Gunter Hayes Sanderson is an American writer, director and producer. Raised in Savannah TN. Gunter's mother Mae Sanderson was an LPN and his father Gunter Sanderson Jr. was a brick mason. Gunter became fascinated with films after watching "Robocop" He credits this very film that inspired him to pursue filmmaking. Gunter has made a few independent films. "Binding Love", "Salvation", "Legend of Bigfoot" and Amy's Story". "Amy's Story" is Gunter's return to filmmaking after medical issues.
David Morton
Alireza Mirasadollah is an established Iranian-born, London-based artist.
He is a well-known author in his homeland of Iran and has written seventeen books of short stories, novels, and poems. He began his career as an animator in New Zealand 1997. In 2009, he joined the BBC in London and worked as a journalist and documentary maker for 10 years. His documentary Abdulmajid's Goat was nominated in AIBS 2019 for the best cultural documentary.
Gomula-Kruzic’s video and interactive media works have been showcased internationally at ISEA, Eastern Bloc, Montreal, Canada; Ionion Center for the Arts and Culture, Kefalonia Greece; OZU, Monteleone Sabino, outside Rome, Italy; POP Revolution Festival, Lecce, Italy; CST Institute for Computer Music and Sound Technology, Zurich; MuseumsQuartier Wien, Vienna, Austria; Institut Intermédií, Prague, Czech republic.
Gomula-Kruzic’s work has also been shown nationally at Quench ArtSpace, Waitsfield, Vermont; Center for Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe, New Mexico; ARTS Lab, Albuquerque, New Mexico; CounterPulse, San Francisco, California; Climate Theatre, San Francisco, California; BASIC, San Diego, California; Yerba Beuna Center for the Arts, San Francisco, California; Dance Mission Theatre, San Francisco, California.
Kyra Zagorsky
Phil Hawkins
Bruce Temuchin Brown is a West Coast director and writer specializing in portraiture of the human condition. His film making has won awards from Photo District News, Spotlight Short Film Awards and Atlanta Docufest and shown in such film festivals as The Royal Starr Film Festival and Los Angeles Cinefest.
In his work he has a propensity for capturing his subjects' essence to the degree that their portrayal forges a connection between the viewer and the subject. This glimpse reveals the epitome of the person, which creates images that evoke a sense of knowing and being. Whether working with stills, motion or fine art, his talent for encompassing the full range of human emotion is evident and alluring.
Bruce’s fine art photographic work has been collected by the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento and the di Rosa Preserve in Napa as well as in numerous other galleries, museums and private collections throughout the nation. Some of his commercial clients include AT&T Wireless, United Airlines, NCR, Chevron Texaco, Money, Forbes, Chicago Tribune Sunday Magazine, Entrepreneur, USA Weekend Magazine, Wine Enthusiast, Chronicle Sunday Magazine and Hemispheres Magazine.
Evgeniya Radilova
Sumire Takamatsu & Jorge Lucas
Sumire Takamatsu coordinated commercial shoots in NYC before joining Blue Sky Studios, a feature animation studio. She currently helps produce marketing materials and promotional content for an upcoming feature, Spies in Disguise. Outside the studio, she likes to work with a diverse group of talented artists and filmmakers to produce animated and live action shorts.
Jorge Lucas met Sumire at Blue Sky Studios, where he started as a PA before working his way up to be an Assistant Editor. He's currently finishing the new Will Smith-starring Spies in Disguise. Outside of Blue Sky, Jorge has directed shorts as well as music videos for Baltimore-based band Sunbathers.
Walter Haussner
Felix Crumbsy
Jhonny Parks
Patrick A. Albright has directed and edited eight short films to date. He is currently working on two new short films, one which will become a feature . He is also a Photojournalist for the Maneuver Center of Excellence (Fort Benning) with several awards and photos on permanent display at the Pentagon.
Ian Rayburn
E. Noble Filmworks was founded in 2004 by Robert "Bzy" Bowden IV. Born along the streets of Queens, New York, Bzy discovered at a young age that having an artistic outlet was the best way to express his thoughts and creativity.
Graduating from Brooklyn College with a B.A. Film Video/Production Degree, Bzy attributes his passion and drive to his grandmother, Eula Noble. "I wanted to honor my grandmother by creating films that spoke to the purpose and gifts within, as she did continuously throughout her lifetime."
Since its inception, E. Noble Filmworks has produced several short films, as well as music videos, and continues to expand within the production industry.
Yasir Duzcan
Daniel Bolero Zaldivar
Peter Nogueira
Jonathan Kehoe
A filmmaker based in Atlanta, Georgia.
Born and raised in South Korea, she moved to the US back in 2018.
"Dream Seller" is her first short film. She just released her latest short film,<INVISIBLE>, about the racism toward Asian Americans caused by COVID-19.
Ovunda Ihunwo is a Senior lecturer in the Department of Theatre and Film Studies, University of Port Harcourt. He has a Masters and Doctorate Degree in Film Studies. He is an accomplished Director, Actor, Actor Trainer, Dancer and Singer. He teaches Acting, Voice and Speech Training.
He has taken part in a number of Nollywood movies/Soap Operas which include, Golden Axe 1, 2 & 3, Female Lion, Bottom of My Heart, Reflections, House of Abraham, Genesis amongst many others. He was also a Producer/Presenter of a popular Talk Show Programme Pomp and Plain. He is a member of the Director's Guild of Nigeria (DGN). He is currently the Chairman of National Association of Nigerian Theatre Arts Practitioners (NANTAP), Rivers State Chapter; Coordinator, Nollywood Arts and Film Production Unit, Uniport; Ag. Director of Central Community Service Unit, Uniport. He is married with four kids.
MELISSA FARRIS
Tim Pepper
Anthony Collings
Katie Nahnsen
Award-winning filmmaker Dan Schaefer makes his directorial narrative debut with Highland Home – a music video and short film based on an original song by Kurt Rosenberg, for which Schaefer also created the film’s story. Previously, Dan has directed several documentaries including popular sports doc “Mania”, about the Portland Trailblazers, and “Figaro! Living in the Moment of a Character,” about two music schools brought together for Amadeus Mozart's comic opera.
Daniela Di Salvo is a Canadian independent film director, writer, editor and cinematographer, best known for her short films Dead North and James & the Fish, the former of which was part of the official selection of the 2019 Toronto Smartphone film festival, where she won Best Emerging Filmmaker. Di Salvo is known for the inspired musical choices she showcases in her films and her ability to artistically convey emotion and movement on screen.
Director Filmography: Coffee for One (2019) Dead North | Ghost Towns of Northern Ontario (2019) James & the Fish (2019) Astral Astray (2019) I Dream of a Place (2019) It’s Desmond (2020) A Mano (2020) - Pre production
Peter Vietro-Hannum
Frances loves to film stories that put humanity on display. Her goal with each film is to help the viewer see themselves in the soul of another, and to help them see that we are so much more alike than we are different. Her hope is that by opening even a small crack in the viewer’s perspective, the world can change for the better.
She loves all aspects of filmmaking, but her passion lies in directing. Being an actor in Chicago for 10 plus years gives her an immense amount of insight on how to communicate with actors (and non-actors) to achieve natural, honest performances. She loves helping actors access their true potential.
Frances has won awards for her screenplays at the CALIFORNIA WOMEN’S FILM FESTIVAL, the WOMEN’S INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL, the WORLD SERIES OF SCREENWRITING, and the HOLLYWOOD SCREENWRITING CONTEST. She was also a ‘2nd Rounder’ at the AUSTIN FILM FESTIVAL.
Art Director educated at the Applied Arts in the first place, Fabio Soares revealed hisself in advertising during 10 years, through collaborations with international brands as: Orange, Samsung, Johnnie Walker, Cannes Festival, LG, iDTGV, SFR…
Nowadays Writer/Director, his second movie "Bitch, Popcorn & Blood" has been selected more than 110 times in festivals all around the world, and most recent movie "I Will Crush You & Go To Hell" 32 times awarded.
Xiaoyu Yang studied the MFA program in filmmaking at City College of New York until 2018 when she graduated.
NOTE: The majority of the work on her upcoming short film 'Another Wonderful Day in Paradise' was shot as part of her student thesis at City College of NY, but it was completed in 2020 after the birth of her first child caused production to halt.
She has been making independent movies in the New York area since 2013, after earning her MPA in public administration at Fairleigh Dickinson University and making a career switch to the world of film. Most of her works are focusing on comprehensive imageries of blended cultures, and the attribute of feminism nowadays.
In 2015 her first feature-length documentary “Dan Hsu - A Lifelong Journey Through The Art”, which tells the story of renowned Chinese artist Dan Hsu, won 7 awards including best feature (student), best director and best female filmmaker at the Hollywood International Independent Documentary Festival, and a silver award in DOC NYC. Since then, Yang’s works have been screened in both the US and China.
In 2016, she was named a Discovery Communications Scholar by BAFTA. She is currently teamed up with an award-winning composer, choreographer and lyricist to create her first musical short, a story of immigrants, dreams, and life in the Big Apple.
Patrick Cavanaugh
Peter Nogueira is a Massachusetts filmmaker, completing his first feature film "You Still Have Time" at the age of 19, and his latest short film "Milk" in 2020 at the age of 21.
Keith Terrell
Jaime Alejandro Cruz is a poet, podcaster, and award-winning playwright. He currently produces the Creative Drive podcast, an international showcase for writers from all walks of life.
Xiaoyu Yang
Pat Battistini
Christian Nolan Jones doesn’t just see the beautiful—he projects it. Applying his lens to music videos, short films, and features, Jones injects refreshing empathy into his work—conveying the human condition with care and discern. Each project is crafted from top to bottom, no detail too minute for his keen eye.
Raised in Atlanta, Jones sharpened his skills at Howard University & New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. His first short, PRINT SHOP (2017), is currently screening at festivals across the country, and even earned a second-place finish for best short at the San Francisco Black Film Festival. Alongside his film work he’s directed & produced music videos for artists such as A Boogie, French Montana, and Cam’ron. His work earned him a spot at Samsung’s Creator Incubator and he was given the opportunity to create a pilot, ON THE WAY HOME (2018) for their interactive platform Hello Eko. His next film, BROWN WITH BLUE, is slated to release in 2019, hotly anticipated after receiving early support from the renowned hip-hop artist and producer Common.
This platform has enabled Jones to do what matters most: invest creatively in the next generation. In 2018, he was awarded Carnegie Hall’s NeON Arts Grant and worked in conjunction with the NYC Department of Probation to lead two mobile-media workshops in Harlem & the Bronx. Jones’ most recent endeavor will find him playing the role of student, though, as he’s been accepted into HBO’s Visiting Directors Fellowship—allowing him to shadow directors on upcoming series at the network.
Zakiyyah BG
Keith Aaron Jarvis & Taidge Mathieu
Co-Directors, Keith Aaron Jarvis and Taidge Mathieu, have been working collaboratively since 2012. They met and graduated from the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in June 2015 and have been actively working in the entertainment industry since. A few of their projects together include a music video for Tom Waits "Gun Street Girl", an internet sketch video titled "The Roommates" and a feature-length film titled "The Wild Ones" that is currently in production. As both writers and directors, their projects are recognized for bringing quick wit humor to otherwise gritty subject matter.
Jan Fabris
Anthony Stengel
Phil Hawkins was born and raised in Austin, Texas and has lived in Atlanta since 2017. As a native Texan, he can confirm that the stars at night are indeed bigger and brighter in Texas. Phil studied Cinema and Media Arts at Vanderbilt University, where he discovered his passion for comedy writing and performance. Since moving to Atlanta, he's been inspired by the creative souls all over the area: "The film scene here is special--there's so much talent, but more than that there's hunger. When you channel that energy into a project you can always make it happen, regardless of budget."
