Cass Unterholzner

Storyteller working in the media of film, theatre, video games, and music

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About

Cass Unterholzner

"Creativity is an energy. It's a precious energy, and it's something to be protected. A lot of people take for granted that they're a creative person, but I know from experience, feeling it in myself, it is a magic; it is an energy. And it can't be taken for granted." --Ava DuVernay

Every person is a story, and storyteller Cass Unterholzner is no different. They have been telling stories since they were younger. Their creative cravings have been sought after through short films, acting and playing music in musical theatre, developing and critiquing video games, and writing and recording music.

Cass is currently producing an audio drama podcast titled The Four Woods Podcast after developing it as a serial novel story with inspirations from the Harry Potter and Percy Jackson novels.

Even before entering high school, Cass participated in the "Go Film!" workshop at the San Joaquin County Office of Education in Stockton, California learning about camera, lighting, and sound techniques. They worked with other teens to create and release a short film, as the Gaffer, the Foley Artist, and a Sound Editor. In high school, Cass took a class expanding their film knowledge in creating the school's announcements. After graduating, they started a YouTube channel where they posted short videos.

Along with working in film, Cass also participated in musical theatre. They appeared in many productions starting in 2007 with "Dear Edwina Jr" at Stockton Civic Theatre as well as many church musicals. In 2009, Cass starred in "The Music Man" for a senior project in Manteca, California. Later, they were cast as Professor Quirrel and were set to be the Musical Director for a production of "A Very Potter Musical" while directing and developing a Murder Mystery Dinner containing mostly improvised scenes.

Cass has always been interested in video game development and design as they played them often throughout their adolescence. This interest flourished and inspired them to major in Computer Science, first at San Joaquin Delta College and then University of the Pacific. They ended up switching their major to Media X to further pursue their passions. During their coursework, they worked with classmates to develop two games: a combat simulator for the tabletop role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons and a bullet-dodging game like the video game Cuphead. Cass intends to continue using video games as an alternate form of storytelling in the future.

Music has always been part of Cass's life. Inspired by their older sister taking lessons, they decided to learn piano at age 5. They later picked up more instruments such as the clarinet, the cello, and the guitar. Cass was active in his high school's band program where they took to arranging and writing for their school's wind ensemble and jazz band. They also played cello often in college and assisted East Union High School's theatre class in a production of "Next to Normal." In 2019, Cass sent a video of him playing an original song to the University of the Pacific's student association. This resulted in Cass playing both original and cover songs at their Brickyard Series concert. Cass now writes indie pop music in their spare time.

Cass hopes to further their storytelling career using their YouTube channel talking about gaming, music, and languages. Their free time consists of learning German, American Sign Language, Spanish, and Italian. When they're not crafting fantasy novels, Cass plays and runs sessions of various tabletop role-playing games for which they hope to develop a podcast in the future.