Cast & Crew

BECHIR SYLVAIN as Carl: (Creator, Producer, Writer and Executive Producer)

Bechir Sylvain is a Haitian American Theater trained actor who started his acting career his senior year and High school in Miami, "go cougars", he continue his path In Miami Dade College as a theater major,  after wards attended the prestigious Acting program at (SMU) Southern Methodist University in Dallas Texas. he is one of the Founding Members of Ground up and Rising, also a proud member of SAG. Bechirs  film and TV credits include  Bahama Hustle, Know Thy Enemy, Burn Notice, Mysterious, Three days to Vegas, Leonard, and many more, Bechir is the recipient of the Best actor award for the Star project at the ABFF 2009 (American Black film festival 2009). Bechir Philosophy is " I'm just happy to be here see the people eat the food". he would like to thank his friends and family for there support, especially his Mom and dad for getting freaky a second time so he could be born. " RIP dad love you to much"  "RIP MJ gone to soon" .

SHEAUN McKINNEY as Larry: (Creator and Writer)

Sheaun Mckinney born and raised in Miami, Fl a proud member of Ground Up and Rising is a versatile actor of stage and film. Sheaun began his acting career while in college and has since put together an impressive resume including stage work such as; A Lesson Before Dying, Blue Orange, Last Days of Judas Iscariot, Jesus Hopped the A train, September 10th and other plays receiving stellar reviews "Google Me" says Sheaun. Film/T.V credits for Sheaun include; Burn Notice, Know Thy Enemy, Bahama Hustle, Joshua Soul and other credits. Sheaun dedicates his performances to his family and friends!! R.I.P to all my loved ones. "Only God Can Judge Me"

JASON KELLEY : (Writer)

Jason Kelley is a native of the Northern Virginia/DC area and began acting as far back as the 3 rd grade, playing the Mouse King in The Nutcracker.   After honing his chops in the corporate industry, he relocated to Los Angeles and quickly landed his first of many national ad campaigns.  He furthered his training at The Second City where he co-founded the black improv ensemble The TuskegeeXperiment which recently began collaborating with will.i.am's new entertainment web portal DipDive.com .  In 2009 he was cast in the CBS Diversity Comedy Showcase from which he booked a lead in a pilot presentation currently being shopped at major networks.  Other credits include Heroes, Parks & Recreation and the award winning stage show, Inside Private Lives where he portrays Tupac Shakur. 

ARTURO FERNANDEZ : (Producer)

Company Co-Founder, Producing Artistic Director, Award-Winning and critically acclaimed Actor/Director. Arturo is the Producing Artistic Director of Ground Up & Rising and has worn multiple hats as Producer, Director, Writer and Actor in many of the company’s productions. He has been called “quarduple threat” and “a charasmatic energetic young actor” by the Miami Herald and his performances have been hailed as “tour-de-force” by the Sun-Sentinel. Audiences will remember Arturo from his portrayals of Angel in Stephen Adly Guirgis’ Jesus Hopped The “A” Train, Joey in Brendan Cochrane’s Joey Shakespeare, Joey/Murph in Israel Horovitz’s The Indian Wants The Bronx, Pavlo in David Rabe’s The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel, Butch Honeywell in the Florida premiere of Stephen Adly Guirgis’ The Last Days of Judas Iscariot and Bobby in John Kolvenbach’s On an Average Day. Arturo was amongst the first artists hired by the Adrienne Arsht Center and spent two great years working on their flagship project.

In addition to his acting credits, Arturo has written and directed his original play September 10th, which played at the region’s most awarded theater GableStage and in Los Angeles’ reknown Odessey Theater before receiving the best new play award for 2008 from the Florida community college activities association for the Miami Dade College production. Arturo has also directed Kenneth Lonergan’s This Is Our Youth at Miami Dade College and oversees the Bridging The Gap mentorship program that has produced over 15 original plays by students and alumni since 2006. In 2008, Arturo produced a collaboration between Ground Up & Rising and critically acclaimed chamber orchestra Project Copernicus to bring Story of A Soldier, an evening combining live theatre and original classical musical to commemorate the sacrifices of U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. Arturo has also conceptualized and created a variety of site-specific projects for Miami Children’s Museum, Adrienne Arsht Center, Miami-Dade County Cultural Affairs, ArtSouth and the developing Los Angeles Chapter of the Ground Up & Rising organization.

Arturo’s film and television credits include the lead role of Mike Conner in the feature film, Loving the Bad Man, opposite of Stephen Baldwin as well as the lead role in Ground Up & Rising’s first short feature Observe. His film/television resume also features suporting acting appearances including multiple turns as Sugar on the hit TV show Burn Notice and Ted White in CO2 with Charlie Murphy along with various commericals in numerious markets including KFC, ESPN, Telemundo, Ritz and Mun2. As a director, Fernandez has received universal critical acclaim such as: “Fernandez has amplified the script with imaginative staging, dramatic lighting and a wide range of music that comments on the proceedings. But his masterstroke is to turn down the volume and speed to let the work breathe in dramatic silences and quiet soliloquies.” (Sun-Sentinel). Under his direction, actors have won the following awards: Best of Miami - Best Actor 2009 (Miami New Times), Best of Miami - Best Supporting Actress 2009 (Miami New Times), Best Actor You Didn’t See 2009 (Sun-Sentinel), Best Of Miami 2008 – Best Supporting Actor (Miami New Times). Productions that he directed have received the following accolades: Best Show you Didn’t See 2009 (Sun-Sentinel), Best of Theater 2008 (Sun-Sentinel), Best of Classical Music 2008 (Miami Herald) and Best of Theater 2006 (Miami Herald).