Aurélien Mathieu (born in 1988 in Annecy) is a French film director, screenwriter and photographer. He studied at the ESRA Film School in Paris.
Once he graduated from high school, he settled in Paris in order to study at ESRA cinema school. There he directed his first short-film “Le facteur humain” at 19 years-old. Then he got into an apprenticeship at EuropaCorp TV where he focused on fiction alongside Kyan Khojandi.
He experienced several positions to get an insight of all the jobs necessary to make a film.
At 24 he founded his own digital production company (closed nowadays) with the help of 3 associates, for which he directed several web commercials, music videos and corporate films.
In the same time, he made a career in Lego toy photography under Shobrick’s pseudonym. As the pictures went viral and made millions of views, Warner Bros Us commissioned him to promote the Star Wars Lego video game. He also published a book “Lego Dino” at Glénat Editions.
In 2018 and 2019, he directed two short-movies which ended finalists at the Nikon Film Festival.
Both were well received by famous french directors and by the press. He is currently finishing the script of his first long feature film.
Kristina Arjona directs work that emphasizes LGBTQIA+, women, and POC in front and behind the camera. Her experiences as a queer Latina and sexual assault survivor motivate her to give a voice to underrepresented narratives. She is the daughter of immigrants from Colombia and Germany who met in the U.S. pursuing the American dream.
Both sides of Kristina's family got their US citizenship through the American military. After her father retired and became a medical missionary, Kristina spent much of her childhood traveling the world, and she found storytelling to be the easiest way to connect across cultures.
Kristina studied theatre at the Alabama School of Fine Arts. She graduated from Elon University with a BFA in Acting, and a BA in Theatrical Design & Production, with specialties in Directing and Scenic Design. She now owns Jump Cut Collective, a production company empowering marginalized voices. Her films have been showcased in festivals such as the Atlanta Film Festival, Sidewalk Film Festival, and Cucalorus Film Festival. Previous directing credits include Gatito, Backtrack, Southern Spirits, BrownTown, and Dirty Nails.
Dan Schaefer
Greg Roensch is a writer from San Francisco, California. He's the author of "Breakfast with the Alien and Other Short, Short Stories," a collection of quirky flash fiction. Greg's creative writing has appeared in Dream Noir, 365 Tomorrows, Defiant Scribe, Potato Soup Journal, and elsewhere.
Irina Hall is a Russian-born American filmmaker. Her creative journey started as a ballet dancer and transitioned later into acting and filmmaking. Coming from the world of DYI filmmaking, Irina's creativity is never stopped by a low or non-existent budget. She keeps creating no matter what, finding different ways of bringing her ideas to life. She teaches her narrative filmmaking students to forget all their excuses and never let anything stop them from creating no matter how limited the resources are.
Jeffery James Bucchino is an artist, writer, and actor as well as director. He has a passion for story telling and entertaining. He started working in independent film as storyboard artist and 2nd unit director of the Atlanta based zombie film, Test Group and has since gone on to direct short films of his own.
Minkyu Kang
Xinhao Wang
Stephanie Diane Ford
Mikael Trench
Winchester 7 (vocals, ukulele), like many of us, was born within the domed city. But, when Phil Voorhees (bass) and Jack Kane (drums) decided to pull a runner, they didn’t expect that he would be the one to come after them. None of them further imagined that when their paths finally crossed, a few bass notes and halting drum beat would be met with a rocking ukulele reply, vocal harmony, and…music.
Together, Winchester 7 & the Runners, have since found that a forgotten world, beyond the dome, that welcomes their music and films even as their friendship grows.
Out of Atlanta, Georgia-based (home to Winchester 7), Sanctuary Studio; though runners, Voorhees now resides in Amsterdam and Kane is itinerant within the United Kingdom; the trio deliver their unique blend of indie garage rock with alternative, classic, and surf influences.
William is an American Actor and Producer known for Blood Ink (2013) Run For Your Life (2015) Coyotaje (2018) Eminence Hill (2019) Attack of the Unknown (2019) and now, Muse Over (2020). He is known among his peers as one of the most dedicated, honest and easy to work with, actors in the industry. Birth name: William Roland Connor. Height 5' 11". Mini Bio: William Connor was born on May 31, 1959 in Joliet, Illinois and was raised in Crest Hill, Illinois. He is the son of Suzanne Phyllis Melander, a Bookkeeper, and William Thomas Connor, a Court Officer. Connor moved to Phoenix, Arizona in 1973 in High School and attended Alhambra High. After graduating he supported himself by working in a Cabinet Shop, Operating a Crane and building Swimming Pools. After a three year tour in the Air Force, Connor went on to major in Nursing in college and worked in multiple areas in the Hospital environment. Connor discovered that along with caring for people in need, he also enjoyed entertaining. It was the intensity of his medical career that motivated him to pursue an acting career with the intention and success of finding balance in his day to day influence on those he impacts.
Andrea Ross
C. Blake Evernden
Mahmoud Salimi is a director/producer whose work takes a critical look at challenges that affect the lives of people. He has worked on various fiction and documentary films, music videos, and corporate promotions in Asia, Europe, and North America. His work has been recognized in national and international film festivals including Olympus International Film Festival, Houston Worldfest International Film Festival, Top Indie Film Awards, Caribbean International Film Festival, iVision International Film Festival, Los Angeles CineFest, Erie International Film Festival, Catharsis International Film Festival, Cardiff International Film Festival, Rome Independent Prisma Film Awards, Miami Independent Film Festival, Beaumont Film/Music Festival, Lewiston Auburn Film Festival, and Bronze Lens Film Festival to name a few.
Liz Lugo is a Puerto Rican self-published poet with a bachelor’s degree in Microbiology.
Following her passion for cinema, she pursued a certification in Professional Screenwriting from UCLA School of Theather, Film, and Television. She later partook in a TV writing workshop with writer and producer Gloria Calderon-Kellet. Liz recently obtained her MFA in Professional Screenwriting.
As a part of a class project, she wrote and directed a supernatural horror short film titled “Lamentos del Silencio.” In 2019, she worked as a Script Supervisor in “Don’t Blink.” Last year, Liz won the Grand Prize at Various Artists independent Film Festival which leads to the production of psychological horror “I Killed Lucy Jones.”
Her stories are mostly identified by inclusion and diversity, including Hispanics and Deaf characters, and situations that highlight at least one of the following causes she’s committed to: verbal abuse, sexual abuse, rape, human rights, mental health, equality, among others.
Zachary recently graduated from DePaul University with a Master's in Directing and Screenwriting. Zachary's the Head of Development for 6-5-4 Studios based out of Chicago. Zachary has written and directed several shorts while at DePaul. He's a Philadelphia native with a passion for underdogs and unique stories.
Sandra Tamkin is a recognized Filmmaker and Founder of Tudor Drive Productions, a purpose driven production company that creates documentary films that advance social and racial justice.
A passion for philanthropy, Sandra has over 25 years of experience in the nonprofit sector giving her a unique perspective on bringing human stories to audiences.
Sandra earned her Master of Social Work Degree at the University of Southern California with an emphasis on Community Organizing. A Los Angeles native, she and her family reside in Venice, CA.
LISA DUNNING &
Bryan Huynh
David E. Tolchinsky
Born and raised in Akron, Ohio. Evan is an upcoming writer, creative and music producer. His songs have been streamed hundreds of thousands of times across multiple platforms and he has written and pitched multiple pilots before creating 'Forest Folly.'
Evan has received nominations and awards for multiple categories including, 'best screenplay,' 'best short film' and 'best sound design' from the Independent Shorts Awards, the Spotlight Short Film Awards and the Prague International Indie Film Festival.
Evan graduated from the University of Dayton in 2014 where he served as an editor on the school paper. He currently lives in Los Angeles.
Michael Starobin is the president and creative director of 1AU Global Media, a media production and communications consulting company. He is also the the senior producer at The NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, and the 1st Place winner for NASA Video Producer of the year in 2020. His work has played at the Smithsonian, Rockefeller Center, congressional and other federal presentations, and on network and cable television. On multiple occasions it's been selected for special juried SIGGRAPH exhibitions. He and his team have won awards and accolades, and many of their works are showing today in museums around the world. His Science On a Sphere movie LOOP was named a 2013 finalists at the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival.
At NASA, Michael led an effort to develop technology and techniques for delivering the world’s first movie projected on a fully spherical screen. Time Magazine named the resulting film "FOOTPRINTS" one of the best inventions of the year. Michael and his team have produced for 3D systems, ultra-high resolution, wide aspect video walls, and live events.
Prior to working at NASA Michael worked in the Washington news corps, overseeing news and video services for Conus Communications, a national media company. Earlier at Conus he helmed the science and technology desk, reporting and producing for the network. Prior to Conus he worked in public radio as a producer.
Michael has an extensive background in the performing arts in addition to his life in electronic media. For a number of years before and after his radio days, he devoted himself to the arts, working in independent film, writing, and live performance. Michael graduated from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota with a degree in anthropology and honors work in biomedical ethics.
Jeremy Lu was born in Beijing. During his childhood, he spent a lot of time learning performing art. In 2009, he got into The Central Academy of Drama, one of the best art schools in China, as a performing art student. After a year of study, he found more passion in filmmaking, so he changed his major to Film & TV. After graduating, he worked in an independent film studio as a producer, director, and editor, making commercials and shorts. In 2016, he began to peruse Film & TV MFA degree in Savannah College of Art and Design, where he met his film mentor, Lubomir Kocka, who taught him a complete director theory. During 2016-2019, he has become a more mature filmmaker and made many short films, including a 16mm film, Ties, and Mike and Mark, which were shown on the school showcase and gained good reviews from the professors. A Peek of Love is his graduate thesis film. He applied what he had learned about filmmaking in the past years in this film. After graduation, he worked in a Chinese American TV station as a director, cinematographer, and editor in LA.
Kohei Sengen
Jan Fabris was born in Ljubljana (Slovenia) in 1986. Since 1999 his main interests have been filmmaking and film history. He received his Bachelor's of Science degree in Chemistry in 2010 and his Ph.D. in Biomedicine in 2014.
Filmography
IMDB
Skoraj polnoč (Almost Midnight) - director, writer, producer
Modri zajček (Blue Bunny) - director, writer, editor, producer
Spremembe (Changes) - director, writer, editor, composer
Dovzetnost (Sensitiveness) - director, writer, composer
Kdo je ubil Anastazijo Elster? (Who Killed Anastazija Elster?) - assistant director
Mine dan, začne se jutro (Day Passes, Morning Begins) - assistant director
Most (The Bridge) - editor, assistant director
Skupaj (Together) - assistant editor
Strah (Fear) - assistant director
Aurélien Mathieu
Bruce Brown
Anthony J. Turek
Daniela Di Salvo
Anthony is an award winning filmmaker, cinematographer and professional drone pilot based in Wyoming. He owns a production company called Stengel Media located in Casper, WY.
Guodong Yu
Godwin Onohwosa
Mikael Trench is an Atlanta-based stop motion filmmaker and video editor. Since late high school, Mikael has been making a variety of stop motion shorts and projects, many of them influenced by the works of Willis O' Brien, Ray Harryhausen, Nick Park, and Adam Elliott. A lover of visual storytelling, film editing, and film music, Mikael aims to continue making stop motion films that embrace all the humanistic touches that come with the medium.
Greg Roensch
Gareth Wilkes
Matthew Price, originally from Houston, organically fell in love with film in college. This journey lead him and his friends down a path, learning as much as they can along the way, in order to tell stories in their own way.
Tim Pepper is a screenwriter, actor, and director who currently lives in Athens, Georgia. He has had screenplays and films accepted in many film festivals and does every genre from drama to horror.
