STAFF
Rebecca east, EXECUTIVE
PRODUCER
Rebecca East is from Houston and has been living and performing in Austin, TX since 2016. While she has been a performer and theatre artist her whole life, she is most passionate about all things improv. She got her start in improv learning the ComedySportz method in Houston, TX then attended school at The University of Texas at Austin to study Theatre Education. After receiving her Bachelors of Fine Arts she went on to study improv at The Hideout Theatre, specializing in narrative improv. She can be seen performing long form improv at Fallout Theater (Jane Austin Improv), ColdTowne Theater (Motherwound) and performing short-form/narrative improv at Hideout Theatre (Big Bash). She has taught for theatre companies such as ZACH Theatre, The Paramount Theatre, and presently teaches beginner to advanced improv courses at The Hideout Theatre. When she is not on stage or in a classroom she is helping to produce the B. Iden Payne award winning improv troupe, Jane Austin Improv.
ashley ellis, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
Ashley Ellis is a sketch & improv comedian by night, and a responsible sourcing manager at a grocery retailer by day. Ashley was inspired to get into sketch comedy by Austin's own Sketch Fest stars, Strong Male Leads. Hailing from Los Angeles and currently based in Austin, Texas, she would like to know if anyone is mad at her for this?
WILL CLEVELAND, Production Manager
Will Cleveland (Pro-choice) has been producing for Austin Sketch Fest since 2015, and has served as Artistic Director at ColdTowne Theater since 2016 where he directs, produces, and teaches sketch and improv classes. Among his favorite Austin Sketch Fest performances are My Mans, Girls with Brown Hair, Megan Stalter, and Bellevue's Seinfeld Play "The Leaning Susan".
DAVE BUCKMAN, CONSULTING
Producer
Dave Buckman served two years as Artistic Director of Boom Chicago in Amsterdam. He culminated his run in Europe directing Boom Chicago: RockStars, the second stage-swap with The Second City’s Main Stage in its 50-year history. After Europe, Dave worked as a director, actor, and teacher at The Second City in Chicago and in Cleveland, where he met his wife and creative partner, Rachel Madorsky. He spent 10 years as an artistic producer for The Out Of Bounds Comedy Festival and is now is in his 9th year as Executive Producer of Austin SketchFest. You can also hear him as a frequent guest on SNL-based podcasts: SNL Hall of Fame, SNL AfterParty and on the Saturday Night Network. Dave is currently Executive Producer at ColdTowne Theater, where he has been performing and directing since its opening in 2006. You can read about his experiences working with some comedy greats in Amsterdam during the turbulent 2000 Election and 9/11 in the recently released
”Boom Chicago Presents the 30 Most Important Years in Dutch History.”