Christopher R. Owens
Director and writer German Golub was born in Estonian - Russian family 3 February 1993 in Pärnu, South of Estonia. Film director studied in Baltic Film and Media School, Directing feature BA Film Arts. Throughout a short career, he directed multiple short feature films and short documental films, one of them in China. Identifying himself as Estonian and European, but having direct access to West and East cultures. Both sided investigation of the cultural treasures strongly influenced and dualized his perception, understanding, and perspective of view on the world around him.
Natalie gained her first acting and performance experiences at a very young age and studied performing arts in Berlin. After finishing her studies, she worked in German and international film productions, shot music videos, commercials and performed on stage.
After her initial successes as a performer, Natalie switched to screenwriting and directing. Her short films "The Man Who Couldn't Cry", "Like A Summer Sonata", "Lola wants to see the sea", “It’s getting darker every day”, “The Redhead”, “A Universal Love Story”, "The Funeral Dancer" and "Pink Me Blue" have been screened and awarded at numerous international film festivals.
Natalie is about to release her first fully animated film called "Living in a bubble" and is currently working on her first feature film script "When I Stop Dreaming", as well as a new interactive web series called "Time For Tears".
Amber Neukum
Michelle Caruso
Jacqueline Kennedy is an award-winning filmmaker, director, producer, writer, actor, and author.
She wrote, directed and produced the award winning short film '1 Out of 8' which won Best Director Award at the Georgia Documentary Film Festival, Finalist at the Charlotte Black Film Festival and has received several official selections for other Film Festivals: Uptown Women's Film Festival of New York, Cayenne Short Film Festival, Georgia Short Film Festival, Best Short Competition Film Festival and Lower Eastside Film Festival of NY.
As the founder of The Kennedy Project, she is the creative force behind many film and theatre projects in New York and North Carolina. Kennedy wrote, produced and directed Reflective Minds; a one woman show produced in New York City.
The executive producer, creator and host of Kennedy Productions' Open Mic forum for singers, musical groups and spoken word artists, in Brooklyn, New York is where she began. The forum was a platform created for artists to perform in front of New York City agents. Kennedy has produced children's talent shows and promoted talent shows for Fortune 500 companies. She directed, produced and co-wrote a commercial for the WNBA's promotions "What you Got" spot which was featured on the WNBA's website.
Kennedy is also Co-owner of Break a Leg Talent Management, LLC where she assists in the cultivating of talent - actors, musicians, singers, poets. She is also an accomplished children's book author, penning the wonderful stories of Shoop-Doo-Bee-Doop and Cake I Bake and Foxy and Henny.
Kennedy received her BA from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in Communications, and musical theatre training at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City receiving a Musical Theatre Certification.
First timer. Why didn't anyone tell me how much fun this would be? I signed up for a director's class at Raindance, panicked for 6 weeks then it all came together. I did make a video about training my cat to use a toilet instead of a litter box, but that was on VHS over 20 years ago. It definitely got easier
Annette Wilson was born and raised in Buffalo NY. She is a US Army Veteran. A motivated, committed, and talented actress, author, director, and scriptwriter. She is committed to achieving the highest standard of performance and is always willing to listen and learn from others. She is energetic, prepared to go the extra mile, and is sure to make a real difference to any project she is involved in. Her first novel was published in May of 2019 called Living A Double Life. Annette's acting career starting in 2003 at the Paul Robeson Theatre in Buffalo, New York. She has performed in over 20 Theater productions. Annette has a list of commercial work and voiceover work to add to her resume. In 2009 she became the Costume Designer for the Paul Robeson Theater and was also contracted at Kavinoky Theater for the production of A View From Then Bridge for the 2017 season. In May of 2013, Annette was the leading lady in the world premiere stage play Two Weeks Until the Rest of My Life written By Harold T. Fisher. The production ran at the Paul Robeson Theater in Buffalo NY for 4 weekends and then again for a weekend in July at THEARC Theater in Washington, DC. In 2015 along with Paulette Harris the artistic director of the Paul Robeson Theatre she wrote the stage play called Simply Annette, her personal story of life, love, and moving on. Since moving to Atlanta, GA in 2018 she has written and directed her first short film called Scope.
Victor Rottier, born 1988, studied dance at ArtEZ Hogeschool voor de kunsten.
After receiving his bachelor at Artez Dance Academy in Arnhem, The Netherlands, he danced in pieces from Angelin Preljocaj, Johannes Wieland, Maxine Doyle, Joerie Dubbe, Hofesh Shechter, Helder Seabra, Jerome Mayer, Amos Ben Tal and took part with the ‘Think Big’ Künstlerresidenz Programm 2013 in Hannover.
He was part of Club Guy & Roni’s Poetic Disasters Club, and former dancer with Johannes Wieland, Staatstheater Kassel. For whose company he now is Rehearsal director.
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Clarence Williams IV
Pam Walton & Ruth Carranza
Danny Rio
As a singer-songwriter and performer, Chris Owens has been musically active for nearly 55 of his 62 years. He studied piano, cello, recorder, and African drums, and also sang in numerous choruses. Owens had been in bands and school musicals, but no videos or films.
With a family to support and a career to sustain, Chris Owens put his passion for music aside until his father, Nelson Mandela and family friend Pete Seeger all passed within three months of each other between October, 2013 and January, 2014. As a result, Chris and his two brothers formed OBB - The Owens Brothers Band and started performing original music live. Then, in 2017, Chris' wife was diagnosed with cancer ... and music was again put on hold.
In 2020, a year after Sandra's death and at the start of the COVID pandemic, Chris Owens decided to create the artist known as CHRIS OLEDUDE to serve as the full outlet for his creative energy and the burning desire to speak out during challenging times. Focused on music, Owens never really thought about "videos". He really knew nothing about video production or editing.
Chris Owens founded CESO ENTERPRISES, INC. in May, 2020 to manage the work of CHRIS OLEDUDE and the intellectual property past, present and future from Chris and his two sons.
On June 14, 2020, Owens recorded the vocal tracks for the song "George Floyd". During that session, studio musicians, singers, and the recording engineer's young daughter gathered outdoors around three microphones to record the chants heard in the song. That young woman was Alyssa Dann, then a high school senior, who also served as the "voice over" towards the end of the video. Alyssa is a singer-songwriter herself and was so inspired by the song, that she asked Owens if she could work on a video for the song. And Owens consented.
The result was an inter-generational, cross-cultural, and geographically diverse urban/rural relationship. Owens had worked in local politics for a few years, including campaign management. He had overseen production of some short videotaped candidate messages for voters, but never a musical production. Dann had worked on high school video projects and her own music videos. But this video was much more complex and nearly seven minutes in length.
Between June and October, Owens' company, CESO ENTERPRISES, INC., produced the video, "George Floyd: Say Their Names," with Owens and Dann co-directing and Dann handling the editing. Owens had a small singing role, and singer Wendy Ward had the lead role, along with the community church-based Angels of Transformation Dancers.
The production was "low-budget," technically challenging, and emotionally draining. But, in the end, everyone involved with "George Floyd: Say Their Names" was moved by the experience. Now, audiences are moved as well.
Kelley Lockman
Sally Davies
With a Bachelor’s degree in Film & Media, 7 years of experience as an independent director, 12 completed independent films and well over 200 total films completed in his portfolio all together; Rowland Jordan is an up and coming director with not only the passion to rise to the top, but the talent and know how as well. He is a proven success having generated hundreds of thousands of views since the beginning of his career with a keen sense on how to entertain the people. Rowland Jordan is the Co-Founder of BellaMar Pictures.
