Finalists!
Susan Kelejian
Susan Kelejian is a writer, director, producer, actor, PSYCHO- therapist, and lifelong collector of stories. As co-Artistic Director of OVATE. she has spent decades creating multi-media that explore the funny, painful, and occasionally absurd business of being human. Her plays and screenplays have received numerous awards, and her play BELIEF was accepted for nomination for the 2025 Pulitzer Prize in Drama. Her directorial film debut of short "He/She/Us" which has been shown in festivals around the world, will be in the Gold Coast division of this year's Ojai FIlm Festival. Susan holds an MFA in Theatre Education, an MSW from USC, and a PhD in Spiritual Psychology. She lives in Ojai, where she continues to participate in oodles of creative adventures, and occasionally tells stories her horse, Hamlet. Most of all, she is a fiercly proud mother of multi-talented artist and hooman bean, Chance.
Barbara Amador
Barbara Amador spent most of her life in education before trading that all in for a new chapter as a course creator and consultant. A longtime believer in the power of a good story, Barbara has discovered that some of the best ones come from the moments in life that don’t go quite according to plan. She lives in Ojai, where she works, raises her family, volunteers in her community, and apparently now tells stories on stage.
Kurt Mullen
Kurt Mullen has told stories for PBS’s Stories from the Stage, where he has also coached and produced. He’s told stories for the RISK! true stories podcast in Brooklyn, and for the Grit: True Stories podcast, which he co-founded. He’s written for Powder, Paddler, Men’s Journal, Canoe & Kayak, Berkshire, and for literary journals. On Substack he is @kurtmullen and writes weekly for Lumpy Life, a publication about getting older with purpose and vigor and laughing all the way.
Wendy Banks
From the lush green countryside of Sussex in the UK Wendy hopped across The Pond to LA which has been her home for the last 50 years. Her stories sparkle with British culture from her American perspective. A passionate traveler, yoga teacher, astrologer, actor, swing and ballroom dancer, she loves entertaining audiences with tales of life in jolly olde England and her many travels, hoping to make them laugh and put a smile in their hearts.
Drew Kirkland
Drew Kirkland was born 22 blue moons ago in Yosemite National Park and began collecting adventures at a very young age. He enrolled in his first storytelling class just four years ago as a gift to himself after eight years of caregiving for his parents. Since then he has told stories about cowboy boots, circus elephants, slow boats in China & being a street harm reductionist in San Francisco. He has served on civil grand juries, supports the Southern Sierra Miwuk nation and can be found monthly at "the Alley" in Mariposa, CA sharing new stories with the local storytelling committee story swaps.
William Willcox
Bill Willcox spent 30 years at Walt Disney Imagineering, helping bring some of the world's most beloved theme park adventures to life. As a Ride Project Engineer, he helped design and build 28 attractions, including Big Thunder Mountain, Indiana Jones, Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, and the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. His work took him around the globe, living in Paris, Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Shanghai, and involved what he describes as "tons and tons of boats."
Before his Disney adventures, Bill spent 13 years developing alternative energy technologies at Rockwell International. He holds four patents in energy and amusement ride technology.
Now, instead of engineering thrilling rides, Bill is taking audiences on a different kind of adventure as a finalist in the Ojai Storytelling Festival's Story Slam!
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