Cast STUART G. BENNETT (Eugene) - Stuart studied acting at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, VA and at the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, DC. Stuart has appeared in over 30 student films including the award-winning short FINAL STATION, shot on location in Poland. Other film credits include SMOKE SCREEN, THE FAMOUS JOE PROJECT, VICIOUSCIRCLE and THE COMMUNE. An experienced show jumper, Stuart has won several championships with his horse Mayday who appears in EUGENE. Stuart is executive producer of EUGENE. more RYAN REYES (Josh) - Ryan studied Film Production and Literature at UC Santa Cruz. He posts comedy shorts he writes and directs which have been featured on YouTube and MySpace, collecting 7.7 million hits total. He has starred in three other independent films: THINGS YOU DON'T TELL, PARADE and 0's AND 1's. PARADE, which he also edited, was screened at the Torino Film Festival in Italy. Ryan has another starring role in an independent film that is scheduled to shoot this summer. more MEGAN LEE ETHRIDGE (Heather) - Megan starred in sci-fi films such as ALIEN ABDUCTIONS and PREMONITIONS and independent films ALEX AND RO, BRUISE VIOLET and THE ENERGY SPECIALIST . For television, she has appeared on JAKE IN PROGRESS and THE MIDDLEMAN. more DAVID M. HOCH (Mr. Hathaway) - David made his debut as a background artist in THIS HAPPY FEELING with Debbie Reynolds, followed by the pilot episode of the television series version of NATIONAL VELVET, performing in the steeple chase sequence. He also appeared in the foxhunting sequences in MAME and MURDER SHE WROTE as a "whipper-in." He has had extensive show jumping experience both in the "A" Point circuit in the U.S., winning the Jr. Fault and Out Class in Delmar, 1962, among others, as well as in Europe. He was awarded a "Mask" by the Master of Foxhounds, Kildare, Ireland, where he also rode with the nace harriers and the Ward Union Stag Hounds. In addition, David has ridden rough stock in rodeos, trains horses, including movie falling horses, and is a certified scuba diver (direct contact: 818 841.6422). more MICHELE MATHESON (Donna) - Michele is a novelist, actress and musician. Some of her film work includes JOHNNY FLYNTON (Academy Award Nominated Live Short Film), THREESOME and KINGPIN. Television audiences will remember her as Rona Lieberman in LIFE GOES ON and Angela Shostakovich in MR. BELVEDERE. Her first novel, Saving Angelfish, is in bookstores and at Amazon. The Black Tales is the name of her band. Their first EP can be found at Amoeba Records and here. SUSAN SPANO (Leilani) was born down south where she began dancing and modeling as a kid. Desiring more culture, Susan moved to NYC at age 17 to study acting and live in The Big Apple where she started working in theater and in commercials. After spending some time in NYC, working and soul searching Susan decided to drive cross country to enjoy the sunny skies that Los Angeles offers. Recent film work includes Lion's Gate/Marvel Comics feature film DR. STRANGE, Marvel's ULTIMATE ALLIANCE 2 and a new untitled feature film. Susan is very excited for EUGENE, wishes the film much success and is grateful to have worked with all the talent attached. more ZANDER SCHLOSS (David) - Zander is a musician, actor and composer, best known as the bass player for The Circle Jerks and The Weirdos and for his contribution to a number of independent (cult status) feature films. His first appearance was as "Kevin the Nerd" in REPO MAN (a character that was rumored to be the inspiration for NAPOLEON DYNAMITE). He went onto appear in a number of Alex Cox films and made significant musical contributions in other Alex Cox features such as SID & NANCY, STRAIGHT TO HELL, WALKER, EL PATRULLERO and THE WINNER. Zander joined The Circle Jerks in 1984. He departed after two albums to join up with former Clash front man Joe Strummer in London as musical director and lead guitarist/multi instrumentalist on several tours, solo albums and sound tracks. more SIOBHAN TOWEY (Ivy) - Siobhan Towey is presently performing with Immediate Medium performance collaborative in a show called CHUCK CHUCK CHUCK based on the book AS I LAY DYING by William Faulkner. Some film credits include: TRAIL OF CRUMBS (Hoboken Film Festival); EDEN JONES, directed by Eli Rarey; THE FAMOUS JOE PROJECT (Slamdance Film Festival). Theater credits include shows with Shakespeare Santa Monica (LA); The Ontological Theatre (NYC). She was a resident member of The Bat Theatre Co. @ the Flea Theatre (NY) and appeared in various other wonderful downtown theatre plays in NYC. She attended NYU, TSOA: Stella Adler Conservatory and The Experimental Theater Wing. more ALEX VEADOV (Victor) most recently appeared opposite Joaquin Phoenix and Robert Duval in WE OWN THE NIGHT and opposite Kevin Costner in THIRTEEN DAYS. Other memorable film roles include leads or supporting appearances in CONTACT, AIR FORCE ONE, NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH. MONEY DROP, ON EAGLE'S