Sam Cooper
Kelly Whitlock
Clarence Williams IV graduated with honors from the John Wells Directing Program at Carnegie Mellon University. He's completed 3 feature films since graduating. His feature film, No Doubt, premiered at the 2018 Silicon Beach Film Festival. It's currently being distributed by IndieFlix and Freakish Films respectively. His last feature, My Friend Tucker, is being distributed by Indie Rights and premiered at the 2018 Golden State Film Festival. Lead actor, Mitchell Edwards won the Best Actor Award for his performance in My Friend, Tucker. Clarence was nominated for Best Director and Best Screenplay respectively by the Black and Latino Filmmaker's Coalition. His writing has been recognized by the BlueCat Screenplay Competition, the Orb Media Group China-Hollywood Writing Fellowship, and the Continuance Pictures Short Film Initiative respectively. Clarence's short film We Can't Breathe won the Donald E. Lacy Jr. Social Justice Award from the 2020 Studio City Film Festival and the Best Social Justice Film Award from the 2020 Moving Parts Film Festival. Clarence is also one of 3 recipients of the 2021 More than Music: Black Filmmaker Grant. Most recently, he received an Honorable Mention Award for Best Director from the LA Independent Women Film Awards for his short film The Breakdown.
Jessica Gould
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 action film Junction Zero was nominated for Best Apocalyptic Action at the 2021 End Of Days Film Festival USA and received an Honorable Mention at the March edition of the 2021 Berlin Flash Film Festival.
My science fiction comedy short film Professor Henry Bowfax's Incredible Journey Through Time! 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.
Magda Baez
Tab Ballis
Sarah Lang
Director, writer, and soprano Jessica Gould continues to enjoy a formidable reception for her
maiden film project, Babylon: Ghetto, Renaissance, and Modern Oblivion, on the international film festival circuit, having garnered 90 awards and counting from festivals across the globe. Having become a filmmaker by virtue of the pandemic out of a need to continue presenting classical and early music through the prism of history in the absence of live performance, Ms. Gould’s ever expanding laurels include Best Picture (Asti International Film Festival), Best First Time Director (Dreamer’s Short Film Festival Bucharest), Best Original Script (London International Monthly Film Festival), Best First Time Director (Silk Road Film Awards Cannes), Best Short Documentary (Tokyo International Short Film Festival and 1st Monthly Film Festival Belgrade), Best Documentary (Hollywood Blvd Film Festival and Woodengate Film Festival), and Best Social
Justice Film and Best Musical Film (Oniros Film Awards). The laurel of Best Musical Film has also been awarded her from Silk Road Film Awards Cannes, The Cannes World Film Festival, and the Omnia Film Awards (Italy). From Greece, she has garnered Best Black Lives Matter Film and Best Music in a Short (Mykonos Film Festival) and Best Music Documentary (West Side Mountain Doc Fest, Epirus).
A complete list of Ms. Gould’s film awards to date may be found at here.
Ms. Gould’s program notes include essays for Carnegie Hall, the American Philosophical Society (Philadelphia), the Da Camera Society (Los Angeles), NYU Villa La Pietra (Florence), Palazzo Grimani (Venice), and Villa Finaly La Chancellerie des Universités de Paris – La Sorbonne (Florence), the Clarion Society (New York City), among many others. Her creative nonfiction, satire, and essays have been published in the literary journals Belle Ombre, The Blue Nib, Exquisite Pandemic, and Months to Years. A soprano, artistic director, Italian translator, and researcher, she performs and records in Europe and the United States. As the Founder and Artistic Director of Salon/Sanctuary Concerts, based in New York City, her original projects have received grants from numerous foundations and institutions, generous support which has enabled the series to blossom into one of the more significant presenters of historical performance in New York City and beyond.
She holds a BA from Macalester College in Art History, Music, and Political Science, and studied Fine Arts at the Rhode Island School of Design, Parsons School of Design, and the National Academy of Design. Ms Gould studied film history and theory under Joel Doerfler and Linda Schulte-Sasse in the United States and Maria Grazia Bucchioni and Vito Tobbia in Italy.
Elisa Clark began her career as an actor over a decade ago and is a writer, director, film maker dedicated to making quality films that spotlight underrepresented people in media. She is also the proud Founder of Hispanic FilmMakers of Cleveland, it is an organization committed to the empowerment, diversity and inclusion of Hispanics in film, which will become a non-profit organization. In addition, she is the former President of Women In Film & TV Ohio, a national/international organization designed to address the disparity women face in an industry dominated by men. Lastly, her projects are being produced under her production company Spanglish Media Groupe.
Sally Davies studied illustration and graphic design at Sheridan College, Canada and primarily worked in this genre for many years. Recently, she shifted her interest to painting and creating Time-Lapse films. She was awarded 2019 Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Award. Davies' films were featured at 2019 Utopia Film Festival. Her solo exhibit “Vantage Points” (March-May 2020, Maryland Hall, Annapolis) was only up for a short time when Maryland went into lock down due to the pandemic. Her latest solo show "Community Spirit" (April 1 - May 20, Publick Playhouse Gallery, Hyattsville, Maryland) includes her paintings and Time-Lapse films. March 2021, her Time-Lapse film was awarded a Rose Award by Greenbelt Access Television.
Alireza Mirasadollah
A Savannah native and an award-winning Director, Videographer/Photographer, and Editor, Drew has worked creatively behind the camera for over 20 years.
Drew became intrigued with photography and videography at an early age. Having a camera on his shoulder since he was a teenager, it is no surprise he would successfully go on to work in the television and film industry. Spending countless hours behind the camera working at the ABC affiliate, WSOC in Charlotte, NC, the ABC affiliate WJCL in Savannah and the NBC affiliate, WSAV in Savannah, Ga., Drew enhanced his camera and editing skills earning him credibility and recognition as a sought-after photojournalist. He has covered hurricanes, Presidents, Celebrities, Festivals and some of the biggest news events on a local, state and national level winning several awards over the years including Edward R Murrow Awards: Best Documentary for Hurricane Mathew: Inside the Storm and also Celebrating Black History, Best Feature News Reporting for a segment on the Leesburg Stockade Girls, The Georgia Associated Press Award: Excellence in Photojournalism for his videography on 9/11 Marine Recruits and African American Cemeteries, and Best Feature Reporting for the Leesburg Stockade Girls.
Having a passion for filmmaking, Drew established his own Film company, Mojave 4 Films that has produced several short films and documentaries. An active participant in Savannah’s local film scene, Drew received the Best Cinematography Award in 2019 and was named Best Director in 2017, 2018, and 2019 in the 48 Hour Film Project in Savannah. His short film, The Dame, The Diplomat, and The Detective received notoriety and won awards in the Southeast Regional Film Festival, The Vegas Movie Awards, the Spotlight Short Film Awards, as well as, being selected in several others.
Kasey O'Brien
Jason DBKS Hampton & Juan Atomz
Unique, compelling, and wild are adjectives that describe the work of Writer, Director, and Producer Kyle Klubal. Raised in Texas and Colorado; Kyle graduated film school from Florida’s Full Sail University. Drawing from his personal life experiences in those diverse locations, Kyle creates films that are truly unique genre bending experiences that eschew traditional cookie cutter narratives.
Melissa Weisman &
Jay Scala
Doug Stroup
I have been performing for audiences for many years on local stages throughout most of my life. My most memorable roles have been Beatrice in 'Much Ado About Nothing', Eliza in 'My Fair Lady' and Vanda in 'Venus in Fur'. I started directing for theater about 10 years ago where I realized I was equally intrigued with that aspect of telling a story. I enjoy working with actors and using conversation and clear vision to make the writing come to life. A handful of musicals and straight plays later, film storytelling has been the newest passion for me over the last 2 years. I find every opportunity I can to be apart of the amazing film community in my area so that I can learn, grow and continue to tell great stories.
