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KATARZYNA A. SMIECHOWICZ sometimes acting as Kasia A. Leconte is a Polish actress who has been working in Poland and the USA. Katarzyna started her artistic career as a teenager studying acting with many excellent teachers. Initially, she was involved in ballet and theater; over time film and television have become the closest to her heart. Her passion for ballet and poetry turned to acting when a respected Polish actor, Wirgiliusz Gryn, discovered her acting talent and convinced her to pursue acting as a profession. 

Residing in Los Angeles since 2000, she studied acting at the Beverly Hills Playhouse and at the Margie Haber Studio. Throughout her career, she has appeared in over 30 feature films and television series having worked with such directors as Steven Spielberg, Krzysztof Krauze, Jacek Bromski, Tomasz Konecki, Andrzej Saramonowicz, and Olaf Lubaszenko.  

 Beyond film and television, she has portrayed many great parts on stage, including Katharina in Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew", and Roza in Juliusz Slowacki's "Lilla Weneda." Kasia's U.S. theater debut was in the leading role of Carrie in "Cafe Hollywood." 

In addition to acting in many critically acclaimed roles, Smiechowicz has written scripts and worked as a voice-over actor. She is the President of the Film and Television Studio Kasia Films, through which she aims to create international productions. She is also known for her charity work for the sick and those in need. Katarzyna constantly supports and promotes Polish culture in the USA. With a home on both continents, but a husband in the U.S., she spends most of the time in Los Angeles, but works both in Europe and the States. Her husband Dominik J. Leconte is an executive at Sony Pictures. On July 3rd 2010 Kasia and Dominik welcomed their identical twin boys, Antoni and Fabian at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. The multi-talented 12-year-old sons are gaining recognition as child actors and models. 

Ms. Smiechowicz became a member of the Modjeska Club in 2018, and was elected its Vice President in June 2022. She has appeared in many programs as a interviewer or being interviewed about her career highlights and artistic interests.

 Marek Probosz, a Polish-American actor, director, screenwriter, author, and producer, has about 60 film roles to his credit. Many of these films have won awards at prestigious film festivals, such as, Cannes, Berlin, San Sebastian, Moscow, Karlovy Vary, Los Angeles, and Houston. Probosz emigrated to the U.S. at the peak of his career in Europe, invited by The American Cinematheque in Los Angeles in 1987, as the “Idol of his generation.” His film and television career spans roles in Polish, Czech, German, French, Italian, and American productions and co-productions. He has guest starred on the popular CBS TV series “Scorpion”; ABC’s “Scandal”; CBS’s “Numbers”; NBC’s “JAG” and USA’s “MONK”. Probosz had excellent reviews in The New York Times, Hollywood Reporter i Variety for his portrait of Roman Polanski, a world cinema legend, in the film “Helter Skelter”  by Warner Bros. TV 2004. The film “Once Upon A Time in November” directed by Andrzej Jakimowski, in which Probosz played a doctor of law, opened the International Film Festival in Warsaw. It received the main award at the International Film Festival in Taormina, Sicily in 2018. 

 In 2006, he starred in an unforgettable role as the Polish World War II hero and legendary volunteer to Auschwitz, Witold Pilecki, in the film “The Death of Captain Pilecki”, directed by Ryszard Bugajski. The film won the Special Jury REMI award at the 2007 WorldFest – Houston International Film Festival. Probosz has toured the globe with the film, participating in many international film festivals, screenings, and discussions at Universities, museums and embassies around the world.

 In 2012, he recorded the critically acclaimed audiobook “The Auschwitz Volunteer. Beyond Bravery” for audible.com, which is a collection of Pilecki’s reports from Auschwitz. The project received the IBPA Benjamin Franklin Silver Award in 2013 and the Best Prose Award in 2012. 

Some of the acclaimed films which Probosz is most known for include: “End of the Lonely Farm Berghof” (Main Award at Karlovy Vary 1984); “The Shadow of the Ferns” (San Sebastian International Film Festival 1985); “Ferdydurke” (Venice Film Festival 1991); “Horizontal 8” (Main Award for Independent Film Venice Film Festival 1991); “Reverse” (Golden Lion Award Gdynia Film Festival 2009); “Janosik: The True Story” (Gdynia Film Festival 2009); “Boxer” (Golden Eagle Award at Los Angeles Film Festival 2011); “Closed Circuit” (People’s Choice Award Toronto 2013, Humanitarian Society Award Chicago 2013); “I Love Cinema” (KMTF Award Turin 1988); “Our God’s Brother” (Nominee at the Japanese Grand Prix Festival in Tokyo 1997, MFF Award Teheran 1999); “Players” (Gdynia Film Festival 1995); “Time of Maturation” (Special Jury Award San Sebastian 1984); “No More Dreaming” (Bronze Lions Gdansk Film Fetival 1982); “Moth” (Silver Medal MFF Figuiera de Foz 1980, Moscow Film Festival prize in 1981).

In the world of documentary films, Probosz has directed the feature-length “Jan Kott: Still Alive”, about the world famous Shakespeare specialist, Jan Kott. His short film “Rebel”, a psychological drama delving into the problem of suicide among American youth, was a precursor to his U.S. feature debut, “Y.M.I.”, which he wrote, directed, produced and starred in (People’s Choice ABBOT Award, Los Angeles – 2004). Probosz is an Adjunct Professor at University of California, Los Angeles – UCLA, where he has taught theater and film acting since 2005. He taught at Emerson College in Los Angeles from 2000-2005, at Edgemar Center For The Arts in Santa Monica from 2008-2011, and at the Theater Academy of A. Zelwerowicz in Warsaw in 2016. As an acting expert, he has also been invited to teach film acting at the prestigious Williams College in Massachusetts in 2021.