Giovanni Ortega

Giovanni Ortega (AEA, SAG-AFTRA) is an Actor, Author and Director who has been working professionally since 2004. He believes in creating an accepting and inclusive relationship with artists and communities alike regardless of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation and class. He wrote ALLOS, the story of Carlos Bulosan which was commissioned by East West Players Theater (Southern California tour, 2011). It was produced in Chicago the following year by the CIRCA Pintig Theater Company, who once again the play as part of Migrant Stories (March, 2014). During the same time, East West Players included an excerpt of his work in Our American Voice. ALLOS was recently filmed and produced by KSCI-LA18. He has performed and spoken at over 300 organization/universities and prisons in North America with various one-person shows including Playfair, a program that incorporates Motivational Speaking, Diversity Engagement and Improvisation. In addition, he recently conducted a Method Acting and Directing Workshop for Upstage Theater in Bern Switzerland. As an author, he took the literary artist category for FPAC Pahayag Project for the most sought after writer with his first book, Leaves from the Silverlake Barrio (published by The Undeniables) and included in the Completely Mixed Up Anthology. During the Spring of 2015, he lead a Hip-Hop Theater Workshop for The Performance Project in Springfield, MA. East West Players is also presenting a staged reading of his play Iyakan Blues (The Criers) and Circa Pintig produced Tug of War which included his one person show Wayne. He is a regular guest for LA18 programs Halo Halo with Kat Iniba, Kababayan Today and Pun Plip Pridays.