My VERO #12: Christina Wren
A graduate of NYU's prestigious Tisch Drama School, Christina Wren is an actor, writer, and producer working across documentary and scripted film and television.
Christina came to global attention as Major Farris in Zack Snyder's 'Man of Steel' and 'Batman v Superman' before producing the documentary 'Streetball', co-creating the comedy series 'Hicksters' and writing and starring in 2020's dystopian short 'Lazaretto'.
Christina runs her US-based production company Two Kids With A Camera alongside her husband, director Demetrius Wren. We caught up with Christina recently in the US to hear about the VERO accounts that she’s inspired by.
Mark Twight
I had the extreme pleasure of meeting Mark Twight while filming 'Man of Steel'. There is a weightiness to his presence, something rooted, earthy, and wise, that I felt and appreciated despite not knowing him well. I've enjoyed the opportunity to connect a bit on VERO and see the beautiful black and white photography he shares. His photos are an evocative lens into beautiful landscapes and experiences that transport me. Also, his podcast interview with Zack Snyder was really lovely.
Kristine Cabanban
Kristine delights me as a fellow jewelry maker! She is leaps and bounds ahead of my hobbying around but making jewelry has been my outlet when not in rehearsals since I was a small kiddo and I love seeing the beautiful things she creates and how she shares bits of her process and journey along the way. I also enjoy her travel photos and book recommendations.
Manish Lakhani
Manish's photos transport me around the world. My goodness, they are stunning and all tell a story. I often wish I could be exactly where he was at that moment and so appreciate his sharing this work as most of the places he highlights are mountains I will likely never climb, valleys and communities I may never traverse and I always think, what an amazing time we live in! That I can see all these incredible things and places and know they exist and feel so inspired because someone else I've never met could upload their photos and just share them with me (us) at no cost or charge. What a gift.
Christine Moran
VERO's Head of Business Development & Partnerships, Christine shares thoughtful posts about current social issues as well as fun tidbits from her life. I am always grateful because as much as I try to stay up on current events, she's often updating me on things I have yet to dive in fully on and I appreciate her using her platform to share everything from badass girl bands to news stories about female athletes and cultural issues...as well as her throwback mixtapes. She's one of those people who social media has tricked me into thinking is my friend even though we've never met. Our kids apparently have the same pajamas. I feel confident we'd have a great discussion over beverages and 90s music.
Saleem Ghubril
I convinced my dad Saleem to join VERO (I may have said it was made by a fellow Lebanese guy and so he had to join..Ayman really gets the credit here). You can see his thoughtful heart and spirit shine through the music and movies he shares. He's a walking definition of empathy, generosity, and the desire to challenge himself to think more deeply about the experiences of others and to deepen and widen himself to be able to give more.
I don't know how he does it, the man never sleeps. He spends his life fighting to raise millions of dollars to send kids to college via The Pittsburgh Promise and to make Pittsburgh a more equitable city while also supporting his mother's needs, loving on his immediate family and his five grandsons, who couldn't adore their Jedu more. I'm incredibly grateful to have grown up admiring someone who so purely believes in and fights for the good in people.
Zack Snyder
And I have to shout out Zack Snyder because he is the reason I got on VERO years ago. We were on set and he, Clay Enos and Wesley Coller showed me this new awesome social media app I had to get on and the three of them have always been my fave OG VERO users. I'm grateful for such a cool way to stay connected over the years and always appreciate seeing a little BTS of the process and life journey of Zack's work as a filmmaker and his ongoing support of the important work of AFSP. I mean, I know Madonna's on here, but it's tough to find a cooler VERO user, let's be real.
Road to Belonging