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Manasi Ashish
Anuttara
Otis College of Art and Design
I was born on May 2, 1982 in Ahmedabad, India, to Mihir and Rekha Patel. I grew up in a big family where my father has his own business and mother is a house-wife. I graduated from the Mount Carmel Convent High School and studied Arts & Science at M.K Higher Secondary School. I have won medals in sports like Shot-put, relay race as well as cricket and have been a professional folk dancer for 8 years. As I was always interested in Arts and Media, I then attended Seth C.N.College of Fine Arts, Ahmedabad in 2000-2001, to study Graphic Designing. After two years of studying graphic design, I came to USA and joined Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, to pursue my career in film and other aspects of digital media. I graduated from Otis in May 2006 and am looking for some good projects to work on. My personal belief is that “Do not waste yourself in rejection, nor bark against the bad, but chant the beauty of the Good”.
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Xochitl Dorsey
Flor de Naranja
UCLA
Xochitl Dorsey was born in Los Angeles and raised in an immigrant family with strong roots in Mexico. She earned a degree in Latin American Studies and Museum Studies from New York University and is now working towards an MFA in Film Directing & Production at UCLA. She began her career in the media arts in New York City at Women Make Movies, and later went on to work on various film productions, including the HBO feature film “Walkout” and the upcoming PBS documentary “Chicano Rock!” Her films have been exhibited at various film festivals, including the Mill Valley International Film Festival, the Chicago Latino International Film Festival and the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival. She is the recipient of the Jim Morisson Film Award, the AIGA Wordstudio Scholarship and the Motion Picture Association of America Award. In August 2006, she became a finalist in the Mercury Latino Lens Short Film Challenge, a national competition sponsored by the car company and NALIP. She is currently in post-production on her latest short films, “Tears & Tortillas” and (the tentatively titled) “Cheli’s Choice.”
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Chih-Ming Chang
In Search of the Puppeteer
CalArts
Chih-Ming Chang graduated from Cinema and Theater program at Chinese Culture University in Taiwan where he made his first stop-motion animation on 16mm film.
After working in the industry for a short while, he came to the US and studied experimental animation at California Institute of the Arts where he made a few more short animated films. The recent one, In Search of the Puppeteer, was selected and screened at SIGGRAPH Animation Theater. It was also presented at some film festival such as London International Animation Festival and Melbourne International Animation Festival.
Chih-Ming Chang loves animated films and he is working as an animator in Los Angeles now.
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Eric Favela
Disconnected
CalArts
Eric Favela was raised in Tucson, Arizona and has been making artwork
since he was able to grip a crayon. Although spanked as a child for
drawing on the walls, he has continued to pursue the dream of making
art for a living. Eric graduated from CalArts with a bachelor's in
Character Animation, and also utilizes his ever-growing bucket of
crayons for illustrations, caricatures and screenwriting. He is
currently a story artist at Blue Sky studios in New York where he is
not spanked for his efforts, but paid.
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Erick Fefferman
Lights Out
UCLA
After graduating from UC Berkeley with a B.A. in Film Studies, Erick parlayed an internship at George Lucas’ Industrial Light + Magic (ILM) into a Production Coordinator gig. After two years of providing support to visual FX artists and physical production at ILM, Erick returned home to Southern California in 2002 to enter UCLA’s MFA Directing/Production Program. Erick has written, produced and directed numerous short films, including LIGHTS OUT, which has screened and been awarded honors at numerous festivals around the globe.
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Betty Lee Kim
Yasin
USC
Betty Lee Kim was born in Chico, CA, of Korean immigrant parents and grew up in New York City and New Jersey. She received a BFA in painting from Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, then spent five years in New York City, learning the meaning of the term “struggling artist,” before returning to Ithaca to eventually earn her second Cornell degree, an MFA in fiction from CU’s prestigious Creative Writing program. At Cornell she received the Charles Goodwin Sands Memorial Medal for excellence in visual art and the Arthur Lynn Andrews award in fiction. Betty Lee’s varied work background includes stints as an artist’s assistant, teacher, line chef, graphic designer, journalist, and editor. As a graduate student at USC’s School of Cinema-Television, Betty Lee was awarded the 2006 James Bridges Scholarship for merit in directing for her work on “Yasin.” She is thrilled to be finally integrating her interests in the visual and narrative arts as a USC filmmaker. After graduation, she hopes to make her way as a writer, director, and producer for film and television.
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Joy Lee
Doppelganger
CalArts
I grew up in Ansung city, the rural area of Korea. I used to play with sands, stones, ants, and even leeches ( I didn't know what leeches were at that time until my grandfather shout to me to throw them away) But, above all things, my best friend was a imagination. I gave myself a dream world. I made a story in my mind all the time. Stories were from my experience, books, and movies -especially, animations. My imaginations were visually detailed like a cat which has a magical power to see the girl's future has a yellowish blue pupil, and about 50 inch long legs. I started to draw my stories for remembrance sake. That was my beginning to draw. I love to draw ever since. But, I thought making stories and drawing them are just for fun. I realized that is what I really want when I study architecture at university in Korea. I came to Calarts to study animation. I made four short animated films at Calarts. And those films gave me a belief that I love making films. I am working on my new film called "Cookie monster" now. I hope I can make films through my life.
