Our Team
Krista Gano - Chief Executive Officer/Founder/Director
Krista Gano began her successful career in the entertainment industry at the young age of 22, when she starred in and produced the independent film, CHICKS, MAN. She continued her education in the entertainment industry by immersing herself in the business aspect of Hollywood, spending the next five years as an assistant to Dustin Hoffman.
Krista eventually moved back to theatre and worked with Tony Award-winning producer, Steven Eich, at the Geffen Playhouse. It was there that she refined her business skills by learning how to bridge the communication gap between management and artists. In 2002, Krista moved on to the Groundlings Theatre, where she held the position of Executive Director. In addition to growing the theater, she pitched Groundlings content to studios, produced the Groundlings 30th Anniversary Season (co-hosted by Will Ferrell, Cheryl Hines, Chris Kattan and Lisa Kudrow) and worked with comedic actors such as Kristen Wiig, Michaela Watkins, Mikey Day, Annie Mumolo, Will Forte, Edi Patterson and Academy Award Winners, Jim Rash and Nat Faxon. Under her leadership, the Groundlings expanded their school and training divisions.
After leaving the Groundlings in 2006, Krista co-founded Innovative Improv Solutions with David Jahn. It's here that she’s paired her natural abilities of improvisational training with her business background. Clients include 20th Century Fox, Fox Networks Group, Blue Sky Animation, ESPN, Sony Electronics, Sony Networks Entertainment Group, The Recording Academy (The Grammy’s), UCLA, Sony Playstation, Westfield, Gossamer Bio, National Geographic, and Verizon Media. Krista also served on the faculty for Kaiser Permanente’s Clinician/Patient Communication for over a decade.
In 2014, she founded, and is the director of, The Working Artist Group, which offers Business, Coaching and Management Services to the Working Artist. Serving Colorado, New Mexico, Atlanta & LA, WAG is dedicated to helping artists harness and direct their careers towards greater success. She has been a partner and the lead mentor for the SeriesFest Pitch-a-Thon for the last 4 seasons, coaching creatives on how to maximize the all important pitch. Most recently, Krista is a co-founder of Firefly Rev Productions. She has directed and produced the short films LOSING ANTONIA, award-winning DIME SHORT, and THE FAMILY HOOD. She is the co-writer of INVISIBLE (Stage32 Comedy Screenplay Semifinalist and Top 6% Overall on Coverfly), which has Will Forte, Jim Rash and Tony Cavalero attached. She is an optioned writer and will be making her feature directorial debut this year with the feature, COMFORT FOOD.
Laura Carson - Chief Creative Officer/On-Camera
Laura Carson is an actress, producer and writer with over 30 years of experience. She has taught theatre and filmmaking for 15 years at Idyllwild Arts Academy in Idyllwild, CA and is currently teaching on-camera acting classes with Working Artist Group in Denver, CO. In addition to performing in several plays in New York and Los Angeles, she has had two of her short plays, "Picking Up the Pieces" and "Suicide Phone," produced in NYC. Some of her film and television credits include LA to Vegas, American Crime, Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders, Drop Dead Diva, Grey's Anatomy, Gilmore Girls, Bruce Almighty, and national commercials for Capital One, Chili’s and Applebees.
Her award-nominated short film, Dime Short, (writer/actress) screened on the festival circuit last year. She co-produced, co-wrote and acted in UnCorked, a 10-episode webseries. Most recently, she is in post-production for the short film, Losing Antonia, (producer/actress) and is developing several features with 3by3 Entertainment (co-founder).
Michael Churven – Improv Your Pitch and Upcoming Writing Classes
Michael is a director, actor, writer, sketch comedian and improvisor based in Los Angeles. He is currently a company member of The Groundlings Theater where he teaches and performs weekly. He also trained at Second City Los Angeles and IO West and has performed at the Just For Laughs festival in Montreal, The Upright Citizens Brigade Los Angeles, San Francisco Sketch Fest and at several other comedy festivals throughout the world.
Michael also works with our corporate arm, Innovative Improv, where he facilitates workshops for companies looking to improve team dynamics and communication in the workplace.
His two-person show Party of Two that he co-wrote and performed with four-time Emmy nominee George McGrath was a sell out during its run at The Groundlings. His other acting work includes television appearances in ABC’s Modern Family and Adult Swim’s Mike Tyson Mysteries. He also appeared in the feature film Wild Night with Emily alongside Molly Shannon and his short film Troughman won Best Humor Award at the 2019 Hump Film Festival. He has a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Law from the University of Queensland, Australia.
David Jahn - Acting Workshops & Intensives
David received a B.S. degree in Music, Theatre and Dance from Illinois State University. He became a Main Company member of The Groundlings in 1995, writing and performing with Will Ferrell, Chris Parnell, Chris Kattan, Cheri Oteri, and Jennifer Coolidge to name a few. He’s been on the Groundlings faculty for the past 18 years. David had the pleasure of directing the Groundlings Sunday and Main Co., steering the likes of Melissa McCarthy, Ben Falcone, Maya Rudolph, Nat Faxon and Will Forte. David believes in order to teach well, he must be auditioning and studying at all times. He currently studies with Jonathan Slavin and Michael Adams.
He is the co-founder of our corporate partner, Innovative Improv Solutions, which delivers workshops centering communication and innovation with companies like Sony, 20th Century Fox, Westfield, Blue Sky Studios, ESPN, Fox Sports, Gossamer Bio, Dexcom and more.
David's credits include, Big Fat Obnoxious Boss, Men Women & Children, The Comeback, Bad Judge, Cougar Town, Kirstie, Modern Family, Arrested Development, Mobbed, Black-ish, Thank You For Smoking, & Doin' It Yourself. David has also been featured in numerous commercials promoting anything from ingrown toenail medication to BMW’s.
David believes in setting a supportive, nurturing, yet challenging environment for learning and our CO students have benefitted greatly from his guidance.
Jessica Anguiano - Consultant and “Produce It” Mentor.
Jess has worked for 20 years in the entertainment industry, from network television to independent film to professional theater for some of the biggest companies in the world including Disney, ABC, Hulu, and Paramount. She spent her first 15 years in the business as an actor, singer, improviser, and member of Actor’s Equity and SAG. She transitioned to tv production and is a member of IATSE as a production coordinator for shows like Grown-ish and Rookie: Feds. Additionally, she was also a studio post coordinator for Grey’s Anatomy, Little Fires Everywhere, A Million Little Things among others.
Jess has produced several award winning films, and written and pitched pilots, feature films, and one woman shows. She has overseen productions with up to 400 crewmembers and produced her own projects with as few as 10.
Jessica also writes and produces female driven comedy such as The Family Hood, Out Romance, and a web series, Good Neighbors developed by her own production company, Hurricane Jessie Pictures. Her newest pilot, Dark Dark Matter is making the rounds in the contest circuit and is featured on The Black List and won for best pilot in the Save the Cat Screenplay Challenge among other fun accolades.