A graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts (Ron Howard Fellowship), Alani is a multi-hyphenated actor, writer, and director dedicated to using technology and immersive storytelling techniques as a bridge between socially impactful stories and audiences around the world. Alani produced and directed Meat Puppet: The Filmed Experience, a streamed theatrical production aimed at raising money for the philanthropic group, Unusual Suspects, before being invited to the National Alliance for Musical Theatre’s inaugural Festival Observership for Early Career Directors under the mentorship of Warren Adams. Soon after, Alani directed and adapted an all female filmed student production of Sophocles’ Antigone for New York City’s world renowned Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute.
Alani wrote the book for the original speculative fiction musical At The River I Stand (2020 Johnny Mercer Writers Colony at Goodspeed, 2020 TheaterWorks Hartford’s WORKshop Series, Winner of the 2021 THEatre ACCELERATOR: New Realities Edition) before its development with the Tony Award-winning producers at Apples & Oranges Arts. Alani also wrote The Calling: A Musical VR Experience (Slamdance Film Festival), an interactive prequel to At The River I Stand featured at the National Alliance of Musical Theater’s 32nd Annual Festival of New Musicals, 2022 Performance & XR Conference, and SIGGRAPH 2023’s Immersive Pavilion as an example of how emerging XR technology can be used to develop theatrical properties. Alani has co-written and performed in numerous short films that have premiered at over 100 international film festivals world wide, including Slow (Outfest 2011, Martha’s Vineyard, Frameline, HBO Short Film Award), Close (Sundance 2011), and Train (Palm Springs International Shortfest, Vimeo Staff Pick). In the world of television, Alani successfully developed and sold an Afro-surrealist Civil War musical miniseries to HBO.
As a performer, Alani’s television credits include Castle (ABC), Major Crimes (TNT), Blue Bloods (CBS), Law & Order (NBC), Jessica’s Little Big World (Cartoon Network/HBO Max), Cousins for Life, Casagrandes, The Loud House, and The Fairly OddParents: A New Wish (Nickelodeon). Film credits include: Arthur the King, Woodlawn, Almost Friends, and Life of a King.
Beyond his creative ventures, Alani enjoys building robots with his daughter and annoying his wife with random comic book trivia and other nerdery.
THE CALLING: A VR MUSICAL EXPERIENCE
(Drama, 16 Minutes)
Producer, Writer, Director
THE CALLING, an immersive musical experience, transports you back to Memphis’ famed Beale Street on March 28, 1968 — the date of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s final march. Beginning in a Beale Street blues club in present day, users witness some of the scenes, prompted by historical photos positioned around the club, that lead to the sanitation worker strike in 1968. With the guidance of a mysterious Shoeshine Man you march with Dr. King and the thousands who journeyed to Memphis in support of the 1300 workers, striking for higher wages and better working conditions. Along the way you discover The Calling, an ancestral power to change the world resonating inside every person. This is a story about the audacity of hope, the challenges we overcome, and the choices we can make along the way.
THE CALLING | OFFICIAL TEASER
360° CLIPS
ANTIGONE
(Drama, 101 Minutes)
Executive Producer, Adapted for the Screen, Director
After the Theban Civil War comes to an end, the newly-appointed ruler Creon orders the fallen Polynices to remain unburied on the battlefield as punishment for his crimes against the state. Appalled by the decision, the Polynices’ sister Antigone defies Creon, burying her brother regardless. After Antigone openly confesses to her actions, her loved ones find themselves forced to stand against her – or be implicated in her crime – as she faces a doomed fate.
Filmed virtually in quarantine during the height of the 2020 pandemic, this adaptation of Sophocles’ classic Greek Tragedy has been reimagined for a modern audience and features a talented all female cast from New York’s world renowned Lee Strasberg Theater and Film Institute.
ANTIGONE | OFFICIAL TEASER
MEAT PUPPET
(Dark Comedy, 134 Minutes)
Executive Producer, Director, Story Editor
College football hero. Paragon of American masculinity. Porn addicted. Impotent. When Carlton Mason meets erudite porn star Jessica Lorde everything he thinks he knows is quick torn asunder.
Meat Puppet was filmed before a live audience and streamed to raise money for the Unusual Suspects, a theatre company that mentors, educates, and enriches youth in under-resourced communities through the creation of collaborative, original theatre.
MEAT PUPPET | OFFICIAL TEASER
(Drama, 16 Minutes)
Executive Producer, Co-Writer
When a high profile politician makes a controversial speech on immigration reform, he soon finds himself in hot water with his Mexican-American mistress, awakening a dark entity that, until now, has walked undisturbed alongside her.
VAL-EN-TINA was selected to Les Femmes Underground International Film Festival, Latino Short Film Festival, and Louisville’s International Festival of Film
VAL-EN-TINA | OFFICIAL SCREENER
SLOW
(Drama, 13 Minutes)
Co-Writer, Actor
An online dating hookup takes an unexpected turn.
SLOW premiered at Outfest 2011 and online simultaneously via Vimeo (going viral). SLOW has screened at 40 International film festivals (Outfest, Martha’s Vineyard, Frameline) winning numerous awards, including HBO Short Film Award.
SLOW | OFFICIAL SCREENER
