About the Filmmaker

In the mid-90s, my father gave me a hi-8 video camera. Since then, I've been creating short films. During high-school I worked at a video store where  I had the opportunity to see many movies and eat free popcorn. Eventually, I became obsessed with the work of Stanley Kubrick. 

I decided to go to film school at Loyola Marymount University where I've enjoyed the opportunity to work with many fine people and create more short films.

My newest short, "Idiot Box" won Best Film at the Film Outside the Frame Awards at the DGA after I premiered it at the Palm Springs ShortFest. It also screened in Film Independent's Cinema Lounge and at the Lateral Movement Festival in Australia.

I strive to make films that are fun and nutritious, but most importantly honest. Visit http://www.milkmanfilms.com to stay tuned.

About the Filmmaker

Alexandra Fisher was born in Paris, France to Swedish/Australian parents. She was raised in Zurich, Switzerland speaking four languages. She has a BA in Drama from the University of Bristol in England and an MFA in Film Directing from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Strongly influenced by her theatre background, Alexandra has written and directed four short films: "Good Morning", "Ice Cream", "Parthenabe" and most recently "Desert Wedding". Alexandra's films have screened all over the world. Her acclaimed film "Ice Cream" has won multiple awards while "Parthenabe" was awarded 1st Place at the Student Emmys in the Best Drama category. "Desert Wedding" recently won Honorable Mention for Best Student Film directed by a woman from the Director's Guild of America (DGA). She lives in Santa Monica, CA.

About the Filmmaker

Barrett Hilton comes from a small farming and mining community in rural central Utah where he spent his childhood either exploring the beautiful Utah countryside or watching TV. In school Barrett developed intense interest in drawing, painting, music and theater. In high school he was an active member of the drama program, and later studied acting at central Utah's Snow College before transferring to Brigham Young University.

It was at BYU that Barrett developed a passion for writing, and he graduated with a double major in English and Media Arts with an emphasis in creative writing in both programs. He also learned film production basics at BYU and directed his first narrative film based on a short script for which he won first place at a local screenwriting competition.

Barrett married his wife, Katie in the fall of 2001 while attending school and working as a social worker for people with mental disabilities. Barrett and Katie along with their two young daughters are loving life in Los Angeles where Barrett is pursuing an MFA in film production from Loyola Marymount University. Barrett recently won best director and best screenwriter at LMU's Film Outside the Frame competition for his short film "The Pickerell Kids".

About the Filmmaker

At the age of five Trish saw her path in showbiz carved out before her upon seeing Carol Channing in "Hello, Dolly!". Trish studied acting from that day on (seriously) until she found herself as a theatre student at Northwestern University, where she discovered she preferred telling other people what to do (directing).

At Northwestern, she directed exercises of Artaudian cruelty, original plays, and a couple of musicals while producing, stage managing and artistic directing for Vertigo Productions. After graduating, she headed to Hollywood to "show 'em all how this directing thing is done". But they wanted to show her instead. So she watched from the sidelines while being everything from Editorial PA to Post Coordinator on such features as Jet Li's The One, XXX, Seabiscuit, Bad Santa, and Finding Neverland.

Somewhere in there she spent time in Ohio where she sold cheese at a fancy deli and got a degree in audio engineering while living in a bat-infested apartment in the middle of nowhere. But the urge to direct returned, and thus began the journey to get her MFA in Production at USC. While there, she has directed, written, produced and sound designed a number of films. She continues to explore the human condition and is learning that it can be really humorous.

About the Filmmaker

Ryan Coogler is a second year graduate student in USC's School of Cinematic Arts MFA Production Program. A Richmond, CA native, Ryan did his Undergraduate work at Sacramento State University where he also played on the football team. After his first semester at USC, Ryan was named a 2008 recipient of the National Association of Theater Owners (NATO) scholarship for achievement in directing.

About the Filmmaker

Originally from the Chicago area, Brooke completed her MFA in Film Production at the USC's School of Cinematic Arts in May 2008. Previously, Brooke served as Production Executive for Northwood Productions, and oversaw delivery on the film CAKE, which aired on Lifetime in February 2006. She also worked as an assistant for actress Heather Graham's production company, Beech Tree Films, and as an in-house script analyst for Lakeshore Entertainment. She earned a BA in American Studies with honors at Stanford University.

