THEATRE CIRCLE - Close Up On

About the Event: 

Creating A Web Series is the inaugural event of the new YCL Theatre Circle series, CLOSE UP ON..., which aims to offer a privileged look at what goes on behind the scenes and behind the camera in the performing arts and moving images. The series will feature screenings,  performances and conversations with Yale alumni working in the industry as actors, directors, producers, writers and heads of departments.

The series kicks off with Yale School of Drama graduates Anna Jones and Jamel Rodriguez, whose creative collaborations span theatre, film and the world wide web on location from NYC to London to LA and back. We will be screening episodes from their web series, MY AMERICA and a bonus short film, THE MECHANICALS OF HEMP.  A curated conversation and Q&A with Anna and Jamel will follow directly after the screening.

MY AMERICA is a narrative time capsule of sorts consisting of six shorts over six Uber journeys, following Lucian, a Black Uber driver, and Carmine, a white retired cop, as they traverse LA in the run-up to the bitterly divisive 2016 election. Shot in the weeks preceding the election, MY AMERICA was written by Jamel and Anna, directed by Anna and originally produced as a web-based series. 

THE MECHANICALS OF HEMP - A fantasia on the theme of A Midsummer NIght's Dream set at Cambridge University and on a hemp farm in Cambridgeshire. The short film is written and directed by Anna and features Harry Enfield as Titania in an ensemble cast that includes Jamel.

About the Artists: 

Anna Jones is a writer/director from and based in London who has also lived and worked in Los Angeles and New York City. Her work crosses the stage and screen. Anna has directed numerous shorts, which have been screend in festivals worldwide, and she was BAFTA LA Newcomer from 2016-2018.She and Jamel Rodriguez are currently developing a pilot, The Reluctant Hipsters. Anna is passionate about bold stories that explore the modern world in form and content.

Jamel Rodriguez is an actor/writer based in London originally from New York City. He has lived and worked across stage and screen in London, New York and Los Angeles. He just wrapped shooting season two of Apple TV's Dickinson and is currently at work writing a pilot with Anna Jones, along with several other pieces in development. He trained at the Yale School of Drama.