Willo Hausman

Unique traits: From local plays to off-Broadway, from low-end film ventures to high-end studio productions I have worked in the office, backstage, on location and on set in a variety of departments including casting, camera, accounting, art, props, publicity, teaching, producing and directing. All aspects of the entertainment world are interesting to me, culminating in a well-rounded, respectful team-player. With both parents in the business, growing up on movie sets and in theaters, wearing numerous hats, I carry a collaborative and ‘can-do’ attitude alongside a positive, confident, comfortable leadership quality.

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  Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf (2017)
  Theater by Mendocino Theater Company Director Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf Director’s Notes With this production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf I aim to direct a thrilling, evocative and ultimately healing show. This is a play that is both emotionally shocking and poetically beautiful. A work of art that seeps into your heart, spirit and very bones, containing the potential to bring about deeply personal growth. The audience is allowed to experience the full gamut of expression (passion, fear, sadness, anger, laughter and peace) via Martha, George, Honey and Nick, from the safety of their seat. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf is about breaking the old patterns that hold us back and Albee's innately positive message is presented in a poetic, clever, enthralling package. After the show one should be inclined to ponder, compare and contemplate. At the heart of the play is an inTOXICating love story buried by the muck of past sorrows and unexpressed regret. We all have dark areas that remain hidden in the shadows. No matter how painful the journey might be, in the end it is always more beneficial to be honest with others and ourselves. With a variety of undercurrents; twisted, eerie and sensual we watch Albee's story unfold with shocking surprises, surreal notes of silliness and at the finale', a strange serenity. I see this play as a wonderfully cathartic experience, a direct encouragement of Albee's motto; that we live our live as truthfully as possible, stripping away the facade of illusions until we are left with the shining core of our true center, which often remains hidden beneath a variety of addictions both literal and internal, all of which only serve to dim our precious individual light. Most often our harshest enemy is our self. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf stands up for the magic and strength of metamorphosis.

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  A Christmas Carol (2014 - 2015)
  Theater by Throckmorton Theater Director A Christmas Carol Vision by Director Willo Hausman Being a director who is smitten with ghosts and monsters, I was immediately drawn to taking on the job of directing a theatrical version of Charles Dickens’ haunting tale. When I think of A Christmas Carol I go immediately to the world the author so clearly created in this classic story. He wrote none of the schmaltzy, over-bright, happy-go-lucky stuff so often presented in this traditional holiday fare. So, the first rule of thumb in taking on this endeavor, was that I would be allowed free rein to stick to the original story with all its strange and ominous intent. The elements that make this novel intriguing—and caused its incredible success—depict frightening ghosts (four of them to be precise), depressing poverty and illness, the permanence of death, and a central character that is an incredibly mean-spirited man, living his life in miserly bitterness. It is only at the very end that Scrooge is redeemed and if we have gone through this truly dark journey alongside him, experiencing all the nightmares he does, then we too will rejoice in his enlightenment, as well as our own. I first pitched the idea of putting up A Christmas Carol to Steve Coleman, The Throckmorton Theater’s fabulously gifted set designer. After realizing we were kindred artistic spirits and connected creatively in numerous ways, the notion of putting up this play burned that much brighter in my mind. I felt even more driven to direct this piece on that particular stage, surrounded by such appropriate ambiance. There is a very old-fashioned charm to this space in Mill Valley, California (it began as a cabaret in the 1920s) and it really rang true for the vision I had in mind for this production. This inspiration was fueled even further after reading a certain version of the script, written in England by Charles Ludlam. True to the original tale his version was shadowy, mysterious, witty and finally, upbeat. As Scrooge enters the realm of his memories, confronts the truth of his present, and imagines a future without hope, we learn what truly matters; truth, kindness and heart. What better way to impart lessons then with spooky apparitions, intense imagery, haunting realizations, rich dialogue, and in the end, utter spectacular joy? Dickens does it best with his original intent, just as the fairy tales of old were wont to do. With this production we planned to stick as close as possible to the real message within the authors words and use his inventive tactics to present them. We ended up with a terrifically twisted and authentic set which ultimately went through 18 shifts during the show, carried out primarily by the performers themselves. A talented cast of 25, ages 7-77, consisted of both professionals and amateurs. We used old-fashioned stage trickery like black-lights and human-made sounds to announce the arrival of Marley’s ghost along with new-fangled elements such as9 fantastic projections depicting Scrooge’s memories and ghostly travels, filmed by the masterful Mark Bowen. The mesmerizing live sound effects and incredible cinematic score composed by Steve Kirk, our composer, underlined the action and added to the shadowy mood ). We also mixed in a few modern day splashes via our fantastic costume designer, Morganne Newson, who brought some steam-punk hues to her slate of Victorian clothing. It was topped off with fantastically unique looks created by Maya Lopez and Leonie Meissner, our hair and make-up designers, who worked their magic on our diverse set of characters. Many of the actors played up to three roles each and needed to change looks fairly rapidly. After the initial opening night jitters, the play acquired a great rhythm and the audience (including Robin Williams) laughed and appeared in awe at all the right places. Happily, I even heard reports of some folk being rather frightened by the eerie specters and mesmerizing illuminations.

