May 9 @ 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm
USA | Comedy | 18 min | Colorado Premiere | English, Spanish | English Closed Captions
Having recently lost his father, Rogelio, 14, is an impressionable youth who thinks he’s ‘grown’. After devising a way to sneak into a strip club with his friends Larry and Chaz, Ro will have to deal with the pressure of hiding this plan from the women who raised him while coping with recurring visions of his late father. With the help of his older sister Chelly, Ro finds himself at a crossroads when he realizes the disconnect between the man he thought his father was, and the man his sister remembers.
In Attendance: Jocko Sims (Writer, Director, Producer) and stars Josiah Gabriel, Giovanni Cristoff, Angela Mejia-Loggia
Director:
Jocko Sims
Executive Producer:
Jocko Sims
Producer:
Christopher Santiago, Chaz Hazlitt, Andrew Zolot
Writer:
Jocko Sims
Editor:
Jocko Sims, Shonnard Hedges
Cinematographer:
Andrew Voegeli
Cast:
Josiah Gabriel, Tristan-Lee Edwards, Giovanni Cristoff, Angela Mejia-Loggia, Eliza Ramos, Kevin Rodriguez, Nixon Cesar
Composer:
Charlie Ryan
In Attendance
Jocko Sims is best known as an actor, and stars as Dr. Floyd Reynolds on the NBC drama, “New Amsterdam.” Sims is also a writer, producer and director, and has been hitting the festival circuit with his award winning short film/tv pilot, “Grown” a coming of age story of a young man grappling with the recent loss of his father. “Grown” recently took home the jury prize at SXSW in their annual Independent TV Pilot Competition.
Through his acting career, Jocko has had roles in numerous film and television projects, including “Dreamgirls,” “Jarhead” and 2014’s summer box office hit “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.”
On television, Sims had his first lead role opposite Dennis Hopper in the Starz original series, “Crash,” and his following lead role was as Lt. Carlton Burk in the TNT network hit, “The Last Ship.” In between seasons of “The Last Ship,” he portrayed Robert Franklin on the second season of Showtime’s “Masters of Sex.” Other television credits include “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Franklin & Bash,” “Castle,” “NCIS,” “Burn Notice,” “CSI,” “Bones,” and Showtime’s “I’m Dying Up Here.”
Giovanni Cristoff was born on February 2007 in New York City. His heritage is Colombian and Italian. He is based out of Miami, Atlanta, New York City, and Los Angeles.
Giovanni started acting professionally in 2021 at the age of 14. He is also a Rapper, and Songwriter. Giovanni is mentored by, and studies with Acting Coach Gino Montesinos.
Giovanni is known for his role as Brandon in the movie ,”Finding Love in San Antonio”. He became part of the Brat Tv Universe as Peter in Season 3 of Attaway General.
Recently, Giovanni played a leading role as ,”Chaz” in Jocko Sims’s short film called ,”Grown”. Jocko Sims is a Series Regular for ,”How To Die Alone”, and ,”New Amsterdam”. “Grown” won The Jury Award for the Independent TV Pilot Competition at SXSW 2023.
In the beginning of 2023, Giovanni played the lead in ,”Roberta’s Rules”, written and directed by Derrex Brady. Derrex is a Series Regular of “Johnson” on Bounce TV.
Josiah Gabriel began acting at the age of 11 years old. His first three films were selected to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in 2018. His professional debut: “We the Animals” (as “Joel”), and his following two features: “Night Comes On” (as “Chief”) and “Monsters and Men” (as “Victor”). More recently, Josiah starred in Jocko Sims’ Directorial Debut, “Grown” (as “Ro”), winning the SXSW 2023 Jury Award. Josiah’s craft also include singing and drum playing.
Angela Mejia-Loggia was born and raised in The Bronx, NY as has been active in the arts since childhood. Initially beginning in Musical Theater and Classical Theater productions such as, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Passing Strange, she recently began film acting, appearing in Joey and Grown. Hailing from awesome schools, LaGuardia Arts and Lehman College.
Christopher Santiago (Producer)
Moderator
Emily Vogel is the Director of Programming at TheWrap, a leading digital news organization covering the business of entertainment and media. Vogel is responsible for programming the company’s full line-up of events including the Power Women Summit. She also hosts WrapWomen’s “UnWrapped” Podcast dedicated to empowering the women of Hollywood.
