A native of Baltimore, Maryland, Darryl Wharton-Rigby has worked diligently to be a storyteller. He has an MFA in Film Directing from Chapman University and was a Lecturer for Morgan State University's Screenwriting and Animation program and currently an Associate Professor for Art Center College of Design. Darryl wrote for two NBC television shows, Homicide: Life On The Street and Just Deal. His debut feature film Detention received numerous honors and awards. His film, Stay, makes him the second African-American to make a feature film in Japan. In the world of theatre, his award-winning play FreeDa Slave: Mask of a Diva was mounted in Baltimore and Los Angeles. And, his play Here Come The Drums, starring Russell Hornsby earned eight NAACP Theatre Award nominations. In Japan, he has worked on productions for Xbox, NHK, Farfetch, Buzzfeed, Airbnb, and Usquaebach Whiskey. As an actor, he is featured at the DJ in the hit AKB48 music video, Koi Suru Fortune Cookie, which has more than 200 million views on YouTube.Darryl is an international filmmaker who explores the human experience and builds cultural bridges. He is passionate about human and equal rights, LGBTQ issues, immigration, and those who are disenfranchised. Via his work, he’d like to create a level playing field. Darryl lives in Saitama, Japan and credits his wife and three children as his ultimate muse.