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  Laurel Canyon (2002)
  Film (Drama) Actress Newly graduated psychiatrist Sam and his fiancee Alex move to Los Angeles for Sam's residency and into Sam's mother's house in upscale Laurel Canyon. Only problem is, Sam's mother is still there, supposedly finishing up a record that she's producing for the band of her new boy toy, Ian. She seems more interested in smoking pot and drinking than actually working though. Alex doesn't mind but Sam is quite upset. Alex starts off focused on her work (finishing a dissertation on genomics), but is soon distracted by the rock-'n-roll lifestyle going on around her. Meanwhile, Sam is equally distracted by beautiful Israeli intern Sara. Written by Jon Reeves <jreeves@imdb.com>

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  Scorcher (2002)
  Film (Action, Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi and 1 More) Assistant Production Coordinator After a disastrous nuclear accident, scientists discover the earth's tectonic plates are shifting and creating immense pressure that will destroy the earth in a fiery global eruption, and it's up to a few top scientists to find a way to stop it! Written by Yocke

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  Fairie (2002)
  Film (Fantasy and Sci-Fi) Director In the world of nine fairy types who are celebrating New Years Eve at the base of the Hollywood Sign. Little tiny modern creatures, the fay (fairy) folk possess a vast assortment of magical powers and bizarre capabilities. Though physically different, their inner dilemmas are often akin to humans, making them simultaneously 'fantastical' and 'relate-able'. Inhabiting a parallel universe, yet now a separate one, the fay provide valuable life teachings through humor, absurdity, and simply clarity. A dose of social commentary with a pleasant taste, FAIRIE, is a wild coaster ride with a subliminal current of knowledge underlying its various twists and turns. Our diverse group consists of an ancient Irish fairy King, a tattooed and winged flower Queen, a shy placating brownie, 2 elves (one light and one dark), a tri-aged sibyl fay, a mischievous goblin, a shape-shifting phooka, and a sleeping, snoring baby dwarf. Fairies being notorious indulgers, they all partake of various substances, ... Written by Willo Hausman

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  They Crawl (2001)
  Film (Horror, Sci-Fi and Thriller) Director's Assistant After a terrifying incident of man, a policewoman detective needs to find a way to stop the creepy horde of roaches before it can kill more people.

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  Man on the Moon (1999)
  Film (Biography, Comedy and Drama) Camera and Electrical Department Man on the Moon is a biographical movie on the late comedian Andy Kaufman. Kaufman, along with his role on Taxi (1978), was famous for being the self-declared Intergender Wrestling Champion of the world. After beating women time and time again, Jerry Lawler (who plays himself in the movie), a professional wrestler, got tired of seeing all of this and decided to challenge Kaufman to a match. In most of the matches the two had, Lawler prevailed with the piledriver, which is a move by spiking an opponent head-first into the mat. One of the most famous moments in this feud was in the early 80s when Kaufman threw coffee on Lawler on Late Night with David Letterman (1982), got into fisticuffs with Lawler, and proceeded to sue NBC. Written by Eli Boorstein <uahp@rocketmail.com>

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  The Pandora Project (1998)
  Film (Action and Thriller) Production Assistant A CIA agent has to stop a former associate who has stolen a weapon which kills people without harming buildings, all before he is to get married in a few days.