In 2008, Brooke joined House of Waterman for music video representation. Her music video work has been featured on The Daily Reel, as well as HDFest.com. She has also created web commercials for the website XlntAds.com, where her work has been named as an "Editor's Pick" and awarded seed financing. She is currently freelancing as a production designer, animator, and director.
http://www.brookephanson.com

About the Filmmaker

Sunha Yoon graduated CalArts in summer of 2008. Her interest in art and science began at home in her early age. She used to draw and paint with her mom and discuss science projects with her dad. Early exposure to art and science leads her to further study in biology and, finally, study in films majoring in Animation at CalArts.

While she was attending CalArts, Sunha made 4 short animated films, which all brought different opportunities and award experiences to her. She's been working as an animator at a motion graphic company and animation studio, July Films. Sunha also participated in developing new products for Swarovski 2009 Lovlots collection. As a member of development team, she designed on of the crystal character products for their 2009 cat collections. Currently she is also working on a documentary film about Chinese Cultural Revolution as an animator.

About the Filmmaker

Hezekiah L. Lewis III (director), a native Californian, is a graduate of UCLA's prestigious film school with his MFA in Directing. While attending UCLA, Lewis completed two second year films, Curtain Call and Memoirs of a Smoker, which went above and beyond the requirements for the MFA program. Lewis also went the extra mile for his thesis film, Warrior Queen, which he filmed on location in Ghana, Africa. The film tells the story of Yaa Asantewaa, a Ghanaian queen who led her people in a courageous battle for freedom against the British in the early 1900s.

Before entering UCLA's film school Lewis attended Villanova University on a football scholarship. He was a three-year starter and co-captain, receiving all-conference and all-academic honors from 1995-2000. He was the co-founder and artistic director of the Villanova Television Station. He also directed a documentary about Leroy Jones entitled The Life and Mind of Leroy Jones and a short narrative entitled Me. Lewis then received a Presidential Fellowship to attend Villanova's graduate school and completed a Master's degree in Theatre in 2002. He played many roles in various theatrical productions including: Peter in "Passion of the Christ," Storyteller/Snake in "Children of Eden" and Papa Ge in "Once on This Island," for which he was nominated for the Irene Ryan Award for Best Actor.

He is the co-founder of Ekiah Productions as well as Umoja Productions, the company with which he produced and starred in Athol Fulgard's "Blood Knot" at Philadelphia's Walnut Street Studio 5. Within the Philadelphia community, Hezekiah has been a workshop leader and actor for the Philadelphia Young Playwrights where he taught children how to develop stage plays. He also co-founded C.A.T.S. (Community Action Through Sports), a youth organization created to help children formulate positive goals in life. He is currently a film professor at Villanova University, his alma mater

About the Filmmaker

Eliza Ivanova is completing her BFA3 in character animation at Calarts, California. She has an eight-year background in intense fine-arting, drawing and exhibiting in Bulgaria, where she is from. She had a one-man show in the National Art Gallery in Bulgaria in 2001, and several other shows with a variety of artists. Apart from making her 2D animated films, Eliza continues developing her fine art skills and experimental film work. She has done work for comic books,TV advertising, and music & theater projects.

About the Filmmaker

The son of refugees from the war in Vietnam, Roland Nguyen was the first Vietnamese baby born in North Dakota.  Although he grew up in an exclusively English-speaking community, Roland developed a near-native proficiency of his family's mother tongue by watching thousands of hours of Vietnamese-dubbed Hong Kong martial arts television serials as a child.

In 2002, Roland left his job as a management consultant to write a martial arts novel set in historical Vietnam. He then set off to travel the land where the story took place. The journey changed his life, and upon returning to the US at the end of2003, Roland knew that his mission was to share his passion for the stories of Asia through the moving image.  He is currently an MFA candidate at the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts.

About the Filmmaker

Avital Shalev was born and raised on Kibbutz Beit-Hashita in the northern region of Israel. After serving her two-years military service in the Israeli Defense Forces, Avital moved to Los Angeles to pursue a BA in film directing at UCLA. While waiting to be accepted into the program, Avital worked for a respected post-production house, where she was introduced into both the creative and financial world of the American Film and Television industry. A recent graduate, Avital aspires to continue her creative quest in the film industry as both Director and Producer.