Open Source Artistry’s Contributors

Aaron Howland

Filmmaker – Wed Developer – Open Source Artistry Founder

Aaron was born and raised in the Boston, MA, area. He studied media at Sarah Lawrence College, Emerson College, and Goddard College. In 2001, he co-founded the Boston-area production company 7 Fluid Oz. Productions LLP with his brother Seth.

Aaron’s film and video portfolio includes the following work:

• Directing, editing, and scoring the critically acclaimed Da Vinci Code parody The Albino Code (“Smarter than anything Ron Howard and Tom Hanks can come up with” —Ty Burr, The Boston Globe)
• Shooting and editing the short film Fate Scores (winner of two awards and official selection at eight film festivals throughout North America)
• Producing and editing the short comedy Jack Milton: Fairy Tale Detective (winner of two awards at the 2003 Boston International Film Festival)
• Producing, directing, shooting, and editing a series of short videos for The Schwartz Center, a non-profit group that works to strengthen the relationship between patients and caregivers

Aaron’s work has been screened at over fifteen film festivals and covered on CNN, MSNBC, and Entertainment Tonight.

In 2007, Aaron joined Keyword Connects, a Boston-area Internet marketing company, where he works in web development, PPC landing-page optimization, search-engine optimization, and social media.

Alma Baumwoll

Teacher – Writer – Dancer – Crafter

Alma Baumwoll is a teacher, writer, dancer, and crafter currently studying for her PhD in Biology at Northeastern University. She earned her degree in English Literature after attending Smith College, Boston University, and the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies in Portland, ME. After receiving her publishing certificate from the Denver Publishing Institute, she tutored and substitute taught high school before becoming a teacher/counselor at Farr Academy in Cambridge, MA. She currently teaches at The Cambridge School of Weston in Weston, MA.

Her poetry has been published by Arrowsmith Press, Shakespeare’s Monkey Revue, Anomalous Press, and Compass Press. She dances for Alisia Waller’s And So No Sin Performance Troupe, enjoying these forays into “post-modern, theatrical, combat dance.”

Alma learned how to book-bind and weave as a student at the Cambridge School of Weston and has not been able to stay away from yarn since. As a weaver she sold scarves under the name Cherrywood Loom. As a knitter she can’t help herself from leaving written patterns to discover and create new projects. Her bookbinding skills now facilitate book-recycling; through her company Hardcover Art, she sells notebooks and purses, created from discarded, hard-cover books, on Etsy. Her first young-adult science-fiction novel is working its way to publication, while her others are working their way to completion.

Albert M. Chan

Actor – Filmmaker

Albert M. Chan is a versatile film, television, and theatre actor who strongly believes in risk-taking and experimentation, shying away from easy Asian stereotypes in favor of such varied roles as a punk musician, a police lieutenant, a gay biblical hero, an operatic gypsy, and a sadomasochist.

Albert has appeared in Disney’s live-action film version of the classic 1960′s cartoon Underdog, starring James Belushi (According to Jim), Amy Adams (Junebug), and Jason Lee (My Name is Earl). Since then, he has been cast as Sam in New Line Cinema’s The Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, directed by Mark Waters (The Spiderwick Chronicles, Mean Girls, Freaky Friday) and starring Matthew McConaughey, Jennifer Garner, and Michael Douglas.

On TV, Albert has had roles on the acclaimed Showtime series Brotherhood and in the pilot episode of CW Network’s I’m Paige Wilson, written and directed by Rod Lurie (Commander in Chief, The Contender). Albert has also worked on the Emmy-winning PBS history series American Experience, and the Sundance Channel miniseries Tanner on Tanner, directed by Robert Altman and starring Cynthia Nixon (Sex and the City).

Erica Mena

Writer – Translator – Designer

Erica Mena is a poet, translator, and designer. A book of her translations of Puerto Rican poet Etnairis Rivera, Return to the Sea, was published by Arrowsmith Press in 2006, and her original poetry has been published by Pressed Wafer and Arrowsmith. She has written book reviews and essays for Zoland Poetry and Translation Review and taught poetry with the PEN Prison Writing Program.

Erica graduated summa cum laude from UMass Boston and did her masters in Criticism and Culture at the University of Cambridge. She is the founding editor of Anomalous Press, and she blogs about translation, publishing, and poetry at alluringlyshort.com.

Andrea Parsons, MSW, LCSW

Social Worker

Andrea, a Massachusetts native, currently lives in California where she works as a social worker assisting the homeless veteran population. Previously, Andrea provided therapy and crisis counseling at a women’s prison and men’s jails. Andrea also worked on a locked unit of a forensic, psychiatric hospital assessing patients found incompetent to stand trial. There, she also provided individual counseling to men committed to the hospital with the forensic finding of not guilty by reason of insanity. Andrea spent the summer of 2005 in Khao Lak, Thailand teaching English to students who lost their school to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, and clearing tsunami debris from the waters of the Andaman Sea.

Andrea received her BA in Psychology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst honor’s program and her MSW from Columbia University School of Social Work. Despite what you might think from reading this bio, Andrea actually laughs a lot, enjoys life and loves discovering California with her camera in tow!