Our Alumni
Cashmere Jasmine
Title(s): Director/Writer
Director/ Writer and producer of award-winning shorts “Bombs Bursting in Air” (L.A. Intl. Film Fest, 2020) and “Weenie” (Buffer Film Fest, 2019) in post-production on “Oreo” (2021) and directing “Sia” (2022). Currently writing queer disability-inclusive dramas with dark humor and surrealist imagery.
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All Access
Faith Strongheart
Title(s): Writer/Director
Writer/Director specializing in female-driven dramas. Santa Fe bred. Los Angeles based. MFA in directing – UCLA. Written, Produced, Directed over a dozen award-winning short films. Currently making feature doc about getting severely burned as an infant. In 2020: Screencraft TV Pilot Quarterfinalist, Respectability Lab Fellow
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All Access
Juliet Romeo
Title(s): Writer/Director
Writer/Director. Documentary/Comedy/Romance/Sci-Fi. Born in Trinidad. News journalist turned filmmaker. Co-founder of Slamdance Film Festival UNSTOPPABLE Program. Recipient of the 2019 Firelight Media Groundwork Lab. Recent festival projects: J.U.L.E.S (Urban Film Fest, Everybody Digital, American Black Film Festival, Doc Without Borders) Series contributor PBS Film-Maker. Latest doc, Art Of Warrior tv debut late 2021. In pre-production of dramedy Best Laid Plans.
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All Access
Lesley Hennen
Title(s): Writer/Director
Writer/Producer, half-hour, single-cam comedy. “Best of Fest” at 2020 HBO’s Women in Comedy Festival” Pitch Your First Five Pages” competition. Second-rounder for 2021 Sundance Episodic Labs. Finalist in WeScreenplay Diverse Voices Lab, and WeScreenplay TV Pilot Contest. Semifinalist in ScreenCraft’s TV Pilot Contest. Currently working on a new half-hour dark comedy pilot, “Miss Ability” following a group of disabled teenagers as they take on the beauty pageant world, exploring themes of savior complexes and beauty standards.
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All Access
Natalia Provatas
Title(s): Writer/Director
Latinx Writer/Director. Published personal essayist in Refinery 29, Real Simple Magazine, and Dame Magazine. Won the audience award at Holly Shorts for Canary Suicides (official selection SXSW and Cleveland International Film Festival.) On the writing team of BOO: Earth Division for DreamWorks Animation Television. National Hispanic Media Coalition’s (NHMC) Series Script Writer’s Program Fellow. 2020 Disruptor’s Fellow. She is currently working on her memoir, Ghosting My Death Doula, a series of personal essays about having cancer in your thirties.
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All Access
Nico Pinzo
Title(s): Writer/Director
Nico Pinzon is a Writer/Director, Colombian-American, UCLA MFA Screenwriter, who won Final Draft’s Big Break Diversity Category in 2018, Nicholl Fellowship Semi-Finalist, specializes in dramedy and sci-fi tv and features about underdogs and the marginalized.
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All Access
Shannon DeVido
Title(s): Actor/Writer
The BAFTA Breakthrough and Casting Society of America Top 20 of 2020 actress and comedian Shannon DeVido is best known for her roles in Hulu’s Difficult People, Netflix’s Insatiable, Comedy Central’s Delco Proper, and Law and Order: SVU, as well as appearances on The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore and Sesame Street. Shannon starred in the world premieres of Michael Lew’s dark comedy Teenage Dick at the Public Theater and Samuel D. Hunter’s The Healing.
Shannon has also acquired a dedicated following on her disability-focused comedy YouTube channel Stare at Shannon. In her latest project, she leads the cast of the full-length independent feature film Best Summer Ever, an award-winning musical comedy which had been set to premiere at SXSW in 2020.
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All Access
Rachel Handler
Title(s): Writer/Director
Rachel Handler is an actor and filmmaker based in NYC. She won the AT&T Underrepresented Filmmaker Award for her short, “Committed” and the Sundance Co//ab Monthly Challenge for her script, “The A Doesn’t Stand for Accessible.” Since joining the disabled community she’s found a passion for writing, producing and directing; advocating for inclusion in every project she creates. Her writing credits include the award-winning short films, “HOW MUCH AM I WORTH?” “The Housewarming,” “Committed,” “The Vanished,” and “Authentically Me” which won the Reelabilities 27 Second Film Competition and screened in taxi cabs throughout NYC. Handler’s films have screened at Slamdance, Hollyshorts, Bentonville, Heartland, Newport Beach and more. Handler’s TV acting credits include “Law & Order: SVU,” “Goliath,” “New Amsterdam,” “Bull” and “NCIS: New Orleans.”
