What is the Hollywood Fringe Artist Access Advisory Board?

The Hollywood Fringe Festival Access Advisory Board is comprised of experienced fringe producers, community members, and access-focused professionals in the theatre industry. They meet on a regular basis to assess our organizational practices and processes, document successful approaches to equity, and identify areas of inequity that need to be addressed. 

Founding members of our Access Committee: Ella Turenne, Matthew Robinson, Michelle Roshanzamir, Natasha Lewin, Peerada Meemalayath, Royce Shockley, Rufino Romero, Spencer Frankeberger 

Ruby Marez is not just a triple threat, but a quintuple threat as a comedian, drag performer, actor, writer, and first-generation Latina! Her solo show “The Ramón Show: Spiritual Cheerleading 101” featuring her drag king Ramón has garnered critical acclaim and won multiple awards at the Hollywood Fringe Festival in 2022, including “Best Immersive and Games Show,” “Pick of The Fringe,” and a “Producers Encore Award.” Ruby currently tours this award-winning show to colleges, theaters, and various venues across the United States. And when she’s not entertaining audiences with her solo show, she’s bringing her drag king Ramón, to festivals, comedy shows, and immersive, interactive events. Ruby is also a multi-talented writer, co-writing the original comedic pilot “Year Zero,” which was an I.F.P. finalist, (now known as The Gotham Awards) and went into development in 2018. Ruby’s acting skills have not gone unnoticed either, winning Best Actress for the short film “Corações em Fogo” at the Culture and Diversity Film Festival in 2019. Her sketch comedy duo, Arroz Con Pho, has performed at Second City L.A., in the Los Angeles Diversity in Comedy Fest, and most recently to a sold-out house at S.F.’s Sketchfest in 2023! Ruby’s creative endeavors span beyond the entertainment industry. She’s also a published writer, with her essay on growing up as both Puerto Rican and Jewish in the Midwest featured in the book “What We Brought Back: Jewish Life After Birthright-Reflections by Alumni of Taglit-Birthright Israel Trips.” Check out Ruby’s and Ramón’s upcoming shows and videos on their websites: www.theramonshow.com, www.rubymarez.com And Follow Ruby and Ramón on IG: @ramonlovesyou & @queenrubes

Diana Elizabeth Jordan is an Award-Winning Actor, Solo Artist, Theater & Filmmaker, Disability & IDEA Influencer and founder & Chief Creative Artivist Of The Rainbow Butterfly Café.  She has been cast in over 60 theater productions, film and television including CBS’s S.W.A.T. She was one of 20 actors selected from over 7,000 applicants for the inaugural Warner Media Discovery Access Talent Showcase. She performed her solo show Happily Ever After (One Woman’s Journey To Find A True Love) at the 2021 Hollywood Fringe where she received a diversity scholarship, Pick of The Fringe and an Encore Producers Award honors. She is an award nominated director, a producer, the founder of two production companies Dreaming Big On A Swing Entertainment and The Rainbow Butterfly Café. Diana is a member of SAG-AFTRA and Actors Equity Association and one of the disabled advocates for Women of Color Unite and serves on The Hollywood Fringe Diversity Committee. Whether portraying a character, sharing a personal story, directing, or producing a project, Diana is committed to celebrating the power of resiliency and disability intersectionality through the transformative power of storytelling. www.dianaelizabethjordan.com @fromtheheartdej on twitter, tiktok and Instagram

Ana Karina Cano Actress, producer, and dancer, Ana Karina Cano is originally from Chihuahua, Mexico. With a diverse background in performance and production, she has studied classical theater, acting, and improvisation at various art schools in Mexico and France. She further honed her craft in direction, screenwriting, and production at Vancouver Film School in Canada. Ana also trained in acting and audiovisual expression at UC3M in Madrid and at prestigious institutions in New York City, including HB Studio, T. Schreiber Studio, and The Acting Studio, as well as at the New York Film Academy in Los Angeles. Ana Karina is quickly emerging as a prominent figure in the entertainment industry, recently winning the 2025 Tec Woman Award in Mexico, recognizing her contributions and trajectory in the industry. Alongside Taylor Bazos, Ana co-founded MultilinguArt, a creative production company dedicated to producing multilingual and multicultural projects. Using her expertise as an actress and dancer, she brings captivating stories to life on stage and screen. The company’s standout production, Baby Rock, wowed audiences at the Hollywood Fringe Festival and received praise at the 2024 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. MultilinguArt also amplifies underrepresented voices through its educational programs, workshops, and productions across Los Angeles and Mexico, bridging cultural divides with compelling storytelling.