Gavin Thagard is a Georgia native and mostly known for directing theatre in Atlanta. He has directed Chekhov's The Bear and Sam Sheppard's True West. He is currently transitioning to directing film. Unmasked Voice is his first effort.
German Golub
Natalie MacMahon
Marshall Krich
Lee Ryan Coston was born and raised in the beautiful state of Montana. She began her media career at 19, working as a camera operator and floor director for a live TV talk show.
Her voice career began when was asked to do an emergency voice-over for a TV commercial and then was hired as a radio announcer and copywriter, where she won several copy writing awards.
Lee Ryan's on-camera career was launched when she was hired as a TV Talk Show Host and Booth Announcer, for which she was presented with "Broadcaster of the Year" and "Announcer of the Year" Awards.
When the opportunity arose, she accepted a position at Boeing Motion Picture and Television. At that time, it was the largest in-house motion picture company in the world. There, she won an ITVA Silver Telly Award for an eight part series she wrote, produced and directed.
Upon leaving Boeing, Lee Ryan took up acting and also formed Blue Heron Productions, LLC and produced industrial and marketing videos for Microsoft and other corporations in Seattle.
Her goal is that everything she creates will make a difference.
Chaun Lee
Ayako Karasawa
Arturo Dueñas (Esguevillas de Esgueva, Valladolid, Spain, 1962). Bachelor of Arts, Qualified in Cinematography and Filmmaking Course at the New York Film Academy. Full member of the Academy of Arts and Cinematographic Sciences of Spain. Actor, director, producer, editor and scriptwriter in several short films, he has produced and directed the feature films Amateurs (Aficionados, 2011), selected and awarded in over 30 international festivals, Corsairs (Corsarios, 2015), Mission: Sahara (Misión: Sáhara, 2016), Built lands (Tierras construidas, 2019) and Pessoas (Pessoas, 2020).
Hsieh I Shan
Taylor Noland
Alireza Mirasadollah is an award-winning director/producer with 12 years experience at the BBC and Iran International TV as a journalist and documentary maker with a total of 24 years in media having begun as an animator in New Zealand 1997.
Brett Forrest & Brian Ryu
Todd Long directed, produced, and co-wrote *Trusting Chloe*, for which he was awarded "Best First Time Director" by the Naples Film Awards. A professional philosopher for the past eighteen years, his first career was in the performing arts as a stage actor, theater director, and rock and roll musician (Mission 66). In recent years he has rekindled his artistic interests, renewing a commitment to the transformational power of acting, now focused on movie storytelling. Discover much more here: toddlong.net
Marissa Dingman
As the granddaughter of a soap opera director, the niece of a script supervisor and the daughter of a DP, a life in the film industry was inevitable for Amber Neukum. She spent her childhood days writing scripts & forcing her friends and family to star in her low budget shorts, while attending Summer Drama Camp & acting in her high school theatre productions. This passion led her to studying Television & Film Production at San Diego State University, where she became the sole female to write and direct a film during her senior fall semester. Upon graduation, Amber moved to Los Angeles and worked as an executive assistant to one of the country's top Talent PR firms. On the weekends, she and her creative partner would write and shoot comedic shorts. A small role in a feature film which shot in Nashville led Amber to making the permanent move to the south, where she has now worked professionally as a director and as an actor for four years. "Mary Maid" is her professional directorial debut.
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Fabio Costa Prado is a writer and director. He wrote and directed the play "Deceiving", presented in New York, and also the monologue "Hi, I'm here", co-written with Tathi Piancastelli. He wrote the screenplay for the feature film "Apple of My Eye", which is in pre-production in Brazil. In 2020, Fabio directed the feature documentary "Dawn for All" as well as the short documentary "Talk with Us".
Bill Grout, born in 1950, is a San Francisco Bay area writer and author of twelve books.
Bill is pleased to present his latest work, “Ten Points of Joy,” a video compilation of his narrative, music, and videos composed by himself. Its sole purpose is to communicate the joy he finds around him.
Bill has published many magazine articles and written as a software columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle. His first nonfiction books were in the computer and education field. He publishes fiction and essays under the name Bill G. Morris.
His first novel, Grey Goddess, about California mysticism, surfing, and the search for lost spirit, received excellent reviews and praise around the world. Surfing magazine said, “A true but comical depiction of the surfing lifestyle, Bill Morris has hit the lip with his book Grey Goddess!” Grey Goddess has sold in surfing and water-related sports stores throughout the United States and abroad. Reviewers have compared it to Way of the Peaceful Warrior, Golf in the Kingdom, and even Siddartha.
One of Bill’s books of which he is most proud is Notes to a Five-Year-Old, a group of essays, fatherly observations, and advice written for his daughter when she was five. He has also published two additional books of family essays, The Red Jacket, essays for his daughter about her mother who was lost to cancer, and Good Morning, Ryan, a book of humor, insights, and vignettes of childhood for his second five-year-old daughter, Ryan Rosemary.
Bill is happily surrounded by his family in Half Moon Bay where he cooks dinner and tends two horses that his wife and daughter love.
Dylan Gallimore
Executive Producer and Co-Founder, Aaron Donahue, is an MFA Performing Arts candidate hailing from New Jersey. After acquiring his B.S. in Biology, he pursued a career in acting which led him to SCAD. Since moving down to Savannah last September, he also co-founded a sketch comedy production company “Mazel Tov Cocktail”, and has released over twelve videos so far.
Asim Abdul-Aziz
Born in St Jozefziekenhuis, Belgium, Ben moved to Sussex, England, when he was 2 years old. He attended Christ's Hospital secondary school before moving to the United States in 2007 to play Division 1 College Basketball at Davidson College, NC.
Ben worked for Ekstasy Films in Soho London before establishing himself as a narrative and commercial filmmaker in the United States.
Ziyao Susan Xie
Eric L. Williams
Asim Abdul-Aziz (b. 1996, Aden, Yemen) is an experimental film director, visual artist, and a producer at Adenium film production company based in Aden, Yemen. Asim has always been interested in expressing his emotions and thoughts through directing and exploring the field of art and experimental films. Abdulaziz's work has been exhibited locally and internationally, starting in Aden all the way to Washington DC and United Kingdom. His work has also been featured in Washingtonpost, ArtNews, i-D and Hypebeast amongst other publications. Further, Asim won both 2020 "Artist Support Grant" by Arab Funds For Arts and Cultures (AFAC) and 2021 "Masarat" grant by British Council.
Jason DBKS (IMDB) has had much success with his 1st film "GOT MY HUSTLE UP" streaming on Amazon, Tubi, and many other streaming platforms
Juan Atomz (animator) owner of ATOMZ CLUB STUDIOS (IMDB) series "Charter School Funk" was nominated for BEST MUSIC VIDEO (ME TOO) at the Hollywood Verge Film Festival 2020, and "HATERS" was selected in the Lift Off Global Network 1st Time Filmaker Sessions 2020
Oli was born in New York City and lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
He is a student of philosophy and believes film is the best medium to investigate truth and beauty.
Stephanie Lee Bourgeois
Producer/Director Anna Ramey Borden has worked in production for nearly fifteen years. Her award-winning films which have screened in festivals worldwide. Most recently, she directed a group of shorts for Apple’s For All Mankind and is currently in progress on an intimate film-art series, The Autoportraits. Anna lives and works in Los Angeles.