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All Access
Brittney Bertier
Title(s): Actress/Writer
Brittney Bertier is an actress best known for originating the role of Norma Jeane in Marilyn! The New Musical at The Paris in Las Vegas. TV credits: Netflix’s Atypical and Jane The Virgin. She co-created and stars in the web series transpLAnts, which won Best Comedy at Indieboom Fest 2019, and her solo writing debut Doublemint Bitch was awarded internationally. She is a proud member of SAG-AFTRA.
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Emerging Actors
Christine Weatherup
Title(s): Actress/Writer/Producer/Director
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Christine Weatherup has been acting professionally since she was a teenager. She graduated magna cum laude from USC, with a triple-major in Theatre, Political Science, and Cinematic Arts, before studying acting at the British American Drama Academy in Oxford. Christine starred in the award-winning indie feature Bread and Butter, opposite Bobby Moynihan (SNL), Micah Hauptman and Lauren Lapkus. She has worked extensively in film and television, including Watchmen, Westworld, Mad Men, and Grey’s Anatomy. In addition to acting, Christine produces, writes and directs. She produced and acted in the award-winning web series Squaresville, which has garnered millions of views and was featured on Entertainment Weekly’s “Must List”. She traveled the festival circuit with her award-winning short film Killed In Action, and is currently in post-production on the feature “See You Next Christmas,” which she wrote, directed, and stars in.
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Emerging Actors
Djaka Souaré
Title(s): Actress/Producer
Of West African & French descent, Djaka Souaré is an actress who started her career in theater and musical theater at a young age before transitioning to Film & TV. She trained at renowned studios like Herbert Berghof in NYC, IDSA, and BGB in LA. She recently starred in HULU’s Imagine a Moon Colony, directed by Phillip Youmans, TriBeCa 2019 award-winner, and in the award-winning indie short Words, opposite Nicholas Pinnock (NBC’s For Life). Djaka is also a filmmaker; her first short film, Jazz in Wakanda, which she wrote, directed, produced and starred, was an Official selection at film festivals like Urban World, Nitehawk Shorts & New Filmmakers LA. In 2020, Djaka was selected by the Women’s Weekend Film Challenge to direct one of six short films, leading an all-female-identifying cast and crew and winning various awards. She is currently in pre-production for Cut Me If You Can, a horror/comedy which she will produce and star in.
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Emerging Actors
John L. Curtis
Title(s): Actor
John L. Curtis is a seasoned actor who has appeared in films, television and stage for over 20 years. Some of his work includes Without A Trace, CSI, Castle, and Ghost Whisperer. He’s appeared on stage in iconic characters such as Romeo in Romeo and Juliet for the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, Picasso in Picasso at the Lapin Agile, and Joe Pitt in Angels in America. He has acted opposite the likes of Regina King, Luke Perry, and Tom Berengier. Most recently he starred across from Shannon Elizabeth in the feature film Playing with Beethoven that will release in theatres in 2021. He is also the co-host of The Nerd Couple Show, a weekly live show all about nerd culture. He holds a degree in Theatre and English from University of of Nevada and resides in Los Angeles, CA.
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Emerging Actors
Kayla Marie Coates
Title(s): Actor/Writer/Producer
Emerging Actor Director
Kayla Marie Coates is a Hispanic-Croatian-American actor and filmmaker who seeks out roles of rebellious teenagers who appear confident and charismatic, yet under the surface are dealing with deep internal strife, trauma and/or mental illness. Although the youngest of the Emerging Actors fellows, Kayla has already been making a mark for themselves. They have starred in several festival award-winning films including Cazadora and Udhaare Supne (Borrowed Dreams); as well as the soon-to-be-released web series pilot You’ve Got This and the films D!NG and Ocean Avenue. They recently worked their first year as a Scare Actor at Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights 2021 and won the award for Scare Actor of the Year. As a polyamorous and pansexual individual, they are passionate about creating work that depicts stories centering around underrepresented communities so that topics, often not told at all, will be discussed and destigmatized. They recently finished working their first year as a Producer for one of the higher profile Conference Ballrooms at the SXSW 2022 Festival in likes of Greg Daniels, Steve Blackman, Roman Coppola, Kip Kroeger, Sara Bareilles, Jason Sudeikis, Bella Thorne, Chelsea Clinton, Ashanti & many more.