Keenan Osborne was born in Augusta, Ga in December of 1990. He moved back to Atlanta, Ga after finishing school in Kentucky in 2009. Keenan’s first experience in film came in 2016 with his directorial debut in Good Girl. He has since directed the first season of the web series Harper's Radar before creating Situationnals and creating Wild Imagination Entertainment. With the creating of Wild Imagination, Keenan has directed short films 'Foreplay', ‘A Bitter Reunion’ and other short films. called The Seventh Poetry Society.
Lauren Littlejohn works professionally as a script supervisor in film and television. Her credits include: The Resident, Sleepy Hollow, Revolution, and Teen Spirit. She lives in Atlanta, GA where she is raising two beautiful daughters. The Waiting Room is her directorial debut.
Yael Deynes entered the film industry in 2015 with his first screenplay, "175", a historical drama inspired by real survivors who opened up to Deynes about the persecution of the LGBTQ community during the Holocaust and after. The script led to a signed deal with a top Hollywood talent agency. His work also caught the eye of Marsha Posner Williams, a two-time Emmy and three-time Golden Globe-winning producer. Williams produced his directorial debut, My Secret Lake, which picked up an SFAAF Award and is distributed on Amazon Prime Video.
While working as a writer for several streaming networks and film studios, Deynes has consulted and held seminars for universities, writer's groups, and non-profit organizations. In 2017, due to the damage of Hurricane Maria, Deynes was unable to reach his mother in Puerto Rico for two agonizing weeks. This inspired him to create a cinematic message of hope for the island entitled, "Who We Are", which won an award at the My Hero International Film Festival and a Telly Award. The film has amassed millions of views and was broadcast to 20,000 attendees during the Puerto Rican benefit concert, "Somos Uno" which featured artists such as Luis Fonsi, Jennifer Lopez, Ricky Martin, and more. Motivated by his ambition to reveal lost stories, Deynes began work on "Nuestras Historias" in June 2018 and launched the project by documenting interviews with Puerto Ricans affected by the hurricane.
In 2019 Deynes began work on his two latest short films "Can You See Me?" And "Urges" both produced by Williams. In just 5 short years Deynes has accomplished 17 short films, two documentaries has written 4 full future screenplays, and has garnered over 40 awards for his films and screenplays. Deynes is currently working on his 5th full future screenplay, "La nana", and a 3-part book.
Entirely self-taught, Deynes attributes his knack for storytelling to his grandmother's vivid tales as well as the everlasting desire to do the right thing.
Michelle Valines is an American actress, director, and filmmaker known for the short film, “The Things They Left Behind” based on Stephen King's novel. It showed Michelle's acting versatility, as she portrayed Janice Mason, a pivotal character in the film. She landed the role of Detective Robinson in the movie "Paranormal Captivity" as well. Owning the role of “Miss Davis” in the anti-bullying, theatrical stage production: Teens What's the Rush, Michelle brought needed attention to the harsh realities that children face when they are bullied. Michelle made a cameo appearance on the TV series: "Cool Carolina Nights" and "Love Always Charleston". Showing a true concern for health and wellness, Michelle played the role of “Briana,” as she co-starred in an industrial health video entitled: "Take Control of Your Health". Michelle worked as a freelance producer on the feature: Taboo-The Unthinkable Act. She directed and starred in her own featured films, Demented Love and Sisters for Life. Michelle recently directed and produced, No Wahala movie. Additionally, She appeared on the true crimes TV shows; TV One- Fatal Attraction & ATL Homicide, Oxygen- Snapped, Investigation Discovery- Murder Chose Me & Southern Gothic and HLN- The Killer Truth.
Jiaxin Zheng is an Asian female filmmaker, born and raised in China, who started her very first “step” in film industry in Tucson, Arizona, 2016, she got a chance to screen her documentary “the underground kids” at the Loft Cinema. After two-years of working experiences in the Chinese film industry she developed her skills on the variety ways of film productions. Her dynamic background in directing, writing and editing makes her a creative director with a multitasking capacity to have a clear-out vision from all film production perspective. She always has a different way to illuminate the story - she has the ability to capture the other side of humanity and the dark side of the society which is evident of all her works. She always trying to explore things around real life, around people. She takes filmmaking as a mirror to reflect everyone who is living in the world. In recent years she puts more attention on digging into the story and what’s the real story-telling.
Johnny DePalma
Yasir Duzcan, born in Turkey and spent his childhood in Germany. He started shooting small narrative videos when he was 13 with his High-8 camera. In high school, he won some nominations and awards for his films. He obtained a Sociology Bachelor at Bahcesehir University in Istanbul and started working on film sets as a backstage video-maker. Making promotional videos for a production company. This led him to SCAD where he got an MFA in Film and TV -Directing Program with a scholarship from a film company. He's worked up to 60 film projects in various positions in 3.5 years at SCAD. Filmmaking has been his biggest passion since his childhood.
Christopher Kay
Ian is a director, filmmaker, and actor based in Toronto.
Inspired by sketch comedy, horror movies and independent cinema, Ian began his acting and filmmaking career in his teens by creating and shooting short films, comedic sketches, promotional videos for companies, and music videos for local musicians. In 2007 IRAYBS films was born with Ian producing and directing his first full-length feature film "Dream Harder" a comedic spoof on the booming adult industry in the 1970s.
Upon moving to Toronto, Ian has continued to grow and is establishing himself as a strong storyteller with a unique visual style. His award-winning films have been screened all around North America for various film festivals and showcases.
With a unique style mixing grounded authenticity to the insanity and brutality of deathmatch wrestling, IRAYBS Films vision is to bring unique, edgy, captivating, and inspiring stories to life on screen.
Julia Deak
Rasheed Lanier & Andrew J. Bullard IV
Danny Ashkenasi has been acting professionally since the age of ten and composing musical works that have been publicly produced since the age of fourteen. In pursuing these arts, he has also developed his expertise as a writer, singer, director, producer and teaching artist. In recent years he has focused on creating and performing musical works that highlight the American experience, by adapting American literary masters and focusing on pertinent American historical and social themes.
Danny Ashkenasi just completed his first film project, the short film of his theatrical Poe adaptation “The Tell-Tale Heart – a musicabre”, for which he wrote the screenplay, produced, directed and performed the role of the narrator. Recent musical writing projects include “Speakeasy – John and Jane’s Adventures in the Wonderland” which explores the little known Queer culture of Prohibition era New York City; and “Feedstore Quartet” (Book and co-lyricist: Jack Hilton Cunningham) set in 1950’s Mississippi.
Danny adapted over 60 Langston Hughes’ poems in a full length musical revue called “I Too Sing America – The Blues According to Langston Hughes”, which was performed at the 2011 Harlem Renaissance Festival at the Metropolitan Playhouse, New York. Danny performed in his musical adaptation of Herman Melville’s “Cock-a-Doodle-Doo!” at the Metropolitan Playhouse and FringeNYC 2009. He also performed in “beTwixt, beTween & beTWAIN“, a Mark Twain Musical Comedy he wrote and composed, which played at The Producer’s Club May 16-June 8, 2008 and also had a special performance at the Westport Library in CN.
Danny Ashkenasi is an American citizen who was born and raised in Berlin, Germany. Consequently he also acts and has musical compositions produced in that country, including the musical “Wir Pfeifen auf den Gurkenkoenig” (text: Peter Lund), which had a long run in Berlin, “Once Upon A Frog /Es war einmal ein Frosch”, which was performed in English in Berlin, and recently enjoyed its German language premiere (translated by Danny Ashkenasi) at the Wetzlarer Festpiele; and “Hexen” (text: P. Lund), which has enjoyed dozens of productions throughout Germany, three alone in Berlin, including at the Deutsche Oper, as well as Austria and Finland (The English adaptation “Witches”, translated by Danny Ashkenasi, has been performed twice in New York.). He is the only composer twice invited as a finalist to the Hamburg Musical Festival.
Other US works includes “The Song of Job 9:11” (Text: D. Ashkenasi), performed in concert in New York numerous times since 2002, and produced theatrically at the FringeNYC Festival in 2004; and the chamber opera “Jenseits” (Text: Helga Krauss), produced as “Beyond” at the Village Temple and at the FringeNYC Festival 2005, both directed by Mr. Ashkenasi. He also composed a musicalisation (or “musicabre”) of Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart“, which he performed (accompanied/surrounded by three cellos) at the Metropolitan Playhouse’s Poe festival and the 2006 FringeNYC Festival, where he won the FringeNYC award for “Outstanding Music and Lyrics”, and which was also produced by the TrypTych Concert and Opera in Toronto. Other musical works produced in New York include “When Thou, My Music, Music Play’st” (Text: W. Shakespeare, adapted from his Sonnets), “Lucky Hans” (Text: Margie Duffield) and “Les Artistes” (Text: Greg Steinbrunar). He has also composed several one-act musicals for the Berkshire Ensemble for Theatre Arts and the International Schools Theatre Association England Summer Program. Chamber music compositions of his include Evocations I – XXIV for Viola and Piano, Aphorisms for Mezzo Soprano and Trumpet, and the Spree Forest Suite for Flute and Harp, which was recorded by the Duo Elysee.
Additional acting credits include Off- and Off-Off Broadway, region
Michelle Valines
Jason Sanchez
Artist/Musician/Filmmaker Ronnie Cramer has been active in the arts community for over thirty years. His paintings have been exhibited in galleries and other venues across the country, his music has achieved airplay on over 150 radio stations nationwide and his critically-acclaimed films have been screened at festivals around the world. He has also been featured as a guest lecturer on art and media at numerous museums and universities. Cramer's work has been exhibited in every US state and in sixty-eight other countries.
Mahmoud Salimi
Dr. Mark Padilla is a Professor of anthropology at Florida International University’s Department of Global and Sociocultural Studies. He produced the award-winning documentary "Collapse" which addressed the politicization of the number of dead in Puerto Rico after hurricane María hit the island on 2017.
Dr. Nelson Varas-Díaz is a Professor of social-community psychology at Florida International University’s Department of Global and Sociocultural Studies. He produced the award winning documentaries “The Distorted Island: Heavy Metal and Community in Puerto Rico” and “The Metal Islands: Culture, History and Politics in Caribbean Metal Music”. He also directed the award-winning documentaries "Collapse" and "Songs of Injustice: Heavy Metal in Latin America" which has been featured in Rolling Stone. Together, the films have garnered 69 sets of laurels in international film festivals. His documentary film work addresses issues of community formation, linkages between culture and music, and decolonial politics in Latin America.
John Kennedy Eagle wanted to be a filmmaker since the fifth grade, and started writing stories soon after that. He's currently a music video director in Florida, running his own business that specializes in video production.
August Aguilar is a Writer, Producer, Director, and comic book creator that founded Strange Films in 2016. Strange Films is an award winning multi-media production company that is passionate about creating Horror and Bizarre stories through film and comic books. Following the Marvel formula of storytelling, the tales live in a shared universe with interconnecting stories, interesting characters, filled with suspense and terror that leaves fans wanting more.
Born in Philadelphia and raised in East Tennessee, August studied Radio/TV/Film at East Tennessee State University and worked for local news broadcasting before pursuing an independent career.
Since 2016, August has been featured by the Philadelphia Film Society along with numerous TV, radio, and podcast shows about Strange Films. Outside his unique brand of storytelling, merch, books, and continued growing fanbase, he is also the Director of El Burrito Blog, an independent online publishing company that serves to create, collaborate, and promote other independent creatives in and outside the U.S. who are looking for their voices to be heard.
August currently resides in Knoxville, TN, and frequently travels to Philadelphia for projects and collaborations.
Xinhao is a director and DP from China. He studies media, television and broadcasting in college. His will to study the American film industry process and his love for films lead him to SCAD. Since his enrollment in fall 2018, he has finished almost all courses within one year with good grades and has directed and shot over twenty short films, documentaries, commercials and music videos. Xinhao has one year of working experience in China and he has watched over 3000 films since childhood.
