Kent Moran
Kent Moran is an American film actor and writer/director best known for his role in the film Listen to Your Heart and The Challenger.
Personal life
Moran was born on June 12, 1982 in New York City and raised in Greenwich, Connecticut with his younger brother Luke and older brothers, Clay and Fred. Kent is an alumnus of Rye Country Day School and Lehigh University, and currently resides in Los Angeles. His younger brother, Luke Moran, is also an actor.
Career
After college, Moran moved to New York City to pursue acting and music. For the year that Moran was in New York, he was one of the lead singers of an R&B group as well as a singer/songwriter. Moran's first principal role in a movie came as a football player in Julie Taymor's Across the Universe. He then was cast as James Dean in Guy Guido's documentary Icons. After doing several commercials, short films, and a small role on As the World Turns, Moran moved to Los Angeles.
In Los Angeles, Moran studied under numerous acting coaches, including Suzanne Kent, founder of the Groundlings. Moran was cast as James Dean twice more: once in an Armstrong Flooring advertising campaign, which is featured on The Ads of the World website, and again in a European Mercedes GLK commercial cast by Vickie Thomas. Moran also landed another small role on The Bold and the Beautiful. In 2008, after the writer's strike, Moran started Wishing Well Pictures, an independent film production company. Soon after, he wrote Listen to Your Heart, which became Wishing Well Pictures' debut film. It was also Moran's debut starring role in a movie and his first time as a producer and second unit director. Moran also wrote the original music and score for the movie which can be found on the soundtrack. Listen to Your Heart became one of the first movies ever to screen outside in the middle of Times Square as part of the New York City International Film Festival, where Moran was nominated for Best Actor. Listen to Your Heart went on to win 15 awards at film festivals across the country and was distributed through Warner Brothers, Gravitas Ventures, and Vision Films.
Moran wrote and directed several short films in between his features. In 2011, Moran was cast in one of the lead roles in Regret, a psychological thriller shot in Portugal. In 2012, Kent wrote and starred in his directorial debut, The Challenger, where he stars opposite Michael Clarke Duncan, S. Epatha Merkerson, and Justin Hartley. The Challenger became the late Michael Clarke Duncan's final on-screen role. It won several awards at top film festivals across the country and secured a direct deal with Regal Cinemas for a US Theatrical Release. The Challenger comes in out in US Theaters on September 11th, 2015. As an actor, Kent also had a cameo roles in the movie Contest in 2013 and the popular web series Keith Broke His Leg in 2015. He co-produced the festival favorite My Name Is David (film) and released an EP of original songs entitled Better Left Said in 2014. Kent continues to act while developing projects under the Wishing Well Pictures label.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Across the Universe | Football Player | Extra | |
| 2010 | Without Jill (short) | Writer, producer, and director | ||
| 2010 | Down on the Ground (short) | Adam | Producer, director, writer, actor | |
| 2010 | Catch (short) | Executive Producer | ||
| 2010 | Listen to Your Heart | Danny | Actor, writer, producer, composer, Second Unit Director Nominated – Best Actor, New York City International Film Festival | |
| 2012 | Regret | Patrick | ||
| 2013 | Contest | Actor | ||
| 2015 | The Challenger | Jaden | Actor, writer, director, producer, composer | |
| 2015 | My Name is David | Co-Producer |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | The Sopranos | Party Goer, Extra | Episode: Johnny Cakes |
| 2007 | As the World Turns | Dorm Guy, Extra | Episode #1.12948 |
| 2007 | The Bold and the Beautiful | Room Service Waiter, Extra | Episode 1.5185 |
| 2015 | Keith Broke His Leg | Actor |
Awards
| Year | Group | Award | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Action on Film International Film Festival | Screenwriting (Alan J. Bailey Award) | Winner | Listen to Your Heart |
| 2010 | Action on Film International Film Festival | Best Picture | Winner | Listen to Your Heart |
| 2010 | Action on Film International Film Festival | Best Produced Screenplay | Nominated | Listen to Your Heart |
| 2010 | Daytona Beach Film Festival | Audience Award | Winner | Listen to Your Heart |
| 2010 | Fort Lauderdale Film Festival | Audience Award | Winner | Listen to Your Heart |
| 2010 | Los Angeles International Film Festival of Hollywood | Best Narrative Feature (Merit Award) | Winner | Listen to Your Heart |
| 2010 | New York City International Film Festival | People's Choice | Winner | Listen to Your Heart |
| 2010 | North Country Film Festival | Audience Award | Winner | Listen to Your Heart |
| 2010 | Offshoot Film Festival | Best Overall Film | Winner | Listen to Your Heart |
| 2010 | Rhode Island International Film Festival | Audience Award – Best Feature | Winner | Listen to Your Heart |
| 2010 | Salem Film Festival | Best Drama | Winner | Listen to Your Heart |
| 2010 | Temecula Valley International Film Festival | Audience Award | Winner | Listen to Your Heart |
| 2010 | Withoutabox Written Word Award | Best New Writer | Nominated | Listen to Your Heart |
| 2011 | Amelia Island Film Festival | Audience Award | Winner | Listen to Your Heart |
| 2011 | Fallbrook Film Festival | Audience Award | Winner | Listen to Your Heart |
| 2011 | Lake Arrowhead Film Festival | Music and Magic of Movies Award | Winner | Listen to Your Heart |
| 2015 | Gasparilla International Film Festival | Audience Award | Winner | The Challenger |
| 2015 | Nashville Film Festival | Audience Award Winner | 2nd Place | The Challenger |
| 2015 | Nashville Film Festival | Audience Award Winner , New Directors Competition | Winner | The Challenger |
| 2015 | Palm Beach Film Festival | Audience Award | Winner | The Challenger |
References
- ^ Philbrick, Jami. "IAR Exclusive: Kent Moran Discusses 'Listen to Your Heart'". Retrieved May 4, 2011.
- ^ O'Shea, Tim. "Screenwriter/Musician/Actor Kent Moran Talks About "Listen to Your Heart"". Retrieved May 4, 2011.
External links
- Kent Moran at IMDb
- Kent Moran – Official Site
- Template:IMDb company
- [1] Armstrong Flooring Advertising Campaign]
- European GLK Mercedes Commercial
- Gravitas Ventures
- Osiris Entertainment – Listen to Your Heart