The Fellows
Ashley Maria
Title(s): Director/Writer
Ashley Maria is a director & writer based in Los Angeles, CA. She is best known for her films and media work, including the comedy/horror short Friday Night Fright which won a Directors Guild of America award and her 2020 breakthrough documentary Pioneers in Skirts, which follows her own story to understand the obstacles that get in the way of a woman’s pioneering ambition and what we ALL can do to change this. The film is now screening on PBS and worldwide thanks to it being translated in all of the United Nations languages.
Hailing from the Tar Heel State of North Carolina, Ashley earned her undergraduate degree at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She then packed up her car to drive across the country to attend the University of Southern California’s Master program in the School of Cinematic Arts. She has received a number of awards during her career including a recent “Best New Director” from the DTLA Film Festival and, in a follow-up ceremony, the DGA Women’s Steering Committee declared her to be a filmmaker “who represents the future of women in film.”
Ashley is also an advocate for advancing women’s opportunities. She is a North American delegate to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women – the principal global policy-making body dedicated exclusively to gender equality and the advancement of women. She is also a directing instructor at UCLA’s Film School and a sound instructor at the American Film Institute’s Young Women in Film program.
Ashley’s portfolio includes a wide range of fun and impactful films, from superheroes to singing neighbors to following an all-girls robotics team for their first big win – click over and check them out!
Connect with Ashley:
Benjamin-Shalom Rodriguez
Title(s): Writer/Director/Comedian
Benjamin-Shalom Rodriguez is a queer, Mexican-Israeli (Free Palestine!)-American writer, director, and comedian. He’s currently in development with Sony on a half-hour animated project, in post on season 2 of Stoned Breakups, which he created and hosts, and partnered with Blackmagic Collective to direct his first feature this summer, America’s Next Top Immigrant. Additional humble brags: alumnus of Sundance Screenwriters Intensive, Ryan Murphy’s HALF, NHMC Writers Workshop, Fox Writers Intensive, CBS Diversity Showcase, Project Involve, and recipient of Will & Jada Smith’s Family Foundation feature development grant. He’s also the writer/director of BETTAS (“Best LGBTQ Short,” IFS LA Film Festival), and the Apollo Award nominated short, ALPHA. Before coming out as a full-blown artist, Ben assisted the producers of DJANGO UNCHAINED, was a talent manager in Miami for telenovela stars, and a features exec for the Lionsgate-backed, 3Pas Studios. He’s now currently a film educator with Edward James Olmos’ Latino Film Institute, and a charter member of the queer Latinx writers collective, The Clubhouse. He’s also a professional game night host for celebs and people with large disposable incomes.
Connect with Benjamin:
Caryn Ruby
Title(s): Writer/Performer/Script Supervisor
An award-winning writer, performer and professional Script Supervisor, Caryn Ruby has worked alongside Oscar and Emmy Award-Winning crew on award-winning projects, including the Women In Media Camaraderie initiative Grand Prize Winning Films “Charlie and the Hunt” and “Blood and Glory”, “Jeffrey,” which was lensed at Lux Machina – the LED stage where The Mandalorian is shot – and “Trees of Peace,” which won Top Prize at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.
Most recently, her pilot Morrieville won Best Dark Comedy Teleplay at the Houston Comedy Film Festival, where her sketch, Poverty Tourism premiered last year as a finalist for Best Dark Comedy Micro Film. Additionally, her short screenplay Daphne’s Revolt was awarded Finalist in the New Faces, New Voices festival, and Semifinalist in Women in Media’s Cameraderie Act 1 competition.
Caryn plans to launch her new podcast, “Script Supervisors: Unsung Heroes of Film & TV” later this year, highlighting legends in the field who have worked on multiple Oscar and Emmy Award-Winning films and TV shows, and serves as a backstage pass to filmmaking from the rarely acknowledged, but incredibly important department head’s perspective.
Connect with Caryn:
David Schatanoff, Jr.
Title: Producer
David Schatanoff, Jr. began his career working in post-production for the major studios. Reliably working with high profile clientele landed him a position supervising post-production operations at 20th Century Fox and later servicing multi-million dollar deals at Sony Pictures. Becoming more involved with script development and production, he made the transition to producer and has never looked back. His recent projects include the theatrically-released feature film, Playing With Beethoven and Season 9 of the docu-series, Little Britches Rodeo.