His experience makes him good at directing actors and communicating with them. His patience and calmness also make him good at working with other people.
Jennifer Miguel is a Mexican-American filmmaker. She studied Film and Television production at the University of Southern California (Class of 2015.)
ANDY KARSTETTER
Susanna Wolk is a New York based director. She has worked on the Broadway productions of Significant Other (Associate Director), Waitress, and Finding Neverland. Her work as a director has been seen at 54 Below, Dixon Place, Club OBERON, A.R.T.’s Loeb Mainstage, 13th Street Repertory Theater, Williamstown Theatre Festival, The Flea, Ugly Rhino, Don’t Tell Mama, and more, and she has assisted on productions at Second Stage, MCC, Williamstown Theatre Festival, and American Repertory Theater. Susanna graduated with honors from Harvard in 2014 where she studied English and Theater.
Stephanie Diane Ford is a Durham-based filmmaker whose credits on commercial and indie film projects established her reputation as a respected producer, AD and script supervisor. After receiving a B.S. in Business Administration from Drexel University she relocated to Paris to pursue post-graduate studies in Fashion Design Management. Her interest quickly shifted to working behind the camera after creating a teaser video for her style blog MEin5D (now MEin5D Films). She was awarded the “Filmed in NC” grant from Cucalorus Film Foundation in 2019 and 2020 for her debut narrative short, The Black Baptism.
Ovunda Ihunwo
Matt Brandseth
Evgeniya Radilova is a internationally award winning actress and a filmmaker. After making a name for herself back in Bulgaria, she comes to the States to pursue her career as an actress. She appeared Off-Broadway, became a SAG-AFTRA, AEA, and a lifetime member of The Actors Studio, where she performed opposite Ellen Burstyn in The Cherry Orchard, directed by John Gould Rubin. She has appeared on 5 prime time TV shows, multiple short and feature films. Won the Charles Jehlinger Award for Best Actress at AADA.
Naturally she decided to take a step in her career and started directing. Her first music video, "True Paradise" was accepted in 8 festivals, and won three of them for Best Music Video: "Winter Film Awards", "LA Cinema Festival of Hollywood" and "Miami Film Festival". After the success at her debut as a director, she co-founded "iDareProductions", where she has been producing, writing and directing for the past few years!
She wrote, produced and directed two short films. "Patrik" which was accepted in 19 festivals around the world and won 9 of them, and Evgeniya was featured as one of the best filmmakers In "The Spotlight" for 2019. She also, wrote, produced and directed her second film "El Cavil", which is in festival season right now.
She is currently in production of a pilot she is producing and starring in called "Lost Cos", with director Robin De Levite (3 Tony Awards, Lawrence Olivier, etc.) Her second music video premiered in November 2019 called "Nothing Changed for Me" by Rada Angelova. Evgeniya also is co-producing and co-directing a film called "Then and Now”, and directed a short called The Burden, all coming out in 2019.
She is in preproduction of the first feature film she is co-directing and co-producing with Michael Tosner called "Bacon", this coming fall.
A film she directed called "My Relationship With The Moon" won the "Special Recognition Award" at the "Cayanne Film Festival".
She also became a proud lifetime member of the Playwrights Directors Unit at The Actors Studio.
For two consecutive years, she has been invited to teach and direct Film and Theatre workshops with the students of Chongqing and Kunming in China. She created two films with them: "Fortune Sticks "& "Marga", and directed a production of W. Shakespeare's "Midnight Summer's Dream", and “Peter and The Starcatcher”. She gave a very successful talk for film industry and film professors in China, Kuming! And is going back regularly to teach.
Evgeniya has a great passion for fire dancing and has opened her own entertainment company, Evgeniya Entertainment, which includes artists from Circus Du Soleil to NYC's top performers, underground and street performers. She has performed in the most high-end cabarets stages in NYC as well as festivals and directed shows all over the county.
Joe Lam
Glory Zhai is a media artist currently living in Vancouver. She went to study animation at Emily Carr and is an obsessive creator in the field of ACG culture.In the past few years, she worked internationally as a character designer, and independent cartoonist. Known as “KnifeDragon” online, Glory has her growing fandom across major social media like twitter and weibo.
Find out More...
Chi Tsen,
Mia Mathilda,
Ethan Sands,
Mika Heiskanen,
Natalia Bahamón
An actor, director, writer, poet, educator, and MC, Cherrye is a graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts (PHTS). TV/Film: COVERED (Writer/Director), EXTRA ROOM, SCRIBBLES, RAIN, KITTY BAINBRIDGE IS DEAD (Reel 5), FOR FLOW (25 to Life/HBO), COLD APRIL (Burning Clown). Theater: HOW TO MOURN AN AMERICAN (A Certain Something/LPAC), AND SHE WOULD STAND LIKE THIS (TMTC/ART-NY Theaters), #BARS (Public Theater), AND THEN I WOKE: A VICARIOUS CATACLYSMIC EVENT (ACS/Downtown Art), THE TROJAN WOMEN (Access Theater), MANNA HATA: THE WONDER CITY (Peculiar Works Project), CAESAR AND CLEOPATRA (Workshop Theater Company), HOPE SPEAKS (TMTC), IMMORTAL: THE GILGAMESH VARIATIONS (Bushwick Starr), BINTOU (TMTC), THE CRUCIBLE (PHTS, NYU), FLOW (24 to Life), FOR COLORED GIRLS WHO HAVE CONSIDERED SUICIDE... (NYU). Cherrye is the playwright of original works HOW TO MOURN AN AMERICAN, SOLD!, and DREAMS IN SCAR SPACE. Her full- length choreopoem TAPES was presented in The Movement Theater Company’s Ladder Series. She is well-known as a musician and lead vocalist for the acclaimed roots-blues experience The Nervous and the hip-hop/funk outfit DeathrowTull.
Elias Gandy
Simon Ross
Meredith Koch is an Academy Accredited director based out of Los Angeles. She holds an MFA in directing from the American Film Institute, AFI and a BA in directing from UCLA. She is represented commercially by Atvertise in the German territories.
Articles and interviews with Meredith and her films have been featured in the following publications: Indie Shorts Mag, LA Weekly, The Aerogram, Cinemark, Seattle International Examiner, We Are Moving Stories, VC Online, Chris Martin Studios, Popcorn Talk, Kajal Mag, and USA Today.
Since immigrating at a young age -- from Moldova, a small country in the former Soviet Union, to Los Angeles -- Gena Fridman fell in love with visual storytelling. First, photography and eventually becoming a film and television editor. He has worked on a variety of content, earning an Emmy nomination, and an ACE Eddie nomination, for his editing work on Veep.
A storyteller at his core, Gena is also passionate about Directing. His films lean on the comedic side with a unique approach to storytelling. Working toward Directing features and television, Gena hopes he can inspire others with diverse backgrounds.
I am Felix Crumbsy. I am a writer/director from Decatur, GA. I have been writing and directing since my undergrad years at Albany State University. Growing up I had never considered filmmaking as a career. I believed that I would be a lawyer, but one morning during my freshman year I just decided that Law School wasn't for me, however, it did not take long for my passion to hit me. That night I watched David Fincher's "The Social Network" and from there I just had an inclination to tell stories. The film to me was so visual and the edit was tight with incredible pacing. To this day I can't tell you why this film grabbed, its not even my favorite film, but it did grab me and made me see my favorite movies and a completely different light. My eyes were opened to the wonders of filmmaking. Soon after I would enroll in film classes while earning my BA in English Literature. A few month after graduation I would enroll at Full Sail University where I earned my MFA in Film Production. It was at Full Sail that I learned how to be a better writer and director. To me this means that I have learned who I am as an artist.
I try to keep my work honest which means that my films emulate reality regardless of genre. I find that people resonate better with characters if they see themselves in the character. This is what helps me to direct my actors, the camera, collaborate with my DP's and editor and sound. Over the years I have been blessed with the ability to follow my passions and improve as a filmmaker. I aim to continue growing as my journey has only begun.
At the ripe age of 50 Lisa set up Never Too Late Productions and produced her award-winning debut short film Aftershock. As business minded former Chief Executive of Music SA, Lisa found she had a constant need to have a personal creative project on the go outside her job. She has 25 years’ experience in the private, public & not-for-profit sectors working in music, tourism, events, health, film, TV and the arts and is the Deputy Chair of the Adelaide Fringe Festival. Lisa has acted, sang and been 1st AD on award-winning short films, and has worked in locations and post-production on web series and TV commissioned by SBS and ABC networks in Australia.
Peter started his film career at MTV Networks in the late 80’s, and has worked in the Film & Television Industry for the past 25 years. In 1995, he earned a BFA in Film from Syracuse University, and promptly moved to New York City to begin his career. He started as a Key Grip & Dolly Grip on dozens of Independent Movies where he realizes that everyone’s job on set, including the technical crew’s, is to help tell the story. Today, as a Camera & Steadicam Operator, Peter is called upon daily for his creative perspective and experienced eye. Peter has directed numerous short films and has started to transition into directing full time.
Jeremy Lu
My name is Zakiyyah BG, I am a writer, actor, director and photographer that resides in Lansing, MI. I've been writing creatively over 10 years and my acting journey began when I attended J.W Sexton High school joining the drama club.
Since then I've been a number of films around the state of Michigan, shot and directed music videos, created documentaries and commercial work for organizations and companies.
My goal is to continue to dive deeper into filmmaking, I truly believe if you have a story you should tell it and i choose to tell my through the lens.
Daniel Bolero Zaldivar, AKA Danny Bolero is a native Angelino who hails from East Los Angeles. As a professional actor he has appeared on Broadway , in films, television and commercials. He made his Broadway debut in Joseph in 1993 and moved to New York in 2009 to work with the brilliant Lin Manuel Miranda in IN THE HEIGHTS which he toured with throughout the United States and Japan.
I've been writing and producting various projects for decades. I have experience researching, scriptwriting, directing, and shooting video, audio and interactive media productions for large and small companies. I won a Georgia Vidfest award for a company video for Coloplast Corporation. I produced an award-winning video for the Coastal Coalition for Children. I've written and produced audio pieces for Georgia Public Broadcasting and for WABE.
I grew up in Aiken, SC, and then went to Emory and stayed in Atlanta. I've got a masters degree in media from Georgia State. I like traveling, photography and cooking.
L. Robinson is a director and screen writer from Bklyn, NY. He studied screen writing at NYU and wrote, directed and starred in the dramatic feature "Legends of Brooklyn". L has also worked as a NYC Emergency Medical Technician for the past 26 years.
Chadaporn Mitinunwong, Bangkok native. At the time she were deeply interested in 3D design and artistry, primarily cinematographic effects. She had a 10 year tenure as an understudy of a renowned director of animation. Under his tutelage she learned to understand not only the cinematics, but how they can be used to tell a story of each character arc and was attuned to the approaches of the different directors. To this end, she moved to California to continue studies of modern Film and Television. She were fascinated by it, and determined to dedicate her talent to this path, eventually culminating in reaching her dream of becoming a filmmaker.
JAMAL HODGE
Appearing in the Oscar-nominated film Gone Girl, and nominated for a Maverick Movie Award for best-supporting actress for her role in the feature film Badsville, directed by April Mullen, Kate is also an international vocalist and recording artist. Her music events clients include: The Academy Awards, The Emmy Awards, HBO, Warner Bros, The Getty Center, Universal, and Disney. She has also worked with Robby Krieger of The Doors and Jeff Goldblum and his Mildred Snitzer Orchestra.
