Derek Stusynski

Derek Stusynski was born and raised on a farm in Karlstad, MN, where he discovered his love for acting on stage in middle school. He portrayed a variety of characters in thirteen plays, including the lead in "Peter Pan," Scarecrow in "The Wizard of Oz," and a young pyromaniac in "Juvie." He moved to New York straight out of high school after being accepted to The New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts on a Meisner Merit Scholarship. After graduating, Derek was very active in the New York film and television industry. Notable credits include "Path to Prologue," which won three awards at the American International Film Festival and was an official selection of the Hoboken International Film Festival. He also starred in the award winning web series, "The RAs." Derek jumped into the improv scene after moving to Los Angeles. Since graduating from UCB, he joined an improv group called Thoughts and Prayers, which won 14 consecutive weeks at The Deathmatch show, and continues to perform at different venues around LA. Writing is another passion of Derek's, which started with the first book he wrote at age 12. He hopes to turn that book into a fantasy series one day. He also wrote and produced a series called "The Walking Tedd," which raised $16,000 on Kickstarter. Currently, he's working on a number of feature films, including a script for his first horror movie.