JESSI MAY STEVENSON

Harlow

Jessi May is the Artistic Director of the Santa Paula Theater Center, a role she has held for the past five years. She earned her MFA in Theater from UC Irvine as the recipient of the Chancellor’s Full Ride Scholarship and continued her training and performing at Harvard University with the Moscow Art Theater, the American Repertory Theater in Boston, and South Coast Repertory. At SPTC, Jessi May has directed on the main stage for nearly a decade and started the Santa Paula Film Festival that will be heading into it’s 3rd year.

As a performer, she created and starred in the one-woman show and short film Isn’t That Just My Life, which has been featured in 33 festivals worldwide and honored with 12 Best Actress Awards, a Silver Medal Acting Award, and a nomination for Best Original Idea. She also served as assistant director and played the role of Candy in the feature film Time Capsule, winner of multiple awards including Best Picture at the Dallas Movie Awards Festival. Her most recent theatre role was Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire.

JAMES JAMES

Jacob

James is a writer-director-actor whose work centers on character-driven stories with emotional weight. His award-winning short film A Trapdoor has screened on the festival circuit and informed his approach to grounded, performance-forward filmmaking. He is the writer and co-director of Hit the Seat, produced in collaboration with Kevin Parks, Meredith Newcom, and Kira DeLand, bringing his background in theater and long-form storytelling into a tighter, more cinematic format. James builds projects with a focus on ensemble work, honest dialogue, and stories that sit at the intersection of humor and pain.

DEREK PETROPOLIS

Cato

Derek is an Actor and Voiceover Artist from Tucson, Arizona. He graduated Cum Laude from Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, Washington where he earned a BFA in Theater. Derek has worked with several theatre companies in Seattle and Los Angeles including Seattle Shakespeare Company, ACT, and The Seattle Children's Theater. Derek has also been seen on Netflix, Lifetime, and in several feature films with Full Moon Pictures. He has also lent his voice to several projects including video games, commercials, andanimated feature films. Derek is thrilled to be working with such a group of talented artists.

SINDY MCKAY-SWERDLOVE

Lillian

In her early career, Sindy was in several sitcom pilots (that never saw the light of day), some independent films (including the Roger Corman gem The Skateboard Kid as well as being a cast member of an Emmy award winning PBS anthology show called TNRC PRESENTS: (big award – small viewership.) Switching her focus to writing, Sindy earned two Emmy awards, several Humanitas awards, and one BAFTA. Lately her focus has returned to acting and she has managed to be on stage almost continuously for the past twelve years. Hit the Seat will be her triumphant return to great independent films.

MARTHA BENAVIDES

Senny

Martha began her acting journey last century in the theater at Ventura College, later attending the American Academy of Dramatic Arts (NYC).  She was featured in the independent films Up the Junction, The Heiress, and Late for the Sky. Onstage, she has appeared at the Santa Paula Theater Center, Fractured Actors (Ventura) and The Alcazar (Carpinteria). Martha’s debut as a playwright was in 2025 when her one act, 12 Hours, premiered on Santa Paula Theater Center’s Backstage. She is grateful to James and Kevin

for the opportunity to be part of this film.

‘It is never too late to be what you might have been’
-George Eliot

HARPER Róisín (ROSE) HAM

Alex, young daughter of
Harlow & Cato

Harper is a dynamic singer and actor that has grown up in the theater. She has performed in multiple plays and musicals with Rubicon Theatre Company and Fractured Actors Theater Company. Favorite roles include YOUNG BONNIE in Bonny & Clyde and IVONKA in Once. She is a trained vocalist and drummer and is currently learning to play guitar. She is excited to make her screen debut in Hit the Seat. Buckle up!