Splitting her time between Toronto and Los Angeles, Kate is also a passionate writer who has spent over a decade researching and interviewing women pilots who served in WWII, inspired by her grandmother who was a Canadian pilot. Kate wrote and directed her first short dramatic film about the Women Airforce Service Pilots entitled Boundless, produced by her company S.H.E Lifts Off Films, along with Buck Productions, Rolling Pictures Inc and Clark Stanley in Sept. 2019. Filmed at the Guelph Airfield and surrounding area, the short included 60 extras, 40 crew members, 11 cast members and flying warplanes. Canadian broadcast icon, Dini Petty, plays a leading role in the film. The film is finishing post-production and is set to make the festival rounds in 2021. The Boundless project is also in writing development to become a narrative miniseries.
Kate is also in development with a documentary that focuses on the invisibility of women in the military, the effects of abuse and trauma that many women in service face, as well as the effects of art therapy for veterans. Kate is also attached to direct her first feature film, a psychological thriller, produced by Filmcoop in Canada.
Kate is also a student pilot member of the Coachella Valley chapter of the Ninety-Nines Women’s Flying Org.
Marianne Gardner
Silvana D’Mikos
Jaime Alejandro Cruz
Lauren Littlejohn
Michael Costello is an independent filmmaker from Belfast, Northern Ireland. In 2017 he wrote, directed and produced the independent short film "Inside" which won him two awards for Best Screenplay at the DU Film Festival in Dublin, Ireland and Best Director in the Carlow International Film Festival, Ireland. He is the co founder of the independent Belfast based film production company Apex Pictures. Michael has worked on many independent productions in many areas that include directing, writing, producing and sound editing.
Eric Alan Luse unofficially founded ELF Productions in 3rd grade with stop-motion movies. He focused his attention on theater and film in high school and attended the film school at Scottsdale Community College for screenwriting. He began working in alliance with Alone Wolf Pictures for several film productions in the early 2010’s. A number of colleagues from his time at SCC reunited to work on this production. Eric has spent the last seven years engineering innovative new ways to teach film and broadcasting to teens. In that time he has worked as a print and podcast film critic in the Phoenix area.
Pardon My condolences is a passion project that came from his want to explore the different ways people process grief and how it connects to our maturity. He's thankful to the skilled cast and crew that came together to tell this story. This film is dedicated to his immediate, extended and found family.
John Kennedy Eagle
Robin Posavetz
Minkyu Kang is a director, screenwriter, and producer based in both the United States and South Korea. He studied Film and TV Production (BA) at the University of Southern California in 2012. After two-years of military service in South Korea, he worked in the local film and advertising industry, during which time he had directed short films, TV commercials, and art videos.
The short films he directed have been selected and screened at multiple international film festivals, including Bilbao Fantasy Film Festival, Bogota Short Film Festival, San Diego International Film Festival, and Foyle Film Festival. He is currently pursuing an MFA degree in Directing/Screenwriting at Columbia University's School of Arts.
I was born in Budapest. Following my degree studies in Hungarian Literature, I went on to become a qualified journalist. After winning two journalism writing competitions, I joined Hungarian State Television, where, for seven years, I was responsible for the making of cultural documentary films. I have been awarded prizes for my work there. During that period I also wrote screenplays for my own films and television programs.
Later, I pursued my career as an independent, free-lance writer. I have had two prose volumes published by a respected publisher, and my novellas and book reviews have appeared in a well-known literary monthly.
In recent years I have devoted myself to making short films. I write these films herself, and am the director, cinematographer, producer and editor rolled into one. I have learned the techniques of digital post-production in order to be able, with the minimum of help from others, to realise fully my vision of how I would like my films to look and sound.
R.E. Wolfe is a British film maker based in London. At an early age she found joy in creativity, beginning ballet at age two and landing a professional singing role in a West End production of Peter Pan at the age of nine. She continued to pursue an interest in the performing arts throughout her teenage years, participating in dance societies, theatre and creative writing workshops before her eventual transition into the world of film and to life behind the camera.
After graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree in English Literature in 2007, she went on to do a Master’s Degree in applied Psychology ‘Psychoanalytic Studies’ under course director and Jungian analyst, writer and filmmaker Christopher Hauke (‘Jung and Film-2001’). His avid interest in the unconscious processes involved in film making and his academic contribution to this subject area inspired her greatly, and ignited an interest in filmmaking.
Wolfe later went on to do a Soho based course in Cinematography and shortly after landed a co-producer role in short action thriller ‘Eden Grey’ which screened at the Artemis Women in Action festival in Los Angeles in 2018.
In 2019 she completed the Producer’s Foundation Certificate at Raindance in London in preparation for her involvement as a producer in an upcoming action feature film to be shot in 2020 starring Braveheart actress Mhairi Calvey.
Align is R.E. Wolfe’s directorial debut and is a film that was born from her lifelong love of dance in all its forms; a project that is deeply personal. But she also hopes that audiences comprising of dancers and non dancers alike will be able to relate to the underlying metaphors in this film.
Deepak Reddy is an award-winning filmmaker, writer, producer and actor best known for his short films, Hide & Seek and Manasanamaha, a romantic comedy. Graduated from University of Houston, Tx. But decided to take filmmaking as his fulltime profession as he felt storytelling is his strength and passion.
SPOTLIGHT
FILM AWARDS
Rasheed Lanier
Rasheed Lanier is a graduate of UAB with a love for art. After obtaining a bachelor's in graphic design he gained a love for photography and videography. Since 2014 he has continued growing his skills with his camera and plans to continue learning new skills and producing better and better visuals.
Andrew J. Bullard IV
Andrew Bullard is from Chattanooga, TN but he was born in Germany since his father was in the Army. While being a musician Andrew earned his Bachelor’s degree in Communications in 2014 from UTC. He enjoyed writing concepts for his music videos and this inspired him to make his directorial debut in 2020 with the short film “Ain’t God Alright”.
Guodong Yu is an independent animated filmmaker, painter, and photographer. He was born in Guangdong province, China, and is now a first-year MFA student at Tongji University, Shanghai.
His works are often based on his insight into multi-generational relationships between generations in real life. In his opinion, a child's emotional world was usually rich, colorful but not expressive. It might lead to direct and naive behaviors and often causes conflicts with the adult world.
Guodong Yu believes that animated short films have the unique capability to be able to tell an entire cinematic story without using any dialogue and allowing only the visuals and sound design to convey its meaning.
Kazuhiro Kiuchi
Gregory Lovett & Matthijs Heesemans
Jessica Gomula-Kruzic
Matt Brandseth is a lifelong comedian and graduate of the Second City Chicago Writing Program. His multi-hyphenate list goes as follows: Writer-Director-Actor-Producer-Cinematographer-Editor-Film Composer-Sound Mixer-VFX Artist. He has 15 years of post production experience as a sound mixer and editor. He has studied film alongside Judd Apatow and Steven Spielberg, but Matt is most famous for lying about with whom he has studied film.
Kristina Arjona
C. Blake Evernden is an award-winning filmmaker, illustrator, concept artist, and makeup fx designer for film & television.
He has worked on poster art for both stage and screen, concept illustration for pending productions and continues to work as a professional storyboard artist for commercial projects.
He has worked as a key makeup and effects designer on five independent features (winning an award for Best Special FX for "Scars" in 2015) and many short productions through institutions such as the Canadian Film Centre.
His second feature, "Prairie Dog", has played at 17 film festivals worldwide and won six awards, as well as being picked up for distribution through ITN in Los Angeles. His recent short film, "Spider", has played at 10 film festivals worldwide and won two awards. He's currently in development on
Eric Alan Luse
Jiaxin Zheng
Patrick A. Albright
Dianna Ippolito
Robert Bowden
Born in Detroit, Michigan Anthony J. Turek as a student at Michigan State University made award winning short films "Mad Love" and "The Perfect Moment." He's gone on to be an assistant for directors Ron Howard, Emmy Award Winner Timothy Busfield, Tony Nominee Liesl Tommy and BAFTA Winner Terry McDonough.
Joel Allen has more than 30 years of reporting, anchoring and news management experience in television, online and print media outlets.
Joel has won awards for his live spot news coverage and consumer advocacy reporting, along with earning plaudits from various service organizations and advocacy groups.
Joel has served on the boards of directors for the Coastal Carolina Chapter of the American Red Cross and the Claire Chapin Epps Family YMCA of Myrtle Beach.
He is the author of the novel Ripoff and Run, based on actual events he covered as a reporter in Eastern Iowa in the 1980s.
As a senior at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) majoring in Visual Effects (VFX), Micaa; served as Director, Compositor, and Lighter of “Our House is On Fire,” a short film highlighting the impact of climate change caused by human activity. The film consists of 26 young talented artists within the VFXs' Department with skill sets in simulations, environment, texture, sound, and motion media design. Greta Thunberg’s speech from Ted Talk, “The Disarming Case to Act Right Now on Climate Change” is parallel to her Call-to-Action through the use of VFX. As the director, Almy Bartis was chosen to be the film’s sponsor due to her speech at New York City’s Climate Strike with Greta Thunberg and her innate passion for research, education, and the climate crisis which affects the economy and ultimately the stability of our world.
When Micaa is not directing, lighting or compositing, she enjoys traveling and has volunteered at SIGGRAPH in Los Angeles, California, and in Brisbane, Australia. She also enjoys traveling and supporting the First Tee and March of Dimes’ sponsored events. Micaa loves to play competitive golf. She has been playing for 12 years and was inducted into the African American Golfer’s Hall of Fame. At SCAD Atlanta, she was a four-year member of the SCAD Women’s Golf Team and was the only member of SCAD Atlanta to compete at the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Golf Championship for 4 consecutive years.
Deborah Pinkney is an animator raised in the Atlanta area. She aspires to work on animations for children. Deborah loves working on character driven pieces which allows her to act without ever having to go on a stage. She earned a B.F.A. in Animation from the Savannah College of Art and Design concentrating in 2D character and is looking forward to the next chapter in her career.
KEVIN DIX
Dylan Gallimore
Shanna Riker is an NYC based, female, Director/ Writer/ Producer. She graduated from Blue Mountain College with a bachelor’s in Psychology and a bachelor’s in Theatre. She has produced five short films, three of which she directed and two she also wrote. The Leap is her first festival worthy, completed film as a director. Shanna has one independently published novel, Barbecue, Fried Chicken and “Where’s the Will?” which she adapted into a play that she produced, directed and performed in at the Tank Theatre in NYC. Shanna is a two time participant of the Women’s Weekend Film Challenge. Daughters of Solanas, which Shanna produced for the most recent challenge, has been screened at the Queerly Film Festival, the Imagine This Women’s Film Festival and the Uptown Women's Film Festival. Shanna is currently in the fundraising stage of pre-production for her first feature film. Unfinished Works is a psychological fantasy, which she wrote and will direct as well. Shanna is an avid traveler and has had two articles published in online travel publications. Shanna’s writing interests are diverse yet she tends to focus on family drama, psychological fantasy and has a special fondness for romantic Christmas films. Shanna is a proud literary client of Mitchel Stein of The Stein Agency, Los Angeles.
Luca Machnich
Kyle Kulmann
Winchester 7
Micaa Thomas
Alexander Müller
Gareth comes from an underprivileged background in Adelaide's northern suburbs. This has informed his deep understanding of human character and it is these themes he finds the most compelling and interesting to explore in his work, be it dramatic or comedic. He is a passionate long-serving member of the film industry as Art Department Coordinator and Art Director, with additional experience in Production and Production Accountancy. These roles have kept him connected to the filmmaking process and his skills as a Director have greatly developed as his wholistic knowledge of production has evolved.
While maintaining his career on film crews, he has worked as an acting/dialogue coach, a show reel scene director and a filmmaking teacher. His passion for making expression through filmmaking accessible to underprivileged youth has led him into mentoring roles also.
Throughout, he has continued to write and direct his own projects that embrace his life experiences with themes such as mental health disorders, domestic violence, toxic masculinity and repression of sexuality. Directing has always been Gareth's career goal and he is now embracing this full time, choosing to forego work in Art Department to make it his priority.