Pastiche Queen (They/Them) is a non-binary latindigenous, interdisciplinary performance artist from Denver, CO currently based in Hollywood, CA. Their work as an actor and slam poet has been featured on AppleTV’s “Dear: Viola Davis”, Facebook’s “Queer Community Leaders of Color Initiative”, and The REDCAT Theater Artist-In-Residency Program. Pastiche’s most recent one-person show at the Hollywood Fringe Festival, “Level One Gygax”, won The 2022 Theatricum Botanicum Wordsmith Award for advancing the artform of storytelling as well as being an Access Scholarship recipient. You can see them most Tuesday’s at Da Poetry Lounge.

Terrell M. Green (MSDMM) is an artist, advocate, and educator based in Los Angeles, CA. Hailing from Philadelphia, PA, Terrell has attended: University of Southern California, Annenberg School of Communication & Journalism (M.S. in Digital Media Management); Marymount Manhattan College in NYC (B.A in Theatre Performance); The British American Drama Academy at Oxford University’s Magdalen Campus in Oxfordshire, England (Professional Certificate in Shakespeare Performance); and marionette puppetry training in Cork and Dublin, Ireland. For the past 10+ years, Terrell has created arts-integrated youth programming in literacy enrichment, social and emotional learning, sexual and reproductive health, and conflict resolution. Terrell believes that art access is a tool to combat public health issues and uses media and storytelling as data collection metrics. Terrell’s work and advocacy have been featured in American Theatre Magazine, Philly Mag, Philly Gay News, Shoutout LA, Voyage LA, LA Sentinel, Annenberg Media, The Philadelphia Inquirer, WHYY, and Philly’s KYW news radio.

Jon Gentry is, in the words of one Hollywood agent, an “overeducated” actor. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, he received his BA in English from Harvard where he served as President of BlackCAST (Community and Student Theater).He holds his MFA in Acting from the American Conservatory Theater. As a teaching artist, he co-directed an original production of “Child Life” in collaboration with the UCSF Children’s Hospital and led a series of acting workshops with community centers throughout the Bay Area. He is currently on the acting faculty at the Los Angeles Performing Arts Conservatory where he specializes in teaching the Michael Chekhov Acting Technique.Regional theater credits include Clybourne Park, Marcus; or, the Secret of Sweet, A Christmas Carol (A.C.T.), Romeo and Juliet, All’s Well That Ends Well (Shakespeare Santa Cruz) and Trouble in Mind (Aurora Theater Company). TV/Film: Meeting Matt Damon, Outlaw Empires (Discovery), Griot’s Lament, Fishers of Men, Zero Sight: Bad Call. Most infamously, he voiced Fallout 4’s ‘Preston Garvey,’ going viral for iconic lines and winning the hearts of fans worldwide.

TL Forsberg is an internationally celebrated singer & performer in the Deaf Culture, American Cultural Ambassador on Disability, award-winning playwright, Theatrical ASL Interpreter, and trauma-informed Speaker & Coach.  Renowned as “The Deaf Lady Gaga,” her life story is featured in the award-winning documentary, ”See What I’m Saying: The Deaf Entertainers Documentary.” She plays Olivia on ABC’ Disney’s “Switched at Birth,” and the band’s rock star stylist in VH1’s Reality TV Rock Star Series, “SuperGroup.” As a musician, she opened for Alanis Morissette & Tori Amos, Fishbone and Esthero and wrote the theme song, “Deaf"initely for Miss Deaf International. Her critically acclaimed, award-winning solo show, “The Book That Won’t Close-Confessions of a Love Addict,” celebrates diversity within the d/Deaf Culture, won an Encore Awards at The Binge Fringe Festival, Whitefire’s SoloFest two years in a row, a diversity scholarship in the 2021 Hollywood Fringe where it was nominated"Top of The Fringe", won “Best of Broadwater’s,” (Producers Encore Award) and “Namba Arts Solo Splash Award" for cultural education and female empowerment. 

