Hamza Ali | Decision-Maker Roundtables
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.
Karina Anglada | “How A.I. is Revolutionizing Filmmaking and Post-Production” Panel
Karina Anglada currently serves as a Strategic Development Manager with Adobe Pro Video where she works closely with post-production professionals across the video industry. She is an award-winning editor, and prior to joining Adobe, worked with multiple professional sports teams.
McKenzie Chinn | “Directing the Actor” Workshop
Driven by a revolutionary sensibility, her work uses rich imagery and an intimate lens to explore complex characters and stories of personal transformation and liberation. She is a 2023 SFFILM Rainin Grant Fellow, and a 2021 Sundance Screenwriters and Directors Lab Fellow with her upcoming feature A Real One, currently in development. The short film and proof-of-concept of A Real One won the Gold Hugo for Live Action Short Film at the 2023 Chicago International Film Festival, long-listing the film for Academy Award consideration, and won the Grand Prize at the 2024 Midwest Film Festival. Her 2018 indie feature Olympia (writer, producer) won the audience award at Geena Davis’s Bentonville Film Festival, after which she became the inaugural recipient of the festival’s See It, Be It Filmmaker Grant via NBCUniversal. She was named IFA Chicago’s inaugural Breakthrough Voice Award recipient in 2022, and received a 2023 Black Excellence award for her poetry music video First You Need A Body.
As an actor, her on-camera credits include recurring and guest star roles on the FOX series The Big Leap, ABC’s Will Trent, CBS’s The Red Line, and others. Onstage she has worked with Yale Repertory Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre, Goodman Theatre, The Second City, Woolly Mammoth, The Studio Theatre, Congo Square, and others. She made her stage directing debut in 2023 with ALAIYO at Chicago’s Definition Theatre. Her poetry has been nominated for multiple awards including a Pushcart Prize. She is part of Growing Concerns Poetry Collective which premiered the lead singles on its second album, BIG DARK BRIGHT FUTURES, in AfroPunk and Essence Magazine. She holds an MFA from The Theatre School at DePaul.
Lisa Cortés | “Documentary Summit” Panel
Lisa Cortés is a two-time Emmy-winning, Grammy-nominated director and producer known for creating bold, transformative stories that illuminate hidden narratives. From executive-producing the Academy Award®-winning Precious to directing and producing the Emmy-winning Little Richard: I Am Everything (2023), she has consistently championed underrepresented voices and sparked cultural change through her work. Her acclaimed documentaries include The Space Race (National Geographic Documentary Films), a gripping exploration of African American astronauts at NASA and in space, which earned the prestigious duPont-Columbia Award; All In: The Fight for Democracy (2020), chronicling the ongoing struggle for voting rights; the NAACP Image Award-winning Invisible Beauty, about fashion pioneer Bethann Hardison; and the Emmy-winning The Apollo (2019), which celebrates the historic Apollo Theater’s role in African American culture. Based in New York City, her multimedia production company, Cortés Filmworks, creates scripted, unscripted, and branded content across music, popular culture, and true crime genres. Most recently, the company completed Murder Has Two Faces, a true crime series for Hulu, which Cortés directed and produced—further expanding its dynamic portfolio and reaffirming her commitment to telling complex, powerful stories from fresh perspectives.
Katelyn Douglass | “With a Little Help from My Friends” Workshop
Katelyn Douglass is a Chicago based filmmaker and performer. Her work has been featured at Fantastic Fest, Beyond Fest, Brooklyn Horror, Filmquest, and more. She is a founding member of the performance collective Hot Kitchen and Head of Production at Crumbs, a video agency in Chicago.
