DOUG WRIGHT’s play Quills premiered off-Broadway at the New York Theatre Workshop in 1995 and launched his career.   Other plays include I Am My Own Wife (Tony Award, Pulitzer Prize), Posterity, and books for the musicals Grey Gardens (Tony Nomination), The Little Mermaid, Hands on A Hardbody (Drama Desk Nomination) and War Paint, which premiered at the Goodman.  He adapted and directed August Strindberg’s Creditors for the La Jolla Playhouse in 2009.  Films include the screen adaptation of Quills (Paul Selvin Award, WGA) and production rewrites for director Rob Marshall, Steven Spielberg and others. He is president of The Dramatists Guild and on the Board of The New York Theater Workshop. He has taught or guest lectured at the Yale Drama School, Princeton University, Julliard and NYU.  He lives in New York with his husband, singer-songwriter David Clement.

ANDY BOROWITZ is a writer and comedian who has written for The New Yorker since 1998. He became the first-ever winner of the National Press Club’s humor award for his satirical column, The Borowitz Report, which has millions of readers around the world. As a stand-up comedian he has performed to sold-out theaters across the country and has made countless television and radio appearances. His two most recent books were both bestsellers: The 50 Funniest American Writers and An Unexpected Twist. He created The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, which launched the acting career of Will Smith.

NANCY GILES is an actress, comedian, and writer, with 4 Emmy Awards as an on-air contributor to the acclaimed “CBS News Sunday Morning”. She toured with Chicago’s famed Second City comedy troupe; was in the ensemble cast of ABC’s “China Beach” for three seasons and recently appeared Off-Broadway in “Good For Otto” by David Rabe. Giles created 4 solo shows with director Ellie Covan at NYC’s Dixon Place and is working on a collection of essays and true stories (working title: “Notes of a Negro Neurotic.”) She’s also a popular speaker at colleges and events across the country, and a longtime volunteer with NYC’s 52nd Street Project, working with kids from the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood in visual and performing arts. Her podcast “The Giles Files” is on the Apple Podcast app, Google Play and Stitcher.

JENNY HAGEL is a TV writer and comedy performer in New York City. She is the Executive Producer and Head Writer of The Amber Ruffin Show (Peacock). She also writes for, and appears on, Late Night with Seth Meyers (NBC), where she created the recurring segments Jokes Seth Can’t Tell and The Kind of Story We Need Right Now. Other writing credits include the Golden Globe Awards (NBC), Impractical Jokers (TruTV), Big Gay Sketch Show (Logo), Ladylike (MTV) and Head Writer of White Guy Talk Show (Fuse). Jenny lives in Brooklyn with her son and approximately 3 million loose Legos.

AASIF MANDVI is a Peabody award winning actor, writer, creator, comedian, author and producer. Widely known for his work on THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART, Mandvi currently stars in CBS series EVIL, created by Robert and Michelle King and last fall, launched the podcast, LOST AT THE SMITHSONIAN, where he gets up close and personal with ten of the most culturally significant artifacts of Americana at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. Mandvi made his roots in New York theater under the tutelage of pre-eminent acting teacher Wynn Handman with whom he developed his critically acclaimed one-man show SAKINA’S RESTAURANT. Mandvi also received rave reviews and a Lucille Lortel Award nomination for his role in Ayad Aktahr’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play, DISGRACED at Lincoln Center.

Aside from his art, Mandvi works closely with the ACLU defending individual rights and liberties including the Deportation Jamboree that he hosted and produced.

PAUL RUDNICK is a playwright, novelist, screenwriter and essayist, whose plays have been produced on and off Broadway and around the world, and include Jeffrey, The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told, I Hate Hamlet, Valhalla, Regrets Only and The New Century. His novels include I’ll Take It and Social Disease; Playing The Palace will be published this spring by Berkley. He’s a frequent contributor to The New Yorker, and his articles and essays have appeared in Vanity Fair, Esquire, Vogue and The New York Times. He’s rumored to be quite close to film critic Libby Gelman-Waxner, whose reviews have appeared in Premiere, Entertainment Weekly and The New Yorker, and been collected under the title If You Ask Me. His essay collection, titled I Shudder, and his collected plays have been published by HarperCollins. His screenplays include Addams Family Values, In&Out, the screen version of Jeffrey, Sister Act and the recent HBO show Coastal Elitess.