Ryan Czerwonko is a queer American actor/filmmaker of Russian, Polish, and Italian descent. Best known for his guest starring and recurring roles on "Chicago Med", "Chicago Fire", and "Chicago P.D.", Ryan has also appeared on "The Deuce", "Watchmen", and "Claws", among many others, working with directors like James Franco, Roland Joffe, and Nicole Kassell. Upcoming: "Cherry" from AGBO Films, directed by the Russo Brothers, and indie feature "The Drummer" opposite Danny Glover. Ryan is the creator of "Ugly/Handsome Films" on YouTube, a production company that focuses on a limitless style of filmmaking with a queer, poetic edge. Upcoming: "Tonight, We Fuck the Trailer Park Out of Each Other", based on a book of poetry by genderqueer poet Charles Russell Price.
Chelsea Christopher is a bisexual actress, filmmaker, writer, and artist in NYC. She is the creator of the YouTube channel DEVOTRESSTV with her own short films, video art, and spiritual discussions. She has spent the last five years throughout the Atlanta and Savannah area and now in Brooklyn collaborating with other film companies, acting, writing, and directing independent projects, doing performance art, and developing her unique artistic voice. Her next short film, The Joke, will be out in the spring.
Deborah Pinkney
Judith Cowley
Hi! This is Merry May Ma, a beginning filmmaker from Washington University in St. Louis. My nickname is "M Cube." I love creating warm-hearted and thought-provoking stories in my films. I have written and directed 5 short films in 2020, and you can check them out on my YouTube channel
Frances Wilkerson
Cherrye J. Davis
As CEO of SquareGlobe, Inc., created in January 2019, Godwin directed the short film, "Trick Box", and co-created and directed/produced TV Series, “Intertwined” proof of concept reel, along with his partner, Sherry Williams, writer/producer. He also directed and co-produced Wole Soyinka’s play, “The Strong Breed”; directed (for New African Grove Theater, 2018, 2019), “The Long Goodbye”; directed and produced “Zooman and the Sign”, (2018).
After majoring in Theater at the University of Benin, Nigeria, he participated in the growing theater industry and the nascent television industry that has led to the Nollywood success. He had the opportunity to work with Nigerian masters, such as Wole Soyinka and Chinua Achebe. He created, wrote, directed, and produced the first Nigerian children’s TV series, “Bubbles.” The series was sold to NTA (Nigerian Television Authority). He also acted in “The Young Ones” and “Adio Family” for Jab Adu Productions, “Vigilante” for ‘A’ Productions. For theater, he acted in “Things Fall Apart” and “The Man Who Never Died” for Anansa Playhouse, “The Trial of Dedan Kimathi” for UniBen, “Song of a Goat” for FGC Theatre Festival, “Biko’s Inquest” and “Hadrian the 7” for PEC Repertory Theatre, “The Last Omen” for Ajo Productions. Arts Columnist: Business in ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States), Bi-lingual publication serving 14-member countries with population of 500 million.
D.R. (Don) Thompson is an award-winning American producer, filmmaker and playwright. He is most notable for the film Clouds, the Sundance and Cinema for Peace award-winning documentary Tibet in Song, and the plays L.A. Book of the Dead, Tibet Does Not Exist and Democracy: A Work in Progress.
Dale Metz has been a photo and film enthusiast for years. In early 2010, upon retiring from a career in the fire service as a Deputy Fire Chief, he developed a passion for film-making. The ability to use knowledge learned as a still photographer when creating a story through film has opened a new dimension of expression.
Born and raised in Florida, he received a Bachelor degree from Florida State and has studied photography through Seminole Community College and various workshops. His approach to cinematography is very similar to still photography; seeing the moving image as a collection of still photos.
Dale has won numerous awards and recognitions for his photography and short film work and currently donates time as a board member with the Florida Institute of Recording, Sound and Technology (F.I.R.S.T)
TL Westgate was born in Michigan, but settled in Florida as his home starting in the fifth grade. As a graduate from Florida State, he has worked in the video production industry for over 20 years and won several industry awards (Emmy, Telly, Marcom).
In 2010 he began getting serious about filmmaking and has traveled the country to support his films in festivals. They have played in fests around the world and won several awards. He also enjoys photography and has two adult sons. He currently teaches at the Los Angeles Film School.
After an extensive career as an actress in film, TV and theater, Melissa first became involved in movie and TV production five years ago. Life Reflecting is her first project as writer/producer.
A long-time member of SAG-AFTRA, one of her goals in making Life Reflecting was to show that it was possible to make a SAG-AFTRA approved film during the pandemic, even if everything had to be done virtually. Her cast and crew never met during production, and she’s proud of how the team met that challenge. Melissa splits her time between New York City and Los Angeles. She is now working on her second project as producer, a documentary due to be completed later in 2021.
Robert Howat
Taz Lake is a writer, producer, filmmaker and technologist based in Atlanta, GA. As a technology author, he has published two books but started to craft spec screenplays in 2018.
As of 2019, he has two spec features and two spec shorts which have been selections or finalists in multiple film festival competitions including HollyShorts, DC Shorts, Richmond International, Georgia Shorts, Hollywood Just4Shorts, and more.
As the son of a career Marine, his exposure to many cultures throughout his life has allowed him to draw on numerous experiences for his characters and stories. This along with his educational background in science, art, and theology allows him to build interesting worlds that are also accessible to broad audiences.
Elias has written and directed over 11 short films over the past several years. He has a true passion for people and a heart for story. His mission is to make films that allow his audience to identify with unique perspectives different from their own by creating impactful stories, with powerful visuals, and engaging characters.
Judith, a writer and director from Waikanae, New Zealand is the proud mother of three lovely boys. She has dedicated her life to Social Justice roles and helping communities throughout New Zealand.
After completing a Masters in Screenwriting, she was accepted into the Show me Shorts Film lab in 2018 and has gone on to write scripts for film and theatre. This short film Walk a Mile is her writing and directing debut.
EVAN SHAUB
An award winning writer/director/editor is a native of Merrillville, Indiana. Pat began his career as an actor at the Player’s Workshop of the Second City in Chicago. He continued working in improvisation and eventually performed in over 500 improv shows. Pat suffered having to work for Club Med in their Entertainment Department in places such as St. Lucia, Thailand and Tahiti. Continuing to have fun in Asia, Pat moved to Tokyo where he collaborated with an all Japanese comedy group for two years performing in the Japanese language.
Only making sense, he moved to Miami after his Tokyo gig, where he started his filmmaking career. Pat finally made his way to Los Angeles in the fall of ’98.
In LA, he has written and produced fourteen short films. One of his most recent film, 'Tin Can' has been screened in sixty-five film festivals and has won twenty-eight awards. His feature screenplay, "Rebound" has also won two screenwriting categories respectively.
Pat resides in Santa Clarita with his wife Marnie and his two children, Maggie and Burke.
Michael Costello
Yael Deynes
In 2006, Johnny DePalma founded Umbrelly Books Publishing where he continues to grow his personal vision of unique children’s literature. To date, Mr. DePalma has released six books, created one popular, albeit bizarre holiday, and brought home first place from the Bay Area Olympiad of Arts. Recently, he conceived and curated the Emergency Art Museum in his hometown of Campbell, CA.
Jhonny Parks is a filmmaker based in Bethel, Connecticut. Jhonny works as a full-time graphic designer and freelances in teaching stop motion animation throughout Fairfield County, Connecticut. His first short film was "Wound Up" which was screened at the "Brightside Film Festival" in Jersey City, New Jersey in 2016 which inspired him to move onto larger projects such as his new film "What The Mouse" which took almost 3 years to complete. Jhonny's dream is to work with his favorite Director Wes Anderson and is currently building his body of work as a Director.
Chris Anthony Hamilton
D. R. Thompson
Jonathan Kehoe has been writing, acting and directing for 20 years and has been teaching for nearly 14 years. He has a BA with honors from the University of Miami and is a graduate of the Writer’s Bootcamp Professional Writers Program in Santa Monica, CA. Jonathan is an alumnus of the main company at the ACME comedy theater and accomplished standup. He has appeared in countless theatrical productions including the Anthony Meindl directed “Dead Eye Boy” in which Variety referred to him as an “astonishing actor.” On television, he has had small recurring roles on Ugly Betty and Conan and has appeared on shows such as The Mindy Project, Criminal Minds, Sam and Cat, Rules of Engagement and Modern Family as well film roles in “How We Met,” and “Sunken City.”
In recent years Jonathan's focus has been on directing. He wrote and directed the pilot presentation “Welcome To Hollywood... Florida” as well as the short “Pirate and Doctor” starring himself and Kyle Secor. He also directed the short films “Quitters” and “Scatter” and roughly 30 episodes of varying web-series including “The Upside of Down,” “Tequila Mockingbird,” and “Freeloaders” to name a few. Just this year Jonathan has spent/will be spending 2 months in Cuba playing an American General in the epic war film “El Mayor.” He will be returning to Havana in 2019 to portray 40-year-old Ernest Hemingway in an as yet untitled film recounting Hemingway’s at times fantastical involvement with a Cuban little league team. Teaching acting is one of Jonathan’s great joys in life and he loves doing it here in Los Angeles as well as sharing his passion with other students around the world. Last but not least, he’s got two sons who are the best creatures ever.
Katie Kamala Haley
I was born in Reghin, Mures, Transylvania on the 28th of March 1990. In 2013 I graduated from the Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca with a Bachelor in acting and shortly after I pursued another further study in acting for two years at the Athanor Academy, in Germany.
I have been working as an actor since graduating. I've been in various short films and TV projects in Germany and the UK such as "Waldsterben", that won a prize for the Best Mid-Length Film in the Selb film festival or the German SAT 1 series "Schicksale".
In 2016 I shot my first romantic comedy "Titus & Mirabella", as a lead actress, scriptwriter and a director. Due to the lack of funds the post-production was put on hold for three years to be resumed in 2019 and finished in 2020. The film now has received a distribution deal with Shorts TV.
Kazuhiro Kiuchi was born in Tokyo.
While studying at UCLA Extension in CA, he directed a short film for the first time using it as the script with the cooperation of his friends in LA.
It won a prize in Tokyo Video Festival. After coming back to Japan, he has been making movies for 20 years for the world.
Jeffery James Bucchino
Michael Starobin
Mark Padilla & Nelson Varas-Díaz
GREGORY LOVETT
Gregory Lovett has been working in international television and media for the past 40 years. He is the founder of Image Essays, a nonprofit production company that develops media projects of social, political and historical interest. He most recently produced and directed “Delay, Deny, Hope You Die”, an award-winning documentary about American soldiers who were poisoned on military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan.
MATTHIJS HEESEMANS
Matthijs Heesemans has been working in the Dutch television industry for 12 years. Originally a cameraman, he has since developed into a renowned editor and director whose work has appeared on all major public and commercial channels in The Netherlands. 12th Street is his first documentary.
Dylan Gallimore is a writer and filmmaker from New Jersey. He is the writer and director of the comedy short film "A Coach's Duty," as well as co-writer of "The Demon I Cling To," and the writer/director of"Total Darkness," both forthcoming.
Dylan's poetry, fiction, commentary, and review have appeared in over a dozen publications. During the coronavirus pandemic of 2020, he self-published "Transmissions from Planet X," a multi-installment short story collection produced weekly.
Dylan graduated from the University of Delaware with a Bachelors of Arts in English - Film Studies.
August Aguilar
Jono Mitchell is an independent filmmaker and actor best known for his work with Adult Swim’s digital programs Dear Jono and Stupid Morning Bullshit. In addition to showrunning, his work includes production of nearly 30 short films, three webseries, and the award-winning feature film Pageant Material. Working alongside incredible Atlanta talent, Jono has expertly crafted an empathetic style of filmmaking that challenges the viewer to explore the complexities of stories often relegated to two-dimensionality in mainstream media. By creating characters with specific, strong, and diverse emotional perspectives, Mitchell works to foster opportunities for audiences to better understand and connect to underrepresented voices in film.