Charles Andrew Gardner | “Directing the Actor” Workshop
Born and raised on Chicago’s south side, actor, educator, entrepreneur and SAG-AFTRA Chicago Local President Charles Andrew Gardner has a passion for illuminating the stories of the underrepresented. Over the past decade Charles has become an avid arts education advocate, teaching and mentoring with Dime Child, After School Matters, HHW, Steppenwolf for Young Adults, Goodman Theatre, and Timeline Theatre, through which he has reached thousands of Chicagoland students. Charles is also an on-camera acting professor at The Theatre School at DePaul and Roosevelt University, as well as an on-camera instructor at The Acting Studio Chicago. Charles is a Company Member with Timeline Theatre Company where he has appeared onstage in Boulevard of Bold Dreams, Kill Move Paradise (Jeff nomination for Best Ensemble, BTAA nomination for Best Ensemble) Paradise Blue (BTAA nomination for Best Featured Actor) and My Kind of Town (BTAA nomination for Best Actor) for which Chris Jones of the Chicago Tribune named him one of 2012’s “Hot New Faces to Watch”. Other Chicago theatre credits include A Raisin in the Sun at Court Theatre; Primary Trust, Objects in the Mirror, Stop.Reset. (us), and Buzzer(us) at Goodman Theatre; His Shadow (Jeff nomination for Best Actor) at 16th StreetTheatre; How Long Will I Cry at Steppenwolf Theatre; Macbeth and Othello at The Suitcase Shakespeare Company; and The Great Fire(us) at Lookingglass Theatre. On-camera credits include Dark Matter, Mayor of Kings Town, Somebody Somewhere, Chicago Med, The Chi, Chicago PD; films Heist 88, Long Ride Home, Olympia, Exodus, Every 21 Seconds, and Holding On; as well as multiple national commercials. In addition to his work in the classroom, on stage, and in front of the camera, Charles is the owner and CEO of The Actor’s Cup LLC. and Stay Creative Clothing.
Darrien Michele Gipson | “With a Little Help from My Friends” Workshop
Darrien Michele Gipson is the Executive Director of SAGindie, an educational organization for independent filmmakers. Darrien is a graduate of UCLA, where she received her BA in English Literature; and USC, where she earned an MFA from the Peter Stark Producers Program. She was the Vice President of Development for DEF Pictures before joining SAGindie in 2002 as Festival Coordinator. Through SAGindie, she traveled extensively to film festivals, film schools, and conferences, hosting workshops and teaching filmmakers how to hire professional actors using SAG-AFTRA’s low budget contracts. Since becoming SAGindie’s Executive Director in 2006, Darrien has expanded the organization to reach more festivals and help even more creators on all platforms to bring their projects to fruition. She continues to travel around the world speaking on panels, mentoring writers and filmmakers, and championing diversity, equity, and inclusion in the entertainment industry.
Nicola Goelzhaeuser | “Making Us Shiver and Shudder” Workshop
Nicola Goelzhaeuser is a distribution executive, producer, and educator with a focus on genre movies. As Vice President of Licensing Sales at Cineverse, she most recently oversaw the digital release of the surprise hit Terrifier 3. Her producing credits include Girl on the Third Floor starring wrestling legend CM Punk, the SXSW-selected horror thriller Broadcast Signal Intrusion with Harry Shum Jr., the indie comedy Let’s Start a Cult starring Stavros Halkias, and the upcoming feature documentary 1,000 Women in Horror. In addition to her industry work, Goelzhaeuser teaches courses on film distribution as an Adjunct Professor at DePaul University’s School of Cinematic Arts.
Peter Hawley | “Let’s Get This Project Started” Panel
Peter Hawley has been the Director of the Illinois Film Office since 2019. Over the past six years, Illinois film and TV production expenditures have grown by nearly 30%. Before leading the IFO, Peter has been a filmmaker and college film professor for more than 30 years.
Kyle Henry | “Documentary Summit” Panel
Kyle Henry is a fiction and documentary director focused on communities transformed by crisis. His many features and shorts have premiered at major festivals including SXSW, Cannes’ Directors Fortnight and Sundance. His most recent feature documentary Time Passages toured theatres in the winter and his case study on the tour will appear in the Fall 2025 issue of Filmmaker Magazine. The film is currently available for via New Day Films, Kanopy and OVID.tv. He currently is an Associate Professor at Northwestern University.