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Emerging Actors
Kit DeZolt
Title(s): Actor/Dancer
A gay Asian American actor and dancer, Kit DeZolt has played numerous stand out roles including Kien in Confessions of a Teenage Jesus Jerk directed by Emmy nominated Eric Stoltz on Amazon Prime, Jie in Hulu’s Citizen directed by Emmy Nominated Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, HBO’s Generation, English Dubbed for HBO Max’s Veneno, Nox in Moon Manor, and Imposter in ABC’s To Tell The Truth. Kit has also co-created and produced Boy Luck Club which can be seen on Amazon Prime and Tubi. He has also created a few other projects highlighting the adoption narrative, as he himself is adopted.
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Emerging Actors
Summer Walters
Title(s): Actress
Summer Walters, a Detroit Michigan native, was bitten by the acting bug at an early age while watching her parents’ many classical music recitals and concerts. She chose the path of modeling and pageantry before going to Wayne State University where she majored in Theater Arts. After arriving in Los Angeles she studied with veteran directors like Mary Lou Belli (NCIS, Black Lightning, Station 19) and John Swanbeck (The Big Kahuna), as well as at The American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Summer has starred in several independent projects including her self-produced short film Mother’s Cure. Her debut as executive producer for a feature film, Playing with Beethoven, in which she plays Marjorie, will be released in theatres November 2021.
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Emerging Actors
Tomás Decurgez
Title(s): Actor/Visual Artist/Director
Tomás Decurgez, Buenos Aires, Argentina native, started his acting studies at the age of 15. Since then he has worked as an actor on stage and in commercials for many of the biggest brands around the world. On stage he led plays such as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, La leccion de anatomia (The Anatomy Lesson), Para acabar con la muerte (Death Knocks), Denis in the Italian show Le due facce dell’amore for Canale 5, and Ay, Carmela! by director Alberto Arvelo. He worked in Passage, Shekhar Kapur’s first short film, starring Julia Stiles, Lily Cole and Haley Bennett. He made a few TV appearances in Argentina and played the character Paco Botellas in Roland Joffé’s movie There be Dragons, starring Charlie Cox and Wes Bentley. After moving to Los Angeles he led the web series Fifa Forever and co-starred in the spanish movie He Matado a mi Marido released in the US and Latin America. He is also a visual artist and has directed short films and written several screenplays.
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Emerging Actors
Amber Romero
Title(s): Actress/Editor/Choreographer
Amber Romero is a Mexican-Filipino filmmaker with over 6 years of experience in the entertainment industry. On her 15th birthday she moved to L.A. and since has acted in commercials, webseries, TV shows, films, stage productions, and currently in a starring role in a Network animated series. Amber’s love for the industry pushed her to work behind the camera, as well. She is trained in the art of promo and trailer editing and is a DaVinci Resolve certified trainer. She is a second degree black belt in traditional Tae Kwon Do and has worked as a stunt coordinator for several productions. She was the stunt choreographer and star of the award-winning sci-fi action film Cazadora. Most recently, she made her directorial debut in a self-produced short set to hit the festival circuit later this year.
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First Frame
Cate Fogarty
Title(s): Director/Writer
First Frame Director
From an adventurous youth spent sailing the Caribbean with her family to living out her “Dirty 30s” gallivanting around Norway, Cate Fogarty has spent her life traveling the world, collecting stories and experiences. A storyteller from the time she could speak, she has recently given up her highly successful 16+ year massage career to pursue her dream of filmmaking. Cate is passionate about creating quirky narratives that capture both the humor and drama of life while exploring a variety of genres.
