HAMZA ALI is the President of MPI Media Group and Co-Founder of Watermelon Pictures, a Palestinian-owned film label dedicated to amplifying underrepresented voices. His journey in entertainment began with his father, Malik, and uncle Waleed Ali, who founded a pioneering independent distribution company in 1976. Raised in the entertainment industry, Hamza witnessed firsthand how his family grew a small venture into a leading entertainment organization. Today, he and his brother Badie lead MPI Media Group and its subsidiaries—MPI Home Entertainment, Dark Sky Films, and the MPI Stock Footage Archive. In 2024, to honor Waleed’s legacy and continue their father’s vision, Hamza and Badie launched Watermelon Pictures. The label is committed to using storytelling as a force for change, helping audiences imagine a liberated future. Since its founding, Watermelon has produced and/or distributed impactful films including Israelism, From Ground Zero, The Encampments, Palestine 36, All That’s Left of You, and The Voice of Hind Rajab. To ensure the existence of an archive of Palestinian cinema, Hamza and his brother also launched their own streaming service, Watermelon+. Beyond his professional work, Hamza cherishes family life with his wife Reem and their four children: Hedaya, Jude, Maryam, and Waleed.

NICHOLAS LAZO is the VP of Development & Production for Shudder, AMC Network’s premium horror streaming service. In his current role Nick oversees original features, series and co-productions, including the series reboot of Creepshow, original series Hell Motel, the latest installments of the V/H/S franchise, lockdown-themed Zoom feature Host, Sundance 2024’s midnight selection In A Violent Nature and its forthcoming sequel and The Rule of Jenny Pen, as well as documentary and unscripted projects Cursed Films, The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs, The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula and Horror’s Greatest. Prior to joining AMC Networks in 2017, Nick worked as an independent producer spanning a range of projects including features, documentaries, digital series and commercials. Born and raised in rural Virginia, Nick graduated from James Madison University and received his MFA in Film Production from USC’s School of Cinematic Arts.

ANGELA LEE is a Spirit Award-nominated producer whose film Songs My Brothers Taught Me, Chloé Zhao’s debut feature, premiered in competition at the Sundance Film Festival, Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes. She also produced the fiction short The Row (w/d Philiane Phang), commissioned by Indigenous Media and distributed by Condé Nast Entertainment. Angela is currently developing the debut fiction feature films for writer/director Philiane Phang, Oscar-nominated director Bing Liu and Grammy-nominated director Andrew Thomas Huang. She is a 2018 Women at Sundance Fellow, and has been supported by the Berlinale Talents and Co-Production Market, Film Independent, IFP, PGA Diversity Workshop, SFFilm, Sundance Institute Creative Producing Lab and Fellowship, and the Center for Asian American Media. Angela is also the Director of Artist Development at the arts non-profit Film Independent, where she oversees the fiction and non-fiction labs and programs including Fast Track finance market, Fiscal Sponsorship program, and Project Involve. A native Chicagoan, Angela graduated from the University of Chicago with a degree in Economics.

EDDIE LINKER has produced or executive produced over 20 feature films. He was the founding partner of Forager Film Company along with Peter Gilbert and Joe Swanberg. He is also one of the founders of Elevated Films Chicago, which strives to promote independent film while also creating opportunities for youth arts in Chicago. His focus over the last few years has shifted to producing in Chicago, and trying to demystify the world of film distribution.

GABRIEL MAYERS is a producer and firm believer in sharing local narratives with global audiences. She works with early career filmmakers and veterans to usher original and unique stories to production. Gabriel feels by producing narratives while keeping local audiences in mind, stories can be amplified to greater communities. She’s drawn to this work because she feels storytelling helps audiences build social empathy and develops the inroads toward societal change. She uses her financial knowledge and production and development experience to further the renaissance of the most original and diverse narratives in cinema. Her features, A Different Man and Mad Bills to Pay premiered in the 2024 and 2025 Sundance, Berlinale, New Directors/New Films, and the Karlovy Vary Film Festivals respectively. A Different Man won the 2024 Gotham Award for Best Feature and Sebastian Stan won the Berlinale Silver Bear and Golden Globe for his performance.

