Over the last several years, no rx several young actors have decided to take their fate into their own hands by producing their own films. In 1997, approved Matt Damon and Ben Affleck shot to super stardom when their film Good Will Hunting–which they co-wrote and starred in–succeeded at the box office and at the Oscars, where it walked away with two Academy Awards. Years later, Brit Marling became a known actor after co-writing and starring in the award-winning feature Another Earth.

Evan Mathew Weinsten may be trying to follow the same pathway with his new movie Leaving Circadia. The film, which he’s still trying to sell to a distributor, stars Weinstein as a lackadaisical superintendent struggling with life in his early 30s. In addition to his starring role in the feature, Weinstein co-wrote the script and directed the movie. So far, the film has won numerous awards including the Best in Festival Award at the Emerge Film Festival in Maine, the audience choice award at the First Glance Film Festival and Director’s Choice at the  Indie Spirit Award.

With that in mind, Weinstein is in our Monday spotlight this week. Learn more about him below.

1.) Weinstein has been friends with many of his co-stars since college. According to RutgersToday.com, “Evan Mathew Weinstein, Drew Seltzer, Regi Huc and Zack Griffiths graduated from Mason Gross School of the Arts in 2003 and kept in touch as they relocated, always hoping someday to work together.” All four of them appear in the feature together and Weinstein and Huc wrote the script together.

2.) When asked what part of the production he enjoys the most, his first response is “acting.” According to TheCinemaSource.com, when asked about htis question, he replied, “I would say I’m an actor first…Acting is always the closest to my heart, but as far as filmmaking as a whole, I love every aspect of it.”

3.) Before appearing in Leaving Circadia, Weinstein’s biggest role was in the 2010 Jesse Eisenberg feature Holy Rollers. According to IMDB.com, Weinstein appeared in that film as the “Young Hasidic Father.”

Leaving Circadia doesn’t have a distributor now but you can learn more about the film here. Also, check out the trailer below.