Will Branner is an award winning director/filmmaker based out of Los Angeles. As a former Broadway performer (Mean Girls, Bat Out Of Hell) his work emphasizes collaboration with the artist and has been seen at numerous festivals across the globe. Film: SCHMIK (HollyShorts Film Festival, Amazon), NIGHT TERROR (Award for Best Thriller Indie Shorts, Best Horror Film Apex Film Festival, Paris International Shorts), MOMENT’S SILENCE (Experimental Music and Dance Festival). Commercial/Promotional: John Barrett Salon, Todd Sanfield, Bandstand Broadway, Frank Wildhorn’s 54 Below Series, Broadway at the W. Theatre: Gruesome Playground Injuries (University of Michigan), Rock of Ages (Pioneer Theatre Guild). Branner holds a B.F.A. in Musical Theatre From the University of Michigan.
Rowland Jordan
Kenny Cash
Michelle Caruso is a Writer/Director who meets her characters in the dark, lonely, uncomfortable places where self-actualization begins. Michelle is passionate about women who refuse to be victims of any circumstance as they slowly discover their confidence, courage, and vibrancy through difficult transformations. Each nuance of a character’s metamorphosis is captured from their first step toward empowerment to their inspiring rebirth.
After a decade of experience working as below-the-line crew, Michelle understands how to shepherd a project from script to screen. Credits include Stranger Things, Baby Driver, Flight, and many more. Michelle translates what she has learned from her career into her own filmmaking. Cast and crew who have worked with Michelle value her thoughtful direction for department heads and the fluid workflow she establishes. Michelle feels her stories in her bones, and her passion brings out the best in everyone she directs.
Tyler Council
Crystal Rivers Badeaux
Emmanuel Stewart
Christopher Allen Richardson
Alyssa Burley Giese is a writer, director and producer out of Waco, Georgia. She graduated from Mercer University in 2000. Before film, Alyssa's background was dance and musical theater. She was director/owner of A Time to Dance and Bravo Kids Theater which produced original musical content for the stage. In 2017 she wrote, directed and produced her first short film- Kinder Christmas. She continued to write and in 2019 began production of Christmas Cheer. Bravo Productions goals are to produce educational and uplifting children and family-friendly content.
Elisa Clark
Robert Howat
Pelan’s first foray into the entertainment sector was through the fashion industry. Scouted while out and about, he was quickly signed by an agency and has appeared in local magazines to publications such as Vogue. After managing to secure commercial work for companies such as BMW, Edward Jones and others, he was enamored with filmmaking, being on set, and the creative process behind them. Being an avid fan of stories and films, he quickly set out on writing and working to bring to life the films he wants to see that haven’t been made yet. Inamorata chapter 1 is his first film of a planned 7 chapter anthology that looks to explore different mythologies and combines couture fashion grounded in the human experience. After a resounding success for the first chapter, Pelan plans to keep the momentum going and take what he has learned and improving upon them for the next chapter.
Jon Beach is a recently retired US Air Force officer who has made films off and on over the last 20 years. He has made a number of short films and completed 2 feature length films.
Sara Boutine
Daniele De Muro
Betsy Stern
Lee Ryan Coston
Marissa Dingman is a filmmaker based in Portland, OR with roots in TN, KY, and GA. Her background comes from her experience as an animator and multimedia journalist where storytelling is central to design. Her second film in her short series "Speaking About Suicide" is currently in festival submissions for 2021 to continue to normalize the conversation around mental health and suicide prevention.
Todd Long
Andrew Huggins graduated from The Art Institute of Charlotte in 2013 and has been making films professionally for eight years. His work has garnered over four hundred film festival selections and over one hundred awards. He works full time as a narrative filmmaker in North Carolina.
Caitlin Gray hails from New York City and currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia. She has spent the past 20 years working as a choreographer for tv, film, music videos, theatre and live events. Her choreography credits include the World and Australian premieres of Baz Luhrmann’s “The Great Gatsby”, CBS “Reckless” starring Cam Gigandet and Anna Wood, and Sony Music artist The Veronicas “You Ruin Me”, which won an ARIA for Best Video of the Year. Like so many artists, Caitlin turned to creating/directing film to keep herself busy when Covid-19 shut down all avenues of production and theatre work, and discovered that she really loved it. While exploring film directing, she found a collaborative force in cameraman and editor, AJ Paug. When Ruth Bader Ginsburg died, Caitlin approached AJ about creating a voting PSA to encourage young, female, first-time voters to register to vote, called “Here Comes the Change”. After receiving commendatory feedback, the duo decided to create their first official short film, “Reverie”, using an idea that Caitlin had been dreaming about for years. She is excited to work on more projects that incorporate dance and movement into storytelling.
Caitlin’s future goals include getting her dance docuseries produced, as well as directing a feature film.
Alyssa Burley Giese
Stephanie Lee Bourgeois is a writer, director and comedian performing stand up, musical comedy and improv in Chicago. Bourgeois is the creator of "Punk AF," a web series in which she writes, directs and stars. While creating Smile Lines Productions, Bourgeois has written and produced many sketches, comedy music videos and short films.
Alyssa Dann
Will Branner
Christopher Allen Richardson was born and raised just a few miles east of Atlanta in Lithonia, Ga where he started writing screenplays from his dreams when he was only twelve years old and started making short films with his parent's video camera a year later. Christopher took a strong interest in classic films at a very young age because of his mother's impressive movie collection that included every genre, and approximately one thousand films.
After high school, Christopher was accepted into the prestige's private art college San Francisco's Academy Of Art University where he received a Bachelor of Fine Art's degree in their film and television directing program. From Christopher's first year in college he showed an outstanding ability to direct, edit, write and produce film projects. In the fall of 2007, Christopher acquired coast to coast notoriety for directing his first music video for the viral underground hip hop song "Everybody Go”. He followed that success with the critically acclaimed Hip-Hop variety web series “Street Files” from 2008-2012 which was nominated for best web series at film festivals around the country.
Christopher Allen Richardson is now an award-winning film & digital content creator in the booming Atlanta multi-media scene. He travels back & forth from Atlanta to Los Angeles where he has been creating short films and original online content for over ten years. You can view all of Christopher’s content on his website at www.ChrisAllenRich.com.
Aaron Donahue
Vseant Nath
LeAnn Schmitt is a recent grad from the Savannah College of Art and Design who loves to weave compelling and heartwarming stories through the use of 2D hand-drawn animation. She grew up loving princess movies and making paper dolls with her mom. But she's hanging up her glass slipper in favor of a pen and paper.
The creation of The Vet comes from one man, Marshall Krich. Marshall has worked in the animation field on the TV show, Daria. He also has been in several film festivals including Miami short film festival, DC underground film festival, The Pitch to the industry, Atlanta Underground and Spike and Mike Sick and Twisted Festival. Marshall currently lives in Dexter, GA.
Oli Tarquin
Born on december 15, 1984 in Sardinia, Italy.
Daniele De Muro is a director, producer, editor and cinematographer.
He studied filmmaking at CELCAM and he worked during the past ten years in film sets, side by side with professionals from the italian independent cinema industry.
His latest project "A House By The Sea" won the Golden Fox at Calcutta International Cult Film Festival and it's been selected in over 50 International Festivals including: Manchester Film Festival, Rhode Island International Film Festival, Girona Film Festival, Salento International Film Festival, Corti Sonanti Int. Film Festival, New York State Int. Film Festival, European Cinematography Awards.
Jon Beach
Ayako Karasawa is a director who currently lives in Los Angeles, California. She was born in Kanagawa, Japan. At age of 3, she moved to Shanghai, China, until she came to the United States as a student of the University of California, Irvine majoring in Film and Media. She successfully finished her academic career and gained a bachelor’s degree. During her time at the University, she was involved as a director for 12 student projects and a writer for 40 scripts.
Because of her international background, she is fluent in English, Japanese, Chinese, and Korean. Because of this, her films have their own unique style.
