From Cleveland, For Cleveland Series!
Date & Time
Sundays from 08/28/2022 to 12/18/2022
6:30 pm - 8:15 pm
Location
Capitol Theatre
1390 W 65th Street
Cleveland, OH 44102
Age
Any
About this Event
From Cleveland, For Cleveland is an interactive virtual conversation with incredibly talented people in the film industry! We believe that the best way to forge the career you want, is to learn from those who have been successful doing what you aim to do! Get ready for an unforgettable night, hearing from some of the absolute best in the business!
Events will be held at the historic Capitol Theatre and proceeds to benefit the Greater Cleveland Film Commission!
Doors open at 6:30, Interactive Conversation begins at 7:00!
As a Series VIP you will receive
-VIP Ticket to all 6 events
-Early access to reserved VIP seating
-The opportunity to submit a question and ask it LIVE!
-Custom VIP lanyard
-Free small popcorn at each event
-Entered into a drawing to win the celebrity gift basket!
Event Schedule
August 28th- Paul Raci
September 25th- Mark Waters and Dina Spybey-Waters
October 30th- Alan Ruck
November 20th- Tom Hanks
A limited number of series tickets are available that include admission to ALL 5 events! Single event tickets are also for sale!
MEET OUR GUESTS!
Paul Raci’s love and passion for music started at a very early age. The firstborn son of Deaf parents, they were concerned that with only ASL communication in the home there would not be enough auditory stimulation to model speech for him. So they bought a radio, record player and a TV. And sometimes all three were blaring at the same time. Sinatra, Elvis, Paul Anka, Otis Redding, and James Brown were constantly playing in the house. In high school, when the Beatles arrived, Paul ‘s Deaf Mother bought him his first guitar. When he made his first recording, he remembers putting the 45 RPM record on the turn table, and his Mom putting her hands on the stereo, to feel the vibration, and then signing to Paul “Beautiful” When Paul was drafted in the Vietnam war, he joined the US NAVY and did two combat tours on the U.S.S. Coral Sea ( an aircraft carrier ) as a Hospital Corpsman. When he returned, he started ROCKY, a band with influences of David Bowie, Led Zeppelin, and Aerosmith. The Band became a favorite in the Chicago music scene. Paul’s mom would often sneak into a venue where ROCKY was playing and made friends with everyone from the bouncer at the door to the bartenders.
Attending the University of Illinois on the G.I. Bill, Paul started to explore acting and the theatre. He was involved in countless productions in Chicago as a sign language interpreter as well as starting his own company, The Immediate Theatre, as an actor, where he was nominated for a Jefferson Award for his performance in Children of a Lesser God. He also started to explore “shadow signing” with his partner Joyce Cole at the Kentucky Shakespeare Festival and would often be interpreting four different plays in rep at a time.
Paul Raci is a Veteran, a CODA, (Child of Deaf Adults), a Court Certified American Sign Language Interpreter, a musician, and the lead singer/signer for the Hands of Doom ASL Rock Band, a Black Sabbath Tribute Band. In LA, as an Actor he has done over 10 productions with Deaf West Theater, including Of Mice and Men, Medea, Equus, A Christmas Carol, and most recently the acclaimed award winning production of David Mamet’s American Buffalo in ASL. Paul has been seen in many TV shows including Baskets opposite Zach Galifnakis, Goliath opposite Billy Bob Thornton, and Parks and Recreation opposite Amy Poehler.
Most recently, Paul can be seen in Sound of Metal, with Darius Marder writing and directing, starring opposite Riz Ahmed and Olivia Cooke. Paul considers himself to have a Deaf Heart. Being a part of Sound of Metal has his Deaf Heart overflowing with Gratitude.
