Thank you for joining Saved by a Story for our Storytelling Salon, “STILL HERE.” We’re thrilled that you’re here. Learn more about the storytellers and musicians making our work possible.
storytelling salon performers
mehro
Pronounced “marrow,” the name mehro encapsulates his desire to become something essential — like marrow itself, vital but unseen. “The concept was born from bone marrow: It’s essential for us to live, but we never see it,” mehro explains. “I hope my music can be the marrow of someone’s soul.”
That philosophy deepens with weirdthrob — a project not designed to impress, but to awaken. An entrance and an exit. A reflection rather than a performance. The kind of art that doesn’t ask to be understood — only felt. “This music isn’t meant to explain itself,” he offers. “It’s meant to meet you where you are and hold space for what you might find there.”
In many ways, mehro sees himself not just as an artist, but a conduit. A vessel for quiet truths, emotional noise, and the contradictions we’re all learning to hold.
Karen Leigh Hopkins
Karen Leigh Hopkins is a screenwriter, producer, and director for film and television. She wrote the screenplays for such films as WELCOME HOME ROXY CARMICHAEL, STEPMOM which starred Julia Roberts and Susan Sarandon, BECAUSE I SAID SO starring Diane Keaton, and the Katie Holmes indie MISS MEADOWS, which she also directed. Hopkins received an Emmy nomination for Showtime's WHAT GIRLS LEARN, and won the Humanitas Award for SEARCHING FOR DAVID’S HEART. She was also a Writer and Producer on the JJ Abrams/Sara Bareilles Apple TV+ series, LITTLE VOICE. Karen is currently developing an original limited series for Netflix and Nuyorican Productions, and an original feature film for Elizabeth Gabler’s 3000 Pictures and Sony.
David Israel
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit
Chris Douridas
Chris Douridas is among the premier musical tastemakers in the world. He began his career as music director and host of Morning Becomes Eclectic, at the flagship Los Angeles NPR station, KCRW-FM, one of the most respected and progressive radio stations in the world. In film and TV circles, Chris is best known as a 3-time Grammy-nominated music supervisor for both American Beauty, and the Shrek series, as well as Heat, As Good as It Gets, Austin Powers, Captain Fantastic, In a World, Flaked, House of Lies, The Addams Family, and the upcoming Netflix animated feature In Your Dreams. Chris continues to champion the best new artists from around the world on his weekly KCRW radio show (Sundays 12n-3p), KCRW's all-music channel Eclectic24, and through his long-running live music concert series School Night, a breaking new artist showcase in Los Angeles, Toronto, London and Sydney. While School Night was on hiatus during the pandemic, Chris co-founded and launched a new worldwide streaming series called School Night at Home.
Priscilla Ahn
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit
Megan Chan Meinero
Megan Chan Meinero is a screenwriter and playwright who splits her time between New York and Los Angeles. Most recently, she served as an executive story editor on Grey’s Anatomy. Prior to that, she worked on two seasons of Jason Katims’ Dear Edward for Apple TV+. She has developed original feature and television projects with MRC/A-Major, Amazon/Temple Hill/Purple Pebble and Emmy Rossum’s Composition 8. As a playwright, Megan’s work has been produced/developed with The New Group, Ensemble Studio Theatre, American University, Less than Rent, Concord Theatricals’ OOB Festival, Rule of 7x7 and many others. She is a proud alum of EST/Youngblood and Second Stage Theater’s Lark Playwrights Workshop. For better or worse, she is a lifelong fan of the New York Mets.
Karen Croner & Phil Pavel
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.
Al Madrigal
Best known as a correspondent on THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART, Madrigal’s stand up career took off when he won a JURY AWARD FOR BEST STAND-UP COMEDIAN at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival. He’s performed stand-up multiple times on THE TONIGHT SHOW, JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE, and CONAN O’BRIEN. His first one hour special, WHY IS THE RABBIT CRYING? premiered on Comedy Central and was named one of the top 10 comedy specials of that year by both Westword and The Village Voice. Just after his award winning docu-comedy HALF LIKE ME was released, his next special, SHRIMPIN’ AIN’T EASY was named in Decider and Vulture’s Top 10 Lists. In an article titled “The Best Stand-up TV Right Now,” Rolling Stone Magazine said, “The Daily Show alum spins comedy gold.”
Most recently, Al played Oscar on the NBC comedy LOPEZ VS. LOPEZ. In addition to being an actor on numerous TV shows including CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM, BOB’S BURGERS, and ST. DENIS MEDICAL Al’s many film credits include AIR and THE WAY BACK with Ben Affleck and NIGHT SCHOOL alongside Kevin Hart and Tiffany Haddish.
Lucy Schwartz
Lucy Schwartz is an independent music artist who has become well-known for writing and performing original songs for film & TV. When Lucy was just 18, a senior in high school, she wrote the opening and closing songs for the Meg Ryan film The Women. Since then, she has hand-tailored original songs for films & TV shows like: Twilight, Shrek, Nashville, What Maisie Knew, Mother & Child, Post Grad, Greenleaf and Switched At Birth. One of the songs that she wrote for Nashville, “Black Roses”, reached No. 6 on the iTunes Country charts. Lucy also wrote the international theme song for the TV show Parenthood and co-wrote the theme songs for Almost Family and Rutherford Falls. Tracks from Lucy’s albums have been featured in many popular television shows like Girls, Love, Grey’s Anatomy and The Good Wife, to name a few. Lucy has played the Tonight Show and shared the stage with renowned artists like Elton John, Brandi Carlile, Sarah McLachlan, The Civil Wars, Moby & KT Tunstall. Some folks may also recognize Lucy from her youtube performance with Scary Pockets, where she sang a funk cover of Hanson’s “Mmmbop”. The cover has garnered millions of views and was even re-posted by Hanson themselves.
Lucy also loves to act, write, dance and make short films; each expression is another way to tell a story. She has had several on-screen roles: including a co-star on “House of Lies” in a scene with Don Cheadle, and an appearance on “Arrested Development” (Fun fact for Arrested Development fans: Lucy is also the voice of “Mr. F” and “For British Eyes Only”). Recently, Lucy started a web series called “Worst First Date”, which she directs, writes and acts in…every episode, there are different characters on a first date, but no matter what, it’s always the worst! She also made an animated short film called “The Monster” which she wrote, acted in, and co-directed with award-winning animator Patrick Smith. “The Monster” is now being used by therapists around the world to help children work through their fears.
Jessica Goldberg
Jessica is a playwright, television and screenwriter. Her plays have been produced all over the world: Playwrights Horizons, The New Group, Mark Taper Forum, The Echo Theater Company, Collaboraction in Chicago, The Schaubuhne in West Berlin, and La Perla in Barcelona. Jessica’s television work includes Parenthood; creating THE PATH on HULU; and showrunning AWAY on Netflix. Jessica’s film work includes ALEX OF VENICE and CHERRY.