Indie Series Awards Ceremony Adds More Star Power to the Lineup

Producers for the 6th Annual Indie Series Awards (ISA6) announced today that Better Call Saul's Julie Ann Emery and Cristela's Sam McMurray would present the best comedy series award. Emery and McMurray worked together on Emery's Then We Got Help!, which was the first comedy web series ever to win an ISA back in 2010.

Four-time ISA winner Sebastian La Cause (Hustling) joins the all-star lineup and will present the first two awards of the night with Thurston's Colleen Zenk.

Additional presenters have also been added including Brian Beacock (Acting Dead), Jackie Geary (Jon and Jen are Married), Troy Mundle (Single & Dating in Vancouver), Annette Toutonghi (Capitol Hill) and Susannah Wells (Thurston).

They join previously announced presenters Anthony Anderson (Anacostia), Ryan Bartley (L.A. Macabre), Sarah Brown (Beacon Hill), Jillian Clare (Acting Dead), Richard Cutting (Milgram and the Fastwalkers, DeVanity), Patrika Darbo (The Bay), Mike Donis (Pete Winning and the Pirates), Ashli Dowling (We Are Angels), Megan Duffy (Dating Pains), Andrea Evans (DeVanity), Burt Grinstead (Burt Paxton), Richard Hatch (Pairings), Becky Kramer (Jewvangelist), Jen Lilley (Youthful Daze), Martha Madison (Winterthorne, The Bay), Lilly Melgar (The Bay), Mhairi Morrison (Feathers and Toast), Minae Noji (Love Midori), Susan Louise O'Connor (Wallflowers), Alexandra Paul (Mentor), Alisha Spielmann (Producing Juliet), Jason Stuart (Mentor), Corsica Wilson (L.A. Macabre) and Colleen Zenk.

The final round of presenters will be announced soon.

The 6th Annual Indie Series Awards ceremony, hosted by Emmy Award-winning actor Eric Martsolf (Days of our Lives), will be held on Wednesday, April 1 at the historic El Portal Theatre in North Hollywood.

The Indie Series Awards celebrate the best in independently produced, scripted entertainment created for the Web. Click here for a complete list of nominees.

PRESENTER BIOS

Brian Beacock (Acting Dead)
Brian Beacock is an actor, writer, producer, VO artist, singer and musician from the San Francisco Bay Area. After completing the National Tour of "Les Miserables," he moved to Los Angeles where he has created a diverse career including over 20 cartoon series including Digimon, Bleach, and Naruto. Television appearances include Kath & Kim, CSI, Passions, and NBC’s The Rerun Show, and films such as Mulholland Drive, Buying The Cow, and Circuit. Theater: West Coast Premiere of "Elegies," "When Pigs Fly," "Naked Boys Singing," the insane one-man show "Fully Committed" and as a Broadway-esque Axl Rose in Andy Prieboys' cult favorite, "White Trash Wins Lotto." He was a featured musical guest on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, and sang for Betty White's Birthday on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno Show. He is currently pitching his two award winning web series Acting Dead and McCracken Live! to television. You can see them now at www.actingdead.com and www.mccrackenlive.com. As always, love to Mom.

Julie Ann Emery (Better Call Saul)
Julie Ann Emery is a TV, Film, and Theater actress best known for the feature film Hitch. She made her big screen debut in the hit romantic comedy along side Will Smith and Kevin James. On the small screen, she starred as Special Agent Jennifer Sampson in Rod Lurie's critically acclaimed series Line of Fire. Emery also worked with Lurie as Secret Service Agent Joan Greer on Commander in Chief along side Golden Globe winner Geena Davis and Emmy winner Donald Sutherland. She also appeared as Amelia Keyes in Stephen Spielberg's Emmy nominated miniseries Taken.

After growing up in rural Tennessee, Julie Ann Emery attended theater school at Webster Conservatory in St. Louis, where she was awarded the Marsha Mason scholarship, and met her future husband, Broadway actor Kevin Earley. Immediately following college, she began working on theater stages across the country garnering critical praise and a Chicago Jeff Award Nomination for her portrayal of Burlesque star Gypsy Rose Lee in Marriott Lincolnshire Theater's production of "Gypsy." Two national tours later, Emery moved to the West Coast, which lead to a production of Rebecca Gilman's "Boy Gets Girl" at The Geffen Playhouse, as well as a string of TV appearances including The Riches, October Road, ER, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Royal Pains, Alias, CSI: Miami and Army Wives. She appeared in the TV movies Pictures of Hollis Woods (with Sissy Spacek), Capital City and Snow Wonder. She worked again with Rod Lurie Lurie on the big screen Nothing But the Truth (with Kate Beckinsale and Vera Farmiga). Other big screen appearances include Movie 43 (Opposite Liev Schreiber and Naomi Watts), Rainbow Tree (with David James Elliott) and The Stare (with James Franco) . Emery is also a talented writer and director, and created the 21-episode award-winning web series Then We Got Help!

Her recent television appearances include History of Future Folk, Suits, Damages, Dexter, Perception, NCIS, Unforgettable and Fargo. She is currently starring as Betsy Kettleman in AMC's Mad Men prequel Better Call Saul, and was just cast in the new Johnny Knoxville pilot.

Jackie Geary (Jon and Jen are Married)
Jackie Geary was born and raised on Long Island and is a graduate of Barnard College. She's appeared in features such as White House Down and In Her Shoes, and guest starred on How To Get Away With Murder, NCIS, Weeds, Bones, Criminal Minds, Suburgatory, How I Met Your Mother, and many others.

Geary is nominated at this year's Indie Series Awards for her work in the comedy web series Jon and Jen are Married.