TL mentors artists to reclaim their stories, embrace their voices, and live with authentic integration. For more information on her Theatrical ASL Interpreting and embodiment coaching for actors please visit www.tlforsberg.com

Matthew S. Robinson* is a playwright and director who has made several Fringe shows including “Olivia Wilde Does Not Survive The Apocalypse”, “BlackBalled” and “Mary’s Medicine.” A member of the Fringe Access Committee and Scholarship Panel, he is committed to fostering more inclusion and access to the performing arts throughout the Los Angeles area. www.matthewsrobinson.com

Spencer Frankeberger is an award-winning Greek-American actor, director and producer, and an improviser. He is a graduate of iO West, Second City Hollywood, UCB, and ComedySportz LA. Recent credits include: Impro Theatre (Summer Camp, Process, & Book It!), Late Night with Chucky (Host/Comic swing) at Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood, and Squeaky the Rat and The Infinite Husk (premiering at SXSW in 2025). He is also a board-certified music therapist with 15 years of classroom management experience and a tour guide on the World-Famous Studio Tour at Universal Studios Hollywood. He has an MFA in Film Production from Florida State University and is the commissioner of a couple Fantasy Football leagues. Hollywood Fringe Festival credits include: Coasterthon Catastrophe: An Amusement Park Musical (Winner: Trope Buster Award; Winner: Encore Producer’s Award; Nominee: Sustainability Award), Gunfight at the Not-So-OK Saloon, Jamba Juice: The Musical (Winner: Encore Producer’s Award – sold out run), and Wounded, by Jiggs Burgess (Director; Pick of the Fringe; Off-Broadway run). He is a huge theme park enthusiast with a theme park podcast called Theoretical Thrills (IG/TikTok: @spencer101f; www.spencerfrankeberger.com)

Michelle Roshanzamir* is the Executive Director of Donna Sternberg & Dancers and Founder/Consultant at MVR Creative.  Receiving her BFA from CalArts, and MBA (and minor in Theatre/Arts Management) from CSULB.  The work she does centers around helping creators, entrepreneurs, and nonprofit leaders bridge the gap between the vision of what they want to do with the business side to actually make it happen.  She helps leaders develop the business strategy; develop and run programs and events; develop systems and operations; and create a plan of action so you can remove the stress, increase revenue, and bring your vision to life.

Kevin Neighbors I am a theatre and film artist. As an actor and writer I have produced a solo show titled. VERSATILE: stories from inside the closet of a half black gay man. Premiered at the White Fire’s Black Voices Theatre Festival. I have also written a one act play White Room and comedy vignette series, Things White People Say, hosted at the Sacramento B Street Theatre.

Natasha Mercado is an actress, director, producer, writer and theatre arts educator. She was born in a small town in Maryland, lived in New York for a minute, moved to LA and became a clown. She has extensive experience in NYC and LA with sketch, improv and character. She’s also studied with some of the best clowns including Dr. Brown, Chad Damiani, the Idiot Workshop, Eric Davis, the London Clown School, Stefan Haves and Philippe Gaulier, to name a few. Her work has been featured on Adult Swim, HBO, TBS, Más Mejor, (Broadway Video’s premium comedy studio powered by Latino voices) and stages across LA. Natasha created the first ever monthly clown show at UCB Franklin called “Send in the Clowns”. Currently, she is touring her award-winning solo clown show “Tree”— accolades include an encore run at the Los Angeles LGBT Center, Stage Raw’s “Top Ten Shows in LA” 2022, Times Colonist’s “5 Must See Shows” 2022, the Hollywood Fringe Scholarship 2022 and Victoria Fringe “Pick of Fringe – Best Physical Theatre 2022”. “A master comic storyteller… non-stop hilarity" Inger Tudor, Stage Raw. Natasha has worked as a producer and director on both coasts. For 5+ years, she has professionally produced events for the Upright Citizens Brigade to bring customized comedy programs to groups across the country including improv, sketch, storytelling and public speaking intensives. These workshops focus on creating an inclusive environment to help people get out of their comfort zones and reach a higher place of understanding with others while having fun. She has virtually taught adults and children at Stomping Ground Comedy Theatre along with a workshop called “Playful Mindfulness” sponsored by the National Alzheimer’s Association to implement improv into the world of caregiving. In 2020, she was named an “Emerging Content Creator” by the National Association of Latino Independent Producers. She also leads private and group clown workshops in for people interested in exploring techniques that implement vulnerability, physicality, emotion and other tools to give their performance a unique edge.