Kenyetta Johnson | “Survival Mode” Panel
Kenyetta “Yettiii” Johnson (she/her) is a Chicago filmmaker with a passion for storytelling! She is a graduate from Columbia College Chicago, receiving her BA in Cinema and Television Arts in 2020. As well as working on many projects throughout her career, she has worked for companies such as WTTW, DC Entertainment, and The CW. Kenyetta is currently the Director of Operations for Mezcla Media Collective, a Chicago-based non-profit arts organization transforming the local film industry for over 700 women and non-binary filmmakers of color. As Director of Operations, Kenyetta works internally to create systems that allow the organization to run smoothly and foster community within the Chicago film industry. She is also a member of the Reservoir Collective, a mutual-aid collective established by and for Black artists to pool funds to financially and creatively support Black Queer, Trans, and/or disabled artists, as well as The Axis Circle, which is a collective dedicated to cross-disability solidarity that centers and celebrates disabled communities, prioritizing Black and LGBTQ+ disabled people. Kenyetta’s overall goal is to make art that matters and to help the people around her make their visions come to life.
Nicholas Lazo | “Making Us Shiver and Shudder” Workshop, Decision-Maker Roundtables
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 | Decision-Maker Roundtables
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 | “Making Us Shiver and Shudder” Workshop, Decision-Maker Roundtables
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.
Bing Liu | Keynote Conversation
Bing Liu is a China-born, Midwest-raised filmmaker best known for directing the feature documentary Minding the Gap, which was nominated for an Oscar, an Independent Spirit, an Emmy and won a Sundance Special Jury and Peabody Award. Other directorial credits include America to Me, All These Sons, and What the Hands Do. Since 2021 he has been working on Empathy Mirrors, a museum exhibit in partnership with Actual Films and Futures Without Violence. His latest film, Preparation for the Next Life, is a narrative feature produced by Plan B and Pastel for Orion Pictures and hits theaters September 5th, 2025.
Gabriel Mayers | The Pitch Judge, Decision-Maker Roundtables
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.
Lorraine Jones Molina | “Let’s Get This Project Started” Panel
Raising awareness about issues pertaining to women, sexuality, and spirituality within the Caribbean, Lorraine Jones Molina is a Puerto Rican filmmaker who strives to use the medium as a tool for activism and healing. Winner of two Suncoast EMMY awards for a documentary feature film and a science television show, she has also produced several award winning short films throughout the Caribbean and New York. Lorraine is co-founder of Experimento Lúdico, whose feature Esta Isla (This Island) premiered at the Tribeca Festival 2025, where it won Best New Director, Best Cinematography, and a Special Jury Mention for Best U.S. Narrative Feature.
Christina Oh | The Pitch Judge, Decision-Maker Roundtables
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.
Dr. Kameelah Mu’Min Oseguera | “Survival Mode” Panel
Dr. Kameelah Mu’Min Oseguera (“Dr. Kam”) Drawing on her decades of scholarship, research and practice in psychology, family therapy and narrative theory, Dr. Oseguera is a leading expert in trauma informed considerations and practices in documentary filmmaking. Dr. Oseguera is the Founder and Lead Consultant of Marwa Consulting LLC, a trauma-informed consulting firm, empowering individuals, organizations, and communities to center care and accountability in their work and relationships. She has consulted or advised on 30+ films, TV series and works in progress to documentary filmmakers, directors, producers and writers on matters related to race, religion, participant care, ethics, consent and healing centered filmmaking. Dr. Oseguera also serves as the Head of Care at Multitude Films, supporting filmmakers and producers from casting through production, post, distribution, and impact. Dr. Oseguera is also an Executive Producer and Coordinator of Care and Wellness for the film Subject. In this role, Dr. Oseguera acts as a psychological consultant, creating and advising on individual and collective self-care planning through all phases of production, including post-screening emotional support and care. In addition to her passion for storytelling and non-fiction production, Dr. Oseguera is the Founding Executive Director of Muslim Wellness Foundation and Assistant Professor of Psychology & Muslim Studies at Chicago Theological Seminary.
