About Misunderstood Rooster
Misunderstood Rooster creates dark comedies, horror films, and surreal stories about the terror and hilarity of being a human person. Founded by Meg Cashel and Alyssa Abraham, we're interested in the weird, the funny, and the things people don't usually say out loud.
Anne&Jan
Anne&Jan - short film presentation
Anne & Jan is a narrative short film and proof of concept for a half-hour dark comedy television series. Shot with the Panavision New Filmmaker Grant, the film follows two women who meet in a sexual assault support group and discover they are no longer interested in being victims.
Written by Alyssa Abraham and Meg Cashel and directed by Whitney St. Ours, Anne & Jan is a visceral exploration of rage, friendship, and the impossible search for justice. Equal parts heartbreaking, terrifying, furious, and hilarious, the film asks what happens when women stop being polite and start fighting back.
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Let's work together to create something amazing. Contact us today for the series bible, full pilot and festival information for Anne&Jan
FIRE - a short film presentation
Fire - a surrealist monologue
Fire is a surreal, dark monologue about identity, shame, and reinvention. A woman sits alone on a dark stage as her hair catches fire, unraveling into a fevered confession about work, grief, beauty, and the pressure to be “normal.”
Blurring performance, psychological breakdown, and black comedy, Fire follows a woman trying to erase herself and accidentally revealing everything she’s been told to hide.
About the Misunderstood Rooster team
Meg Cashel
Alyssa Abraham
Alyssa Abraham
Meg Cashel is a Los Angeles–based actor, writer, and producer working across film, television, and theatre. On screen, she appears in CBS’s The Neighborhood, and leads the upcoming feature Feed FiFi, directed by Kay Tuxford. Her independent film work has been widely featured on Omeleto, Short of the Week, and Film Shortage
Her short film c
Meg Cashel is a Los Angeles–based actor, writer, and producer working across film, television, and theatre. On screen, she appears in CBS’s The Neighborhood, and leads the upcoming feature Feed FiFi, directed by Kay Tuxford. Her independent film work has been widely featured on Omeleto, Short of the Week, and Film Shortage
Her short film credits include Milo, It’s Been Awhile, Samu, Nicole, Eulogy, Unforgotten, The Talk, and Together, with selections at festivals including the Florida Film Festival, Austin Film Festival, HollyShorts, and Toronto Black Film Festival.
On stage, Cashel has appeared in Three Exorcisms (LA Theater Bites Best Actress nominee), Hedda Gabler (LA Magazine Best of Fringe, Attic Collective), and Mothers of God with Sacred Fools Theater Company (AEA).
She is the founder of Misunderstood Rooster, a production company focused on female-driven, genre-bending storytelling. The company’s inaugural short, Anne and Jan, a recipient of the Panavision New Filmmakers Grant, is currently entering the festival circuit.
She is currently developing a one-woman show about the terror and joy of new motherhood, to be presented by Echo Theater Company in August 2026.
@Meg_Cashel | Eileen O’Farrell Management • Kevin Turner, Daniel Hoff Agency
Alyssa Abraham
Alyssa Abraham
Alyssa Abraham
Alyssa Abraham is a New York-based actor and writer working across film, television, and comedy. She has appeared in Civic Duty, HBO’s And Just Like That, and Law & Order, and has built a strong presence in NYC’s comedy scene through sketch performance and digital content creation.
She co-created the sketch project Mac & Ham, which has gro
Alyssa Abraham is a New York-based actor and writer working across film, television, and comedy. She has appeared in Civic Duty, HBO’s And Just Like That, and Law & Order, and has built a strong presence in NYC’s comedy scene through sketch performance and digital content creation.
She co-created the sketch project Mac & Ham, which has grown a large online following, and has performed with sketch teams across New York City. Her theater work includes co-founding Wrong House Theatre Company, where she co-wrote 36 Juniper, an NYIT-nominated production and Eugene O’Neill Playwrights Conference finalist.
A graduate of the Stella Adler Studio with training at UCB, Abraham continues to develop work across stage and screen while performing regularly in New York.