David is a member of the Producers Guild of America, The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (The Emmys), and the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (The Grammys).
Connect with David:
Djaka Souaré
Title(s): Writer/Director
Djaka Souaré is an actress and filmmaker who started her career in theater. Djaka is known for her work in the HULU special Imagine a Moon Colony, directed by TriBeCa 2019 award-winner Phillip Youmans, and was recently the face of badass fighter Halima in the video game “Call of Duty.” Djaka is also a filmmaker; her first short film, Jazz in Wakanda,which she wrote, directed, produced, and starred in, was an Official selection at film festivals like Urban World, Nitehawk Shorts & New Filmmakers LA. Her pilot script, Ainoah, made it to the Top 20 of 2021 Hillman Grad Indeed Rising Voices Program. Djaka is a Women in Film and a #Startwith8Hollywood mentee, a Blackmagic Collective Emerging Actors Initiative and just finished shadowing an episode of ABC/Freeform “Good Trouble.” Of West African & French descent, Djaka speaks English, French and Spanish fluently.
Connect with Djaka:
Germán Skinder
Title(s): Director/Writer/Producer
Germán is an Argentinian filmmaker living in Los Angeles. His passion is thrillers, which he both writes and directs. Most recently, he directed the short film “The Back Door”, and co-directed the short film “How Was Your Experience,” which is currently on the festival circuit. He is currently in development on two high-end thrillers that he will direct this year under his production banner Underpass Productions.
Connect with Germán:
Jacob Arbittier
Title(s): Director/Producer
At eight years old, Jacob wrangled the neighborhood kids to make horror shorts in the graveyard at the end of his street. He hasn’t slowed down since. His shorts have been picked up by Bloody Disgusting’s “Bloody Bites” and featured on reaction channels like Coryxkenshin, with 11 million subscribers. In 2021 he directed two horror features: the upcoming “SEARCHING FOR MILES” and “BLOOD BROTHER”. BURNT MILL ROAD is his full service production company focused on high quality, high concept horror.
James Rose
Title(s): Writer/Director
Originally from Scotland, and just immigrated to the USA, James is an award-winning actor, acting coach, theater director and therapist. A former business consultant he has worked with many leaders at boardroom level as well as international sports organizations and entertainment companies. A graduate of The Oxford School of Drama he initially graduated in Business Studies from the Robert Gordon University (Aberdeen) before completing his MSc Psychology at Birkbeck, University of London. James is following the MA in Filmmaking program (Director/Writer) at Raindance (London).
Connect with James:
Jared Januschka
Title(s): Writer/Director
Jared Januschka is an award-winning Writer and Director. After graduating from California Institute of the Arts with a BFA in Performance he directed multiple online ads for name brands like Coca Cola, Chevrolet, Campbell’s Soup, and Purina Dog Chow. His first feature film, Shooting in Vain, won the Grand Jury Award for Best Film at the Dances with Films and Awareness Festivals. He’s also made a number of shorts including Peaches, which took second place in the Black Magic Collective Festival and was a finalist at Austin Film Festival. His current short, They See You, will enter the genre festival circuit this year. The common theme throughout Jared’s work is mixing socially conscious and subversive messages into commercial stories.
Connect with Jared:
Jasmine Jewet
Title(s): Director/Editor
This Brooklyn born, queer, creative decided to purse directing after graduating from Howard University with a B.A. in Radio TV & Film. Jasmine Jewet’s unique talent and eye for visuals drew her to enroll and graduate from SCAD-Atlanta with a M.F.A in TV & Film where she produced, wrote, directed, and edited multiple short films.
Inspired by prolific women filmmakers like Ava Duvernay; Jasmine’s films have been selected in multiple film festivals around the country, even garnering semi finalist and finalist nominations. Some of Jasmine’s work has won Best Actress with the film “Daddy’s Girl”, been featured in Bronze Lens Film Festival for the short docu-series “Been a SneakHerhead”, and won Best Ensemble and Honorable Mention for Best Female Director with “CAKE”. Jasmine’s most recent short film ‘Cherry.’ is currently in post production and will be completed this year.
