Prefer-Racial Treatment
Dr. Michelle Nugent, a white Seattle-based epidemiologist working for a drug company, discovers a problem with COVID treatment data from Mississippi. She contacts Dr. Cornell Washington, a Black New Orleans-based epidemiologist, who suspects a coverup of a tropical disease. But can they work together? Cornell is tired of explaining racism to white people. Is scientific integrity a strong enough basis for cooperation? Their adult children, Aaron and Lakeisha, attend a Black Lives Matter rally together and encounter another racial divide.
Producer & Co-Author
Kathie Kelly is a filmmaker and climate scientist in Seattle, WA. She began creating narrative films in Super8 in Berkeley, California in the 1970s. Discouraged by the lack of opportunities for women, she instead earned a PhD from Scripps Institution of Oceanography. She conducted research in ocean circulation and climate change at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and at the University of Washington. She is a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society. In 2010 she retooled in film at Shoreline Community College and at Northwest Film Forum, creating four narrative shorts. She wrote, directed and co-produced "An Unlikely Insurgency," a narrative miniseries about political interference in science, which won Best Narrative Series in the Raw Science Film Festival in 2020.
Director & Co-Author
Abie Ekenezar is an actress, singer, screen writer and producer in Seattle, WA. Her extensive resume includes professional IMDB credits for eight years. She majored in Computer Science and minored in Musical Theatre at Montclair State University. She toured with the Seton Hall University Choir along the East Coast and in Quebec. She found her passion for film in Grimm, Man In The High Castle, Librarians, Portlandia and even Z-Nation. She worked with the next generation of TV and Film professionals on Strowlers, a fantasy film project released by Zombie Orpheus Entertainment in 2018 and other projects with Blue Forge Films. Her production company BabsEk Productions promotes diversity and inclusivity with projects to be released in 2021.
Cast
Christina Williams is a Seattle native who has been acting since the mid-90’s. She is an alumna of Freehold Theatre Lab and was a repertory member of Edge of the World Theatre in Edmonds, WA (now The Phoenix) for three years.
She studied stage combat with Geoffrey Alm, Fight Master with The Society of American Fight Directors. Christina began film work in 2017 and has appeared in several 48-Hour Film Projects, and short films including the NY Screenplay Contest winning “B.U.M.”.
Outside of acting she loves her husband, their labradoodle, ziplining, and will gleefully chat with you for hours about old movies and tv shows.
Ben Leiataua quit his corporate job in 2012 to pursue his passion in the arts. Ben's focus has been in commercial, narrative and voiceover projects.
Ben studied classical voice and composition for 2 years in San Francisco at the Capp St. Music Center and took intensive courses at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Ben taught music for 15 years at his church in San Francisco the First Samoan Congressional Church of Christ and was a Music/Cultural Director for several projects in Seattle
Ben is a Program Manager for the Rainier Arts Center and a freelance graphics and production designer.
Charlie Chittenden
is a local theater and film actor who has been working professionally in Seattle for the last 6 years. He has performed in productions at Village Theatre, ArtsWest, and Seattle Musical Theatre among others. He is a graduate of Unexpected Productions Improv School and is currently training in stand up comedy.
Aside from acting and performance, he is a certified life coach, nutritionist, and strength trainer with his own online business. Find him on Facebook, Instagram, and www.heroupcoach.com
Hazel Gibson
has been acting, stage managing, and modeling in Seattle for the past 4 years. Originally from CO, she moved to the PNW in the fall of 2015 to continue her career in the theatre arts after starting it in Sioux City, Iowa as a stage manager for a private college production of Into the Woods post-graduation.
When not working in the above categories, she spends her time working in the restaurant industry as a server/bartender and has held the title of Program Associate at a small professional non-profit theatre company, called Mirror Stage, since the beginning of this year. When not working, Hazel enjoys staying physically active through exercise and outdoor recreational activities, reading, organizing, and being crafty.