Kelly O’Sullivan | “Directing the Actor” Workshop
Kelly O’Sullivan is a writer, director, and actor. Her first feature screenplay, Saint Frances premiered at South by Southwest, where it won a Special Jury Recognition for “Breakthrough Voice” and the Audience Award for Narrative Feature. The film was released theatrically by Oscilloscope Laboratories in 2020. She was nominated for a Gotham Breakthrough Actor Award for her role in Saint Frances and the Independent Spirit Cassavetes Award. Kelly was named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s “25 New Faces of Independent Film” and was a member of Film at Lincoln Center’s Artist Academy. Her feature directorial debut, Ghostlight, which she wrote and co-directed with Alex Thompson, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. It was released theatrically by IFC and Sapan Studios in 2024 and was nominated for the Independent Spirit Cassavetes Award. She has two feature films in post production and a toddler who views sleep as a suggestion and not a basic need.
Stacy Robinson | “Documentary Summit” Panel
Stacy Robinson is the Artistic Director of Kartemquin Films, Chicago’s storied documentary powerhouse. An award-winning filmmaker with two decades of experience, she has written and produced documentaries for CNBC, OWN, PBS, Disney+, and National Geographic. As a storyteller, she searches for the emotional soul of every story, no matter how big—or how small—the subject might seem. Her work includes Emmy Award–winning documentaries on Ida B. Wells and the Birth of Gospel Music, a six-part Disney+ series on a Harlem-based figure skating troupe, and a National Emmy–nominated collaboration with The Marshall Project. Robinson, a native of Claremont, California, holds a bachelor’s degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and now calls the Midwest home.
Luke Rodgers | The Pitch Judge, Decision-Maker Roundtables
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.
Özge Samanci | “How A.I. is Revolutionizing Filmmaking and Post-Production” Panel
Özge Samanci is a media artist, graphic novelist, and associate professor at Northwestern University’s School of Communication. Her interactive installations have been exhibited internationally at venues like Museu do Amanhã, Siggraph, FILE Festival, and ISEA. Her graphic memoir Dare to Disappoint (2015) has been translated into six languages. Her second graphic novel, Evil Eyes Sea (2024), was named one of The Guardian’s best graphic novels of the year and won the 2025 Cartoonist Studio Prize. Samanci’s work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, and Slate. She is a recipient of the Berlin Prize (2017), the Ivan Allen College Distinguished Alumni Award (2020), and the Illinois Arts Council Media Arts Fellowship (2023).
Risé Sanders-Weir | “Documentary Summit” Panel
Risé Sanders-Weir has written, directed and produced documentaries for MSNBC, History, National Geographic, CNBC, A&E, and others. Her Emmy-nominated history of Sears and Montgomery Wards for Chicago PBS has 1.7 million views on YouTube. As Director of Production and Post for Kartemquin Films she shepherded more than 10 films to completion, including two Oscar nominated films. She has a passion for documentary ethics, serving on the Documentary Producers’ Alliance’s ethics resource library subcommittee and as a consultant for filmmakers to make the most of their fair use rights.
Kevin Shaw | “Let’s Get This Project Started” Panel
As a director, producer, cinematographer and editor, Kevin Shaw has created award-winning films for prestige platforms. Shaw’s film, Let the Little Light Shine, was nominated for an Emmy Award and a Peabody Award, debuted on PBS’ award-winning series POV, and played at several film festivals and theaters around the country to stellar reception. Shaw’s debut documentary about Basketball Hall of Fame coach Bob Hurley, The Street Stops Here, aired nationally on PBS and ESPN in 2010 to rave reviews. The following year, Shaw’s Big Ten Network short documentary on a quadriplegic trying to regain the ability to walk won the Edward R. Murrow Award for Sports Reporting Excellence. His cinematography talents were recognized in 2015 with a National Sports Emmy for ESPN’s FIFA World Cup Show Opens and Teases. Later that year, Shaw produced a documentary about the relationship between megastar Shaquille O’Neal and his collegiate coach, Dale Brown. Shaq and Dale premiered on ESPN. Shaw was a segment director and cinematographer on America to Me, and additional cinematographer on City So Real, from Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Steve James, where they both debuted at the Sundance Film Festival to critical acclaim and aired on Starz and Hulu respectively. Shaw’s most recent work was the film Linnentown for PBS, the story of an Athens, GA community whose family homes were razed in a 1960s urban renewal project, and now they, along with civic-minded neighbors, unite to try to reclaim their forgotten history and seek redress.