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First Frame
Chrissie De Guzman
Title(s): Writer/Director
Chrissie De Guzman is a Film & TV writer and director based in Los Angeles. She is a storyteller defined by her curiosity of the Filipina-American & Queer experience, pushing mainstream boundaries in hopes to create a platform of non-traditional content. Her work has been the official selection at the Palm Springs International Shortfest, Outfest, American Cinematheque Local Shorts, NewFest New York and Short of the Week. She was a 2019-2020 fellow of the ViacomCBS ViewFinder: Emerging Directors Program for the MTV network and one of the 2020 CAPE New Writers fellows where her half-hour pilot Venus Phase made 2020’s The CAPE List x The Black List. Currently, she is developing a half-hour coming-of-age comedy Chum alongside Khalyla Kuhn (co-host of TigerBelly podcast with Bobby Lee), Khawinda Kuhn, Nathan Ramos-Park (Nickelodeon’s Transformers) and All Things Comedy. She received her MFA from USC Cinematic Arts in Production in Film and Television.
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First Frame
Dulcinee DeGuere
Title(s): Writer/Director/Editor
Dulcinee DeGuere is an emerging writer/director with years of experience as a professional editor. She is currently in post-production for her first narrative short Suspension, which she wrote, directed, and edited. She founded Voyeur Productions alongside Lio Mehiel and Russell Kahn following the success of their immersive experience Arcade Americana which premiered at Industry City in Brooklyn, NY. The show garnered attention from Ben Stiller and his production company Red Hour. She wrote Mecca, a 30-minute pilot about kids growing up during climate change and it is currently in development at Red Hour, under the oversight of Nicky Weinstock. She also co-wrote VACANT, a 60-min sci-fi epic about artificial intelligence, which made it to the final round of consideration for the Sundance Indie Episodic Lab. VACANT is currently being shopped around to networks. As an editor, her work has premiered at countless film festivals across the world, most notably OUTFEST, NEWFest, NYC Independent Film Festival, Manhattan Film Festival, Newport Beach Film Festival, and Atlanta Underground Film Festival. Dulcinee graduated cum laude from Northwestern University with degrees in Film & Visual Art. She’s the daughter of deadheads, a desert enthusiast, and a critical theory nerd. Two years in a row, she was selected as a Resident at the Saas Fee Summer Institute of Art (SFSIA) for residencies entitled “States of Consciousness in Cognitive Capitalism.”
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First Frame
Gina Yull
Title(s): Director/Director’s Assistant
Gina Yull graduated with an M.F.A. in Film and Television from Chapman University. She then followed the tried and true agency route at Paradigm. Her time there helped her rediscover her passion for creating so she became the producing director’s assistant on the Spectrum series, L.A.’s FINEST for season 1. She has also worked as a director’s shadow under Mark Tonderai for Hulu’s Castle Rock. She is currently the director’s assistant for up-and-coming episodic director, Bola Ogun. A true hustler by nature, she is working hard to drop the word assistant from any of her future credits. Passionate about all things horror and always rooting for everybody black.
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First Frame
Jeff Perreca
Title(s): Writer/Director
Jeff Perreca escaped the frozen tundra of Motor City, Michigan for the snowless winters of Los Angeles to work as a film & TV writer/director. He writes one-hour dramas as well as sci-fi and thriller features. His scripts have been optioned by Hollywood giants like Worldview Entertainment.. His pilot about a right-wing militia group along the southern border, Civil Unrest, was named a finalist for the ATX-Black List Second Annual TV Writing Program; as well as a finalist for the ATX Television 2017 Pitch Festival. In 2018, he cowrote with his wife the feature, The Promised Land, which landed on the 2018 Hit List. They were also named to the 2018 Young and Hungry List. In 2019, Jeff made his directorial debut on his Black Mirror meets A Star is Born short film Talentless. The film was named a winner of Stage32’s short film contest and will be screened at multiple film festivals. Jeff also developed a Y.A. genre project with Blumhouse Television and Jennifer Lopez. Most recently, his pilot Graphic was named as a finalist in the trackingb.com TV Script Contest and the Grand Prize Winner of the WeScreenplay TV Contest. Additionally, his pilot Undrafted was named a Top 50 pilot in the Launch Pad TV Writing Competition and semi-finalist in the ScreenCraft TV Pilot Script Competition.