Jasmine has worked as Director’s Assistant and Producer’s Assistant on television shows for networks and platforms like BET, OWN, Nickelodeon, ALLBLK, The CW, and Netflix. Her latest role is working as a Director’s Assistant on the set of a new Marvel show for Disney +.
Connect with Jasmine:
Jenn Page
Jenn Page is an accomplished feature and series director who was selected by Take The Lead as one of the “50 Women Who Can Change The World in Media & Entertainment” and by Blackmagic Collective as one of six directors for the “Future Women of TV” initiative. 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 comedy 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, her sixth feature film “Playing with Beethoven,” starring Kadeem Hardison and Shannon Elizabeth, release theatrically last November and is currently available on demand.
Connect with Jenn:
John L Curtis
Title(s): Actor/Writer
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 Berenger. Most recently he starred across from Shannon Elizabeth in the feature film “Playing with Beethoven” that recently released in theaters nationwide. He is also the co-host of “The Nerd Couple Show,” a live show all about nerd culture. He holds a degree in Theatre and English from University of Nevada and resides in Los Angeles, CA.
Connect with John:
Kate E Hinshaw
Title(s): Cinematographer/Director
Kate E. Hinshaw is a tactile filmmaker and cinematographer who works with digital and film cameras alike. Coming from an experimental background, she is interested in using the cinematic gaze to render visible the interiority of the feminine. Tactily, she works with 16mm and super 8mm film through bleaching, scratching, painting, and burning the emulsion in order to tell stories through color and texture.
Her work has screened at SXSW, Maryland Film Festival, Atlanta Film Festival, Denver Film Festival, and Indie Grits. She earned an MFA at the University of Colorado at Boulder in Spring 2020 where she was awarded a teaching excellence award for her work as a digital cinematography instructor and was the recipient of the 2021 Southern Documentary Fund Filmmaker award for excellence in southern storytelling. She publishes and curates Analog Cookbook—a film zine that celebrates and shares knowledge of analog filmmaking, darkroom processes, and features artists from all over the world. She currently resides in Wilmington, NC where she is Assistant Professor of Cinematography at UNCW.
Connect with Kate:
Kayla Marie Coates
Kayla Marie Coates is a Hispanic-Croatian-American actor, filmmaker and activist. As a polyamorous, 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 secured Production Coordinating jobs with Blackmagic Collective, Heart On Fire Productions and became the Creative Producer for The Nerd Couple Show at the beginning of 2021. Kayla went on to help create and became the Initiative Director for BMC’s Emerging Actors Career Advancement Diversity Initiative and recently finished working their first year as a Producer for South By Southwest working with high profile celebrities like Greg Daniels, Jason Sudeikis, Chelsea Clinton and many more. They have starred in numerous indie projects and soon-to-be-released films and webseries. Working their first year at the 2021 Universal Halloween Horror Nights, they won the award for Scare Actor of the Year. Kayla was selected to receive NALIP’s Emerging Content Creators Inclusion Initiative Scholarship for the 2021 Diverse Women in Media Forum and to participate in Mentorship Rountables. They are ramping into pre-production for their first short film that they wrote, are directing, producing and starring in.
Connect with Kayla:
Lynda Reiss
Title(s): Director
Lynda is an award-winning director whose character driven films explore the darker parts of the human condition, with a levity from the humor in her voice. Born in New York and raised in the UK, she has traveled the world, been a nanny for the super-rich, a Prop House owner, and a single mom, as well as having had a successful career as a Property Master on projects such as American Beauty, True Detective and Stranger Things. When this work could no longer satisfy her creative soul she decided to follow her dream and directed her first film. This short, Ready to Go won 27 awards on the festival circuit, and was Oscar qualified for 2020. Lynda is a fellow of the Sony Pictures Diverse Directors Program, and a 2019 fellow of the WIF mentorship program. She is in development on two feature films, and a limited series, which she has written. Her second short, Lancaster Park is currently on its festival run, already having won several awards, and she has just entered post on her third short, Perfect Match. Last summer Lynda styled and directed over 400 scripted specialty stills for a high-profile upcoming HBO series. Irrepressible and hilarious, Lynda is who you want to be working alongside when you are shooting in some grotty alley at three in the morning, completing the day and having fun doing it.
