomoko's Kitchen" (2006) directed by award-winning director Shawna Baca. While the film was in post-production, Shawna pitched David her "Mix-Matched" sitcom idea about two unlikely female roommates. Before she could finish, he knew he had to join forces with her as co-writer. Their collaboration has so far proved to be a success: "Mix-Matched" was chosen from almost three hundred submissions to be one of five original sitcom pilots included in the 2006 Producers Guild Of America Diversity Workshop. David and Shawna were also accepted by the 2006 Fox Television Diversity Development Program on the basis of "Mix-Matched." Things are looking good!
Having traveled the world and lived abroad for several years, David would like nothing more than to use his writing/producing skills to bring his multi-cultural experiences to life in a sitcom series (a long-running one would be nice) and/or features (preferably comedy, because, okay, he'll admit it - he likes to laugh).
Check out his website www.davidchester.com for more information.
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ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
Shawna Baca
Director/Writer
Shawna Baca got her first taste of filmmaking at age six when a production company rented her uncle's house to make a movie. Four years later, her uncle lost her at the wrap party for "One From the Heart," where she met Francis Ford Coppola. When he asked what she wanted to be when she grew up, she answered confidently: "You." He tried to talk her out of it, but she held her ground.
As a young adult, after producing and performing in numerous theatre productions, including Shakespeare in the Parks, Shawna knew it was time to branch out into film. But when trying to choose appropriate projects, she found most scripts she read were missing the substance of the characters she experienced when doing theatre. In her typical confident style, she set out to write her own scripts, with a focus on real stories about real women.
Her first effort, "Impersonal Impression," a short about a rape victim and her unusual hero, won the Slamdance Anarchy Competition in April 2002. Her directorial debut followed with "Rose's Garden," which premiered at the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival in 2003 and won three awards, including BEST FILM and BEST ACTRESS (Tippi Hedren) at the LA TV Short Film Festival.
Following "Rose's" success Shawna wrote and directed "3:52," a 35mm short about a young woman battling alcohol and drug addiction as she struggles with the demons that haunt her. Premiering in 2005 at the Backstage Theater at Sony Pictures in Los Angeles, "3:52" stars America Ferrera (Real Women Have Curves, Sisterhood of Travelling Pants, Lords of Dogtown), Billy DayDodge (Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman, Pennyman) and Solidad St.Hilare (Real Women Have Curves, Maldonaldo Miracle, Full Frontal).
2006 has seen Shawna working non-stop. She directed (and co-created) "Girl, Please!" a talk show pilot about life, love (and fashion!) in L.A., with a hip urban vibe guaranteed, directed and associate produced the 35 mm short, "Tomoko's Kitchen," a tender comedy starring David ("Squiggy") Lander and Cassandra ("Elvira") Peterson, and directed and produced a the feature documentary "On the Pow-Wow Trail," a feature documentary about a Navajo Drum Group, shot on location in Riverside, California.
Shawna is an active member of Ricardo Montalban's non-profit organization, NOSOTROS. She produced the Latin Filmmaker's Showcase in 2003 and 2005, and was the creator and Festival Director for the Nosotros American Latino Film Festival 2004. She has also worked with the non-profit organization, the Aviva Family and Children Services, where she produced the short film, "Man, Where's My Shoe?" The short was created by a group of at-risk youth women living at the Aviva center and won the BROADER VISION AWARD at the 2005 Garden State Film Festival. Shawna also produced and acted in "Dolorosas," which won BEST DRAMA at the 2005 New York Film and Video Festival.
Check out her website www.shawnabaca.com for up-to-the-minute news on her latest projects.
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