Nevo Shinaar | “How A.I. is Revolutionizing Filmmaking and Post-Production” Panel
Nevo Shinaar (he/him) is a producer and media executive based in Chicago. Nevo’s award-winning films have been nominated and shortlisted at The Academy Awards, shown at film festivals including Sundance, SXSW, AFI Docs and Palm Springs, and acquired by Disney+, HBO Max, POV/PBS, the NY Times and The Criterion Channel. Nevo serves as Head of Development for Mitten Media.
Texas Smith | “With a Little Help from My Friends” Workshop
Texas Smith (they/he) grew up in a town without a movie theater. Now, Texas is an often Chicago-based, Arkansas filmmaker whose films have screened across the world—including Academy-Award Qualifying festivals like Seattle International Film Festival, Atlanta Film Festival, Doc NYC – and on music publications like Pitchfork, Brooklyn Vegan, and more. In 2023, they were invited to study with the Baltic Analog Lab and attended the Telluride Student Symposium. More recently, they received a True/False Confluence Fellowship and attended the CPH:DOX ACADEMY+… In their free time, they’re a Creative Video Producer for the Chicago White Sox. Go Sox.
haydée souffrant | “Documentary Summit” Panel
haydée souffrant is a Chicago-based Haitian American writer, interdisciplinary producer, and film programmer. Her work has included leading artist services programs developing documentary and narrative film, theater and visual performance art centering healing and restorative justice practices for artists of color, educators, youth,and adult audiences. stories probing the intersections of intergenerational trauma healing and cultural legacies. souffrant has served as a film programmer for Chicago Filmmakers’ REELING 2023-2025 Film Festivals; juried for The Gotham, True/False Film Festival, Milwaukee Film Festival, Hot Springs Documentary Film Forum; an Endorser of the DAWG Framework; was the Associate Producer for the 2021 BBC Award winning Audio Drama Unwell: A Midwestern Gothic Mystery and currently serves as the Director of Programs with Kartemquin Films. She is a proud member of Mezcla Media Collective, Brown Girls Doc Mafia, IFA Chicago, and Global Impact Producers Alliance (GIPA).
Michèle Stephenson | “Documentary Summit” Panel
Emmy award-winning filmmaker, artist, and author Michèle Stephenson draws from her Haitian and Panamanian heritage and experience as a social justice lawyer to transform non-fiction storytelling. She creates emotionally powerful narratives of resistance and healing that emphasize the lived experiences of communities of color across the Americas and the Black diaspora. Through a Black Atlantic perspective, Stephenson reimagines storytelling to provoke thought and inspire action against systemic oppression, weaving together fiction, immersive, experimental, and hybrid forms. In 2023, her films Going To Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project and Black Girls Play: The Story of Hand Games were Oscar-shortlisted, with Going To Mars winning the Sundance Grand Jury Prize and the prestigious Emmy Award for Outstanding Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking. Black Girls Play received significant accolades, including the Edward R. Murrow Award for Excellence in Video and Best Short Doc at Tribeca. Her feature American Promise earned three Emmy nominations and won the Jury Prize at Sundance, while Stateless was nominated for a Canadian Academy Award for Best Feature Documentary. Stephenson co-directed The Changing Same, a magical realist VR trilogy that premiered at Sundance’s New Frontier XR Program, won the Tribeca Grand Jury Prize for Best Immersive Narrative, and was Emmy-nominated for Outstanding Interactive Media. In 2024, she received the NYWIFT Nancy Malone Muse Directing Award and is currently in post-production on a feature on the Black Power movement in Canada. She is a Guggenheim Artist Fellow, Creative Capital Artist, and member of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Ryan Summers | “How A.I. is Revolutionizing Filmmaking and Post-Production” Panel
Ryan Summers specializes in crafting in-real-life digital experiences that are equal parts cinematic and strategic. From Warner Bros.’ first hotel in Abu Dhabi (where he delivered a feature film’s worth of animation for under $2M) to Arctic-inspired flagship stores, his work bridges the gap between brand and architecture— translating ethos into environments by fusing cutting-edge tech with a deep curiosity for worldbuilding. Whether working with lifestyle icons like Canada Goose, entertainment giants like Warner Bros., or gaming leaders like Blizzard, he partners with brands ready to create spaces where audiences feel seen, inspired, and part of something bigger. He is currently collaborating with the fine folks at SAROFSKY as their Creative Innovation Lead.
