Cast and Crew
Your Good Friend was made by a micro crew, on a micro budget, in and around Russian Hill and Pacific Heights in San Francisco. It involved many of the local community – most notably the patrons, staff and owners of the Chameleon Cafe, without whom this movie may never have happened.
Matthew Jacobs
JULES Director, Co-writer, Co-producer, and Editor.
After devising the story and a guide script with Rabbi Lawrence Kushner, Jacobs brought together a tiny cast and crew and set out to direct Your Good Friend with a blend of improvised docu-drama that is really quite unique and multi-layered if you watch it carefully. His many other credits can be easily found at his website www.mjbjacobs.com and on his imdb page.
Rabbi Lawrence Kushner
ZANDER Co-writer, and Co-producer
Rabbi Lawrence Kushner is the Emanu-El Scholar in-residence at The Congregation Emanu-El of San Francisco. His 19 books include: I’m God; You’re Not: Observations on Organized Religion & Other Disguises of the Ego (Jewish Lights, 2010). KABBALAH: A Love Story, (Doubleday/Morgan Road, October,). And HONEY FROM the ROCK: Visions of Jewish Mystical Renewal (Jewish Lights,) Your Good Friend is Kushner’s first screen role.
Vanessa Yuille
JESSICA 1st Assistant Director
Vanessa Yuille graduated from Barnard College with a degree in Astronomy and is pursuing a MFA in film at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. Previous to Your Good Friend, Vanessa earned acting credits in independent films Rockaway and Heebie Jeebies; however, YGF marks the first time she has worked both sides of the camera for the same project. Vanessa is currently working on a documentary about the internment of her Japanese-American family during WWII at Heart Mountain. imdb page
Dylan Glockler
ALAN Director of Photography
Dylan is a full-time filmmaker and part-time explorer. While acting as cinematographer on micro independent films he has been garnering experience on larger motion pictures including the recently released Rabbit Hole directed by John Cameron Mitchell. A background in online design and development and business management make him a round character with varied life experiences and he lives aboard a ship that travels along the west coast. imdb page
Courtney Ballardo
Original Score and Sound Design
Courtney is a new composer and sound designer, she was trained at SFSU and currently works freelance. She came onto the movie at an early stage as sound designer and then brought a wonderful score to the table. This is her first feature credit. imdb page
Gary Gach
ARTY
Gary Gach made his debut at The Laguna Playhouse, as Sonny, in The Dark at the Top of the Stairs, and has since performed on stage, film, and tv. He recently narrated the short documentary Chief : The Life and Work of K. Sri Dhammananda. He’s also author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Buddhism, and editor of What Book!? Buddha Poems from Beat to Hiphop. Homepage: http://www.levity.com/interbeing/
Shahaub Roudbari
TAYLOR the young porn king
Born in Los Angeles and raised in Iran, Shahaub was exposed to very diverse cultures and experiences. After receiving a Bachelor’s degree from the UC Berkeley, traveling Europe and studying Martial Arts and performance at Shi Cha Hai Sports University in Beijing, he completed his MFA in Film Directing at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco and has been working non-stop ever since. imdb page
Jeromey Shafer
Location Sound Recordist
Jeromey was raised in Orange County California and moved to San Francisco to study acting and film at City College of San Francisco. He has studied all aspects of film production with a recent emphasis in production and post-production sound. He is no stranger to doing both acting and sound in a single production – his talents can be seen and heard in the feature film Devious, Inc. where he had a small role as well as being the Supervising Sound Editor. As part of the Scary Cow indie film co-op he has acted and crewed in dozens of short films. imdb page
Jessica Sharp
2nd assistant director
Jessica Sharp graduated from Barton College with a BA in Religion and Philosophy and a BA in Theatre. Her film career began while working on smaller independent films in North Carolina. Her interest in film persuaded her to pursue an MFA degree at The Academy of Art University in Directing. Her current focus lies on a passion project turned pilot episode called The Pipe Organ that should be wrapping up for pitching this summer.