After graduation, Ayako has been shooting commercials and short films as a freelance film director/producer. She worked as a Marketing Specialist and Content Producer for World Wide Motion Pictures Corporation.
During quarantine of COVID-19, Ayako has studied VFX Production through studying various relevant materials and having online meeting with professional VFX producers.
She has learned considerable skills from VFX Producers such as FileMaker Pro, Excel, and RV64. Also, she has been practicing composing movie magic scheduling and movie magic budgeting.
Crystal Rivers Badeaux was a working actress and producer before a chronic illness lead to her disability in 2016. Now she is an advocate for performers with disabilities working with SAG to prove that "PWDs" are just as capable as other talent. When asked to film a 5-6 minute character showcase on her cell phone within 72 hours, THIS was her creation. She wrote, directed, edited and played every character herself over that 72 hour period.
Victor Rottier
Lawrence Terrill is an American actor, Filmmaker, Director, Screenwriter, Digital Editor, Photographer, spoken word poet, author, songwriter, music producer, member of Veterans in Media and Entertainment (VME), member of the Screen Actor’s Guild (SAG), and a veteran of the US Air Force (USAF). He grew up in Jackson, MS and is the second youngest of six siblings (all boys). He’s also the proud father of a beautiful daughter, Lariah.
After transitioning from the USAF, he decided to pursue my love for acting and attended the New York Film Academy (NYFA) 1-year Acting for Film Conservatory. He later went on to train at the Black Arts Theater Program under Stephen McKinley Henderson, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Phylicia Rashad, and Michele Shay. Lawrence continued to expand his acting chops under one of New York’s premiere Meisner coaches, Jacob Mirer. Soon afterwards, he discovered his love for filmmaking and went back to the New York Film Academy to study filmmaking, screenwriting, producing, digital editing, and photography.
Lawrence is a true professional who is dedicated to the craft, hardworking, enthusiastic, charismatic, and a team player. With over 10 years of acting experience and set etiquette, he’s become a meticulous actor and filmmaker with a passion for roles that range from making people smile to making them cry to telling compelling stories.
Lawrence Terrill
Fabio Costa Prado
Ryan Lucht is a Sophomore at Cleveland State University where he studies Film and Media Arts with a focus on Writing and Directing. Growing up outside of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, his interest in film began at a very early age. He lived nearby many filming locations including the Monroeville Mall where the original 1978 horror film Dawn of the Dead took place. Ryan has made films ranging from Horror, Arthouse, Experimental, Action, Drama, and Documentary. His films have been shown at many film festivals.
He is an award winning filmmaker who has won an Award of Merit from The Best Shorts Competition, First Place at The George Romero Teen Film Contest, a Student Emmy Award for Outstanding Long Form Documentary from The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (Mid-Atlantic Chapter), a Semi-Finalist Award from Dumbo Film Festival, Best Dark Comedy Short Screenplay Award Finalist Summer 2020 from the Portland Comedy Film Festival, and many more.
He hopes to find a career in making Independent Feature Films in the arthouse/horror genre, and believes film is the greatest form of art to express ideas, emotions, and statements.
SARAH NICOLE LANG is a LGBTQ, female identifying, Toronto-based director. Sarah has taught, directed, and produced content in both theatre and film. Her most recent theatre directing credits include Red Light Winter (ASDS) and Down the Road (ASDS). She obtained her BA in Theatre and History from Queen’s University (Canada) and holds an MFA in Directing and Acting from the Actors Studio Drama School (New York City). She has worked as a director, producer, and production designer on multiple features, television series’, pilots, commercials, and music videos. She is the producer of Hang Ups (Scott Helman), which was nominated for a 2019 JUNO Award for Video of the Year. She has also been involved with many Netflix, Apple, and Crave TV series. Currently, Sarah has a series of Music Videos, commercials and features lined up for the spring and summer of 2021 and is currently in prep as a producer for a short involving Keith David and Kathryn Erbe.
Ryan Lucht
William Carl Grout
Ben Allison
Charles Fritschner
Born on the South Side of Chicago, Emmanuel Stewart calling to the film industry started in college at Northern Illinois University. From there, he grew a love and passion to make movies. After graduating with a BA in Communications, he set his sites on making short independent films. He saved up money to by his own equipment, and in 2010, he made his first short film. Fast forward to 2021, he has directed, produced, and edited over 20 shorts films, 10 music videos. His goals will be to continue to work on bigger and better projects in the future. He's currently writing his first feature film that he plans to distribute on Netflix.
Tyler Council has been producing outlandish comedy shorts and sketches since his teenage years. His passion to entertain has fueled his desire for storytelling, manifesting through his sketch comedy collective, “The Reel Idiots”. At the age of 18, Tyler joined the US Coast Guard, where he served in Ketchikan, Alaska before moving back home to study filmmaking at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale. There, he earned his Bachelors of Science in Digital Filmmaking & Video Production. He was awarded Best Portfolio of his 2010 graduating class. Tyler has worked in every aspect of production including but not limited to Feature Films, Television, and Documentaries. He currently works as a camera operator on the Discovery Channel show “Street Outlaws” for the last 3 seasons. Grateful for the creative network he has established, Tyler feels lucky to be surrounded by continuously creative comrades. Tyler and the rest of The Reel Idiots inspire one another to excel across all creative fronts, including filmmaking, digital art, comedy, and music.
Magda Baez is an award-winning director born in Nyack, NY, raised in Córdoba, Argentina and currently living in the city of Columbus, OH.
A seasoned storyteller, with a deep understanding of what shapes culture both locally and globally, she leads creative direction, provides world-class multi-channel video content and drives execution oversight.
Armed with a love of the surreal, much of her inspiration comes from Japanese culture & lowbrow art—resulting in work that resonates with audiences on a deeper level, perfectly balancing the naive and the sensual.
Kasey O'Brien is an actor, filmmaker, and theatre artist from the Pacific Northwest. Her short films have been screened at festivals such as Tacoma Film Festival, MINT Film Festival, QFest St. Louis, Detroit SheTown Film Festival, Toronto Intl Women Film Festival(award winner), and Portland Short Fest(award winner). The key ingredients in her work are curiosity, imagination, and a little bit of magic. MFA from The New School in NYC.
Sarah Alison Hodges
Thomas Byrd
A.J. Ogilvie is an American screenwriter, director, and producer from North Carolina. He is a May 2015 graduate of North Carolina State University, where he studied English and graduated magna cum laude. Very visual and imaginative in boyhood, Ogilvie inherited his love of films from his father. He became interested in filmmaking in college, when he started screenwriting as a hobby. Another writer eventually encouraged him to start making films of his own.
Film making is a field of unending talent. It's the art of inspiring storytelling and creating impactful scenes, and my story has just started.
I grew up in Kentucky, USA, but was born in India, I carried the imagination in my eyes and loads of beautiful stories.
My grandmother (Mom) raised me – I inherited the motivation for storytelling from her - she was the greatest storyteller I have ever met. She told me tales about her adventures.
I believe that it's not us that holds power to create stories, but the people, nature, and god-like phenomena around us – that is what keeps us going. Being in the film industry, I plan to keep going with this phenomenon, producing more stories to display on screens and create my mark on the audience.
Kenny Cash of the Factory Underground Studio is a versatile and artistic producer-musician. Leading the way in Hip Hop, Electronica, Alternative, Rock, Soul, Pop, and Classical--there is little ground left unbroken by Kenny Cash.
Very few producers can boast of Cash’s multitalented reputation an outstanding musician, writer, filmmaker and storyteller. In the music world he is known as a beat master in the Hip Hop world, a remix extraordinaire in the EDM genre, and even had a Billboard charting classical album in the same year that his rock-EDM remix was being considered as the theme song by the U.S. Olympic team.