A petite, stage-trained blonde adept at portraying naive or off-center characters, Dina Spybey Waters first came to prominence in and won a Daytime Emmy Award for the leading role of an underage teenager in the fact-based HBO special, Lifestories: Families in Crisis: Public Law 106: The Becky Bell Story (1992). In 2000, she married director Mark Waters and eventually changed her professional name to reflect their union. The two collaborated on several projects, including Freaky Friday (2003) and HBO First Look: Just Like Heaven (2005). In the latter film, she delivered one of her best performances as Reese Witherspoon‘s protective, married-with-kids sister, veering adroitly between her trademark high-pitched comedic energy and convincing emotional moments.
Waters earned a B.F.A. in Acting from Ohio State University and an M.F.A. from Rutgers University, before beginning her career on stage. She had appeared in numerous Broadway and off-Broadway plays, including Alan Ball‘s “Five Women Wearing the Same Dress”, for which she earned a Theatre World Award for Outstanding New Talent, “Blue Light” and “The Shawl”, both directed by Sidney Lumet, and “The Iceman Cometh”, opposite Kevin Spacey.
Mark Waters was born on June 30, 1964 in Wyandotte, Michigan, USA. He is a director and producer, known for Mean Girls (2004) 500 Days of Summer (2009), Vampire Academy (2014) and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (2009). He has been married to Dina Spybey-Waters since November 10, 2000.
Alan Ruck is an American actor. Born in Cleveland, Ohio and raised in Parma,
Ruck became interested in the theater during high school and studied drama at
the University of Illinois. Ruck began his career in Chicago primarily on stage
as well as doing a few small parts in movies. He moved to New York in 1984
for his Broadway debut in “Biloxi Blues”. Ruck has over 100 film and
television credits and can currently be seen in “Succession” on HBO.
Some of his most memorable credits include “Twister” “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” “Speed” and “Star Trek: Generations”
TOM HANKS is an award-winning actor, producer and director. One of only two actors in history to win back-to-back Best Actor Academy Awards, Hanks has starred in over 40 films, including FORREST GUMP, SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, CAST AWAY, BIG, PHILADELPHIA and A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD. With his production company, Playtone, Hanks has produced several award-winning TV series and films including JOHN ADAMS, BAND OF BROTHERS and OLIVE KITTERIDGE, MAMMA MIA, and GREYHOUND. Hanks has received AFI’s Lifetime Achievement Award, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s Cecil B. DeMille Award, a Kennedy Center Honor, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
To say Monica Potter has played a variety of roles in life is an understatement. She’s an actress, producer, entrepreneur, inventor, designer, decorator, homemaker, and mom. And with every project, she brings passion, drive, creativity, and plenty of humor.
Distinctly identified by her portrayal of Kristina Braverman, Monica starred in six seasons of NBC’s acclaimed drama series “Parenthood.” Her emotional performance led to a 2014 Golden Globe nomination, a 2013 Critic’s Choice Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama, a TCA Award nomination for Individual Achievement in Drama, and endless parenting questions by the show’s enormous fan base.
Before she left her mark on television, Monica exploded onto the big screen opposite Nicolas Cage in Michael Bay’s “Con Air.” She followed that up by starring with Robin Williams in the acclaimed feature “Patch Adams” and then with Morgan Freeman in the thriller “Along Came a Spider.”
Other bio-worthy credits include “Boston Legal”—which garnered a Screen Actors Guild nomination for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series—TNT’s “Trust Me,” the CBS Miniseries “Reversible Errors,” “The Young and the Restless,” CBS drama “Wisdom of the Crowd, the blockbuster horror classic “Saw,” and the comedies “Head Over Heels” and “I’m With Lucy.”
Monica’s most recent television project was on Amazon’s “Goliath”. She was also seen in a docu-series for HGTV that tracked the emotional and hilarious renovation of her childhood home—starring her favorite ensemble cast… her family. Notably, Monica can be heard on QCode Media’s most recent serialized fiction podcast “Classified” in the role of Doctor Bell.
Monica and her family reside in Los Angeles, California and Cleveland, Ohio.