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Josh Look
Asexuality
CalArts
While I grew up as the youngest of three in a very creatively encouraged family, it wasn’t until taking a high school art class that I realized I wanted to be an animator. After graduating I did all I could to find the right path into the industry: I read books, I took classes at the local community college (which resulted in an AA in computer graphics and a flurry of certificates), and I immersed myself in theater for awhile. I’d heard it was an important skill to develop for animators, but it ended up being a 4-year digression into acting. Still, no regrets. Also during this time, I created a short animated film called “The Spectacle” which won “best independently produced computer animation” at the 2000 World Animation Celebration in Hollywood. Based on that film and my hand-drawn work, I was accepted into Calarts the following year. There, I truly began what I expect to be a life-long learning process of animation. After graduating from Calarts last year I went on to help develop a CG pilot for Nickelodeon called “Tak and the Power of Juju,” which has since been picked up and will air sometime in 2007. Since February of this year, I’ve been a story artist on an animated feature called “Jack and Ben” at Laika Studios in Portland, OR. Outside of work I continue to develop my own short projects, and have recently begun writing and developing a feature I hope to someday direct.
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John Morgan
End of a Dog
UCLA
Raised in Minneapolis and Chicago, John Morgan came to film by way of theater. After receiving his BA in Literature from Wheaton College, he then moved to Dallas where he earned an MFA in acting from Southern Methodist University. He subsequently remained in Dallas to co-found Kitchen Dog Theater, a multi award-winning theater company now in its fifteenth year. At UCLA, John has received the Joseph W. Drown Award for Motion Picture Production, The Gerald Hughes Comedy Directing Fellowship, The James Bridges Award in Film Directing, an MPAA Award, and The King Finishing Award. End of A Dog is his pre-thesis film and has garnered UCLA awards for Best Narrative, Best Screenplay and Best Direction of Actors. John is currently in the final stages of finishing his thesis film, “In Memoriam.”
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Elia Petridis
How Henri Came to Stay
USC
Writer-Director Elia Petridis has just received his MFA from the USC School of Cinema-Television in Film Production. He holds a BA from the USC School of Cinema-Television in Critical Studies, as well as a Business Minor from the USC Marshall School of Business. Being a Greek international student that was raised in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, Elia has lived abroad for most of his life and has been exposed to a variety of different cultures, affording him a unique cultural perspective on this project, and a specific vision of the intricacies of British culture that serves as the film’s backdrop. Elia is also an accomplished musician, affording him the insight to bring this story of a piano player’s murder to life in vivid detail.
Recently, with the help of his producing partner Jeff Allen, Elia started Filmatics, a production company that allows him the independence to write, produce, edit, and direct a wide range of projects from music videos to full-length feature films. He currently runs Filmatics from its base in Los Angeles, California.
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Adam Pilkington
Lion
Loyola Marymount University
Adam Pilkington was born and raised in Utah. When he had the chance he left to travel the world. He moved to Hawaii where he earned his Bachelor of Arts in English Literature. He has traveled and lived in many countries including, Israel, Jordan, Zambia, Botswana, Egypt, Ecuador, Peru, Mexico and Spain.
He decided to return to school and recently received his Masters in Film Production from Loyola Marymount University.
Adam now resides in Seal Beach California with his wife of three years, Chante’ and their 5 month old baby boy Merrick. He has been making music videos and documentary films for the last 3 years and is currently raising funds for his first feature length documentary, which he plans to shoot in the spring of 2007.
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John Paul Sawan
Intracorp
CalArts
Ever since I was young, I had quite an excessive imagination. This trait wasn't really encouraged until I attended Providence High school in Burbank, which featured a media program focused on video production. Strangely enough, my first finished project starred Mena Suvari, who eventually played roles in such films as American Beauty. After this period, I took a long hiatus from making videos while working directly with a film producer at Paramount Studios reading scripts and going over potential projects. Eventually, I graduated form UC Irvine with a film studies degree. This curriculum focused on critical analysis and not so much on creating new work. During my years there, I viewed hundreds of films and particularly fell in love with the surrealists, film noir, contemporary Japanese cinema and experimental film. My senior year at UCI, l began to receive support from teachers for my work and I won an award for a music video at the school's festival. By the year's end, I was recognized by the film department as production student of the year. Currently, I am attending Cal Arts as an MFA and much of my work has been frame by frame manipulation somewhere in between film and animation. Many of my ideas begin by analyzing physical principles and their relation to emotional and cognitive states. Such ideas eventually turn into metaphors that guide a narrative.
