Ross Novie is a 30-year veteran of the entertainment industry who has worked on some of television’s best comedies, including “Arrested Development,” “The Office,” “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” and currently, “St. Denis Medical” as both an assistant director and a director. When the COVID pandemic hit, he saw firsthand the devastating impact of distance learning on students— turning bright, engaged learners into sad, unmotivated, depressed children (including his own). Out of frustration, he created a grassroots, nonpartisan campaign, LA Uprising, to coordinate the efforts of thousands of parents to push the Los Angeles School District to open for in-person learning, something that eventually took California over a year to do. After schools finally reopened, the group’s focus changed to fighting mask and vaccine mandates that endured for years longer in California