Meet the Team
Meet the founders and operators of Cascadia Dread below. We all share a similar passion for the horror genre.
Brien Gorham
From a young age, Brien was weaned on Freddy and Jason and Agatha Christie. That early love of horror and mystery eventually made its way into his writing and later spurred his desire to make movies. When not producing his own short films and writing projects, Brien worked as an assistant director on Zombie Etiquette, a local cable access show produced in Princeton, NJ.
After he relocated to Seattle, he helped form Cascadia Dread with the goal of creating a community around horror storytelling. He has helped produced several shorts for Cascadia Dread, including the award winning "Out of Her Mind."
Now Brien lives in Los Angeles, where he works as a writer and film editor. He is currently producing featurettes for Cascadia Dread's YouTube channel under the "Monstaphors" and "Radio Dread" banners. You can find him on Twitter: @thedivebard and view more of his work at
Chris Wyatt
Born and raised in Modesto, CA, Chris has been a movie-buff and film lover since childhood, Despite a love and passion for film, he had something of a love/hate relationship with horror films as a kid, While fascinated by the genre (Jaws, for instance, was a go-to viewing favorite), a viewing of 1956's The Bad Seed changed that somewhat. The trauma left by the exploits of the little hell-spawn ultimately kept Chris away from scary movies for some time.
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That all changed his freshman year in high school when Ms. Hardy (9th grade English Teacher) assigned the Stephen King short story, "Sorry Right Number." Suddenly intrigued by the works of King, he began seeking out more works from the prolific writer. Following a quick reading of Stephen King's Carrie and viewing of the subsequent Brian De Palma film adaptation, a new world had opened up and the horror genre became a new passion. Films like A Nightmare on Elm Street, Rosemary's Baby, Halloween, and the aforementioned Carrie suddenly became new favorites.
After high school, he moved to Canada to study film, art, and theater at Trinity Western University in Langley, BC, After spending a few years post-graduation in Vancouver, he returned back to the States we to the Seattle area. Since then, he's pursued filmmaking primarily as an editor but also as a writer, director, producer, and occasionally actor. Credits include writing and directing Cascadia Dread films shorts such as The Party, Truth or Death, and Lily.
Brian Carlin
Brian's fascination with horror began the way it does for a lot kids in the Midwest - seeing the Halloween decorations go up in the fall, haunted houses everywhere, and of course, looking at the covers at the horror movie section (RIP, York Video!) and wondering what horror movies were all about. He started out with things like the classic Universal Monsters, Are You Afraid of the Dark, Tales From The Crypt, and whatever he could find on cable after a long haul of trick or treating.
Brian has been a part of Cascadia Dread both in front of and behind the camera, and likes being the one to help blend some horror-comedy (his favorite horror subgenre) as a part of the team. His horror favorites include the Nightmare on Elm Street series, Universal Monsters, Trick R Treat, Tales From The Crypt: Demon Knight, Child's Play series, Friday the 13th, and way too many others to name.
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Brian's credits as writer/director include the short films The Garlic Bulb Challenge and Fix this Up with Handyman Mike. Acting credits include the short films Interviewed, Miss Final Girl, and Drip.
Andrea Hays
When Andrea was about 7 years old, she watched “The Ghost and Mr. Chicken” for the first time. While other kids were afraid of the bloody organ scene and had nightmares; Andrea and her siblings tried to recreate the set in their basement. “I had the bright idea of using my Mom’s red nail polish on my fingers and making bloody fingerprints on our Hammond organ.” Mom was both impressed with the creativity shown and upset that the organ now had bloody fingerprints! This led to a lifetime of appreciation for the sets, props and Make-up associated with horror films. Her mother also found a local Haunted House that allowed children to volunteer—She and
her siblings that were old enough leapt at the chance! “Basically, blame my Mom for encouraging this fascination with what scares people!”
Andrea went to school originally for Technical Theater-costume emphasis.
She got interested in film while studying at MSU-they had a great film program.
After graduation Andrea moved to Seattle and was working in local Theater (including the Rep) and the Independent film scene in the area in the 1980’s and early 90’s. Fed up with how people at the beginning of the AIDS crisis were being treated, she took a
course in how to home care for them and found another calling. She went back to school to study nursing while working full time—Her role as Heidi on the David Lynch series “Twin Peaks” helped her to go to Nursing school full time!
Fast Forward over 25 years and, due to injuries sustained in an assault, Andrea had to semi-retire from Nursing. Coincidently, “Twin Peaks the Return” was being filmed and she reprised her role of Heidi. “I was able to thank David for helping me through nursing school-he was touched”.
Back to her first love, Andrea teamed up with the people at Cascadia Dread to produce several Horror shorts. “All my Years as a charge nurse really helped me become a good producer as I
see minute details. I also joke that I put out fires BEFORE they start”. Andrea formed Smarticle Productions for any non-horror films the group wanted to do. She continues her love of Haunted Houses by volunteering for Nile Nightmares for the past ten years.