Kenny Cash was granted a scholarship to the world-famed Berklee College of Music, where he mastered the electric bass, acoustic and electric guitar, and learned to play the drums, keyboards, and clarinet. Also no surprise--that his advanced studio skills are purely self-taught.
In 2009, Cash opened the Factory Underground Studio in Norwalk, CT, alongside business partner Ethan Isaac. “The Factory,” a state of the art media production facility, is where Kenny Cash was finally able to center his artistry. The Factory's cool vibe, professionalism, and talent pool quickly began to draw in artists from all over the Northeast and beyond. And through all of this, Cash’s own creative output has thrived. Factory Underground’s Clientel has ranged from Nile Rodgers to Jose Feliciano, and more.
Cash has produced and collaborated with a wide variety of artists from hip hop legends like Rakim to heavy metal Icons like Sid Wilson (Slipknot) to singer-songstress Mandy Harvey. He has scored award winning films (ADAM) and, as ½ of husband/wife duo, Che-val, he has licensed music to popular television shows and also composed for international brands such as Datto.
Tab Ballis is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in private practice in Wilmington, NC, and a faculty member of the University of North Carolina Wilmington School of Social Work.
Tab utilized media production, in documenting the family systems philosophy of John T. Edwards PhD, producing the professional training video “Tools and Techniques for Family Therapy,” preserving the legacy of Dr. Edwards, as Media Coordinator of the John T. Edwards Foundation.
Capturing the powerfully-moving remembrances of LGBT elders in coastal North Carolina for a national advocacy group, Tab filmed over twenty interviews for the SAGE Story grant program.
Tab received the National Association of Social Workers Media Award, for the 2014 short documentary film, “My Marriage Isn’t Threatened By Gay Marriage in North Carolina.”
Over fiftteen years researching the cultural, legal, and media impact of the hate crime that took the life of 32-year-old lesbian Talana Kreeger in 1990, Tab brought the documentary film “Park View” to completion in 2020.
Heriberto Ventura - Heriberto was born in Washington State. He now primarily lives in California but travels to Washington every summer to work the harvest with his parents. He enjoys traveling with his family.
Noemi Librado Sanchez - Noemi was born in California and lives in Washington State, where she is a junior in high school. She enjoys playing softball and wrestling, and is interested in writing a graphic novel about her life. She looks forward to going to college and studying psychology.
Esmirna Librado - Esmirna was born in California. She lives in Washington State, where she studies at the community college and is raising her two-year-old. She received the San Martin Indigenous Immigrant (SMI) scholarship and aspires to become a nurse.
Esmeralda Ventura - Esmeralda was born in and is living in California but travels to Washington state every summer to work the blueberry harvest with her family. In her free time, she enjoys doing arts and crafts.
Casey Wieber
Anna Ramey Borden
Born and raised in Beirut, Lebanon. Sara discovered her love for the arts the first time she sat in a theatre. Involved in almost all major productions at the Lebanese American University, she earned her BA in Communication Arts. Late 2010, she moved to Los Angeles, where she earned her AA at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. This is Sara's first non student film.
Brett Sixtysix
Thomas Byrd is an Atlanta native who grew up in a family of artists. After graduating from American Intercontinental university, Byrd began working as a freelance videographer and video editor in Atlanta. With clients that include theater companies, actors, and choreographers Thomas is in constant pursuit to sharpen his skills as a artist.
John R Sexton
Elisabeth Ness
Kyle Klubal
Stephen Bell
Renee Luke Jordan
Konate' Hendricks
Sarah Alison Hodges attended the University of Georgia where she received her B.S. in Psychology in 2014. While working as an Artistic Associate at Pinch 'n' Ouch Theatre (2013-2016), she directed and produced the short comedy film, Hi, Grandma, directed the play, The Shape of Things, and assistant-directed the play, Gidion's Knot. A founding member of the production company, Critical Crop Top, she has written and directed sketches in many of their live comedy shows, the short films Dick Pic Professional and Hi Grandma, and stars in the web series, Vera's Workplace Sensitivity Training.
Annette Wilson
Heriberto Ventura, Noemi Librado Sanchez, Esmirna Librado, Esmeralda Ventura
Andrew Huggins
Alyssa Dann was a quiet and reserved child raised in a very musical household. Her father is a highly-regarded bass and guitar player and her mother is a singer. For Alyssa, music has always been her voice. She started lessons at the age of five and songwriting by seven. By 13, Alyssa was playing bass on her father’s gigs at clubs in New York City. Fast forward to 2018, and Alyssa, while still in high school, was performing in New York City and Boston and releasing her own recordings.
During high school, Alyssa was introduced to the power of storytelling through film. She directed, filmed, and edited two of her own music videos, and fell in love with video editing. In a "Media as Service" program with Woodstock Travels, she visited India and Nepal, working with NGOs to create promotional content. After high school, she taught video editing and recording media arts to 8th Grade kids -- in her old classroom!
Alyssa's decision to direct and edit “George Floyd: Say Their Names” during her transition to college has opened her eyes and changed her life -- and she is not looking back.
Alyssa recently started attending Sarah Lawrence College (US-NY), Class of 2024, and sees herself majoring in Psychology, Public Health and Music.
Doug was born September 4, 1964 in Atlanta, Georgia. He received Christ as his personal Savior in 1974 at the age of 10. In 1978, at the age of 14, Doug received the call of God on his life and began to seriously use his musical and acting abilities for the Lord. Doug attended Clayton Junior College where he majored in Music Theater with an emphasis on vocal performance. He completed his college education at Florida Bible College with a Biblical Education major and a minor in Biblical Counseling.
Doug is no stranger to the stage as he has appeared on many television and radio shows as well as in movies and live theater since 1978. He played the role of Pastor Kirkland in the PureFlix feature film, “Christmas Manger” released in Nov 2018 and the role of Jason Solomon in episode 9 of The Dream Motel released by PureFlix in Oct 2019. For a more extensive look at Doug’s past and current acting resume, check him out at www.imdb.me/dougstroup.
Doug is the Sr Director of Make It Clear Studio, a faith-based, family-friendly film production company. He is currently the show host of a TV series called “Issues and Answers for Today”, writing and producing a series of short films called “The Bible Says” as well as working on feature films. His heartbeat is to use filmmaking as a tool for sharing the message of Jesus Christ.
Doug and his wife, Amy, currently reside on a small farm in Knoxville, GA with three of their seven children.
FILM AWARDS
John Powers
Brett Forrest is a multimedia journalist in Northern Nevada with a heavy emphasis on documentary filmmaking. "Victoria's Foil" is his directorial debut. He earned his Master’s degree in journalism from Columbia Journalism School. Prior to graduate school, Brett was an on-air producer for a nationally syndicated entertainment news show called Daily Blast LIVE, where he earned a national Telly award for his work. Before that, he was a promotions and commercial producer for FOX31 Denver. He graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder with bachelor degrees in Film and Anthropology. Brett is an avid mountaineer, snowboarder, and world traveler. He's climbed all 58 of Colorado's 14,000' mountains and is an undefeated amateur boxer (1-0).
Brian Ryu is a Korean filmmaker who earned his Master’s degree in journalism from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Previously, his animations have appeared in The New York Times and The New Yorker. Before getting his undergraduate degree in Film Production at New York University, he was a United Nations peacekeeper in South Sudan, where he served as an intelligence analyst. His biggest achievement in sports was when he won several national championships in speed skating in elementary school. Even though he eventually transitioned to casual skating and high school ice hockey, he now loves to report on talented athletes.