Dale Metz &
TL Westgate
Christian Nolan Jones
R.E. Wolfe
Grace Uther is the writer and director of 'Nineteen Ninety Nine.' Grace has written & produced three short films which have screened at festivals internationally. Originally from Sydney, Grace studied film production in beautiful Byron Bay, and works professionally in film and television production in Queensland, Australia.
“Grace Uther is an exciting new talented director to watch out for - women directing horror - the best!” - Lisa Shaunessy, Producer of The Furies.
Chris Anthony Hamilton is an award-winning Writer, Director and Cinematographer. With an education in film from Hofstra University, Chris honed his skills in New York City working with giants including Spike Lee, Ava DuVernay, Sesame Street and Ralph Lauren and has had the likes of such prolific people as Barack and Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey in front of his lens. His award-winning short films have screened at festivals internationally and his branded content has garnered more than 17 million views online. Most recently he received the award for Best Director at the 2018 Black Women Film Network Short Film Festival. He may be most proud, though, of his eclectic karaoke repertoire which he’s happy to put on display at the wrap party.
Find out More
Grace Uther
Liz Lugo
Chadaporn Mitinunwong
Anthony Collings is an Emmy-Award-winning former CNN foreign and Washington correspondent. He is currently a Lecturer in Communication Studies at the University of Michigan and is a film maker whose works have been shown at film festivals and other events.
A graduated with a BA degree in Theater Arts from the University of California, Irvine, Lisa Dunning went on to pursue her graduate degree in marriage and child therapy from Phillips Graduate Institute for the states of California and Colorado. She is the author of GOOD PARENTS, BAD PARENTING, and in addition, has written various published articles on relationship and parenting issues and has appeared on television and radio. Tomorrow Never Came is her directorial debut.
Bryan Huynh is a graduate of George Mason University, majoring in English. His parents often reminded him to read and visit the library as much as possible during his days growing up in Northern Virginia (outside Washington DC). By the end of his freshman year in college he knew his desire was one day to become a writer. Tomorrow Never Came is second of the trilogy, where his writing is focused about life “Today, Tomorrow, and Yesterday.”
Ryan Czerwonko & Chelsea Christopher
Matthew Price
Shanna Riker
David made his primetime debut at age 4 on AMERICA'S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS. He has been doing comedy ever sense. He performs to sold-out New York audiences at UCB.
Fabio Soares
Minye Cho
I am a Mexican-American filmmaker from Houston, Texas, who moved out to LA with the goal of building a platform and comfortable environment for aspiring filmmakers of color. With my father working endless hours in construction and my mother practically working night shifts as a wedding coordinator, I was often left in the house to watch my younger sister and bond with characters on screen. While I developed an early fondness for film, it wasn’t until high school that I truly became fascinated with the filmmaking process and the power one holds when telling a story through cinema. Once it was in my head, I never let go, and never will until I’ve ensured the next generation of silenced filmmakers get their dues. Until then, you can find me devouring chocolate or watching documentaries about otters.
Meredith Koch
The director is a grandnephew of Anton Machnich, one of the movie pioneers in Italy, who opened the first movie theaters in Italy, in Romania and in Ireland (the latter in partnership with the famous writer James Joyce) in the early 19th century. He studied film direction at the Los Angeles Film School after working as a production assistant in several screen and TV movies (also with Ettore Scola). He authored "Spaghetti Nightmares", one of the best books on Italian fantasy and thriller movies which was published in Italy (M&P edizioni) and in the United States (Fantasma books). The extended Italian version was very much appreciated by the fans of the genre and the film critics.
Kyra Zagorsky is an actor, teacher, and award winning filmmaker. She holds a Master’s Degree in Acting from the University of California, a BFA in theatre from Southern Oregon University and recently completed a Masters in Film and Television from The Savannah College of Art and Design where she received the honors and achievement award. She is a lead instructor and co-founder of The Actor's Center for Transformation in Vancouver. Her award-winning short film "The Prince" screened in over 25 festivals around the world including the Cannes Short Film Corner, HollyShorts Film Festival, and the Los Angeles Women's International Film Festival. As a performer, she has over 35 significant film & TV credits and countless theatre productions across the US including a two year residency with a professional improv company, Impulse Theatre.
On screen she is best known for her work as the lead on Ron Moore’s TV series, “Helix”, the iconic role of Athena in “Arrow”, a major recurring on CW’s “The 100” as Kara Cooper, and the critically acclaimed Sci fi series "Continuum" as Vasquez. She has been nominated Best Supporting Actress for her role as Delia in the Apple Original series "See" opposite Alfre Woodard and Jason Momoa. Coming up she can be seen in season two of "Home Before Dark" in the role of Gina.
Susanna Wolk
This is Andrea's first film on the other end of the camera. She wrote, directed and starred in this short and had an absolute blast shooting this with a skeleton crew while battling the Covid blues.
Andrea spends most of her time as professional stunt double in television and film. Her work contains shows such as DC Comics Legends of Tomorrow, Wynonna Earp, Man in the High Castle, and Supernatural. You can see her full filmography on her IMBD page.
Zachary Ross
Irina Hall
As an 8x Award-Winning Filmmaker, Joe has produce/directed 200+ films, music videos, and documentaries. His feature screenplay, Fugitive Zero, won the award for Best Thriller at LA Film Awards in 2019. He’s also produced videos for The American Red Cross, United Way, and Rotary Club. Joe earned a BFA in Motion Pictures from the Academy of Art University.
Gena Fridman
“Detached” was written, filmed, and directed by five aspiring and ambitious filmmakers based in British Columbia, Canada. This is their first collaboration together. They are pursuing the Bachelor of Motion Pictures Arts at Capilano University where they are not only improving their skills but also building a career within the industry.
Growing up surrounded by Canadian, Chinese, Colombian, Finnish, and South African backgrounds allowed the filmmakers to illustrate the narrative of the story with a combination of various elements like language and customs, exalting the uniqueness of their culture and creating an interesting contrast between the five of them that is reflected by the story.
Danny Ashkenasi
I was born in High Point, NC, and grew up in Panama City, Panama, and Fort Valley, GA. Some of my earliest and most cherished memories are of watching condensed, silent versions of various feature films on the family's 8mm movie projector. Over the years I worked in various professions....civil aviation, career military officer, county government...but I always wanted to make movies.
William Connor
Jennifer Miguel
Glory Zhai
Brian Benson has been making ridiculous movies since he was 8 years old – only then he had youth as a defense. After studying film at UCLA and San Francisco State University, he directed several festival films and a few commercial videos including an ill-fated video about a loose-fitting condom. His alter ego, Cousin Wonderlette, first performed in 2003 at a late-night live serial show in Los Angeles called THE STRIP, A LIVING COMIC BOOK and then didn’t reemerge until 2009 when San Francisco drag superstar Peaches Christ snatched her out of hibernation to perform at her summer screening series MIDNIGHT MASS. Heklina, another legendary drag star, took the risk of putting Cousin Wonderlette on stage in her super-successful show TRANNYSHACK at the DNA Lounge in San Francisco.
Brian’s day job is producing and assistant directing movies and TV commercials and he has over three dozen feature films and hundreds of commercials under his belt. After his first film as producer, HAIKU TUNNEL, screened at the Sundance Film Festival in 2001 he was awarded the prestigious Sundance Producer Fellowship. Brian assistant directed Peter and Benjamin Bratt’s 2009 award-winning film LA MISSION and he produced Peaches Christ’s ALL ABOUT EVIL, a dark comedy starring Natasha Lyonne, Casandra Peterson and Mink Stole. He was a producer on HOWL, a film about Allen Ginsberg’s poem directed by the Academy Award winning team Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, executive produced by Gus Van Sant and starring James Franco, Jon Hamm and Mary-Louise Parker. HOWL was the opening night film at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival.
In 2014, Brian was the First Assistant Director for the Sundance and theatrical hit THE DIARY OF A TEENAGE GIRL starring Kristen Wiig and Alexander Skarsgård. In 2016 with executive producer Carlos Santana, he produced DOLORES, a documentary about civil rights icon Dolores Huerta with interviews by Huerta, Gloria Steinem, Angela Davis, Luis Valdez and Hillary Clinton. The film premiered in competition at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival and was released theatrically in late 2017 receiving only positive reviews and attaining a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. In 2019, DOLORES was honored with a Peabody Award. At the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, he premiered SORRY TO BOTHER YOU for which he served as Co-Producer and First Assistant Director. The film stars Lakeith Stanfield, Armie Hammer and Tessa Thompson and had a successful theatrical run in summer 2018.
Curently Brian is producing 4 feature films, writing a musical feature film which he will direct and teaching a course in Film Production and Financing at San Francisco State University about, among other things, the appropriateness of inappropriate cinema.
Silvana D’Mikos is a uruguayan-american multimedia artist, filmmaker and animator.
From an early age, she was involved in the 80’s protest’s movements to restore democracy in her country of origin, Uruguay. These life experiences and the immigration process have deeply inspired her interest in addressing socio-political issues thru her films and art practices.
After completing her BFA studies in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, D’Mikos was selected to participate in the 2007 curatorial training program at Magasin Des Horizon National Center, Grenoble, France. Soon after, she was a resident artist at the Transart new media program in Berlin. In 2011 Silvana relocated to Miami as a part of the artist-in-residence program at Bakehouse Art Complex, followed by the 2015 Oolite Art residency.
In 2020, she received her MFA in film and integrated media at Hunter College NYC. Silvana’s last documentary-animation Under The Skin, focusing on the struggle experienced by unaccompanied migrant children arriving at the US through the US-Mexico border, premiered in November 2020 at DOC NYC. Future screenings include: 1st Jim Sheridan Short Film Competition, as part of the 7th Dublin Arabic Film Festival, Ireland. And XII HUMANS FEST International Humans Rights Film Festival of Valencia, Spain.
Originally hailing from the lower East Side of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Kevin Maximus Dix is an upcoming director, writer and producer. Kevin began his career in Hollywood at Paramount Pictures which would then help pave the way for him to be hired on the most recent installment for the successful Transformers' franchise, Bumblebee 3D. Later, he would go on to work for MoonBug Entertainment and various other freelance productions.
Kevin soon embraced his own creative path and released his first animated comedy short, Forest Folly, in March 2020 as a teaser for an animated series. Forest Folly has gained attention and received the '2020 Independent Shorts Award', the '2020 Prague International Indie Film Festival Award', and most recently, won the '2021 Spotlight Gold Award' from the Spotlight Short Film Awards in Atlanta.
This young visionary is fearless and readily equipped with the vast imagination necessary to portray originally unique and captivating stories throughout any medium, be it film or music. When Kevin returns to Milwaukee, he enjoys writing and producing for the 'Neon Ninjas', a hip-hop/rap group he co-founded with his closest friends from the neighborhood. Kevin graduated from the University of Dayton (OH) in 2014 and currently resides in Los Angeles.
Gunter Hayes Sanderson
Christopher Kay is an award-winning director, having recently directed and edited feature film, 'Just Between Us' (2018) which featured veteran actors Clayton Jacobson (Kenny, Top Of The Lake: China Girl) and John Jarratt (Wolf Creek, Django Unchained) and was nominated for 'Best Direction in a Feature Film' at the 2019 Australian Director's Guild Awards. Previously he has directed over a dozen short films and music videos; as well as created, written and directed comedy web serials 'Double Takes', 'Chit Chats', and the ever-popular sketch comedy series 'BitSkits TV'. His acclaimed series of horror shorts 'Found' won 'Best Series' and 'Best Horror Humour' at the 2015 Independent Horror Movie Awards. His short film 'Meter' which starred comedy royalty Greg Fleet and Dave Callan was selected as part of the 'Top 100 Australian Short Films' for the St Kilda Film Festival 2014. Heist film 'Safe' which Christopher wrote, produced and directed swept accolades worldwide in Los Angeles, Sonoma County, Melbourne and the Australian Cinematographer's Society, also making the top 50 shortlist for Tropfest 2016.
