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Trash Panda (Pilot)

Trash Panda is a female driven sketch comedy, from our actors, writers, director, and editor. Our pilot consists of multiple sketches and call backs, that are filmed in different styles, from Horror to Film Noir. With Angels, Aliens, Clowns, and Pandas, there's a sketch for everyone.

Marissa and Fee have been creating comedy together ever since the 2020 shut down. All they want to do with their comedy is heal their own trauma, release endorphins in people's brains through laughter, and uplift other (particularly femme/female-identifying) artists while they're at it.

  • Dean Berdusis
    Director
  • Elizabeth Laidlaw
    Director
  • Fee Basanavicius
    Writer
  • Fee Basanavicius
    Producer
  • Marissa Chastain
    Producer
  • Fee Basanavicius
    Key Cast
    "various"
  • Marissa Chastain
    Key Cast
    "various"
  • Scott Sawa
    Key Cast
    "Various"
  • Amy Nico Schwartz
    Key Cast
  • Anthony Milfelt
    Key Cast
    "Judge"
  • Trey Walker
    Key Cast
    "VO - Robert Leroy Johnson"
  • Dave Honigman
    Key Cast
    "VO - Demon"
  • Project Type:
    Experimental, Television, Web / New Media, Other
  • Genres:
    Comedy, sketch show, dark comedy
  • Runtime:
    21 minutes 29 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    January 13, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    1 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Film Color:
    Black & White and Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Dean Berdusis, Elizabeth Laidlaw

DEAN BERDUSIS: A Chicago native and founding team member of Gravity Well Studio as Director and Director Of Photography, Dean collaborates with award-winning commercial creatives. His clients include Sotheby’s, Golf Pride, ZingZang, and KINDbar.
Trash Panda was Dean’s first opportunity to work with creators Fee Basanavicius, Marissa Chastain, and co-director Elizabeth Laidlaw, who helmed Detective Tickles. The departure from big budgets created production bumpers that offered opportunity for spontaneous risk and priceless team learning.
Dean’s passion is narrative storytelling. He craves collaboration with writers and talent as a Director or enabling a Director’s vision as Director Of Photography.

ELIZABETH LAIDLAW (Detective Tickles): Elizabeth Laidlaw is a Chicago-based director, producer and actor. She directed DETECTIVE TICKLES for Trash Panda as well as co-producing TRASH PANDA Episode One. She produced, wrote and directed the short film, TO BE CONTINUED, currently in post-production. She co-produced THE HAVEN webseries (https://www.thehavenweb.com) and directed episode 1. She also co-produces and stars in the critically acclaimed narrative sci-fi podcast, DERELICT.
In theatre, she is the founding director of Lakeside Shakespeare Theatre. At LST, she produced every season from 2003 to 2018, and directed Romeo and Juliet, The Taming of the Shrew, The Merry Wives of Windsor, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Henry VIII. She helmed the critically acclaimed and award winning Girl In The Red Corner for Broken Nose Theatre and assisted director Terry Kinney with East of Eden at Steppenwolf Theatre. She served as the intimacy consultant on The Doppelgänger, also at Steppenwolf, and as the violence and intimacy designer for A Moon for the Misbegotten at Writer’s Theatre.

Elizabeth has taught acting and voice for stage and camera at Lakeside Shakespeare Theatre, Near North Montessori, Columbia College, Illinois Wesleyan University, the Chicago Academy of the Arts, Harold Ramis Film School, Flashpoint Chicago and Vagabond School of the Arts.

As an actor, Elizabeth has been performing on stage and in film and TV professionally since 1993.

Imdb.com/elizabethlaidlaw
https://www.elizabethlaidlaw.com

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