Jonathan Hunt
John R Sexton has been in the film industry for over 25 years. He started in front of the camera and later became a production coordinator in the upstate of SC. John moved on to working as a casting associate, properties manager, unit production manger, line producer, director and producer. Some film credits both behind and in front of the camera are Chill Factor, Gospel Hill, Fled, Andersonville, Calm Before and many others. HBO NY, Henry Corra Films, Morgan Creek Productions are some of the companies he has worked with.
Dylan Gallimore is a Philadelphia-based writer and filmmaker from New Jersey. He is the producer, writer, and director of sci fi drama short "Total Darkness" and the award-winning comedy short "A Coach's Duty."
In addition to his work as a filmmaker, Dylan's poetry, fiction, essays, and reviews have appeared in over a dozen publications. In 2020, he self-published "Transmissions from Planet X," a multi-installment short story collection produced weekly.
Dylan is currently in pre-production on his next project, an experimental faux documentary short set in Appalachia.
Susan G. Reid has a long, distinguished career that bridges the gap between theatre and film. Currently, she serves as Professor of Practice in Acting/Directing for Georgia State University's School of Film, Media & Theatre. She continues to work as a director, writer, professional acting coach and casting director. She was the former Vice President and Head of the TV/Film Division at Atlanta, Models & Talent. She completed casting Investigation Discovery’s fourth season of Your Worst Nightmare for Fox Casting. An active member of the Atlanta theatre community, Reid has earned awards for her excellence in directing, ranked among the top ten directors in Atlanta, having directed extensively throughout the Southeast. She has held additional professional positions as the Artistic Associate and Education Director at both Aurora Theatre and Theatre in the Square. She holds a Masters of Fine Arts in Directing from the University of North Carolina Greensboro and an undergraduate degree from Randolph-Macon Woman’s College, cum laude. She was a participant in the Lincoln Center Theater Director’s Lab in 2009. Check out her industry blog at ReidForIt.com.
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A screenwriter and director born in Seoul, south Korea.
Directed shorts 'afternoon', ' Begin again' etc.
and he has been invited to "Busan International Short Film Festival", "Short Shorts Film Festival", "Festival du Film Coreen a Paris", "Zakopane International Mountain Film Festiva" and etc.
Susan G. Reid
Pelan Le
Ronald McDougall
Ziyao Susan Xie was born in Tianjin, China in 1994.
She moved to Shenzhen, China and has lived there since then.
She graduated from Johns Hopkins University in 2017, with a double major in Film and Media Studies and Applied Mathematics and Statistics.
She is a recent graduate from the California Institute of the Arts with an MFA degree in Film and Video.
She considers herself as an experiment.
Aaron Christian Paderewski is an American actor, director and producer known for his passionate directing style that is both gritty and emotional. Aaron was born and raised in Southern California and now resides in Charleston, SC.
He started his training in theater at the historic Dock Street Theater in Charleston, SC and then transitioned to TV and Film. Today Aaron is trained by working actors, coaches and casting directors out of CA, NY and ATL. Aaron is dedicated to his craft.
He became a filmmaker in 2014 and helped to create The Moment After Productions.. Since then, he has earned multiple awards and nominations in the Southeast for his acting and film direction, including 2nd runner up Best Film in 2018 and 2019 in the Savannah 48 hr him festival.
He is an actor’s director that is in tune with the industry and has made many friends along the way.
Talent Agent: The Jana VanDyke Agency
imdb/me.aaronchristianpaderewski
Instagram.com/aapaderewski
aaroncpaderewski@gmail.com
Stephen Bell is a Toronto-based videographer and film editor with a focus on detail and visual story telling. He is the founder of Coffeeshop Creative, a six-member team focused on original, multi-platform video, narrative productions, as well as web design.
Recent highlights include lead editing and directing of photography (DOP) on the critically acclaimed film, “Messiah/Complex” in collaboration with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Against the Grain Theatre, recently hailed by the New York Times as “a powerful visual presentation of Handel’s Classic Messiah."
Stephen has created featured promotional videography and cinematography across a number of sectors including the arts, film, opera and more.
His first short film as director of photography (DOP), Klaun, received five official selections, and won honourable mention in the 2019 One- Reeler Film Festival in Los Angeles. Stephen is delighted to be directing, producing and DOP-ing “400 Days Later.”
Pam Walton and Ruth Carranza are award-winning documentary filmmakers. Their work has screened at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City; in the International Documentary Association's Theatrical Documentary Showcase; and has been included in the prestigious International Public Television Screening Conference (INPUT). Our documentaries have aired on PBS member stations in major American cities, have been broadcast nationally on MTV Network's LOGO, and are distributed by New Day Films, Alexander Street Press, and Netflix. Out in Suburbia was Audience Favorite Documentary at the 1989 SF Lesbian and Gay International Film Festival and Family Values: An American Tragedy was Best Documentary at the Austin Gay and Lesbian Film Festival in 1996. Liberty: 3 Stories about Life & Death was included in IDA’s InFact Theatrical Documentary Showcase in 2003. Gay Youth is a classic. From 1989-1999 Walton was a lecturer in the Dept. of Communication at Stanford University. Whitman College has given her the 2021 Sally Rodgers Lifelong Achievement Award for her work chronicling the lives of LGBTQ+ people.
Melissa Weisman is a filmmaker and stand-up comedian living in San Diego, CA. She was born & raised in New York and very much considers herself a true New Yorker! She produced 4 short films and is currently writing a comedy TV pilot. Melissa enjoys writing about real life situations with a twist of dark humor.
Melissa has always expressed herself through creativity and humor. Being an artist is what makes her whole.
She is also a nutrition & wellness coach and personal trainer, as fitness and helping others is a critical aspect of her life, as well.
Relatability is important in Melissa’s films. She loves to create situations that people may have experienced in their own life!
One day Melissa hopes to be able to work with a larger budget. She funded all of her films herself with little money, but she made it happen regardless!
Jay Scala is a writer, oral historian, and audio/video producer who has worked with academics, artists, and other professionals in creating multimedia content for websites, social media, research projects, and public events. Jay has advanced degrees from both Columbia University and New York University. Since 2010, he has been creating engaging digital content for academics, artists, and other professionals working in various fields. Projects of note include creating promotional materials for art exhibits, professional websites, and live performances. He manages websites for private clients and is a digital media consultant. Jay is also an experienced film editor, video producer, and photographer whose credits include work with the Dorothy Gillespie Foundation, Canta NYC, Amnesty International, and more.
Charlie Fritschner is a documentary filmmaker who grew up in the American south and received his BA in English from the College of William and Mary in 2007. He is the founder and Executive Producer of Thatch Films, a boutique production company based in Chicago, IL. Charlie is interested in stories and subjects on the social periphery that explore humankind's capacity for survival, innovation, celebration and self reflection. He has directed projects in North and South America, Africa, Europe and Asia and when he is not behind a camera, he loves to spend his time cooking, canoeing and sailing.
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LeAnn Schmitt
A.J. Ogilvie
Elisabeth Ness is an award-winning producer, performer, editor, and creative entrepreneur -- who suddenly found herself adding "director" to that list out of necessity during the pandemic!
The Yale alumna's drive to make a positive impact on the world inspired her, in 2014, to co-found Good Porpoise Productions, which makes socially-conscious fiction and mini-documentaries for non-profits. She has been honored as one of Take the Lead’s “50 Women Can Change the World in Media & Entertainment”, and her work has been called "especially funny" (NY Times), "razor-sharp" (Washington Post), and "hilarious" (Times Herald-Record, Catskill Chronicle).
Elisabeth created the hit digital comedy Redheads Anonymous, which was featured in USA Today, Huffington Post, and Tubefilter, and for which she received a nomination for 'The Raindance Discovery Award’ (London). The series so far has garnered over 13 awards and 26 nominations at festivals worldwide, including her and the rest of her writing team's win for 'Best Sitcom Screenplay' at the Rome Web Awards.