WINGS, FALLING SKY, HOLLYWOOD SIGN, COUNTER MEASURES, PRISONER OF WAR and TERMINAL FORCE.. Television roles including guest-starring in THE CLOSER, EVERYBODY HATES CHRIS, NYPD BLUE, ALIAS, WITHOUT A TRACE, THE SHIELD, WAR STORIES, SEVEN DAYS, JAG, CURSED, COVER ME, among many others. He soon to be seen in Sam Raimi's DRAG ME TO HELL. more   Producers   STUART G. BENNETT (Eugene) - Stuart studied acting at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, VA and at the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, DC. Stuart has appeared in over 30 student films including the award-winning short FINAL STATION, shot on location in Poland. Other film credits include SMOKE SCREEN, THE FAMOUS JOE PROJECT, VICIOUSCIRCLE and THE COMMUNE. An experienced show jumper, Stuart has won several championships with his horse Mayday who appears in EUGENE. Stuart is executive producer of EUGENE. more   ELI RAREY (Producer) is a producer, writer and director. His short film, THE FAMOUS JOE PROJECT was premiered at The Slamdance International Film Festival and won "Best Narrative Short" at the Lisbon Village International Digital Cinema Festival. He is currently writing an original series for Here! TV and is a member of the Adjunct Faculty at USC School of Cinematic Arts Interactive Media Division. more   MARK S. HARTMAN (Associate Producer) Mark is an independent producer based in Los Angeles. He is currently working on an experimental feature scheduled for release in 2009. more   Creative Team   JAKE BARSHA, WRITER/DIRECTOR - Jake Barsha is making his feature film debut as a writer and director of EUGENE, which receives its world premiere at The Palm Springs Film Festival (January, 2009), as the only U.S. film selected for the New Voices/New Visions series of 12 films from new international talents making their first or second films. EUGENE is also an official selection of the San Francisco Independent Film Festival and New Filmmakers New York at Anthology Film Archives, The Independent Spirit Film Festival, and San Diego FilmOUT. EUGENE has been hailed by festival programmers as "A brilliantly disturbing psychological thriller about a lonely bachelor who befriends a young hustler and his girlfriend with disastrous results for all involved...Strong performances - Stuart Bennett in the lead role is particularly fine - support EUGENE's taut script and beautiful camerawork." Jake's other screenwriting projects include PANTYMAN (a dark comedy), LETTERS FROM UDE (a psychological thriller) and DAVID's ASHES (an action romance). Jake started working in the production industry in 1998 as a production assistant and has since become a skilled member of the International Cinematographers' Guild. He worked as a PA on the movies NEVER BEEN KISSED, ED TV, MAMA TRIED, camera assistant on THE LIFE HE CHOSE, HENRY POOLE IS HERE. JOHN FROM CINCINNATI and film loader on JUSTICE, THE NINE, CANE, BACKYARDS AND BULLETS, CRIMINAL MINDS and SARAH CONNER CHRONICLES. Additionally, Jake has worked on over 300 commercials, several music videos, PSA's and TV promos. more Born in London England, Jake arrived in the U.S at the age of 2, living in New York City, Albuquerque, New Mexico and New Haven, Connecticut. He studied creative writing, mass communication and English both the University of Texas and New Mexico State.   MARC LEVY, CINEMATOGRAPHER - Marc Levy is a New Orleans-raised, Los Angeles-based cinematographer. more   JOHN WOOD, COMPOSER - John Clement Wood has helped score a handful of independent and feature films, assisting composers Michael Andrews and with scoring partner Devin McNulty. He has composed the musc for shorts including: Flower of the Holy Ghost (2005) and The Famous Joe Project (2007). Eugene is the first full-length film he has scored on his own. As well as composing for film, Wood has a healther career as a songwriter and performer. In the year between November 2006 and November 2007, Wood wrote and recorded an album a month - occasionally with some assistance from friends. Since the twelfth album was completed, Learning Music has become a live band, performing regularly in the Los Angeles area. more   TERRY KELLEY, A.C.E. Terry has a Masters Degree in Art from California Institute of the Arts, and was trained in editing by two Academy Award winning editors: Neil Travis (Oscar for DANCING WITH WOLVES) and Thomas Stanford (Oscar for WEST SIDE STORY). Terry has developed an outstanding, extremely versatile skill set, having edited network television, studio feature films, independent feature films, documentaries, cable television series and mini-series, commercials, industrials and content for the web (strike.tv). He is conversant with 35mm film, digital editing with the Avid and Final Cut Pro, and has developed new High Definition workflows for Showtime Networks on the critically acclaimed series, BROTHERHOOD. Terry has edited drama, comedy, black comedy, romantic comedy and action, and has an Emmy for Contribution in Editing on the HBO movie AND THE BAND PLAYED ON. more