Spanning over a decade of collaboration, Lead Ashtray continues to create, refine and perfect narrative animated television series, having pitched to several networks, including Nickelodeon and Disney XD. Russ and Kevin also utilize their solo experiences as writer and illustrator to further feed their creative partnership.

Lead Ashtray Productions IS:

THE CREATORS

RUSS MCGARRY
As a comic, Russ first took the stage as a teenager in Chicago, and following almost two years of nonstop writing and performing at open mics and odd one nighters, he began touring for over half a decade. Russ leapt from playing the clubs to writing for the screen in Hollywood, on a wide variety of series and specials. His background in animation includes writing on two seasons on Disney XD’s Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja, one season on the Thuristar’s My Knight and Me, and two seasons on Dreamworks TV’s Grandma’s Cats Are Trying To Kill Her. Russ has carried series of many genres from concept to delivery as a writer/producer at networks such as MTV, VH1, CMT, and BET, among others.

KEVIN REYNOLDS
A graduate of Chicago’s prestigious School of the Art Institute (that’s the famous one with the lions out front), Kevin’s expansive career in illustration encompasses a broad spectrum: From creating award-winning exhibit graphics at Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium, working as lead creative for the Oregon Humane Society’s wildly successful “End Petless-ness” campaign, to creating animated spots for the Oregon Coast Aquarium, Kevin’s diverse artistic skill-set is perfectly suited for creating the dynamic worlds and memorable characters that narrative animation demands. 

THE ACTORS & COMEDIANS

  • (Eddie Dunston) Known as “The Fastest Mind in Comedy,” Jimmy is a seasoned stand-up comedian and host of the award-winning podcast Never Not Funny. Pardo has made over one hundred television appearances, including seminal shows such as The Tonight Show, Conan, and The Late Late Show.

  • (Carter Hyers) made her late night debut on Conan and was featured on Last Call with Carson Daly, as well as Gotham Comedy Live. In addition to writing on Netflix’s History Of Swear Words, Maggie recently released her debut comedy special Sweet Enough with 800 Pound Gorilla Media.

  • (Roz Deagah) is a stand-up comedian who has been seen on After Midnight, Conan, Corden, HBO, Netflix, and Comedy Central and has been heard on Bob’s Burgers and Strange Planet.

  • (“Momma” Emma Hyers) has been seen on TBS Lopez Tonight, NBC Last Comic Standing, CBS The Late Late Show, ABC The Ellen DeGeneres Show and was named one of Time Out “LA’s Comics To Watch”.

  • (Fletcher Connor) Mike Schmidt has been a standup comedian/writer since 1991. In the spring of 2006, he became a cast member on the podcast “Never Not Funny.” After a year-long stint on “Never Not Funny”, he started his own podcast, “The 40 Year Old Boy”, a weekly trip through the mosh pit that is inside of his skull.

  • (The Honcho) is a Grammy Award-winning record producer who founded the seminal comedy message board aspecialthing.com in 2001 and co-founded its spin-off comedy label AST Records in 2006, the same year he and Jimmy Pardo started the award-winning podcast Never Not Funny, which he co-hosts.

  • (Mitchell in the Morning) Eliot Hochberg is an improviser and a cast member on the Never Not Funny podcast.