Joe Swanberg | “With a Little Help from My Friends” Workshop
Joe Swanberg is the director of over 20 feature films, including Drinking Buddies and Happy Christmas, and the Netflix series Easy, which he also created and produced. He contributed a segment to the original installment of the hit horror anthology V/H/S. As an actor, Swanberg has appeared in films by Ti West (The Sacrament), Adam Wingard (You’re Next), Josephine Decker (Thou Wast Mild and Lovely), and Mickey Keating (Invader). He co-wrote and produced Dave Franco’s directorial debut The Rental, and has also produced films by Alex Ross Perry, Zach Clark, Lynn Shelton, and Dustin Guy Defa. He is currently in post-production on a untitled romantic comedy/drama starring Dakota Fanning, Jake Johnson and Cory Michael Smith. He lives in Chicago.
Alex Thompson | “Let’s Get This Project Started” Panel
Alex Thompson is an Illinois-based film director, producer, and screenwriter. He directed and produced Saint Frances (2019), which won the Audience and Special Jury Award at the 2019 SXSW Film Festival. His sophomore feature, Rounding, premiered at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival and was recently distributed by Music Box Films. He also produced and co-directed Ghostlight, which opened the Sundance Film Festival in 2024 and was named one of the Top 10 Best Independent Films by the National Board of Review. He has been nominated for the Bingham Ray breakthrough director prize at the Gotham Awards in 2020 and is a two-time nominee of the Cassavetes Award at the Independent Spirit Awards. His fourth and fifth features, Mouse and The Steel Harp, will have their premieres in 2026.
Naeema Jamilah Torres | “With a Little Help from My Friends” Workshop
Naeema Jamilah Torres is an award-winning independent filmmaker, Impact Producer, and cultural worker based in the Chicago area. Drawing on her upbringing in a multigenerational, culturally diverse household, she explores womanhood, complex ethnic identities, and the historical legacies of the Americas through visual and audio storytelling. Her films have screened at the New Orleans Film Festival, San Francisco DocFest, and St. Louis International Film Festival, and she has created storytelling content for social-justice foundations and national brands. Prior to focusing on storytelling full time, Naeema worked in home entertainment for Cinedigm and HBO. She has produced projects supported by ITVS, Frontline, Chicken & Egg Films, and Firelight Media, served as associate producer for The Parole Room podcast—winner of the 2025 George Polk Award—and led impact campaigns for HBO’s Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project and Kartemquin’s Unapologetic. Naeema serves as the Executive Director of Mezcla Media Collective in Chicago, where she advocates for equity, resources, and access for more than 700 BIPOC women and non-binary filmmakers and is a Lecturer in the School of Cinematic Arts at DePaul University.
Mary Trier | Decision-Maker Roundtables
Currently based in Chicago, Mary Trier works primarily on film and television projects, strategically directing independent creators and studios alike through varied matters, whether it be industry norms or complex chain of title issues.Over the years, Mary has cultivated a uniquely comprehensive expertise in the intersecting realms of entertainment’s business and law. She has led business and legal affairs for Lion Forge Animation and Imagine Entertainment alongside Elsa Ramo, guided development for Balboa Productions and Hello Sunshine, provided general counsel for Boardwalk Pictures, Laugh Out Loud Productions, JuVee Productions, and Funny or Die, production legal for Fox and Skydance Media alongside Erika Canchola, and financing legal for BondIt, and has advised independent producers such as About It Films, Balcony 9 Productions, Flexible Films, Handkerchief Films, and Lydia Hearst, among many others.Notable projects include ABC’s The Rookie, New Line’s Shazam!, FX’s Mayans M.C. and The Chi, Netflix’s tick, tick…BOOM! and Hillbilly Elegy, Skydance’s Grace and Frankie, and the films Arkansas starring Vince Vaughn and Liam Hemsworth and The Hating Game starring Lucy Hale and Austin Stowell.