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First Frame
Pedro Borges
Title(s): Director/Cinematographer/Editor
Pedro Borges, Brazilian born / New York City bred, graduated with a BFA in filmmaking from the New York Film Academy. Now living in Los Angeles, he works regularly on independent film sets in various crew positions including as a cinematographer and editor, but mainly as an assistant director. Pedro’s currently working towards his goal of directing his first feature film, and ultimately, show-running and directing for a premium streamer.
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First Frame
Sofia Ayerdi
Title(s): Producer/Writer/Director
Sofia Ayerdi is a producer, writer, and director currently studying film at Cal State Northridge and interning at the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (part of the Gold Rising Program, only 100 out of 9,189 applicants accepted). An American born into a Mexican family, and having lived in both Mexico and the United States, Sofia feels a personal responsibility to tell the stories of the people she’s met and cultures she’s been a part of over the years. She founded her production company, Zanate Films, with the purpose to promote the arts and filmmaking in her rural community. Most recently, she wrote and directed Halfway which will be making its rounds on the festival circuit this year.
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First Frame
Vivian Ip
Title(s): Writer/Director
Vivian Ip is a writer, director and producer from Singapore. She holds a Bachelor of Laws with Honors from Durham University (United Kingdom) and worked as a corporate lawyer for four years. She has since adapted her legal skills to filmmaking and graduated from the USC School of Cinematic Arts on an Entertainment Partners scholarship. She is also a member of the BAFTA Los Angeles Newcomers Program and an alumna of the ARRI Support and Education (ARRIse) Program. Most recently, she made her directorial debut with her graduate thesis film An Island Drifts, filmed with love in her home country. In addition, she produced Headlock, a Student Academy Awards finalist, an official selection in Dances with Films and Urbanworld Film Festival, and a USC First Look winner in the Social Change category, whereupon she also received the Best Producing Award. Her filmmaking practice is centered on exploring the human condition, as well as bringing authentic and underrepresented voices to the forefront.
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First Frame
Camille Tucker
Growing up in Compton, Camille’s dad was the mayor and her mother was an educator. At age 7, the Montessori School she attended burned down and she was bused to private, Chadwick School in Palos Verdes, CA. Feeling trapped between two worlds, she escaped through sci-fi and fantasy short stories, but disparaged the lack of black faces in them. Getting her hands on the works of fierce black women writers such as Gwendolyn Brooks, Ntozake Shange, Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison and Octavia Butler, changed her forever. She began to write—poetry, plays, songs, and eventually screenplays.
Camille has produced and directed six short films. Her short, Cellular, won Best Short Narrative Film at Boston’s Roxbury International Film Festival. In 2019, Camille was honored to be a finalist and the drama alternate in the prestigious Disney|ABC TV Writing Fellowship. In 2018, she was one of eleven filmmakers selected in the Producers Guild of America Power of Diversity Workshop.
Camille is proud to be a writer on the upcoming The Clark Sisters: The First Ladies of Gospel, a 2-hour biopic about America’s highest-selling female Gospel group. Produced by Queen Latifah, Mary J. Blige. Missy Elliott and Holly Carter, it will air on the Lifetime network in April, 2020. The film stars Emmy, Critics Choice and SAG nominated actress Aunjanue Ellis as the sisters’ iconic mother, Dr. Mattie Moss Clark.
With an MFA in screenwriting from Loyola Marymount University, Camille is passionate about writing stories that bring society’s marginalized front and center and into the light. Her passion and energy for writing grows each day as she seeks to find stories that wrestle with themes such as redemption, hope, and reconciliation.
FWTV
DG Brock
In 2017, DG was selected as Guest Director at the Los Angeles Beyond Fest for her work as a woman writer-director. In 2013, she won Best Feature Director at the Los Angeles International Femme Festival for the dark dramedy, Misadventures of the Dunderheads, starring Alison Brie and Olympia Dukakis. Misadventures was subsequently picked up domestically by Starz Entertainment, Hulu Plus, and the Sinclair Broadcast Group.
DG started her directing career in children’s episodics for The Fox Kids Network and young adult features for Lions Gate Entertainment. In 2018, she developed a VR series for Montreal- based UNLTD VR Studios from Spoilerland, a comic book series she created for Emet Comics.