Samantha Bowling is a mixed (Cherokee, Powhatan desc.) writer/comedian and actress based in LA but originally from the land of Goetta and Skyline chili, Cincinnati OH (Miami and Shawnee territory). Her one woman show “This Was Never Supposed To Be A One Woman Show (A One Woman Show)” premiered in 2023 to sold out audiences and critical acclaim at the Hollywood Fringe Festival where she won The Producers Encore Award, as well as several nominations including Best Solo Performance, The Cultural Envoy Award and Best Immersive Show. Her second solo show Missions won The Eastwood Revival Encore Award. Her writing credits include the zombie apocalypse comedy feature Zombesties, the existential queer black comedy pilot The Damned, the Dark comedy pilot The Deathwishlist, part of the narrative video game Life Is Strange Double Exposure, and several tv shows currently in development. Her acting credits include Life Is Strange (Double Exposure), “Tomb Invader” on Syfy, “Blood Brother” on Amazon, “Back to Awesome” on Apple TV. In her spare time she swims, plays banjo, fosters puppies and practices yoga. She has a thicc ass, a big heart, and a very good pittie-mix, Bowie. She is repped by FRP Talent.

Mayuri Bhandari is an Actress, Dancer, Figure Skater, and Yoga Professor. Performing in both Bollywood and Hollywood industries; she is the first South Asian figure skater to showcase figure skating on Indian National Television and is a National figure skating champion. She has worked with Bollywood stars Shah Rukh Khan, Akshay Kumar, and Hrithik Roshan. Her short film BINDI received recognition at film festivals in Athens, Berlin, Seattle, and Los Angeles. Mayuri’s work was recently featured at the United Nations Women’s Event in Los Angeles. She has appeared in popular Indian TV shows like “Dare 2 Dance” (Indian SYTYCD). She has starred in film and television shows such as Lincoln Lawyer (Netflix), Dave (FX/Hulu), Rebel (ABC), Nightingale (Prime), 911: Lone Star (FOX), and Dare 2 Dance/Just Dance (Star Plus). Her voiceover work includes Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Sony), Ms. Marvel (Disney), Shantaram (Apple), Netflix, and many audiobooks (Penguin Random House). She has also done several theater productions- starring as the lead in Clown Bar at the Hudson Theater and AA Sketch at the Ruskin Theater Co. in Los Angeles. Mayuri fuses her art with activism; she is an advocate for women’s empowerment, indigenous rights, and environmental activism. She’s a yoga and dance professor at Loyola Marymount University.

Becca Khalil is an actor, writer, director, and collaborator born and raised in Philly before moving to this lovely city. Becca is Egyptian American and is Hella conscious of inclusivity and the need to keep laughter a central part of every day ♡

Bonnie He is an actor, improvisor and clown. She was in the short film The New Empress with Maggie Gyllenhaal and is on a Second City Hollywood house improv team. Her award-winning live show A Terrible Show for Terrible People won the Craziest Solo Show award at the inaugural Crazy Woke Asians Solo Performance Festival and has toured nationally in festivals such as Second City Hollywood’s Diversity in Comedy Festival and The Brick’s NY Clown Theatre Festival. A Terrible Show for Terrible People will be at the Hollywood Fringe Festival this June, after winning the 2022 Hollywood Fringe Festival Scholarship. Bonnie He is also the resident clowning instructor at Company of Angels, the oldest non-profit professional equity waiver theater in Los Angeles. Follow Bonnie on Instagram @abonnielass and on Twitter @BonnieHe and go to www.aterribleshow.com for more information.

Chris Grace I’m a gay Asian comedian and actor that loves scallion pancakes. I believe in joy, learning, connection, and truth.

To apply for the Access Advisory Board, fill out this application: https://forms.gle/7ezHj1ctUgBZVJMA6