After pursuing a Masters degree in English at the University of South Carolina, Matthew spent years living in abject poverty, seclusion and self-imposed exile from any sort of traditional career.  During this time, he became obsessed with films and filmmaking, finally emerging long enough to write, direct and edit  My Sweet Misery.  He is still a recluse.

Ann is a much loved veteran producer of theatre in South Carolina – My Sweet Misery is her first foray into film.  Lawrence Needle is an attorney and a board member for Workshop Theatre in South Carolina.

Cinematographer:  Bill Burton

Bill is a true Renaissance man, having worked professionally as a stand up comedian, musician, and cinematographer.  His work as a cinematographer includes numerous national and regional television commercials and music videos, and he is the regular director of photography for the series Free Radio on VH-1.

Music :  Tim McLendon

Tim has written over 500 songs and recorded several CDs in his prolific career.  He has traveled the globe performing, and he has done work for GMC, HBO and Coca-Cola.  A soundtrack CD for My Sweet Misery may be forthcoming.

Zack Hanks (Sam)

Zach has appeared in the independent feature Come Away Home, several
award-winning short films, off-Broadway and regional theatre, on television in 
"CHUCK" and “Criminal Minds,” and several dozen interactive games.  He is
best known as the voice of “Captain MacMillan” in the hit game, Call of
Duty 4: Modern Warfare.  Currently, he directs and voices interactive game
characters, most recently in Brütal Legend, performing opposite Jack Black,
Tim Curry, and Ozzy Osbourne.  He holds an MFA in Acting from the
University of South Carolina, and is a member of the Screen Actors Guild and
the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.  He resides in Los
Angeles with his wife, actress Laura Simms.

Anna Chlumsky (Chloe)

Anna Chlumsky's New York stage credits include:  So Help Me God! (Mint Theater Company), Unconditional (LAByrinth Theater Company), The Fabulous Life of a Size Zero (DR2), Darwin in Malibu (Bay Street Theatre), The Butcherhouse Chronicles (Summer Play Festival), Balm in
Gilead (Barefoot Theater Company - Member), Half Life (Flea Theater/Fringe Festival), Iphigeneia at Aulis (TimeSpace Productions), Measure for Measure (Astoria Performing Arts Center), No Alarms: Headfullofradio (Veritas Productions), and The Trojan Women (Veritas Productions). Television:  House Rules (CBS pilot), Cupid, 30 Rock, Law & Order, Eight Days a Week (CW pilot) and Twelve Men of Christmas on Lifetime. Film:  In The Loop, My Girl, My Girl 2, Gold Diggers, A Child's Wish, A Miracle in the Woods, Blood Car; the Glamour Reel Short, Wait, and the upcoming The Good Guy and Eavesdrop.

Thomas Jay Ryan (The Therapist)

Thomas is best known for playing the role of Henry Fool in Hal Hartley's Henry
Fool and its sequel Fay Grim.  He has starred in a number of other independent
films, recently co-starring with Tilda Swinton in Lynn Hershman-Leeson's Strange
Culture, and he has taken on supporting roles in such major films as The Legend
of Bagger Vance and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.  On television,
he has twice played Edgar Degas, in Degas and the Dancer and in Mary
Cassatt: An American Impressionist.  In addition to his onscreen work, Thomas
has had a long and wide ranging career on the New York stage.  He is currently
starring on Broadway in the new play In the Next Room.

Christopher C. Cook (Burke)

Christopher is a veteran of over 80 theatrical productions throughout the country.  His regional theatre credits include New York City’s National Theatre of the Performing Arts, Broadway’s Town Hall, the Kennedy Center in Washington, the Chicago Shakespeare festival, the Colorado Shakespeare festival, the Charlotte Shakespeare Company, and the South Carolina Shakespeare Company.  He has been an Irene Ryan and Joseph Jefferson Award nominee.  He is currently the artistic director of High Voltage Theatre in South Carolina, where he has established an annual, regional Halloween tradition with his highly successful adaptation of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

Paige Cooper (Nicole)

Paige has appeared in the films Walk a Mile and Redemption Maddie, and her television credits include High-Jinks and Heartland.  In addition to her work on stage and screen, she is currently teaching theater and film to 140 talented tenth graders at the exceptional Animo Locke 2 Charter High School in Watts in Los Angeles.  Paige is onstage every day and is currently directing her students for their first High School Theater Festival and performance.

Steve Harley (Steve);  Richard Jennings (Jake);  Patrick C. Williams (Patrick);  Jason Craig (“the man”);  Lawrence Needle (sales boss);  Shane Walters (Frank);  Carolyne Smith (waitress);  Bobby Cerutti (security instructor);  Patrick Michael Kelly (hotel clerk);  Dawn Michele Smith (Jake’s fiancee’);  R. Davis Sprankle (young Sam);  Henry B. Robinson (young Burke);  Haley Sprankle (young Nicole);  Jami Steele (Sam and Burke’s mom);  Jason B. Sprankle (Sam and Burke’s dad);  Matthew William Jordan (Dan);  Jacquelyn Burns (Dan’s ex-girlfriend);  Tom Angland (Dan’s supervisor);  Ann Burns (relative at mailbox);  Shelley Louisa Smith (office receptionist);  Latoya Geathers (babysitter);  Houston McMillion (reverend);  Paul Covington (man “bounced” by Burke);  Demetrios Troy (Burke’s parking lot victim);  Nicole Fassl, RJ Wassermann (couple entering restaurant);  Allison Arvay, Jessica Beck, Sumner Mclain Bender, Rachel Budzichowski, Kelsey Chow, Maria Culbertson, Ellen Rodillo-Fowler, Marybeth Gorman, Elisabeth Gray Heard, Kate Humphries, Allison Jones, Allyson Jones, Lynley Jones, Giulia Dalbec-Matthews, Evie Needle, Linda Posey, Stephanie Price (girls from Sam’s past);  Jeannette Arvay, William B. Beck, Ann Burns, Jay Burns, Jennie Burns, Eric Peters, Rob Sprankle, Lou Warth (background actors).

Associate producer – Robert Moran

Casting – Christopher C. Cook, Ann Burns

Unit production manager – Shelley Louisa Smith

Production sound recordist/mixer – Aron Siegel

Assistant camera – Hugh Braselton

Gaffer/first assistant director – Alex Orr

Grips/boom operators – Jason Craig, Jim Griggers

Locations manager – Ann Burns

Wardrobe – Ruth Mock

Makeup – Shelley Louisa Smith

Fight choreographer – Christopher C. Cook

Production assistants – Chip Boyes, Brent Kiser, Lydia Phillips

(POST-PRODUCTION)

Editor – Matthew William Jordan

Assistant editor – Aaron Johnson

Post-production sound mixer – Aaron Johnson

Post-production computer guru – Eric Peters

Color timer – John Peterson

Conform artist – James Koon

Post-production assistant – Camille Reyes

Artwork courtesy of John Budzichowski and Luke Platt

Additional instrumental music layers with Tim McLendon – Robbie Gillum

Movie poster design – Aaron Johnson