Prior to directing, DG was an in-demand Consulting Producer and Production Consultant on 20+ features for the SyFy Channel, Phoenix Pictures, Lions Gate, and Film Finances Inc.
REELS:
FWTV
Elisa Manzini
Throughout her career, she wrote two novels published by Harper Collins and CentoAutori, screenplays and stage plays. Some of her plays were produced by the Greenway Court Theatre in Los Angeles, Theatre of Western Springs, IL and by Berlin English Drama Society in Berlin, Germany. “It hits you when you know it” was part of the Paper Wing Festival in Monterey, CA, and was produced in Berlin, Germany, “Portrait of a Soul” had readings in LA (Theatricum Botanicum, Play Club West, Road Theatre), NYC (Athena Theatre) and it was workshopped at Studio106 in Santa Monica, CA.
Two of her feature films “It hits you when you know it” and “Angel Baby” are currently in post-production and in 2020 she sold a new horror screenplay.
Her TV pilot script “The Theory of Moral Relativity” won the Moving Parts Film Festival, the Toronto International Nollywood Film Festival, Les Femmes Underground Film Festival, and it’s in the top 5 finalists at Berlin Lift-Off Film Festival. Her screenplay “Lies and White Lies” won the Indie Visions Film Festival and was selected at the Independent Talents International Film Festival. She’s currently shopping around two dark drama series, “The Theory of Moral Relativity” and “Indelible”.
FWTV
Iram Parveen Bilal
She is just World Premiered her third feature, I’LL MEET YOU THERE, in narrative competition at SXSW: a family drama about a Muslim cop and his teenage ballerina daughter. Iram was 1 of 15 directors invited to Cinefondation’s L’Atelier at Cannes 2019 for her feature project in development, WAKHRI (ONE OF A KIND), based on an accidental social media star in Pakistan. Having been a shadowing director on CRIMINAL MINDS and THE ROOKIE, Iram is gearing up to start her career in TV directing. She is also pitching her One Hour show, DETAINED, centered on two matriarchs caught up in an ICE detention center. DETAINED just made the top 20 unproduced, female written pilots’ list for WeForShe.
Her past noted feature length works include JOSH (AGAINST THE GRAIN), Pakistan’s first film to be on Netflix and in the permanent selection at the US Library of Congress and The PHD MOVIE: STILL IN GRAD SCHOOL.
Eager to raise while rising, Iram is an active mentor for women in film and tech. She believes genuine curiosity is the only antidote to fear.
FWTV
Jenn Page
She’s filmed projects for/with internationally known brands and artists including Marvel’s Agents of Shield, The Voice, The Mindy Project, Blackmagic Design, Panic at the Disco, Weezer, Billy Ray Cyrus, Wolfmother, Estee Lauder, and Hans Zimmer.
Her work includes the award-winning comedy musical feature film “Waiting in the Wings” starring Lee Meriwether and Shirley Jones, the award- winning musical digital series “My Two Black Girlfriends,” the award-winning dramatic rock opera “The Breakout,” and the International Academy of Web Television’s live awards show hosted by Tony award winner Roger Bart.
Most recently, she completed her 6th feature film “Playing with Beethoven,” starring Kadeem Hardison and Shannon Elizabeth.
FWTV
Kate Rees Davies
Recently, she was the shadowing director on Amazon’s Transparent for award-winning creator and director Jill Soloway. Kate has a few shows in development. One is an eight part mini series about the last six months of Marilyn Monroe’s life. The other is a period drama based on the life of former slave Biddy Mason.
Kate is the founder of the recently launched The New Hollywood Collective. The Collective is an inclusion initiative with workshops that give the members tools to develop, finance, and produce short form and proof of concept content for next level success. The first directing class of 2020 is currently underway with 8 women & 2 men going through the program. Kate also teaches directing at UCLA and serves on the board for NAMIC So Cal.
FWTV
Kenyetta Raelyn
Kenyetta was the shadowing director in season two of The Chi, a drama created by Lena Waithe. She also directed an episode of a new media comedy web series called Adversity, a satire about “diversity and inclusion” starring Enrico Colantoni of CW’s Veronica Mars.
