Kent Moran

Kent Moran (born June 12, 1982) is an American film actor and writer/director best known for his role in the film Listen to Your Heart[1][2] and The Challenger.

Kent Moran
Born (1982-06-12) June 12, 1982
New York City, New York, U.S.
OccupationActor, director
Years active2007–present

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 was 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 11, 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 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
Film
YearTitleRoleNotes
2007Across the UniverseFootball playerExtra
2010Without JillShort film
Writer, producer, and director
2010Down on the GroundAdamShort film
Producer, director, writer and actor
2010CatchShort film
Executive producer
2010Listen to Your HeartDannyActor, writer, producer, composer, and second unit director
Nominated – Best Actor, New York City International Film Festival
2012RegretPatrick
2013ContestActor
2015The ChallengerJadenActor, writer, director, producer and composer
2015My Name is DavidCo-producer
2018The Cloverfield Paradox
Television
YearTitleRoleNotes
2006The SopranosParty goer, extraEpisode: "Johnny Cakes"
2007As the World TurnsDorm guy, extraEpisode #1.12948
2007The Bold and the BeautifulRoom service waiter, extraEpisode 1.5185
2015Keith Broke His Leg

Awards
YearGroupAwardResultNotes
2009Action on Film International Film FestivalScreenwriting (Alan J. Bailey Award)WinnerListen to Your Heart
2010Action on Film International Film FestivalBest PictureWinner
2010Action on Film International Film FestivalBest Produced ScreenplayNominated
2010Daytona Beach Film FestivalAudience AwardWinner
2010Fort Lauderdale Film FestivalAudience AwardWinner
2010Los Angeles International Film Festival of HollywoodBest Narrative Feature (Merit Award)Winner
2010New York City International Film FestivalPeople's ChoiceWinner
2010North Country Film FestivalAudience AwardWinner
2010Offshoot Film FestivalBest Overall FilmWinner
2010Rhode Island International Film FestivalAudience Award – Best FeatureWinner
2010Salem Film FestivalBest DramaWinner
2010Temecula Valley International Film FestivalAudience AwardWinner
2010Withoutabox Written Word AwardBest New WriterNominated
2011Amelia Island Film FestivalAudience AwardWinner
2011Fallbrook Film FestivalAudience AwardWinner
2011Lake Arrowhead Film FestivalMusic and Magic of Movies AwardWinner
2015Gasparilla International Film FestivalAudience AwardWinnerThe Challenger
2015Nashville Film FestivalAudience Award Winner2nd Place
2015Nashville Film FestivalAudience Award Winner, New Directors CompetitionWinner
2015Palm Beach Film FestivalAudience AwardWinner

References
  1. Philbrick, Jami. "IAR Exclusive: Kent Moran Discusses 'Listen to Your Heart'". Retrieved May 4, 2011.
  2. O'Shea, Tim. "Screenwriter/Musician/Actor Kent Moran Talks About "Listen to Your Heart"". Retrieved May 4, 2011.
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