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

Film
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
Television
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

[1] [2]

  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.

External links

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