Mary was named in Variety’s “Hollywood New Leaders of 2022,” and is consistently selected as a “Rising Star” in Super Lawyers Magazine. Mary is licensed in California, where she obtained her Juris Doctorate from Southwestern Law School, and Illinois, where she represents Ramo’s Chicago presence and resides with her family.
Naomi Walker | “Documentary Summit” Panel
Naomi Walker coordinates the Global Impact Producers Alliance [GIPA], a network of over 500 impact practitioners in over 50 countries. She advises documentary filmmakers on impact campaigns and distribution strategy. Previously, Naomi served as Outreach Director for several Good Pitch events, in Chicago and New York, and spent 9 years as Engagement Consultant for ITVS, hosting over 80 documentary film screenings in Chicago, followed by discussions, workshops, expos and performances.
Brittani Ward | “Survival Mode” Panel
Brittani Ward is an entrepreneurial filmmaker with 15 years of experience as a casting director, producer, writer, and director. She co-founded 521 Films, under which she directed the feature film Single Car Crashes (Best New Vision, Cinequest; Best Actor, Best of the Midwest) and the Hindu dramedy Out of the House (Best Fiction Short, CSAFF). As a producer, her credits include Desire Lines (NEXT Special Jury Award, Sundance 2024) and Debaters (Sundance 2025). She co-produced Adult Children (Best Ensemble, Bentonville; Best International Film, Galway). Both Debaters and Adult Children make their Chicago premieres at CIFF this year.
In addition to her film career, Brittani is a consultant with Stand & Deliver, where she coaches executives at companies including Google, Microsoft, Cisco, Pfizer, Genentech/Roche, and Caterpillar on high-performance communication. Her unique vantage point, working with independent artists facing precarity and industry contraction while also preparing world-class technical experts who are actively building and deploying AI, has fueled her commitment to resilience, mental health, and purpose-driven leadership.
Brittani has been profiled in DePaul Magazine, named an Alumna of Excellence by her high school, and selected for Newcity’s Film 50: Leaders of Chicago Culture. She lives in Chicago with her pandemic-born daughter, Isla, and her incredible husband, Ryan, whose steadfastness makes the many roles above all possible.
Yvonne Welbon | “Documentary Summit” Panel, Decision-Maker Roundtables
Yvonne Welbon is an award-winning filmmaker and the founder and CEO of the non-profit Sisters in Cinema. She has produced over two dozen critically acclaimed films that have been showcased on PBS, Starz, TV-ONE, Bravo, BET, HBO, Netflix, iTunes, and in more than 100 film festivals worldwide.
Shuling Yong | “Survival Mode” Panel
Shuling Yong is a Singapore-born, Chicago-based award winning documentary filmmaker, DP and Location Sound Mixer with over a decade of experience. She has worked on films like Life After (Sundance, 2025, dir. Reid Davenport), It’s Only Life After All (Sundance, 2023, dir. Alexandria Bombach), Lowndes County and the Road to Black Power (Tribeca, 2022, dir. Geeta Gandbhir and Sam Pollard), Becoming (Netflix, 2020, dir. Nadia Hallgren), The Feeling of Being Watched (Tribeca, 2018, dir. Assia Boundaoui) and And She Could Be Next (Tribeca, 2020, dir. Grace Lee and Marjan Safinia).
Her feature-length directorial debut, Unteachable, a documentary following a young woman on a mission to bring empathy and the joy of learning back into classrooms where students are struggling in the mainstream system, was the first local film to win the Audience Choice Award at the 30th Singapore International Film Festival in 2019. It was selected for Good Pitch² Southeast Asia, the Tribeca Film Institute Network Market and was awarded “Best Pitch” at the CNEX Chinese Documentary Forum. Unteachable went on to make an impact on Singapore’s educational policy and is currently used at Singapore’s only teacher-training college. Shuling’s debut short film, Growing Roots, premiered on the Discovery Channel in 2015.
Shuling is a Kartemquin Films Diverse Voices in Docs Mentor, a participant in the Doc Society Queer Impact Producers Lab, an honoree for DOC NYC’s “40 Under 40” List 2019, and was selected for the Newcity Film 50 Chicago Screen Gems List 2020.
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