The First-Ever Original Comedy Series Surrounding Type 1 Diabetes
CAST
Erika Young
Eliot is tough and laid back, but gets the job done. She was diagnosed with T1D at 19 and hasn’t missed a beat since then. She still rips and works out constantly.
She listens to the Clash, the Shins, Led Zepplan. Her wardrobe is never devoid of black or spikes, unless she is surfing, and even then her wetsuit has black and white stripes.
Her parents we’re real literature buffs. She and Thoreau got their names because of their parents’ favorite poets, T.S. Elliot and Henry David Thoreau.
Eliot
Erika is excited to be a part of “A Bad Case” and to bring an experience shared by the Diabetic community to those outside of it.
Hailing from Boston, Erika is a working professional who loves spending her free time being active running, swimming, and hiking, especially with her rescue dog, Hunter. She also enjoys being involved with her community, volunteering for three non-profits.
Erika was first diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes on Christmas Eve in 2014. However, the discipline of managing her disease has pushed her to challenge her physical limits as well as encouraged her self-accountability and independence.
You can find Erika on Instagram at @erikamarguerite
Eddie is the classic blue-collar scholar. Smart, kind, and gentle, but tough. He’s charming without knowing it.
He knows Haley isn’t too fond of him so it’s become his game to try to charm her, which only makes her hate him more.
He’s not a type 1, but has been friends with Thoreau since college. So he for sure has earned the title of Type 3. .
Eddie
Austin Fuerst
Austin Fuerst is 23 years old, and has had Type one Diabetes for 21 years. He has an immense passion for educating, and encouraging others with T1D. Austin is currently pursuing a Nutrition degree with the hopes of becoming a registered dietitian, and a diabetes educator. Austin can be found @Everyday_T1D where he shares the real life highs, and lows of T1D, and helps encourage people with type one diabetes to manage their disease to the best of their ability.
Haley
Haley is a Southern girl, super perky and positive, proper and well mannered. She’s a little slow when it comes to sarcasm. She just doesn’t understand that people can mean something other than face value.
She wants the best for her friends and can sometimes cross the line in making that happen. She wants everything to look pretty and happy. Everything in her room matches. And has the diabetes closet to beat all closets- supply stores for years, everything cutely labelled, even a mini-fridge just for insulin.
She is a super compliant diabetic. Her A1c’s are consistently in the 6’s. She has a hand drawn graph of her A1C’s since diagnosis at age 11, complete with happy faces and flowers drawn all around it. They are nearly flat lined.
She may not realize it now but all of this focus and stress over Diabetes is slowly getting to her.
Monica Ormsby
Monica Ormsby, originally from the East Coast, grew up with a love for musical theater and dance.
Now living in Los Angeles she is focused on pursuing her acting career. Her credits include numerous theater productions and both regional and national commercials.
Although Monica is newer to screen acting, she feels that her many years of performing as a dancer will help her bring each character’s story to life.
Yaniv Bercovitz
Thoreau is unshaven and unbrushed hair. His clothes hang on him and are often wrinkled and dirty. He is laid back to the point of being lazy. He’s close enough to cute that when Haley begins to fall for him it is believable, especially if he starts to clean up a bit.
He was diagnosed at six and has let diabetes build some fear of the real world into him. He is over the whole thing and does the very minimum to stay alive and out of the hospital.
His A1C’s run in the high 8’s and low 9’s but that’s way better than the 13’s he used to run in college.
He plays guitar in a cover band with some college buddies and is surprisingly good at bar trivia. You’d never know how smart he is until you get him talking about multiple dimensions or the history of the Reformation.
Thoreau
Yaniv Bercovitz grew up in San Diego with two older sisters. He discovered his passion for film as early as middle school when he entered a film contest and wrote, directed, and starred in his own film, "Two Idiot Cops". The film won the Best Film Award and Yaniv took home his own Best Director. After that, he attended New York Film Academy in Burbank, CA upon graduation from high school.
Yaniv was diagnosed with type 1 at 9 and has been involved with JDRF ever since. He always looks for the humor in situations, so A Bad Case should be a perfect fit.
CREW
Writer, Producer, Director:
Erin Spineto
Erin Spineto is an adventurer, author, speaker, and person with type 1 diabetes. She shares her passion for adventure and how it can infuse you with motivation to take amazing care of type 1 diabetes through the Sea Peptide Salties.
In 2011, she sailed solo 100 miles down the Florida Keys after doctors told her I couldn't sail alone with diabetes. In the years since, she has led teams of type 1 athletes to Swim Around Key West, paddle 100 miles up the Intracoastal Waterway, and to explore the far reaches of Turks and Caicos on bike, paddle board, foot, and in the water.
Erin has written two books about adventuring, Islands and Insulin and Adventure On, and has recently moved into writing and producing this original comedy series.
Art Director:
Tony Spineto
Tony Spineto is a painter, sculptor, and illustrator. He studied at the Laguna College of Art and Design. He will be adding both his artwork and his artistic eye to the set design and color concept.
Tony may only be a type 3 diabetic, but he is familiar with pushing the boundaries of disability. tony has bilateral clubfoot, yet has raced at the highest level of triathlon, completing four Ironman races as well as dozens of half ironman and shorter distance triathlons. He is also a motivational speaker and role model in the clubfoot world.
Photographer/ Production Stills: Daniel Morgen
Daniel has been living with diabetes since 1987, since he was the tender age of 5. Not to be slowed down, he got into skateboarding, music, and photography over the next few years to shape the T1 he is today.
These hobbies definitely play a part in the trials and tribulations of living with diabetes, but have also made for some good times and laughter along the way as well!
Technical Advisor: Robert Neil, Threefold Defensive Training
Rob is a newly diagnosed a Type 2 Diabetic Homeschool Dad. He served our nation as a U.S. Army Paratrooper, and has over 15 years of security experience.
He opened Threefold Defensive Training in 2013, serving his community with defensive and safety training of all kinds.
Casting Director:
Katrena Keys
Katrena was diagnosed with Type 1 when she was 3.5 years old and doesn't remember life without it. When she was six, she was one of the first camper's to attend Camp Want-Kura and at nine she went off to Camp Conrad-Chinnock. It was there that she met her network of other Type 1's.
Katrena has always been drawn to the performing arts and decided very early on in life that she wanted to pursue a career in entertainment. After spending many years studying and focusing on performing, she realized that she enjoyed being on the other side of the casting table.