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  Twilight (1998)
  Film (Crime, Drama, Mystery and Thriller) Producer's Assistant A retired ex-cop and private detective (Newman) who lives with a rich actor (Hackman) who is dying from cancer and his actress wife (Sarandon) gets mixed up in murder when he is asked to deliver blackmail money. He walks into a 20 year old case involving the mysterious disappearance of the actress's former husband. James Garner appears as another ex-cop who also does occasional errands for the couple. Written by John Sacksteder <jsackste@bellsouth.net>

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  A Family Thing (1996)
  Film (Comedy and Drama) Production Assistant Earl Pilcher, Jr., runs an equipment rental outfit in Arkansas, lives with his wife and kids and parents, and rarely takes off his gimme cap. His mother dies, leaving a letter explaining he's not her natural son, but the son of a black woman who died in childbirth. Plus, he has a half-brother Ray, in Chicago, she wants him to visit. Earl makes the trip, initially receiving a cold welcome from Ray and Ray's son, Virgil. His birth mother's sister, Aunt T., an aged and blind matriarch, takes Earl in tow and insists that the family open up to him. Written by <jhailey@hotmail.com>

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  Caught (1996)
  Film (Drama and Thriller) Actress Joe and Betty run a fish market and have sunk into a comfortable, if somewhat boring life. Enter the drifter Nick, who takes a job in the store and a place in their home. He proceeds to awaken Joe's hope in the future as well as Betty's sexual passions. Until their son Danny returns home and notices the changes... Written by John Allison <johna@cs.colorado.edu>

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  The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996)
  Film (Drama and Biography) Extras Casting Director Larry Flynt is the hedonistically obnoxious, but indomitable, publisher of Hustler magazine. The film recounts his struggle to make an honest living publishing his porn magazine and how it changes into a battle to protect the freedom of speech for all people. Written by Kenneth Chisholm <kchishol@execulink.com>

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  Minotaur (1994)
  Film (Drama) Actress A sardonic cinematic meditation on being a pop star. It recounts the desperate hours of a fictional performer who is equal parts Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra. Not only does the Minotaur have the world on a string, but he has a hot tub shaped like a champagne glass, into which he lures unsuspecting beauty queens for the sole purpose of drug-addled kinkiness. Written by Jonesy

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  Nobody's Fool (1994)
  Film (Comedy and Drama) Production Assistant Sully is a rascally ne'er-do-well approaching retirement age. While he is pressing a worker's compensation suit for a bad knee, he secretly works for his nemesis, Carl, and flirts with Carl's young wife Toby. Sully's long- forgotten son and family have moved back to town, so Sully faces unfamiliar family responsibilities. Meanwhile, Sully's landlady's banker son plots to push through a new development and evict Sully from his mother's life. Written by Reid Gagle

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  Homicide (1991)
  Film (Crime, Drama and Thriller) Actress Policeman Bob Gold has to capture a murderer that not even the FBI has been able to find. But before he can even start he is re-assigned to the murder of an old Jewish lady in a black area. The evidence points at a Jewish hate group and he discovers connections between them and his previous case. Written by Mattias Thuresson

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  Things Change (1988)
  Film (Comedy, Crime and Drama) Actress Gino, an Italian-American shoe-shiner with a remarkable similarity to a certain mafia don, is paid to take the rap for a murder. Jerry, a two-bit gangster on probation, is given a chance for redemption by guarding Gino for the weekend. But instead of sitting around a dingy hotel room, Jerry decides to give Gino a weekend to remember, taking him to Lake Tahoe. Jerry's bragging to his friends of his important charge, as well as Gino's dignified, quiet demeanor, soon result in much complication for them both. Written by Mike Myers <mmyers@ucsd.edu>

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  House of Games (1987)
  Film (Crime and Thriller) Actress A famous psychologist, Margaret Ford, decides to try to help one of her patients get out of a gambling debt. She visits the bar where Mike, to whom the debt is owed, runs poker games. He convinces her to help him in a game: her assignment is to look for "tells", or give-away body language. What seems easy to her becomes much more complex. Written by John J. Magee <magee@helix.mgh.harvard.edu>

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  The Red Man's View
  Film (Action, Adventure, Drama, History and 3 More) Miscellaneous Crew The bold and definitive film about the tragic history of Native Americans at the end of an era, when the American nation struggles with a changing radical government that during its 'Civil' war, professes freedom for all, but incites destruction and the eradication of an entire people and its culture. About a Shoshone band who lived in a secluded valley that are discovered by a group of Union soldiers and squatters and forced to move from their home. They are moved from valley to valley as the Union takes more and more of their land in a plan to eradicate the country of 'Savages' exterminating all Native Americans. This epic Native American drama is a symbol of the American indigenous beating heart. Showing the sweeping landscape of the life and times of an entire culture and its last days as a free people as seen through the eyes of a small Band of these people. Love and courage gives this Native family strength to endure the trials and heartache of war of hard times for their people... Written by Biograph Studios (Production Company)

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