A graduate of both the New York Film Academy program (NYFA- NYC) and the Cinema and Television Production program at Los Angeles City College (LACC), Kenyetta has been producing and directing shorts since 2012. Stories with themes on social justice, strong women leads, thriller and true crime elements are her jam. Kenyetta grew up in Dayton, Ohio and graduated with a B.A. in English Literature from Columbia University in the City of New York.
FWTV
Mona Mira
Prior to her career in entertainment, Mira earned a B.S. in Theater and Neuroscience from Emory University and a MBA from USC Marshall school of Business.
FWTV
Rund Shami
Rund (Rand) is an Arab-American writer who currently works as an assistant at the Disney+ show ‘Big Shot’. She’s created and written on multiple digital series including Meme Boy, which she was the showrunner of, and Tom Musca’s Campus Cop, which she wrote multiple episodes of including the musical finale that she also directed. Both these shows were nominated at Miami Web Fest and the latter won the Best Pilot award.
She graduated with a major in Screenwriting from the University of Miami where she was a staff writer for UMTV’s late night comedy show, Off The Wire.
Rund is currently in post-production of a teaser she wrote and directed for her musical television series, ‘Meant to Be.’ She’s also developing an animated web series ‘American Doll,’ with the help of collaborators from her previous digital series. Rund leads the Sunday night group of LA’s writer/actor group, Deadline Junkies where scripts are performed on stage and feedback is generated.
FWTV
Sarah J Eagen
A writer and actor focused on television, Sarah was a head writer on the 2019 sci fi audio drama anthology “The Veil” from Voxx Studios, writing 4 episodes with unique settings and characters in season 1. She was hired to write a holiday feature film in the fall of 2019, and she co-wrote, produced, and acted in the short Soledad, starring Frankie Loyal of “Mayans, M.C.,” which premiered on the Disney lot.
In 2019, Eagen’s pilots were chosen as a Humanitas NEW VOICES semifinalist, a top ten finalist in the Stage 32 TV Writing Contest, and two pilots were 2nd rounders at the Austin Film Festival. She was also a semifinalist (top 6%) for the 2019 NBC Writers on the Verge program with her Good Girls spec. Previously, her pilots have placed as semifinalists in the 2018 NYTVF Script Comp, as a finalist for the WAN Writers Workshop in 2019, and for the Women in Film/Blacklist Episodic lab in the fall of 2017.
She just appeared on one of the final episodes of “The Big Bang Theory,” TV’s longest-running multi-cam show, in a sequence with Academy Award winner Regina King. Eagen was previously seen as helpful paralegal Carol in CBS’s action comedy “Rush Hour”, and in a Guest Star role on Lifetime’s scripted series “My Crazy Ex.”
FWTV
Sharon Everitt
Sharon began her career as an editor for television while also running a successful production company, producing scripted and commercial projects as well as specials for Taylor Swift, Sarah Silverman, Nick Kroll and Tig Notaro. She received three Emmy nominations for her work as Executive Producer of ABC’s long running Disney Christmas Special. As a prolific director, Sharon’s work has ranged from directing the pre-visualization VFX for the highest budgeted film ever made in China to directing the fantasy short film “Below the Root” for Disney. She was part of the 2018-19 inaugural class of NBC’s Alternative Directors Program.
FWTV
Soma Helmi
She recently traveled to Morocco for two months to shadow Lesli Linker Glatter on Season 8 of HOMELAND and frequently works with Catherine Hardwicke as a creative consultant. Soma worked with Catherine on her feature MISS BALA (2019) for Columbia Pictures and Misher Films, as a script coordinator on Hardwicke’s short film LIFE SENTENCE for Quibi, and as a creative assistant on her upcoming Quibi Series DON’T LOOK DEEPER. Soma’s short film IN CASE OF AN EMERGENCY was also recently selected as one of the top 10 entries in Amazon’s 2019 New Voices Film Festival.
Soma began her career working as an Art Director for J. Walter Thompson in Jakarta, where her clients were Unilever and Pfizer. After leaving J. Walter Thompson, she would go on to direct commercial spots for Google, Klondike, Nike, Chevrolet and Campbell’s.
FWTV
Kryzz Gautier
Breakthrough
Corey Dashaun
Breakthrough
Charlene Bagcal
Breakthrough
Kelechi Urama
Breakthrough
