ABOUT

An unscrupulous salesman gets a surprise visitor: the Grim Reaper. In order to save his soul, he must perform the “sales pitch of a lifetime,” literally.  Winner, HollyShorts Audience Award (Series), Winner, Best Film Portland Comedy Film Festival, Semi-Finalist LA CineFest, Official Selection TBUFF. 

CREDITS

SCREENPLAY & DIRECTION Kenneth Vatan-Woodall; STORY & PRODUCTION Sheila Vatan-Woodall; PRODUCTION SOUND Mark Kirchner; SOUND EDITING/MIX Justin Van Hout; PRODUCTION STAFF Miranda Wang and Zaid Tabani; POST Christopher Gray, Danielle Elliott, Arman Tahmizyan

STARRING: Rich Finley as Rich Swindle; John Jenkinson as Death CAST; Heidi Appe as Mrs. Swindle; Damian Henderson as Richie III; Kerstin Alm as Grandma; Duane Sincerbox as Grandpa; James Shueller as Angry Man; Jonny Solis as Assistant; Hoss the Dog as the Dog.

AUDIENCE MEMBERS: Taylor Fuentes, Nathanial Vogel, Justyne Lewallen, and Maria Castaneda

SPECIAL THANKS: Marlyn Woodall, Taylor Aslani, Teresa and Mike Vatan, Alison Wunderland, Farrah Vatan, Evelyn Niquette, Arman Tahmizyan, Robert Lydecker, Christopher Gray, Danielle Elliott, Billy and Jana Woodall.

THEMES: Debt of a Salesman explores the nature of personal morality and transgressions from a comedic lens. The main character is forced to reflect up and justify his past actions, and in accepting his faults, may get one last chance to live.

CAST AND CREW

Rich Finley – Rich Swindle
Rich Finley was born in Princeton, WV. Graduated from West Virginia University. His first lead role in a feature film was in 2004’s The Dead of Night playing Keith. In 2007’s Lionsgate release Chill, he had a lead role playing officer Arnold Roberts.

In 2014, Rich played the lead role of Ray Douglas in the cable miniseries produced by Sony/IMAX Dark Secrets. Also in 2014, he played the lead role of Mark in the TV movie comedy Entitled working with longtime director Ellen Gittelsohn.

Also in 2014, he appeared in multiple videos with Buzzfeed, with “If Teachers Were Treated Like Star Athletes” garnering over 12 million views/shares on Facebook. Rich also would begin working with Dreamworks TV, appearing appearing in multiple episodes of I Pranked My Parents. The 2015, the short Operation Divorce won much praise on the festival circuit, drawing comparisons to the “early works of Spielberg for its childlike wonderment”. Rich played the dad to the lead boy.

In 2016’s feature film The Midnight Man, Rich plays Riggs, a mob hit man with an offbeat sense of humor starring alongside Will Kemp, Vinnie Jones, Doug Jones, William Forsythe, Brent Spiner, Steve Valentine and more. Also in 2016, Rich appears as Special Agent Gaines in the feature film comedy Tin Holiday. In the summer of 2016, Rich appears as Batman/Bruce Wayne in the spoof video “If Your Mom Wrote Batman v Superman”.

John Jenkinson – Death
John Jenkinson, AKA- Johnny 3Nutz, is an actor and writer in Hollywood California. Since 2004, he has been earning his living as an actor, after serving in the US Army, and earning degrees in Psychology and Cinematic Arts. He is currently progressing and performing at The Second City Grad Revue after having put himself through “comedy college” starting at ioWest, then The Groundlings, and UCB. He is most recognized from his 3 years Progressive Insurance Campaign as the Progressive Messenger, and many other commercial campaign spokesperson roles including LG, Kwikset, Haggar, Taco Bueno, Moosehead, and recently distinct characters for Dr. Pepper Cherry and Skyy Vodka. Most recent co-star TV appearances include Curb Your Enthusiasm, Fresh Off The Boat, and Beerfest. His most recent work on the feature film Custody Road has gotten high praise from critics and audience alike. He also provides comic relief in his supporting role as Arnie in the suspenseful caper “Cops and Robbers”, starring Michael Jai White, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Tom Berenger, released this year as well. Appleseed, Starring Rance Howard in his final work, is his latest film and will be released this year. Johnny is very active in his community as a member of the Hollywood American Legion Post 43 and avid pool player, and health advocate who grows citrus and avocados at home. You can keep tabs on Johnny or contact him via Youtube or on his FB fan page.

Kenneth Vatan-Woodall – Director
Kenneth Woodall is an author and filmmaker who graduated from USC’s School of Cinematic Arts. He is passionate about telling stories from unique perspectives while shedding light on underrepresented minority voices, filming in places such as South Africa, Costa Rica, and the Philippines.

He has directed advertisements for Skittles, Universal, Nordstroms, and more, and has been awarded best picture at the TBUFF festival for his recent film, “Tallow,” starring Westworld’s Timothy Lee DePriest. His documentary on the unheard voices of the history of Houston is currently airing throughout Texas. He also worked on the Project Involve film “The Coin” which played at the ArcLight Theatre in Hollywood as part of the LA Film Festival and Film Independent. Kenneth has published a series of books, “The Poisoned Apple Fables: the Darker Side of Fairy Tales,” to explore deeper coming-of-age themes through magical realism and fantasy. His books are featured on Amazon, Kindle, and available nationwide at Barnes & Noble.

His feature film screenplay “Transfigure” has been accepted into the 2nd round of Sundance’s 2019 Feature Film Labs and his most recent film, “Debt of a Salesman” has been accepted to the Portland Comedy Film Festival.