Shannon Eubanks
Merry May Ma
Sandra Tamkin
Lisa Bishop
2020 Award-Winning Filmmakers in the spotlight
JAMAL HODGE is a multi-award winning filmmaker and writer. Since May of 2016 Jamal Hodge's films have been an official selection in over 90 Film Festivals, and have won 30+awards including Best Director @The Hip Hop Film Festival, Best Short Film @The People’s Film Festival, And the Audience Choice Award @Blackstar Film Festival. In 2005 a documentary film he shot 'BULLETS IN THE HOOD' won the Sundance Audience choice Award. Also in 2018 he directed the first season of Investigation Discovery Channel's 'Primal Instinct' and came on as a Producer on the Animated feature film 'Pierre The Pigeon Hawk' starring Nick Cannon, Whoopi Goldberg, and Howie Mandel.
As a writer his short screenplay 'Mourning Meal' won 5 awards (including best short screenplay at NYC Horror Film Festival 2018) and was featured as a finalist in 7 writing competitions including (Shriekfest, Crimson Screen, Nightmares Film Festival). While his feature film Screenplay ‘The Kind Ones’ has been a finalist at Shriekfest and Crimson Screen in 2019. Jamal's horror poetry has been featured in SPACE AND TIME MAGAZINE, And he's been the featured writer in April 2019 at ACT UP! at Harlem's National Black Theatre. In 2020 he is gearing up to launch a Sci-fi Novel series, and a book of poetry edited by 5-time Stoker award winner Linda Addison.
Motivated by his accomplishments, Hodge has blossomed to take his talents to the next level. Jamal's tone of work, or what he calls, "Inspirational Darkness", can be described as a melding of genres. The Psychological Horror, Thriller, and Inspirational genres are Jamal's usual forte of film making. His mission is to add value to people’s lives through his unique brand of cinema. He’s excited to continue to grow outstanding partnerships to create memorable and impactful cinematic experiences for audiences across the world.
Award winning writer/director/producer Dianna Ippolito has served in a co-producer capacity in the world of television and as a writer/director/producer on numerous award winning film projects. She began her career doing freelance fashion photography, and eventually segued into a screenwriting career. In 2013 she signed on to co-produce and write for the television action series SAF3, filmed in South Africa, and has continued to produce and direct award-winning film projects, including her debut feature, a psychological thriller entitled Close Your Eyes. Most recently she was a top ten winner for the Producers Guild of America "Make Your Mark" competition. She brings over a decade of experience being involved in all creative aspects of producing, including the initial stages of research, organizing the production, story development and casting. Her upcoming feature film projects include a Dudley Moore biopic, and a coming of age drama, Racing to the Altar.
Joel Allen
Kohei Sengen, born in 1972, Tokyo, Japan.
After graduating from Tisch School of the Arts, New York University in 1995, he has been making short films mainly with 8mm film. His main theme is impermanence of youth.
He is also an organizer of a small group of independent filmmakers called The Seventh Poetry Society.
Xaque Gruber’s first television writing credit came with reuniting the cast of his favorite 80s soap, “Dynasty,” for the 2006 CBS special “Dynasty Reunion: Catfights & Caviar.” Xaque’s TV credits include "Hollywood Squares," "The Michael Jackson Memorial Service," the launch of The Oprah Winfrey Network, "E! Live From The Red Carpet," and "Hell’s Kitchen." As a journalist, he has written hundreds of pieces for The Huffington Post, The Miami New Times and other news outlets. As Senior Publicist for AEFPR in Los Angeles he represented both entertainment stars and corporate businesses. The first film he wrote/directed, a comedy short entitled “The Pistol,” premiered at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival. He is currently directing "Sallywood," his first feature length film, of which he is also the screenwriter. Xaque authored A Big Adventure In Smallest State: A History of Rhode Island for All Ages. When he isn’t writing or making films, he is painting. His fine art has been seen in galleries across the country. He has been teaching art to all ages nationwide including the State of Florida’s first ever Art and Cancer treatment program. In 1999 he was nominated for Massachusetts Art Teacher of the Year.
I am a film student at Palm Beach College in Lake Worth, Florida, USA. I am called to the work of a storyteller by a combination of my imagination and technology. I am fascinated by the history of film and its relationship with culture. I enjoy the collaborative process of film as a counter balance to the solo endeavor of writing.
Ronnie Cramer
Andy K is an award-winning animator and creative who is happiest when he's busy with multiple projects so that he, "don't have enough time to let the existential dread sink in.”
Andy has served as an animator, writer, actor and production assistant on many projects before collaborating on 'Forest Folly'. Over the past year has been nominated and awarded by the Independent Shorts Awards, the Prague International Indie Film Festival and the Spotlight Short Awards.
He currently lives in Los Angeles and enjoys making veggie cheesesteaks.
Alireza Mirasadollah
Robin Posavetz has been hilarious for her entire life, sometimes in front of people. Kicked out of DePaul University's illustrious Theatre School, she has pretty much always done things in her own silly fashion. In addition to classical theatrics, Robin has been trained at the Second City Conservatory in Improvisational Acting, done standup, and performed in a band as a lyric-slanging keyboardist/singer. She moved to Chicago from a suburb of Detroit in 1996, and has considered herself a friggin' jagoff ever since. She often works with children (natural comedians) and has one delightful cat.
Melania Crisan
I worked as an actor in both theatre and film for several years gaining valuable practical experience before turning to writing and directing for film.
My recent short film Professor Henry Bowfax's Incredible Journey Through Time! a science fiction comedy won a Silver Award at the 2019 Spotlight Short Film Awards USA, a Special Mention Award at the 2019 One-Reeler Short Film Competition USA, was nominated for Most Creative/Original Film at the 2019 Scottish Short Film Festival and was a Finalist and Honorable Mention Winner for Best Indie Short at the September 2019 edition of the Vegas Movie Awards USA.
My short films have included Robber Girls utilising my love of history in my first historical period piece which won a Silver Award at the 2017 Spotlight Short Film Awards USA, Best Jury Choice Award at the Direct Monthly Online Film Festival USA July 2019 and Career Opportunity: The Protégé a satirical horror which won a Silver Award at the 2017 Spotlight Horror Film Awards USA.
Brian Benson
Deepak Reddy
L. Robinson
David E. Tolchinsky's work has been seen at such venues as Sundance, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Kennedy Center, and distributed in theatres, on DVD, on iTunes/Amazon Prime, and on the NYTimes Op Docs platform. His film credits include Creature Companion (producer, Special Mention, International Jury, Oberhausen); Cassandra (writer/director/composer), Fast Talk (producer), The Coming of Age (producer/screenwriter, Winner, Silver Medal, LA Film Review), Girl (associate producer/screenwriter, from Sony, starring Selma Blair and Tara Reid), The Personal Life of Mr. Phelps (producer/writer/director/composer, premiered at Sundance), St. Catherine’s Wedding Ring (co-producer/co-director/composer, premiered at Sundance), and most recently Debra Tolchinsky's short documentary, Contaminated Memories (co-producer/composer, as part of the NYTimes Op Docs platform).
He is currently working on the feature version of Cassandra, developing a TV series about Wilhelm Reich, and co-producing/scoring Debra Tolchinsky feature documentary, True Memories and Other Falsehoods (in process).
He was co-ranked no. 7 on New City's Film 50 2017: Chicago Screen Gems. He is the founder/co-director of Northwestern University’s MFA program in writing for the screen+stage and attended Yale (BA, musical composition/video) and USC School of Cinematic Arts (MFA, film production).
Alexander Müller studied directing in Munich and finished his studies after several short films and commercials with "Unter den Jahren", his bachelor film.
Jonothon Mitchell
Keenan Osborne
Simon has spent much of his career shooting and editing. Starting out shooting documentaries, whilst editing trailers and promos on the side, he developed an interest in combining CGI and VFX with live action. This led to directing opportunities in commercials and going on to direct major campaigns for some of the world’s most recognizable brands, including BMW, Virgin and Oxfam. He has filmed everywhere from the Arctic ice sheet to the Congo jungle.
His 2017 horror short film Dead Cool won multiple awards, including Best Short awards at Nightmares and the British Horror Festival, and awards for best director, best actor and best screenplay at various festivals around the world.
Simon graduated with an MA in Film and Television Production from Bristol University, after completing an MA in Politics at the University of Edinburgh. His hobbies include watching planes land.
Keith Terrell is a director, writer and producer whose credits include music videos, commercials, television, film and live broadcast productions. Over the past several years, the Los Angeles native has gained a wealth of experience working
alongside some of the biggest names in the entertainment industry as a First Assistant Director. Most notably, he was Ava Duvernay’s A.D. for the groundbreaking Jay Z music video/short film Family Feud. Keith has also run sets for other top-selling artists, including T.I., Tyga and Blake Shelton.
As Keith’s reel continues to grow, he’s placed a special focus on creating engaging content that showcases the diversity of minority communities--highlighting strong, positive images that debunk many outdated media stereotypes. His latest
narrative film, Raincoat, centers on the harsh reality that many young black males face on a day to day while trying to discover who they are.
In addition to his professional goals, Keith has a personal goal of helping the next generation of content creators. Knowing that many inner-city kids don’t have exposure to entertainment industry careers, he began teaching film at New Earth,
an L.A. High School for troubled teens. Most recently he volunteered in South Africa to teach 20 young students production and filmmaking and help
Xaque Gruber
Shannon's acting, directing, and writing careers have been intertwined for almost 40 years - her directing track started with the first staging of THE BOYS IN THE BAND produced South of the Mason-Dixon, continued with 36 productions and 3 Drama Critics’ Circle Award nominations in Los Angeles and 19 in Atlanta. Concurrently she's co-written two screenplays, four teleplays, served as a staff writer for the Suncoast-Emmy-winning children's series THE REPPIES produced by Ric Reitz, directed the pilot for the comedy series WALTER FRISK, and performed in over 190 plays across the U.S., on soaps, series, and television movies for NBC, ABC, CBS, HBO, PBS, Lifetime, the Disney Channel, and the CW, and in feature films for Warner Brothers, Columbia Pictures, and Twentieth Century Fox.
Taz Lake
Kyle Kulmann studied cinema at San Francisco State University and collaborated with many Bay Area filmmakers before making his directorial debut with "Damage Control." He has won awards for his writing in the New York and Chicago Screenplay Contests, worked alongside production office staff as an intern on Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine, and founded Irontown Cinema in 2016. He is particularly interested in creating compelling, suspenseful, frightening, and funny narratives, and with the support of a team as intrepid as him, has gone on to write and direct the Irontown productions "Orphica" and "Decoupage".
Kate Campbell
Katie Nahnsen is an LA based director, actor, writer, improviser and teacher. She was a series regular and story contributor on the syndicated comedy Sports Action Team, which was distributed by MGM and aired on HDNet and NBC affiliates across the country for two years. Katie’s written and performed in plays, improv and sketch comedy revues throughout the nation and is a Moth StorySLAM winner. Notable groups include the award winning Baby Wants Candy, CatNip, Virgin Daiquiri, Spirit Cat and the Late Night Late Show. In Los Angeles, Katie’s performed at iO West, The Second City LA, UCB LA and The Groundlings. In Chicago, she has performed at iO Theatre, The Second City, The Annoyance, and The Neo-Futurists. Katie loves teaching improv and acting classes not only to comedians and actors, but also to corporations and children in foster care as a way to improve confidence and communication.