WRITER/DIRECTOR/PRODUCER
René Ashton is a woman of multiple talents and interests. Her passion for acting has landed her more than 100
commercials and dozens of network television shows.
Not only does René act, she writes her own material. Her first film, the romantic comedy, BE MY BABY starring herself
and Lacey Chabert is available on DVD and television worldwide. In 2010 she had three features optioned which lead
her to form her own production company, Abundant Media, LLC. Since then René has joined the WGA and written and produced three spec television pilots. MILF MONEY, starring herself and Missi Pyle, won 10 out of 13 festivals entered. SPERM DONOR stars Alan Thicke, Missi Pyle, David Liesure, Simon Rex, and René. ACTORS ANONYMOUS, stars herself, Sally Kirkland and Lorenzo Lamas, it won the 3 festivals entered, including an offer for a development deal w/VH1. Her romantic comedy, SHRINK-ISH was just optioned and René will star in the film in 2018. But wait there's more...her comedic drama, BOY’S NAME, is next in the pipe line.
Directing seemed to be the next natural course of things, so René wrote, produced and directed the short film, SERIAL DATER and most recently completed writing/directing/producing/acting in the web series, 40’S AND FAILING.
René has taken another direction with her writing skills, penning books. LIGHTS, CAMERA… YOU! MAKE MONEY DOING TV COMMERCIALS IN LOS ANGELES OR ANY TOWN, USA and HOW TO STOP HATING YOUR EX SO YOU CAN CO-PARENT IN PEACE, are both available on Amazon and in various bookstores.
PRODUCER
Richard is an award winning TV creator/Writer/Executive Producer and the President and founder of 405 Productions, Inc. He has worked in all areas of production and development and brings a strong creative process to all sides of this business including the creation of original formats, competition, game shows and film.
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Richard began his producing career by producing his first short film, “Foursome,” which screened at multiple film festivals around the U.S. He then moved up to co-producing “Wild Heirs” his first feature, filmed entirely on location in Tucson, Arizona. While working on a TV pilot he met the President of Wildrice Productions and was recruited for their development team. He quickly rose through the ranks to become Head of Alternative TV Development & Production at Wildrice Productions. There, he created, developed and sold several projects to Bravo and other cable networks. In addition, he created and sold an original game show format called, Heads or Tails, to 3Ball Productions, which was further developed and produced for channel 5 in the UK with 11 Primetime Episodes. Next, Richard served as Head of Alternative TV Development & Production for Muse Entertainment, USA where he continued to create and produce content for domestic and international markets.
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After 6 years of creating, writing, producing, and directing for other companies, Richard finally found his calling and created his own production company, 405 Productions Inc. Conceived as a boutique production house and a powerhouse development shingle by creating original formats, competition and game shows. Out of the gate, 405 created the hit CW game show and 2013 Rose D’or winner, “Oh Sit!,” where he served as Creator, Executive Producer and Writer on the hit series. He has been in the trenches in development, finance, production and post-production environments. He has a deep knowledge of the industry, an independent and creative spirit and has contributed to major brands across the industry both domestically and internationally.
He is quickly expanding 405 Productions as Richard Joel brands with unscripted and scripted content domestically and internationally. In doing so, he sold a business format to SPIKE TV, produced 13 episodes of “Tainted Dreams,” a 2014 and 2017 Daytime Emmy Nominated scripted series currently airing on Amazon and selling worldwide through Tricon Film & TV, and recently produced the award winning short film, “Page’s Great and Grand Escape” screening in more than 20 film festivals internationally and domestically. “Page” is currently airing on Virgin America and Virgin Australia Airlines for the next 12 months and recently found a worldwide distribution deal. He is a member of the Writers Guild of America and soon the Producers Guild of America.
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DP
Brendan Grant, 23, is an American cinematographer and graduate from Temple University’s film school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After graduating in 2016, Grant launched his career in documentary filmmaking. His first feature film, an action sports documentary called Road to Airventure, was recently released on Amazon Instant Video. Shortly thereafter, Grant had a brief stint in reality television and then transitioned into music video and commercial cinematography. He has lately been DP’ing more narrative pieces, shooting a handful of films that are soon to be released. He has worked with major brands including The History Channel, Discovery Channel, Amazon Video, and New York Post to name a few.
Editor
Shawn Lebert graduated from the film school Savannah College of Art and Design in 2008 where he learned to love the film making process from
conception to completion. From there, moving to the West coast seemed imperative and so he did just that. For the following 7 years - and counting - he found a solid footing within the post-production realm as an editor for film, television, daily news and interviews. He currently focuses on short and feature length narratives as a director, writer and producer.
Thank you for visiting our website. We shot a 6 minute short/proof of concept for the 1st feature. If you'd like to view it, please send us an email.