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Christine Shin
Janie
USC
(Director/Writer/Producer) – Born in Korea, Christine moved to the United States by herself at the age of 16 to follow her dream as a filmmaker. She received her B.A. degrees in Communication Arts and English Literature from University of Wisconsin in Madison and her M.F.A. degree in Production from USC School of Cinema & TV. She was selected to direct a commercial spot, Movie Date, as one of the ten national finalists for 2004 Coca Cola Refreshing Filmmaker's Award Contest. Her next film, Journey, has received Best Actress Award from 2004 Hollywood DV Festival and was screened at various festivals including 2005 Sedona International Film Festival and 2005 Los Angeles Korean International Film Festival. She has been chosen as one of the Honorees for 2005 Project Involve by Film Independent (IFP/LA). She currently lives in Los Angeles with her cat, Clarence. She hopes to tell stories that have heart by pursuing her career in directing and producing.
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Jeff Stephenson
Chasing Daylight
AFI
Jeff’s latest feature film, FLYERMAN, premiered to much acclaim at the Toronto International Film Festival. It was released in North America in June, 2005. It was his second theatrical documentary along with BELLINI’S DRIVE. He also directed a comedy series pilot and a rockumentary for the Crash Test Dummies entitled CRASH TEST DUDE. His films have won numerous international awards and have been broadcast nationally on various networks. Jeff has a Bachelor of Fine Arts Honors Degree in Film Production from York University where his award-winning thesis film, TIME MACHINE, was selected to compete for the Student Academy Awards: Honorary Foreign Film Award. He also has a Masters Degree in Directing from the world-renowned American Film Institute where he directed two multiple award-winning short films, CHASING DAYLIGHT and MOVING IN. Jeff has served as a Chairman and Juror for the Genie and Gemini Awards, Canada’s highest entertainment honors. He also directs music videos and commercials for companies in both Toronto and Los Angeles. He most recently directed music videos for Grammy nominated artist Leigh Nash of Sixpence None The Richer and 3 time Grammy Award-winners Jars of Clay. The making of the latter video was featured on Entertainment Tonight on MTV. Jeff recently completed co-writing and directing a project for Bravo! Network entitled JUST VISITING. He is in the process of casting his first dramatic feature film. In the meantime, he is currently directing a documentary for Bravo! Network entitled HAMLET SOLO: TO BE, OR NOT TO BE? Now Magazine in Toronto, the equivalent of New York’s Village Voice or LA Weekly, recently voted Jeff the #1 Canadian Filmmaker To Look Out For.
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Graham Tallman
Codename: Simon
AFI
Graham received his BA in Film and English Honors at the University of British Columbia and his Masters in Film Directing at the American Film Institute.
In the year after graduation from the undergraduate UBC film program in 2000, Graham wrote, directed, and edited his short film LOLLIPOPS about a young girl who must choose between 'mom' or 'dad' in their divorce-torn family. LOLLIPOPS premiered at the 2001 Toronto International Film Festival and went on to play over 30 international festivals, winning several awards including a Special Jury Prize at the Huesca Film Festival in Spain that made it eligible for an Academy Award.
Graham then attended the American Film Institute. His thesis graduating short film CODENAME:SIMON won such awards as the Angelus Student Film Award and WorldFest Houston Gold Jury Prize, screened in the Windrider Forum at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival, and has been accepted to over 30 international festivals.
Graham went on to become a semi-finalist in Esquire Magazine's Celluloid Style Film Competition. He has several feature projects in active development at production companies, and is currently writing a feature adaptation of a comic book series for 20th Century Fox.
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Jonathan Wald
Lillian and I
UCLA
Originally from Palo Alto, California, Jonathan Wald first came to Australia on a Fulbright Award to study at the Australian Film Television and Radio School. The short film he made there, Lillian & I, won a Silver Remi at Worldfest Houston, Best Short, Direction, and Cinematography at the Student Film Festival in Santiago, Chile, and was nominated for a Golden Gate Award at the San Francisco International Film Festival. Jonathan's three previous shorts, made as part of his directing MFA at UCLA Film School, have between them screened at over 70 festivals around the world. In My Secrecy (1999, 16mm, 8 mins) won a Cine Eagle Award and the Best Narrative Short Award at the Reel Affirmations Festival; Just Out Of Reach (1998, 16mm, 3 mins) was a finalist in the Independent Film Channel's National Student Shorts Competition; while Lives of the Pharaohs
(2001, 16mm, 15 mins) won the Audience Award for Narrative at the Planetout Queer Shorts Competition and was purchased by the Sundance Channel. In addition, Jonathan produced Carl Pfirman's Student Academy Award-winning short film The Confession.
Jonathan's most recent film, the 30 minute drama What Grown-Ups Know, has been accepted at nearly 100 international film festivals, including Slamdance, Montreal World, and Hof International; it's won several jury awards for best short, including Best Foreign Film at the Gotham Film Festival. It's available on short film DVD compilations in France and Germany, and screened for a year and a half on Here TV. The film is distributed by Big Film Shorts.
In addition to making films, Jonathan teaches, works in theatre and writes poetry, fiction, essays, and reviews.
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Joe Hill White
Prayers from Kawthoolei
Loyola Marymount University
Joe Hill White was born in Washington, D.C and raised in Virginia. He recieved a BA in Communications from American University and worked as a digital artist in Atlanta and Los Angeles before attending grad school at Loyola Marymount University where he recieved an MFA in film production. Presently, he is a freelance artist, editor, and budding writer/director.
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