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Jason Odell Williams
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April - May 2010 - Jason will play "Adam" in the world premiere of Yankee Tavern by Steven Dietz at New Jersey Rep.

March 2010 - Jason's play Baltimore in Black & White will have readings on March 1st & 2nd at MTC. The readings will be directed by Jason's wife, Charlotte Cohn, and produced by TONY Award winning producer Richard Winkler (The Norman Conquests, Memphis).

January 2010 - An Off-Broadway benefit performance of Jason's play At A Loss will take place January 6th, 2010 at The Bleecker Street Theatre. Click HERE for tickets.

November 2009 - Jason's play At A Loss was selected to be a part of "Love & Licenses," the first theatrical venture for Artists 4 Israel.

October 2009 - Jason played the male lead in Philip Barry's Holiday as part of the Sunday reading series with The Actors Salon in Washington D.C.

July 2009 - Jason's newest novel The Watershed Year is complete. His agent will be submitting it to publishers this fall.

July 2009 - Jason and writing partner Shawn Fagan have completed a new comedic-horror screenplay. More info soon!

April 2009 - Jason now has a recurring role on One Life to Live. Look for him as (ironically enough) "Jason" the no-nonsense Bailiff in many upcoming episodes.

March 2009 - Jason was cast in Tragic Improv - not your momma's improv! Look for him in shows all around NYC.

January 2009: Jason's play Baltimore in Black & White was selected to be part of the 28th Annual Baltimore Playwrights Festival. The reading was directed by Jason's wife, Charlotte Cohn.

November 2008: Picture Day (the 2008 Student Academy Award nominated short film in which Jason played the lead) had its first screening at The Big Apple Film Festival in Tribeca.

November 2008: Jason wrapped another lead role in an indie short called Passerine, a quirky comedy written & directed by Densie Iris, winner of the prestigious Sloan Foundation grant for this script, and produced by Chip Hourlihan (producer of the 2008 Sundance Grand Jury Prize winning feature, Frozen River).

November 2008: The Hindenburg Omen, an independent feature in which Jason played the co-lead, had its first screening at the Queens International Film Festival.

October - November 2008: Jason's play At A Loss had its premiere showcase production at Florida's Jewish Cultural Arts Theatre.

October 2008: Jason's play Baltimore in Black & White had a fully staged reading at The New School for Drama Theatre. It was directed by Charlotte Cohn and starred Kevin R. Free, Judy Jerome, Nedra McClyde, Edward O'Blenis, Andrew Rein, Ross Beshear, Tai Verley and Kristen Cerelli.

September - October 2008: Jason shot several Under-Five episodes on One Life to Live.

September 2008: Jason was cast in the reading of new screenplay called Book of Water by Bradford Tatum. It was directed by Jay Anania and performed at this year's Hamptons International Film Festival Screenwriters' Lab. In the screenplay, which is about the life of Leonardo da Vinci, Jason played the heavy supporting roles of Botticelli and Micaelangelo opposite Van Hansis (As the World Turns, Die Mommie Die!) and Ron Guttman (27 Dresses, August Rush, The Hunt for Red October).

September 2008: Jason's play At A Loss had a staged reading at New Jersey Rep. starring Charlotte Cohn and NJ Rep company members Susan G. Bob, Brian O'Halloran, and Andrew Rein. It was directed by Christopher Presley.

August 2008: Jason and his wife Charlotte Cohn launched Look At Me Films -- a new family portrait video service.

July 2008: Jason played "Milo Minderbinder" & "Clevinger" among other roles in a seven-actor version of Catch-22 with The Aquila Theatre Company. The production played at The Huntington Arts Festival in Long Island and was directed by Aquila's Founder and Artistic Director, Peter Meineck.

July 2008: Jason shot two more under-five episodes of ABC's One Life To Live.

June 2008: Jason's play Baltimore in Black & White was selected as the inaugural reading for the Eos Theatre Company (Jeff Cureton, Artistic Director). The cast included: Christopher Burris, Charlotte Cohn, Maria Dizzia, Shawn Fagan, Kevin R. Free, Jason Munt, Charlie Parker, Dina Percia, Kieana Richard and Josh Scheer.

June 2008: Jason shot another Under-Five role on ABC's One Life to Live.

May 2008: Jason took part in the readings of several new plays at Primary Stages. The new works were written by Kate Bell, Richard Kollodge, Anne Reingold, and Joey Schultz and were directed by David Caudle.

May 2008: Jason played the title role in a reading from The Moral Education of Billy Black, a new play by Alex Lippard presented at Primary Stages. The reading, directed by Rob Urbinati, also starred Larry Block, Paul Iacono, and Anjelica Torn.

May 2008: Picture Day, a short film directed by Nick Paley from N.Y.U., was nominated for a Student Academy Award. In it, Jason plays the lead role of a gay school-portrait photographer in rural Vermont who hires a punk girl to be his new assistant.

March - April 2008: Jason played the co-lead opposite Callen Williams in an independent feature film entitled The Hindenburg Omen directed by Frederic Colier.

March 2008: Jason had a reading of his newest play, At A Loss, performed at Primary Stages in Manhattan, directed by Chris Presley with OBIE & Drama Desk Award Winner Marilyn Chris, Charlotte Cohn, Steven Rattazzi and Chris Rosamond.

February 2008: Jason played a leading role in the new play Does Anyone Know Sarah Paisner? at The Gene Frankel Theatre in Manhattan.

January 2008: Jason shot two days as an Under-Five on ABC's One Life to Live.

November 2007: Jason acquired a literary agent (Ryan Communications) for his novel, Verisimilitude, about a woman in New York learning how to finally tell the truth - in and out of her acting class. The manuscript is currently being shopped around to publishers.

October 2007: Jason played the supporting role of "The Curator" in a screenplay reading opposite Christopher Walken, William H. Macy and Morgan Freeman. The new comedy, called The Lonely Maiden, was written by Michael LeSieur and directed by Peter Hewitt.

August 2007: Jason had a reading of his play Baltimore in Black & White performed at the Theatres at 45 Bleecker with Charlotte Cohn, Bob D'Haene, Brie Eley, Kevin R. Free, Laura Heisler, Tim McCracken, Kevin McKelvy, Elan O'Connor, Charlie Parker, and Chris Stack.

biography

The Danish PlayOriginally from Columbia, Maryland, Jason is an actor, writer and director. He has appeared on television, in several independent films as well as off-Broadway and regionally at such theatres as Baltimore's Centerstage, The Shakespeare Theatre of D.C., The Actors Studio, The Daryl Roth 2 Theatre, The National Shakespeare Company, Heritage Repertory Theatre in Virginia, and the Studio Theatre in D.C. where he played the role of "Carter" in the smash hit regional premiere of Neil LaBute's Fat Pig for which he received rave reviews.

As a writer and director, Jason's work has appeared at Primary Stages, Bleecker Street Theatre, The Abingdon Theatre, Roy Arias, Interart Theatre, The Producer's Club, and the historic Ensemble Studio Theatre, among others. In 2002, Jason's first feature-length screenplay, The Danish Play, was optioned by Emerald Oceans Media Group in Denver. Jason directed a short version of his script, which went on to win awards at The 2004 New York Short Film Festival, The 2003 Philadelphia Short Film Festival, and the 2003 Denver Underground Film Festival. Soon after that, several major production companies requested to read his follow-up feature, the unique drama By the Book.

Jason received a B.A. in Theatre from The University of Virginia and an M.F.A. in Acting from The Actors Studio Drama School in New York. Jason and his wife, Charlotte-Cohn, live in Manhattan and are the proud parents of a beautiful little girl, Imogen.

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