Hari Williams(I)

Hari Williams' story begins on an ashram in the mountains of Agoura Hills founded by Alice Coltrane, wife of jazz icon John Coltrane, her holy name being Swamini Turiyasangitananda. It was a spiritual community named Sai Anantam well rooted in the Vedantic traditions of love, peace, right action, and diminishing the ego. On the ashram he was first introduced to theater and performed in a spiritual adaptation of the Wizard of Oz at age six that was way ahead of its time. Later as a theater major in the historic Department of Fine Arts at Howard University, he was challenged by both peers and faculty to cultivate his best artistic self. For the past 17 years he has cultivated a career as an actor, producer, and filmmaker based in Los Angeles. Throughout this time he has had the privilege of immersing himself in the mediums of theater, film, TV, and digital new media leading to more than 100 collective credits. He established Thought Collective Productions in 2012 to empower his creative voice and has since produced the sketch comedy discussion series, "Unpacked" on Fox Soul, sold out live performances with the Beer and Bedtime Stories Theater Company, and award winning films such as "Dirty Talk" awarded Best Comedy at the 2023 Los Angeles Film Awards. Hari is on a mission to dynamically portray the complexities of the human condition by seeking out perspectives that have yet to be brought to the forefront of our collective attention. He is committed to using his creative abilities to subvert the dominant, prevailing narratives that are used to marginalize and dehumanize other human beings. He understands that effective storytelling can shape individuals and impact culture; characters have the ability to be larger than life and inspire us to be better versions of ourselves, and he is determined to tell those stories.