Amanda grew up in Hell's Kitchen, N.Y. and started her career as an actress studying with Deborah Hedwall and at The Bill Esper Studio. She had the privilege of being hired in her first SAG project by the late Sidney Lumet. But Amanda soon realized that writing and directing were her true passions and she made the decision to put her focus behind the camera. Wanting to learn everything about film, she started work as a Production Assistant on the sets of Academy Award/Emmy Winners Woody Allen, Bobby Moresco, and David Chase. While raising her two children, she took the opportunity to move into the writer's room as Bobby Moresco's writer's assistant. During this 15 year phase in her career, she learned how to wield Aristotle's cause and effect structure along with Joseph Cambpell's monomyth and worked with amazing people/companies including; Paul Haggis, Todd Field, John Lee Hancock, Mark Johnson, Gil Adler, CBS, NBC and Universal Pictures among many others. On NBC's The Black Donnelly's, Amanda was given the opportunity to co-write two episodes during the first season. As a Screenwriter, Amanda has had two feature films produced with three currently in development. She's also written for Creative Screenwriting magazine and had a short story about the dangers of Hollywood published on Nikki Finke's Hollywood Dementia. Amanda is most excited to continue her pursuit in directing, having completed three short films nominated for 10 awards on the festival circuit. Her latest short "Agiter", filmed on location in Paris, is currently in post production. During her time in Darion D'Anjou's online, One Minute Film School - she completed five one minute shorts using her iPhone to shoot and edit and is looking forward to continuing an exploration into the future of smartphone filmmaking. However, theater will always hold a special place in Amanda's heart. She is currently Co-Artistic Director of The Actors Gym in New York City, which is a theater company started by Bobby Moresco over 30 years ago and truly where Amanda honed her love for storytelling, acting and directing. In 2017, she directed her one act play "A Hell's Kitchen Love Tragedy", developed at The Actors Gym, to rave reviews from Broadway World. She is currently developing the piece into a full length that features three generations of Irish American women from Hell's Kitchen. It's a story of family, gentrification, love and loss. Other theater productions include the Los Angeles workshop of William Hoffman's "Cal in Camo" which went on to a critically acclaimed Off Broadway run at New York' Rattlestick theater. She is a member of the Actors Studio Directors Unit in New York, where she lives with her husband and two children.
Hannia Guillen is a stage, TV and film actress. She began her acting career in Miami, Florida. Some of her TV credits include: Burn Notice, Passions and The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien. She has performed in some of the most renown theaters including: MCcarter Theater, Asolo Repertory among others. Hannia is the founder of Farashazul Productions.
