Jesse Swenson is a Brooklyn-based writer, musician and filmmaker who started out as an actor. His Broadway credits include ‘Spring Awakening’ and ‘The Addams Family,’ and he’s perhaps best known for portraying Asher Hornsby, the villainous dog-walker from Gossip Girl, Season 1. ‘Alan at Night’ is his first feature as a director. Jesse is a proponent of all things spooky, a proficient skier and an alumnus of NYU’s Grad Film Program. He’s currently developing his sophomore horror film, ‘Myra Nightshade’s Greatest Hits.’ (Launch Pad Top 50, New Blood Quarterfinalist.)

Matthew Thomas Laughter was born in the Bible Belt to two Sunday School teachers. Rebellion had to be quiet. No skinny jeans, no skulls on t-shirts, no going to the skatepark. Sneaking horror films and NC-17 arthouse films was my way of acting out. In that little slice of freedom, I fell in love with elevated transgressive cinema and schlocky horror. I palled around with friends making YouTube videos in college, but always thought of it as just a hobby, a fun outlet. I was on track to become an academic and left my “film stuff” to the weekends. Then, I took screenwriting first semester of senior year and realized that the biggest aspirations I had for my “film stuff” was actually possible. I couldn’t avoid the draw. After that semester, I told myself, “Fuck the Ivory Tower. I gotta give this film thing a shot”. After a couple of short films and working in the “prosumer” world out of college, I decided to get as close as I could to the “real thing”, real production. Without much qualification, I applied to every grip and camera house in Nashville. I landed two part-time positions where I cut my teeth and got on the short list for PA’s in town. After stumbling through departments, I found my place in camera department. Now, I work primarily as a 2nd AC (slater-loader) in the Southeast, but still moonlight as a writer-director.