imagined with love
by two starry-eyed dreamers
Joey De La Cruz & Sophia Khan here, partners in filmmaking and in life. We came together one day in the laundry room of our Venice Beach building during lockdown. Sparks flew, and we quickly realized that we shared many passions: storytelling, travel, spirituality... We also happened to live across the hall from one another!
A few weeks, a few beach walks, an epic hike, and a sunset sandcastle later, we crossed over from neighbors, to lovers, to husband and wife.
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we created shakaboom to play.
Pre-Production
We develop and acquire film & television properties that align with our values & interests across many genres, including: edgy sci-fi thrillers, intercultural comedies, mystical misadventures, supernatural crime, and even a bit of Shakespeare here and there.
Production
We shepherd projects through the production phase, collaborating as active & engaged partners. On set is our happy place, and we love gathering teams of like-minded storytellers to bring our collective visions to life.
Post-Production
So much magic happens in post! We stay connected and available after principal photography to ensure that each project stays true to its original intent while evolving along with the new band of post artists who add their own gifts to the big picture.
meet
the
team
A passionate storyteller with a penchant for Shakespeare and sci-fi, Sophia has lived in Pakistan, China, England, Italy, and the US.
Sophia stars in the upcoming video game PROJECT VESPERI, for which she performed motion capture and voiceover work. She recently received a "Best Acting Duo" award at the Dark Comedy Film Festival alongside Mike Jaworski for her role in DOLLYVILLE. Her acting training includes voice, movement, stage combat, rigorous scene study, and audition workshops. To round off her classical instruction, she auditioned for and completed a two-month intensive Acting Shakespeare program at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.
Since coming to Hollywood, Sophia has written five features, three pilots, two TV specs, and several short films (slate available upon request). Her scripts have ranked as: Finalists at the Sundance Feature Film Lab; Semifinalists at Filmmatic Inroads Fellowship, WeScreenplay Diverse Voices, Screencraft Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Filmmatic Short Screenplay Awards, and Screencraft Short Screenplay Competition; in the top 10% of the Academy Nicholl Fellowship; top 10% and Red List on Coverfly; Quarterfinalists in the Shore Scripts TV Pilot Contest and Screencraft Film Fund; and Official Selections at the Nostos Screenwriting Retreat and Silicon Beach Film Festival.
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Sophia holds degrees from Dartmouth, Yale, and Harvard and a certificate in Acting Shakespeare from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). During her stint in academia, she published a cookbook and presented recipes on live TV.
A curious wanderer and avid dreamer, Joey loves to encounter new ideas, places, and minds. He channels his experience of the multiverse into his art.
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Born and raised in Boulder, Colorado, Joey left home and headed west with a dream, a vision and a mission. A graduate of a K-12 bilingual Spanish education program and the University of Colorado Boulder with a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations and Italian, he is a traveler of worlds, constantly asking big picture questions as he seeks meaningful answers to better understand the Universe in which we live.
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Arriving to the west coast in late 2019, his move was inspired by a vision to discover the artist within, continue his spiritual and emotional evolution through the medium of acting and storytelling and to embrace his role in life as a character among characters.
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As a young actor, he had the privilege of playing some incredibly fun roles. Some of his favorites were: Danny Zuko from Grease, Waldo Puppybreath from Captain Fantastic, the Baker from Into the Woods, the Prosecuting Attorney from The True Story of the Three Little Pigs and as Harry Potter himself, in a play written and performed by the Casey Middle School drama class.
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He is also the co-author of a very special book written in honor of his mother, who passed away after a courageous battle with breast cancer in 2011. Upon completing a year-long adventure in South America, Paths to Pachamama, A Traveler’s Guide to Spirituality, was published with the hope this story could help guide others towards their inner light in difficult times.