Hollie Harper – PLAYGROUP Creative Director | Producer
Hollie Harper is steadily rising as a force on the NY indie film and theater scene. A young artist and prolific writer, she’s built an impressive roster of projects and shows no signs of stopping. Her branding as an innovative artist began when she formed her first sketch comedy troupe The Dope Show in 1999. Those productions at The Triad Theatre on the Upper West Side of New York gained her a following that is loyal to this day. Her 2002 play Jack & Jill enjoyed three successful off-off Broadway runs and in 2004, Harper’s play Marry and Burn was selected as a semifinalist in the Samuel French One-Act Play Festival. Her short film Kiss & Run was chosen as an Official Selection in the Urbanworld, Monday Night Short Shorts and the Denver Pan African Film Festivals.
Last year, Harper produced a well-received web series of Jack & Jill based on her play of the same name, which drew the attention of the Writer’s Guild of America in their effort to sign digital artists. Ms. Harper is now a proud member of the WGAE. Her latest venture, the sketch comedy show AMERICAN CANDY, is selling out Gotham Comedy Club in New York and The South Oxford Space in Brooklyn.
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Patranila Jefferson - Director | Producer
A graduate of the film programs at New York University and The New School, Patranila enjoys a diverse career on both sides of the camera as an actor, vocalist, writer and producer. She wrote and directed The Drawing Room for The Theatre Studio’s Short One-Act Festival and her screenplay, Crazy Black Chicks, was recently selected to launch the American Theater of Harlem’s Comedy Reading Series. Patranila’s television appearances include roles on Chappelle’s Show, As The World Turns and The Guiding Light and she can be seen in the indie films Monkeys & Robots, The Saint of Avenue B and the upcoming The Yakuza and the Mermaid.
Always happy to indulge her first love of music, Patranila has toured with the Harlem Gospel Choir as a featured vocalist and recorded two songs for the soundtrack of The Yakuza film. She is also an accomplished voiceover artist working with a diverse roster of clients including Revlon, Tiffany & Co., L’Oreal and American Express. In addition to directing and producing The Play’s The Thing, she is a producer of the sketch comedy show AMERICAN CANDY and performs regularly with the troupe at Gotham Comedy Club in NY.