Kerstin Alm – Grandma
Kerstin Alm has traveled around the world as a photographer working with celebrities such as Samuel L. Jackson and Neil Patrick Harris. Her work has been featured in national publications such as Variety, Lucire, Metro and more. Kerstin began acting in Los Angeles and has since been a part of numerous stage and film productions.

Duane Sincerbox – Grandpa
Duane Sincerbox was born on January 18, 1941, in Hammondsport, New York. He is an actor and a comedian. He has had four careers. First, 4 years in the United States Marine Corp. Second, he spent 28 years as an electronic engineer at The Stanford Linear Accelerator Center in Menlo Park, California. Third, he started a company in Silicon Valley with a young Canadian entrepreneur. Fourth, at 73 years old he has reinvented himself as an actor and a stand-up comedian.

Hoss the Dog
I am a good boy who likes to play with all animals and people. Because I am so big (fully grown 200 pound Mastiff), people are sometimes scared of me. But in reality I’m like a big stuffed animal – feel free to pet or cuddle with me. However, I will lick and drool all over you if you’re not careful!

Jonny Solis – Assistant
Jonny Solis is an actor and comedian from the Glassell Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. After working for more than three years at a film marketing agency, he left his job to pursue a career in acting. He can be seen in countless television shows from HBO’s Westworld to Netflix’s Love… but you’ll need a magnifying glass and a finger on the pause button (that’s code for “he was an extra”). Jonny has a B.A. in Communication with a minor in Screenwriting from the University of Southern California.

Nathanial Vogel – Audience Member
Nathanial is very excited to be a part of Debt of a Salesman. A native of Glendale, AZ, he received his BFA with an emphasis in Musical Theatre from the University of South Dakota. There, her performed in Brigadoon, Arcadia, Pippin, Bus Stop, Les Misérables, Romeo and Juliet, Young Frankenstein, and Seussical the Musical. He also spent 3 summers at Prairie Repertory Theatre where he played in The Sound of Music, Shrek the Musical, Sister Act, The Full Monty, and Boeing Boeing. After graduation, he toured with the Dakota Players, an outreach program of the Black Hills Playhouse, and took on the role of director/Dr. Catastrophe in The Superhero Show. It was a wonderful opportunity to share his love of the arts with aspiring young artists. Moving to California, he has enjoyed honing his craft in short films as well as making wonderful connections and lifelong friends. He is thrilled to be a part of such an inspiring art community.

Taylor Fuentes – Audience Member
Taylor began his pursuit into acting at John Casablancas’s School for acting and modeling. After graduation, Taylor began working in short films to start building his reputation as an actor. Today, Taylor continues to hone his acting skills at the Extra Mile workshop in Los Angeles.

Justyne Lewallen – Audience Member
Justyne is a law student at the University of La Verne, College of Law, and she has been in love with performing since she was eight. She is president of the Sports and Entertainment Law Society at the La Verne, College of Law this year, and aspires to be an actor and an entertainment lawyer.

Cristina Castaneda – Audience Member
Cristina Castaneda was born in Colombia, Cristina is graduated in translation, she joint the cruise ship industry and after sailing for four years she moved to California. Cristina also studied profesional translation at California State University, Fullerton and also acting classes at Cypress College. Cristina has been working as a backstage actress from 2016 and has participated and many tv series and commercials.
Cristina Castaneda lives in Brea California.

Justin Van Hout – Sound Design and Mix
Justin has been providing music & post-sound services since 2001. He is a certified and accredited Audio Engineer, Sound Designer, Re-Recording Mixer & Sound Consultant, who has provided services for 150+ independent feature length & short films, Academy Award & Golden Globe award winning feature length and short films, award winning television shows, commercials, radio spots, award winning web series’, iOS games, trailers and GRAMMY award

winning recording artists. Justin’s IMDB Page.

 Christopher Gray – Color Grading
After I receiving a Masters degree from UCLA in Theater Arts (motion pictures) I joined the Peace Corps and taught film at the University of Brasilia, Brazil.  Returning to California, I worked in many facets of documentary and education film production and post production. For the last 30 years my company, Christopher Gray Post Production has specialized in video editing and post production support for independent features, documentaries, educational and corporate videos. CGPost.com

Danielle Elliott – Color Grading
I was lucky to grow up with two artistic and creative parents in Seattle, Washington, a town where eclectic and foreign films were abundant and revered. I was always interested in film, from the time I was four years old. I knew a great shot when I saw one – Dustin Hoffman through Anne Bancroft’s legs in The Graduate.  A favorite vision that has kept me company for my entire life and career. As a young teen I was an avid film buff, Herzog, Wenders, Truffaut, Woody Allen, and John Waters were inspiring and influential in the way I saw the world through film. I try to keep them in mind still when editing and creating.

My first job in film was a scenic artist for Roger Corman Studios. I lasted for a couple of years of craziness then ended up in post production at Christopher Gray Post Production where I’ve been since 1999. I do editing, audio mixing, graphics, titles and  technical post production consultation at CG Post and on my own. I specialize in documentary shorts and features.

Alison Wunderland – Producing Team

Alison has worked with Kenneth on a number of films, starting with the Music Video “Leavin’ Footprints” by Chad Van Herk which was selected into the Socal Film Festival in 2012. Since then, she has helped produce the award winning short, “Tallow” directed by Kenneth Woodall, as well as a number of advertisements for various brands. She is also a bassist, who has played with Grammy Nominated Pato Banton, and the band N8VSOUL. You can find more information about her at www.alisonwunderland.com