Recent producing and concept credits also include Coming Down to the Wire ('Best Funny Music Video' nom, Women's Comedy Film Fest in Atlanta), Trigger (an 'Audience Choice Award' winner at Blackbird Film Festival), and En Route ('Best Of' AGR). Onscreen roles include the upcoming Stella in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon), Sara in Bull (CBS), Rose in Like Father (Netflix, with Kelsey Grammer), Daredevil (Marvel), FBI (CBS), Trigger ('Best Actress' nom, SSIFFF), Going Public (SOHO International), and En Route ('Best Lead Actress' nom, Blackbird Film Fest).
John Powers, writer-director, creates shocking projects that draw from turbulent events in our society and yet are grounded in personal and familial relationships. He grew up in Los Angeles and studied Drama at USC. He has shaken hands with Cesar Chavez and Daniel Ellsberg, and he has kissed Anais Nin. He is married to DeBorah Green.
Among the movies most indelible to John are Godzilla (1954), The Night of the Hunter (1955), and Dr. Strangelove (1964). While the B&W cinematography is remarkable, it is the sound design and music score that make each of these works haunting for him. Thematically, each film is about a monster come to life and the struggle of innocents to survive...or not. This may offer insight into John's own filmmaking, which has been in the sci-fi, horror, and supernatural thriller genres.
John is an avid reader, albeit, his choices are predominantly non-fiction. The most influential book that he read in his youth is The Autobiography of Malcolm X. As an adult, he read the entire 7,000-page Pentagon Papers for the production of a stage adaptation of that work; and from that experience, he considers it to be the most important document in the American language.
John began his career writing stories and screenplays for independent filmmaking. At the time, he wrote in several genres: youth comedy, action, and sci-fi. He earned a reputation as a reliable partner for director-producers seeking to develop projects. Street Asylum, featuring Wings Hauser and G. Gordon Liddy, was one of these projects that made it to screen in 1990.
His writing career stalled when several succeeding projects failed to complete financing. He returned to the performing arts to sustain him and his family. For 15 years, he served as a consultant to a southern California cultural arts center where he produced festivals, concerts, dance recitals, and a theater series.
John returned to filmmaking with the tremendous disruption occurring in the industry for both production and distribution. He has begun by producing and directing short films in the horror and thriller genres. The first of these, War Dog (2018), has been shown at more than one dozen film festivals and has received a number of awards. One of his legacy sci-fi projects, Flashout (2019), on which he was both co-writer and co-producer, was released in a limited theatrical run and is currently available on VOD.
INSEONG LEE
Eric L. Williams is a Nashville-based actor, voiceover artist, writer and director. He fell in love with acting as a freshman at Tennessee State University. A favor for a friend turned into a life-long pursuit at the betterment of his creative craft.
Eric has starred in ATL Homicide, Happy Henry, Father Son & Holy Moses (International Christian Film Festival Audience Choice Award winner), Silver Twins and Lauryn.
Some of Eric’s most notable theatre work includes the critically acclaimed Thurgood, Flyin’ West, The Outsiders, Jitney, The Face of Emmitt Till, Oedipus Rex, Macbeth and Romeo & Juliet.
In addition to acting, Eric writes and directs stage and film projects. When he’s not on stage or film, Eric is an accomplished data analyst, podcaster and web developer. You can often find him making his wife and son laugh or playing golf.
From an early age Taylor hasn't had the normal life. Raised by a rabid pack of Grey Wolves in Washington. He was expelled by the pack for wearing shoes during a spring hunt. From there he traveled the coast, settling in Los Angeles, California.
While in Los Angeles he went to Film School and fell in love with well done meat. During an editing class one day he learned via ancestry.com he is a direct descent of Joan of Arc, Benjamin Franklin and Gandhi. Upon hearing the news his editing skills greatly increased.
Currently residing in Atlanta, Georgia, he camps on the weekends to visit family.
Jacqueline Kennedy
Aaron Christian Paderewski
Arturo Dueñas Herrero
Tengo Xie, graduated from The Department of Radio, Television and Film of Shih Hsin University. Master's degree of The Department of Motion Pictures of NTUA. She is also an editor who works in Beijing for a long time. Her editing works inlcude various types of feature films and trailers.
She applies the deep thoughts from daily life and the experience of editing to her film, trying to create an artwork that brings an refreshing view to the audience.
Caitlin Gray
Casey Wieber is an award-winning, up-and-coming photographer, filmmaker, and multimedia artist with additional backgrounds in music production and sound for film. From 2007 to 2008, Casey studied audio engineering and graduated from the Conservatory of Recording Arts & Sciences in Tempe, Arizona and went on to pursue a career in music. In 2012 he discovered a new passion, the camera. In 2018 he graduated from Cuesta College with an Associate’s Degree in Studio Art with an emphasis in photography and in 2020 earned his BFA in Art & Design with a concentration in photography & video production at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. He currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia and works primarily in the field of video production, 3D computer graphics, visual effects compositing and live stream broadcasting.
Kelley Lockman is an American actor, director, and screenwriter. Born and raised in Georgia, Kelley’s passion for film eventually led him to film school and then to acting. Kelley has appeared in various TV shows and films, including Tyler Perry’s “A Fall from Grace.” He writes and directs his own work. Recently Kelley completed “Sunset in Winter,” a film that he writes, directs, and stars.
SPOTLIGHT
Gavin Thagard
Atlanta-based writer and director with a sincere love of great stories. Chaun's complex background, having lived all over the world, from Alaska to Iraq, military and bi-racial beginnings, have given her a unique perspective, which is both broad and non-ethnocentric.
Brett Sixtysix is a photographer, film maker, artist, founder and director of The Fitzroy Art Collective, a gallery and event space that is host to a wide range of artistic pursuits and endeavors.
Danny Rio is a director, writer, and musician who grew up near Philadelphia, Pa. He's worked on music videos and has released music as well. Danny is making his directorial debut with the dark comedy short film "Played by Record". For his debut short he worked as a one-man crew and was highly passionate to make his first film. He is an artist who loves movies and since he was a kid always one day wanted to make his own. Danny plans on making more shorts and wants to direct feature films as well as TV.
Writer/Director/Editor Sam Cooper graduated from film school in 2018 and, since then, he has worked on various shows in Atlanta like MacGyver and The Resident as well as broader shows like Top Chef and America's Got Talent. Cooper has continued to be involved in productions as a full-time video editor for a television company, Leading The Way, in Atlanta for the last 3 years. He looks forward to creating & helping others create future productions. Feel free to reach out on Facebook Messenger for any inquiries.
2021 Award-Winning Filmmakers in the spotlight
Ron McDougall is an award-winning art director and filmmaker/animator based out of Halifax, Nova Scotia. He’s written and directed several short live-action and animated films that have screened at a number of festivals. These include the award-winning documentary "Scars & Relics" and the animated short, "Alien Love Story" (Best Atlantic Animation – 2015 Atlantic Film Festival). Other recent animated work includes Amanda Strong’s "Mia," and "The Cocksure Lads," the feature film debut of Murray Foster (Moxy Fruvous, Great Big Sea). Most recently, McDougall’s animation appeared in the acclaimed feature documentary "Assholes: A Theory."
Konate' Hendricks graduated from Trident Technical College with a degree in film production. Directed, produced and wrote a short film, (Dirty Undercover) that was selected in several film festivals and won an award in the Spotlight Film Festival. My passion is to tell good, entertaining stories that will educate and provoke thought.
I’ve long been a professional musician and composer, now combining my original music with film. I love all of the arts and their incredible power to unify us across all nations and to instigate change.