The 818 Session

FILMMAKER BIOS

Jessica Koslow was born and raised in Venice, Calif. After graduating from Brown University, she moved to New York City and worked at McCall’s magazine, where she learned to write and edit, and gained invaluable publishing experience. Here, she also began her freelance writing career and scored her first published piece in Vibe magazine, thus combining her love of writing and hip-hop. Jessica’s last job in New York before moving to Los Angeles in 2006 was as Arts & Entertainment Editor for the New York Press. Most recently, she was the editor of Campus Circle, an L.A.-based weekly newspaper, for four years. She just received a master’s in Specialized Journalism (The Arts) at USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.

Tshego Letsoalo was born in a small town three hours north of Johannesburg, South Africa, and did her Bachelor of Journalism in an even smaller town called Grahamstown. She specialized in radio and is absolutely mad about music, the good old school kind. Other than music and radio, she enjoys things like road trips, being outside and good people. She also just received a master’s in Specialized Journalism (The Arts) at USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism.

LEAD CAST BIOS

MARQUISA GARDNER, AKA “MISS PRISSY”

Discovered in greater Los Angeles, “Miss Prissy” is one of the most well rounded entertainers the south side of Hollywood has ever seen before. She is trained in all areas of dance, from ballet to hip-hop, and has vocal abilities that have been compared to the likes of Brandy, Keyshia Cole, Mariah Carey and the eight-time Grammy winner Lauryn Hill. Not only does she have the chops to kick through pop/hip-hop’s door, she also has the edgy twist that is sure to get any music head out of their seat. Though tours with Snoop Dogg, the Game and Madonna didn’t come until after her appearance in the 2005 film Rize, which chronicles the lives and competitions of some of South Central Los Angeles’ top krump dancers, Miss Prissy (called “the Queen of Krump” in the film) was already a well-respected dancer and teacher in her own neighborhood before Rize was ever shown. Classically trained, Miss Prissy started lessons at the age of four, learning everything from ballet to jazz to tap. She discovered hip-hop dancing at 13 and enjoyed its expressiveness, but didn’t really begin to take her art seriously until after high school, when she began teaching it to kids. It was at one of these lessons that a student introduced her to krump, the new form of dance that was becoming popular in L.A., and brought her to a session. Miss Prissy was struck by its wild energy, and soon joined in on the performances and competitions herself, her natural talent and creativity making her one of its stars. In 2006, wanting to focus on her own musical career, Miss Prissy declined Madonna’s offer to continue dancing in her tour and began pursuing music. She is currently running her own production company and working on her second mixtape entitled Da Stronger Side of P, set to release August 2012.

CHRISTOPHER “LIL’ C” TOLER

Dancer and choreographer Christopher A. Toler, best known as Lil’ C, was born in Los Angeles, Calif. He began his career in 2001, and later grew to prominence in krump dancing; he appeared in music videos for Jennifer Lopez, Missy Elliot, Christina Milian, Gwen Stefani and Madonna. He was one of the dancers profiled in Rize, a 2005 documentary following the rise of krumping as a dance style. From there, he started choreographing performances for the Teen Choice Awards, American Music Awards and NAACP Image Awards, as well as a routine in the television series “Bones.” Lil’ C, who also appeared in the films Stomp the Yard and Be Cool, is perhaps best known as a choreographer and guest judge for the reality show “So You Think You Can Dance.” He joined from the second season in 2006, where he worked on routines for the contestants and gave his thoughts on the performances as well. He will also be seen acting in Beat The World and Street Dance 2, set for release in 2012. He was also featured in the art installation “Slow Dancing,” which showed five seconds of his movement stretched to 10 minutes and played back in several cities across the world.