Fires blazing in Oregon. Hurricanes and flooding happening in the South. DREAMERS under threat of being deported. It is extremely difficult to come back to reality after such a long and amazing weekend among talented and dedicated people that worked on the pilot production of Nonprofit Web Series. And while I am still caring for myself after the long weekend and fighting the overwhelming emotions that my depression and anxiety brings whenever I publicly expose such vulnerable parts of myself combined with the utter BS happening in the world today – I am still filled with compassion, love, and the motivation to continue writing and performing authentic stories that strive to change the hearts and minds of people.

Words cannot fully capture the gratitude I have for our director Dawn Jones Redstone who took a risk with me in bringing this story to life. Only hopping on the project in May, Dawn signed on as a co-writer, director, and producer. After two years of working on this project, grappling with my anxiety over releasing it into the world, and finally admitting to myself that I wanted to perform in it and immediately diving into the deep end with acting lessons, it wasn’t until Dawn joined that we truly took this project to the next level. I’m truly proud of the work we created together and I can’t wait for people to see it!

Thank you to Amy Nieto-Cruz for jumping on board and taking a chance on producing this project! She joined even before reading the script and after meeting only one time, and for that I am truly indebted to your generosity and support. Thank you to the wonderful, dedicated, and badass group of women that made production possible under extreme weather conditions, including Aileen Sheedy, Nora Colie, Sika Stanton, Molly Pettit, Jeanette Li, Jade Harris, Sarah Collins, Lokyee Au, Gaby Tirta Jenkins, Wynee Hu, Margie Rudick and Bonnie Stinson.

Thank you to the funny and talented cast for bringing it with each of your performances Toni Tabora-Roberts, Samson Syharath, Claudia Iao, Billy Boudavong, and Jonathan Miles!

Thank you to all the friends that came out to be an extra including Marilou Carrera, Jake Vermaas, Cameron Whitten, Virginia Luka, Steph Routh, Tamara Lynne, Gaylen Beatty, Cindy Gerber, and so many more.

A special shout out to those that believed in Nonprofit from the beginning – Joe Jiang, Jessica Yen, Candace Kita, June Reyes, and Scott Jung.

I feel truly blessed and honored to have worked with such a lovely and hardworking bunch. What’s next? We’re moving into post-production and will be releasing our collective hard work shortly – keep an eye out!

– Luann Algoso 
Nonprofit Web Series Creator & Producer