Connect with Lynda:
Marlon Royal Reid
Title(s): Director/Writer
Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan. Marlon began his film career at an early age by nagging a group of older teens with an 8mm camera to be a part of their crew. A graduate of Morgan State University, Marlon directed a series of no-budget 8mm video shorts, ‘I’m Broke’, ‘Why Are You Following Me?’, and ‘The Visit’, which won 3rd Place in the AFI/Sony Home Visions Video Competition. Soon thereafter, Marlon received a generous grant to attend New York Film Academy’s Four Week Intensive Workshop.
This course is set up for writers/directors to make three 16mm silent short films in four weeks. Marlon wrote and directed four. One of those films, ‘The Last Condom’ appeared at the San Francisco Black Film Festival, Planet Ant Film Series, and won the People’s Choice Award at the Motor City International Film Festival. The short film was acquired to be a part of Russell Simmons’ Def Filmmakers Tour. Marlon’s short, ‘NIGHT’, which tackled the subject of black men on the down-low and the spread of HIV in the black community, appeared in multiple film festivals across the country and was featured in A&U magazine. In 2014, he co-wrote the short documentary, ‘Electric Roots: The Detroit Sound Project w Kristian Hill. The documentary played in the Pan African Film Festival and Short Film Corner of the Canne Film Festival. Marlon recently received a scholarship and completed Sundance Collab’s course, Screenwriting: Craft Your Short Film. An alum of the Guy Hanks screenwriting program. He is currently developing three horror short films to shoot this summer, Jingling Keys, Public Transportation, and Repeat.
Connect with Marlon:
Monique Sorgen
Raised in an international hippie house in San Francisco, Monique Sorgen is an award-winning comedy writer-director, in the Sony Television Directors Program. Her dark comedy, Sorry, Not Sorry amassed over 100,000 views and 4000 likes in its first month on the prestigious Omeleto.com and won Best of Omeleto. Her new short Rock A Bye Baby won comedy awards at Sedona, All The Laughs, and Just For Laughs. She previously directed branded reality series, more shorts, and music videos that were acquired by the Disney Channel. As a writer, she has developed with Imagine, DiNovi, USA/UCP, Morgan Freeman’s Revelations, and David Oyelowo’s Yoruba Saxon, among others. She began her career as a director’s assistant, shadowing on network television shows for 3 years. Since then she has shadowed with Lesli Linka Glatter, Pamela Fryman, Mary Lou Belli, and Michael Spiller. Her most recent work is a sitcom based on her unconventional family, starring sock puppets.
Connect with Monique:
Tim Lorge
Title(s): Writer/Director/Producer
Tim Lorge is a New York City/Hudson Valley writer, director, producer, and film historian.
His plays include “Modern Love”, “The Betrayal”, and “Ben Loves Michele but She’s Positive”. Work-in-progress scenes of “The Betrayal” have appeared at The PlayGround Experiment in New York City and the full play appeared as part of The PlayGround Experiment’s First Reads Festival. “Ben Loves Michele but She’s Positive” was developed with the New Ambassadors Theater Lab and appeared in their inaugural First Acts Festival.
As a filmmaker, Tim has created numerous documentary short films for myFace, the National Foundation for Facial Reconstruction; the American Parkinson Disease Association; and numerous training and public service films for the public sector.
He is currently in preproduction on his directorial debut feature “The Naked Winemaker” scheduled to shoot in Summer, 2022 in the Hudson Valley.
Tim is the Raindance New York Hub General Manager where he organizes the internationally known Raindance Filmmaking Curriculum within the New York City and Hudson Valley Areas.
He is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild of America, The PlayGround Experiment Theater Company and The New Ambassadors Theater Lab.
Tim also a prolific technology writer and trainer, having served as Editor-in-Chief for Groupware News; contributing author to Microsoft Official Academic Course Exam 70-412 published by John Wiley and Sons; and holds numerous technical trainer certifications including the prestigious Blackmagic Design Davinci Resolve 17 Certified Trainer designation.
Connect with Tim:
