About Us: The Story
ACROSS THE AMAZONS
After watching her children die during the smallpox epidemic in Colonial Peru, Isabel Godin decided to meet her husband who had been away in French Guiana for 20-years, but to do so must travel some 5,000 miles across the South American continent. Initially against her family’s wishes, she set off with her core group and dozens of porters on the nearly yearlong journey. One misstep after another splintered her party due to treacherous conditions, abandonment, betrayal, and ultimately death. After a month alone in the rainforest, she met natives who nursed her back to health and helped her reach the mission system where she finally was able to arrive at the mouth of the Amazon River to reunite with her husband. Isabel survived: for love discovering her true inner strength.
Dr. Laura K. Marsh is a writer and tropical ecologist. She has written several screenplays and other works of fiction; over one hundred scientific articles, books, and reports; described five new species of saki monkeys; and lead a successful expedition called Houseboat Amazon to find a monkey that had been missing since the 1930s. She wrote the Nichols' awarded screenplay ACROSS THE AMAZONS while working in the field in the Ecuadorian Amazon! After meeting with Ken Davenport at his New York offices on Broadway, they decided the story was also a natural for musical theater. Laura has since re-worked the film version for the stage adding lyrics and set directions. She wrote the libretto and found an amazing musician to craft songs. The goal is to have the Across The Amazons Project appear on multiple platforms, including large and small screens and the theater.
About Us: The Musical
Kris Maloy
Maloy holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Composition from the University of Texas at Austin, where he studied composition with Pulitzer Prize winner Kevin Puts and band composer Donald Grantham. He has also studied with master teachers Marilyn Shrude and Edward Knight, and the electronic composer Russell Pinkston. His work has been performed at national and international venues, including Carnegie Hall and the Mission Basilica of San Juan Capistrano, performed by groups such as the United States Marine Band and the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble. Kris is an accomplished songwriter as well as a music theater writer and lyricist, and an arranger/orchestrator of many genres of music. His music has been described as “beautifully paced,” and “of great elegance, expansively lyrical” (David LaMarche, New York Concert Review). His work has received many honors and awards in music composition, including (but not limited to): the American Composers Forum, the Minnesota Orchestra Composers Institute, the Cleveland Chamber Orchestra’s Young and Emerging Composers Series, the New York Virtuoso Singers, the Meistersingers, the Choral Arts Ensemble, the Society of Composers, Inc., and ASCAP. As a performer, Maloy has received two Outstanding Individual Achievement Awards in Jazz from the National Association of Jazz Educators for featured performances at the Wichita Jazz Festival, and performs as a saxophonist, pianist, and vocalist. A dedicated teacher, Maloy has taught at the University of Texas at Austin, Oklahoma City University, the University of Central Oklahoma, the UCO Jazz Lab, and the Academy of Contemporary Music (Oklahoma City’s “School of Rock”). His students have gone on to careers on Broadway, in film scoring, in songwriting, and into advanced academic study at the Peabody Conservatory and the Royal College of Music in London. After a move to Colorado in 2015 he founded Gold Lantern Music, an academy in which he coaches students in many styles and facets of music. He is a musical collaborator and composer for ACROSS THE AMAZONS.
Kathleen Edwards
Kathleen Edwards, M.P.S.E. knows the artistic side of theater and music as well as the administrative side. She worked as a Production Consultant for the San Diego Symphony Orchestra, SD Chamber Orchestra, as well as serving as the Special Events Director for the Center Theater Group, Mark Taper/Ahmanson Theater Company in Los Angeles. She prefers, however, being part of the artistic team and performer. She is a violinist who has proven she can play Beethoven as well as the blues, playing with orchestras and bands, a few too many to count. One reviewer from the LA Times called her improvised fills, "especially sweet." She served along side Jay Gravatt as composer-in-residence for the MYE Theatre Company of Los Angeles. They won some critical acclaim for their score for the world premier of CloudCuckooLand. BackStage West said "the score would be ample story telling by itself [and] evokes without mimicking the ethnicities of the stories," while LA Times said, "Jay Gravatt and Kathleen Edwards provide a lush, imaginative score." She was also a violinist with the big band, The Pretty Babies, featuring Zooey Deschanel and Samantha Shelton. She has performed in, as well being part of the composing teams for, well over a dozen theatrical premiers in LA for Zoo District Theater Co, Sacred Fools, and MYE Theater Co. She combines her musical and theatrical background with her extensive sound design skills to create sound-scapes that elevate and underscore the emotional impact of the story. She is excited to be part of this talented team.
About Us: The Film
President of Packaging and Sales
Tiffany Boyle has leveraged her business-oriented sales and packaging skills to bring hundreds of films and documentaries to fruition. Since 2018 alone, Tiffany has optimized clients’ financial and business positions in more than 35 films and documentaries. Tiffany connects filmmakers with producers, co-producers, executive producers, co-finance partners, distributors, agencies and other industry representatives. Recently, she led the sales and packaging for “Tragedy Girls” (SXSW 2017) & “Freaks” (Toronto IFF 2018) and has also served as executive producer on Daryl Wein’s “White Rabbit” (Sundance 2018), “Better Start Running” (Newport IFF 2018) starring Jeremy Irons, “Ashes in the Snow” (Los Angeles FF 2018) starring Bel Powley. Upcoming films include “Something Else” from the filmmakers of “Spring”and “The Endless,” Bethany Brooke Anderson’s feature debut “Burning Kentucky”, and “Arkansas” starring Liam Hemsworth and Vince Vaughn.
Director of TV and Episodic Content
Stuart Arbury draws on his diverse professional background in order to marry the creative and business needs of a potential series and actively help clients navigate an ever changing episodic landscape. Arbury’s background includes executive posts for producers and buyers in television, digital and features. Prior to joining Ramo Law, Arbury was Director of Development at Canvas Media Studios (StyleHaul’s VANITY) and Captivate Entertainment (THE BOURNE IDENTITY franchise). His responsibilities for both included originating and acquiring projects, working directly with writers, actors, directors, representatives, and studio executives. Arbury was also a Creative Executive for Dimension Films, spending two seasons overseeing on-set duties for MTV’s SCREAM series, based on the hit horror franchise. Arbury was previously an assistant to Joe Drake, co-founder of Good Universe (NEIGHBORS, THE NIGHT BEFORE, POLTERGEIST), and Mike Medavoy, chairman of Phoenix Pictures (BLACK SWAN, SHUTTER ISLAND), in both instances working in all aspects of the development and productions of the companies’ feature and television slates. Stuart Arbury graduated from Florida State University in 2007 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Media Production and began his career as production assistant on several series, including ABC’s BOSTON LEGAL and CBS’ GHOST WHISPERER. He also gained experience through several internships, including at Mandeville Films, wrote and performed for The Second City, and co-founded, produced, wrote, and directed for the award winning online channel WolfKnifeTV.