She lives in L.A. with her husband and son, and has a Pizza Hut problem.

Sebastian La Cause (Hustling)
Originally from Akron, Ohio, Sebastian La Cause is a multi-faceted actor who has worked on Broadway, in film and on television. La Cause reprises his recurring role as Fahri in season three of the the Emmy winning Orange is the New Black. Most recently he can also be seen in the Jerry Bruckheimer film Deliver Us From Evil and Ira Sach’s Love Is Strange. La Cause won the supporting role of Russ, in the critically acclaimed drama Keep the Lights On and played Silvio on the daytime drama Days of our Lives. Other credits include the films Premium Rush, Ghost Town, Bear City, Chicago, Showgirls, the television shows Homeland, Gossip Girl, Law & Order: SVU and Rocky in the Tony nominated revival of "The Rocky Horror Show." La Cause is also the creator, writer, director and star of the acclaimed and award winning web series Hustling, winner of five Indie Series Awards, five Groovy Awards and a 2013 Official Webby Award Honoree. Also as a director, he helms the online series He's With Me – directing, shooting and editing – and most recently directed the pilot of a new series called, Life's a Drag, which will launch later this year.

Sam McMurray (Cristela)
The son of actors Richard McMurray and Jane Hoffman, Sam McMurray grew up in New York's Greenwich Village. After completing college at Washington University in St. Louis, Sam began his career as a dues paying Equity member. From a long list of theater credits too long to list, he is particularly fond of "Translations," "A Soldier's Play," "Savage in Limbo," "The Taking of Miss Janie," "Kid Purple," "Comedians" and "Gray Spades." He is a long time member of Ensemble Studio Theater and a veteran of many summers at the Eugene O'Neill Playwrights conference where he debuted works by John Patrick Shanley, James Yoshimura and Adam Rapp. He is also a regular contributor to the Seven Devil's in McCall, Idaho.

McMurray moved to Los Angeles in 1986, where he was fortunate enough to land work immediately as a regular on the original Tracey Ullman show and a raft of guest starring roles starting with Hill Street Blues to, most recently, Murder in the First. Television series regular credits abound including The Tracey Ullman Show, Likely Suspects, A League of Their Own, Matt Waters, Medicine Ball, Stand by Your Man, and his favorite, Dinosaurs. He has also had memorable recurring roles on King of Queens, Friends, Freaks and Geeks, Breaking Bad, Scandal and The Fosters.  Some of McMurray's notable film credits include the Coen Brothers' Raising Arizona, L.A. Story, Stone Cold, Mod Squad, Christmas Vacation and Addams Family Values, in which he essayed the legendary Herman Munster.

Although technically disinclined, Sam does own a computer and, recognizing online technology as the next big thing, can be seen recurring in the webisodic series Then We Got Help!.

McMurry is currently starring as Trent in ABC's hit comedy Cristela.

He lives in Los Angeles and is the proud papa of two beautiful, young women.

Troy Mundle (Single & Dating in Vancouver)
Troy Mundle is a French-Canadian actor that has been working in the Canadian film industry (Toronto and Vancouver) since 1999. While in Toronto, he booked music videos, commercials, and several roles, including one on Showtime's hit Queer as Folk. He studied acting at Equity Showcase Theatre, the Pro Actor's Lab, and Meisner with John Riven.

After moving to Vancouver in late 2005, Troy booked roles on several well-known TV series including Supernatural, Continuum and Stargate Universe. More recently, he created, wrote, produced, directed, and acted in a new comedy Web series called Single & Dating In Vancouver. Since the airing of the show, the series has garnished much success with a 2014 Leo Nomination, four 2015 Indie Series Nominations (Best Ensemble, Best Directing, Best Supporting Actress, Best Guest Actress – Comedy), and has both an Official Selection and Best Female Actress Nomination from the 2015 Vancouver Web Fest. Currently, Mundle is developing a new action crime drama and is anticipating shooting it's pilot episode this summer.

Annette Toutonghi (Capitol Hill)
Annette Toutonghi is an actress known for her role as Sister Terisha in the web series Capitol Hill. Her film credits include Money Buys Happiness and Guy Maddin’s Brand Upon the Brain. She lives in Seattle Washington where she works regularly on stage. Theatrical credits include ACT Theatre, The Seattle Repertory Theatre and the Intiman Theatre Company among others.

She is also the voice of Freddi Fish in the award winning children’s series of Freddi Fish games.

Susannah Wells (Thurston)
Susannah Wells was always encouraged to perform, beginning with acting engagements in West Texas and Oklahoma television and regional and community theatre. Thus, launching a natural-born, life-long dedication to the arts. Before relocating to Key West, Florida, Susannah worked in the Washington, DC Metropolitan area for 8 great years, while continuing her fine-tuning at Washington Improv Theater, Theatre Lab, and The Studio Theatre Acting Conservatory. Recent credits include Belinda Blair/Flavia Brent in "Noises Off" at Waterfront Playhouse, Alison Boodalay in Red Barn Theatre’s "BINGO! The Winning Musical," as well as Jessie in "'night, Mother" and Honey in "Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" with Theatre XP's Summer Stage. Favorites include Chris Gorman in "Rumors" and Catherine Simms in "The Foreigner" and, of course, Rosie MacGillicuddy in the award-winning, western web series Thurston. As a member of various longform improv ensembles, including Tonally Inappropriate—an a cappella, musical improv troupe—Susannah has performed at Washington Improv Theater, DC Improv, The Comedy Spot in Arlington, Virginia, and Del Close Marathon in New York. Wells is honored to be nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama and looks forward to seeing you all in LA for the Indie Series Awards!
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