CHRISTINA OH is an Academy Award-nominated producer who has worked on several film and television projects over her career, including Bong Joon Ho’s Okja (Netflix), Joe Talbot’s feature film debut The Last Black Man in San Francisco (A24), and Marielle Heller’s Nightbitch (Searchlight). She has also produced Minari (A24), written and directed by Lee Isaac Chung. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and went on to receive six Academy Award nominations, where Youn Yuh-jung won Korea’s first-ever Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. Oh’s past television credits include LEGO Masters (FOX) and Paper Girls (Amazon). In late 2023, she partnered with Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning Steven Yeun to head his production company, Celadon Pictures, where they will continuously look to champion and work with talented artists and visionaries across all fields.

LUKE RODGERS is an Emmy- and Tony-winning producer working across film, television, and theater.  He most recently worked as EVP, Creative at Los Angeles Media Fund, overseeing development, packaging, production, and strategy for LAMF’s slate of projects, including Elijah Bynum’s Magazine Dreams (Sundance 2023), Hannah Pearl Utt’s Cora Bora (SXSW 2023), Chiwetel Ejiofor’s Rob Peace (Sundance 2024), the Emmy-winning Legacy: The True Story of the LA Lakers on Hulu, Tony winners Stereophonic and Sunset Blvd., and Tony nominee John Proctor is the Villain. Previously, he worked at wiip, launching their film slate with Ana Lily Amirpour’s Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon (Venice 2021) and Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire’s Asphalt City (Cannes 2023). He began his career in the Media Finance Group at CAA, where as an agent he focused on packaging and arranging financing for independent director-driven films including Claire Denis’ High Life, Gaspar Noé’s Climax, Fisher Stevens’ Palmer, Heidi Ewing’s I Carry You with Me, and Joe Talbot’s The Last Black Man in San Francisco. He was named to Hollywood Reporter’s Next Gen 2023: 35 Under 35. A proud Detroiter, he graduated from Pepperdine University with degrees in Film Studies and International Studies.

MARY TRIER works primarily with production companies and creators on film and television projects, directing clients through varied development stages, whether it be through industry norms or complex chain of title issues. She oversees business and legal affairs at Imagine Entertainment alongside Elsa Ramo, offering legal guidance on projects like Netflix’s tick, tick…BOOM! and Hillbilly Elegy, and also advises Imagine Kids & Family, Imagine Documentaries, Imagine Impact, Hello Sunshine, Boardwalk Pictures, Balboa Productions, and Funny or Die. Mary recently provided general counsel for the Laugh Out Loud/Sundance Women Write Now Fellowship and has worked on titles such as Skydance’s Grace and Frankie and the film Arkansas starring Vince Vaughn and Liam Hemsworth. Mary was named in Variety’s “Hollywood New Leaders of 2022,” and was selected as a “Rising Star” in Super Lawyers Magazine from 2021-2023. She’s licensed in both California and Illinois, and has previously worked for Paradigm Talent Agency, Entertainment Studios, and The Film Collaborative. Mary earned her Bachelor of Journalism from University of Missouri, and Juris Doctorate from Southwestern Law School.

YVONNE WELBON (she/her) is an award-winning filmmaker and founder and CEO of the Chicago-based nonprofit Sisters in Cinema, inspired by her documentary of the same name, about the history of Black women feature film directors. She has produced and distributed dozens of award-winning films, including Living With Pride: Ruth Ellis @100. Welbon’s work has been broadcast on PBS, Starz/Encore, TV-ONE, IFC, Bravo, the Sundance Channel, BET, HBO, Netflix, and iTunes, and screened in over 100 film festivals around the world. Projects in development include The Spies Who Loved Me, a thrilling exposé on surveillance that focuses on the six years she lived in Taipei, Taiwan; and American Pride, a Black lesbian coming-of-age series set on the south side of Chicago. She has taught at the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, and Bennett College, where she chaired the Journalism & Media Studies Department. Raised in an Afro-Latinx Honduran household on the South Side of Chicago, Welbon holds a B.A. from Vassar College, an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, a Ph.D. from Northwestern University, and is a graduate of the American Film Institute’s Directing Workshop for Women. In 2020, she became a member of the Documentary branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.