Mara Lesemann
Playwright and Screenwriter
Upper Left: Mara at the Getting In shoot in LA; photo courtesy of flickr.com/photos/elainelayabout
Top row: Nikiya Palombi and Carlo Fiorletta in Forclosed.
Second row: Doug Sakmann with the “dead” bodies of Xavier Rodney and Nikiya Palombi.
Left center: Mara with Action on Film Festival Founder Del Weston at the 2009 AOF Fest in Pasadena, CA.
Lower Left: Carlo Fiorletta and Laura Thies in A Temporary Cat.
Click here to read Martin Denton’s review of A Temporary Cat
Click Here to see the trailer for
Jump Start
Click Here to see Mara Lesemann interviewed by Earl Nulton at the Indie Gathering Film Festival.
Related links:
Affiliations:
Secretary/Treasurer, Guild of Italian American Actors (GIAA), formerly the Italian Actors Union (IAU)
Director, GIAA Festival of Short Films and Videos
Member, Dramatists Guild
Movies
Larralley Productions and Swordfish Films are co-producing Mara’s horror short Foreclosed, which began production in late August. Jeff Bellantine is directing; Carlo Fiorletta, Nikiya Palombi, and Xavier Rodney star. Special effects are by Doug Sakmann of Backseat Conceptions.
The Seduction of Eve, for which Mara wrote the screenplay, is an official selection of the Action on Film Festival (AOF) Fest - see photo at left - in Pasadena, CA; the The Indie Gathering in Cleveland, OH; and the Media (PA) Film Festival. Eve was directed and produced by Jeff Bellantine for Swordfish Films. Nikiya Palombi stars as Eve, with Dave Sykes as Billy and Benjamin Kanes as Kevin.
Larralley Productions, which Mara founded in 2007, recently produced the comedy/horror short Lactoxity, which was written and directed by Carlo Fiorletta. Lactoxity features Jessica Colotta, writer/director Fiorletta, and Simcha Borenstein. John Kotsalos is the DP. It is an official selection of the AOF (Action on Film) Festival.
Larralley’s second production - Nipple Nazis - premiered at the Backyart Film Festival in Brooklyn (NY) and Dublin, Ireland in March 2009. It was writted and directed by Carlo Fiorletta, and features Troy Dane and Simcha Borenstein. Nipple Nazis is an official selection of the Indie Gathering Film Festival, where it took second place in the Mico Movie category.
Mara’s short Jump Start premiered at the Action on Film Festival (www.aoffest.com) in Pasadena, CA in July 2008, where it was nominated for the Best Dramatic Short award. It is also an official selection of the Indie Gathering, the Washougal (WA) International Film Festival, the Wildwood-by-the-Sea (NJ) Film Festival, and the Geneva (Illinois) Film Festival.
Jump Start was directed by Laura Thies, and stars Paige Lussier, Carlo Fiorletta, and Lori Kee; it was produced by Larralley.
Mara’s short comedy screenplay Getting In won An Abbreviated Screenplay Contest in July 2007, and is in post-production with Silver Penny Productions. Ted Gianopulos directs; Richard Varga stars with Sara Fernandez and Brian Jacobs.
Stage
Click here to see Mara’s comedy sketch Curfew - it’s about Joseph and Mary raising Jesus in 21st century America. It was recorded live at Niagara Bar in NYC, and stars Carlo Fiorletta and Donna Castellano.
The romantic comedy A Model Girlfriend premiered on Sunday May 17 as part of the Where Eagles Dare 10 Minute Play Festival. Mara wrote and directed; Carlo Fiorletta and Laura Lamberti starred.
Mara’s one act play A Temporary Cat premiered at the Producers Club in Manhattan in March. It was directed by Carlo Fiorletta, who also played Harry the Cat (see photo above). Laura Thies starred as Tempa; the rest of the cast included Ian Dunn, Lori Kee, Susan Camparo, and Heather Lee Rogers. Martin Denton’s review is here.
The screenplay version of A Temporary Cat was an official section of the Action on Film Festival, where it was nominated for the Hollywood Scriptwriter 2008 Written Word Award. It also took first prize in the short fantasy category at
the Indie Gathering in Cleveland.
Getting In was also a finalist in the Writers Place Short Screenplay Contest and won the Artistic Vision Prize from the Gimme Credit Screenplay Contest.
Her full-length play The Fertility Factor was produced off-off-Broadway
in July 2005. Her short plays Sunday with Albert and Mandy, Getting
In, and The Promotion have all appeared in the Riant Theatre’s Strawberry One Act Festival.
About Mara
Mara attended Brown University and received a BA from the
New School, with a concentration in Media Studies and Film. She’s the Secretary/Treasurer of the Guild of Italian American Actors (www.giaa.us ) and the director of the GIAA Festival of Short Films and Videos (www.giaafilmfest.com).
She lives in Jersey City, NJ with her husband and their four cats.
E-mail:
Above: Mara being interviewed by PJ (left) and Earl Nulton at the Indie Gathering in Cleveland, OH
