Program Book 2019
April 6, 2022
2019
IPDF 2019 WINNERS
February 27, 2020
7th International Project Discovery Forum @ The Egyptian Theatre
June 3-9, 2019
IPDF AWARD
Elina Psykou
Patrimonial Fears and other symptoms
Honorable mention
Telemachos Alexiou
The Voice of an Angel
MFI Scholarship
Cat Papadimitriou
Zagorohorror
IPDF 2019 EXPERTS
February 26, 2020
7th International Project Discovery Forum @ Egyptian Theatre
June 3-9, 2019
Stelios Aletraris (NARRATIVE IN VR PANEL) is a Senior Analyst in the Structured Finance Advisory Services of Ernst & Young LLP and works for the Collateralized Loan Obligations (CLO) group. Prior to joining EY, Stelios received his B.S. in Computer Science from City University London and an M.S in Management and Systems from New York University. Stelios was born and raised in Cyprus where he served a two-year mandatory military service guarding the demilitarized Buffer Zone (i.e. Green Line) that was established after the Turkish invasion in 1974 between the Republic of Cyprus and the Turkish troops. However, it was not until his year-long internship, after his undergraduate studies, at the United Nations Headquarters in New York that Stelios along with four childhood friends decided to show the world what in lies in the Buffer Zone, stagnated, for the last 45 years. With the help of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force and a local university, this became a reality and the result was an award-winning six-minute Virtual Reality documentary.
Alethea C. Avramis (NARRATIVE IN VR PANEL) is a creative producer, writer/director, and TEDx speaker who works at the intersection of immersive and traditional media. She is currently the LA-based Creative Producer of French immersive content studio Atlas V, and a Content Director for immersive arts entertainment company Meow Wolf. Recently, she was on the creative team of the Sundance 2019 selection GLOOMY EYES, narrated by Colin Farrell. In 2018 she was on the producing teams of VR experiences BATTLESCAR (Sundance and Tribeca 2018), VESTIGE (Tribeca 2018), and SPHERES: SONGS OF SPACETIME, winner of the Golden Lion at the 2018 Venice FF.
Ioannis Bekiaris (NARRATIVE IN VR PANEL) completed his studies as a Computer Scientist in Thessaloniki, Greece. While growing up in Cyprus, Ioannis has always been intrigued about what lies within the restricted area of the Green Line, a no-man’s land spanning the entirety of the island. Along with four childhood friends he decided to enter this no-man’s land –through official channels- in order to record it and share it with the world. Ioannis co-directed the six-minute documentary ΤΗΕ GREEN LINE and what originally began as a hobby, quickly transformed into an obsession about filming the Green Line in Virtual Reality in order to transport the viewer within this highly-restricted area.
Chris Charalambous (FILM FINANCING PANEL) serves as Head of Acquisitions for Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures, Freestyle Releasing, and Freestyle Digital Media. He is a known fixture on the international market and festival circuit including Cannes, Berlin, Tribeca, and Sundance. His recent theatrical releases include 47 METERS DOWN (the #2 Highest Independent Box Office release of 2017), HOSTILES, CHAPPAQUIDDICK (Executive Producer), GOD’S NOT DEAD (the #2 Highest Independent Box Office release of 2014), CAKE, and SAMSARA. Before joining Freestyle in 2009, Chris worked as a production and development executive at MGM Studios and Irish DreamTime.
Wasef El-Kharouf (NARRATIVE IN VR PANEL) is a mixed reality specialist, creative producer, and director in film and interactive media. He focuses on creating highly immersive, narrative-based experiences using a holistic world-building approach for engaging storytelling and unique perspectives. El-Kharouf cut his teeth in immersive design while pursuing his MFA at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts assuming roles at Alex McDowell’s World Building Media Lab and Mark Bolas’ MxR Studio.He went on to play an instrumental role bring to life the legendary rock band Queen’s BOHEMIAN RAPSODY in virtual reality for producer Google Play and currently consults and produces for high-end clients operating in the immersive space.
Camilla Grove (ONE-ON-ONE MEETINGS) started out working on documentaries in the midwest and New York. Since then she has worked at Relativity Media, Black Bear Pictures (IMITATION GAME) and is now working at Matt Tolmach Productions (JUMANJI, SPIDERMAN) in film and TV.
Shalina Grover (JURY) works in film and TV in the NBCUniversal Film & Entertainment Group and previously worked in film packaging and sales at United Talent Agency. Prior to that, she was an analyst at Lionsgate and started her career working on indie films in New York.
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Pavel Jech (SCREENPLAY FEEDBACK) is a cinematographer born in Prague, Czechia. He also works internationally as a screenwriter for film and television. He is currently chair of the Film Division at Chapman University, and former dean of FAMU, Prague. He frequently mentors at the MFI in Greece and other European workshops.
Krysanne Katsoolis (FILM FINANCING PANEL) is the CEO and founder of Viewpark Media which has made recent deals with Francis Ford Coppola’s American Zoetrope. Most recently, Katsoolis founded the public company Liquid Media Group which she uplisted to NASDAQ. In 2012, she founded Cargo Entertainment which financed and produced over a dozen films including ZIPPER with Patrick Wilson, and ANGRIEST MAN IN BROOKLYN with Robin Williams and Mila Kunis. As a founding partner of Cactus Three, she produced over 30 award-winning films including the Academy Award-Winner THE COVE. She was the former Former Head of Acquisitions for the NASDAQ venture WinStar which acquired over 3,000 films. She began her career in business and legal affairs for Miramax.
Christopher Kikis (FILM FINANCING PANEL) is the CEO and Co-founder of Emerald Peak Entertainment which develops intellectual property and acquires portfolios of existing brands. He acquired the rights to NOAH’S PARK from Lionsgate Entertainment and developed it for world sales with Amazon Prime and Monster Entertainment in addition to 20 other children’s properties. As Co-founder and President of Ovie Entertainment, Kikis produced the SXSW award-winning documentary DARKON. Kikis has been in the business for over 30 years and brings a talent of skills ranging from creative producer, executive producer, presenter, international impresario, marketing, and sales. As an independent producer Kikis’ mandate is to look for and develop new and emerging talent and has been involved with such films as BOOSTER and other indie darlings.
Alexia Kyriakopoulos (NARRATIVE IN VR PANEL) holds an MPS in Interactive Technology and a BS in Marketing Communications and Psychology. After graduating from Emerson College in Boston, she started working for FOX Digital Studio. During graduate school at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, she developed a passion for storytelling through new media and has since focused on creating VR and AR experiences. Her first VR interactive documentary NORMAL DAY, is based on the life of a breast cancer patient, and has received several distinctions in FFs around the world. Kyriakopoulos is currently working on her new interactive VR Film SYGNOMI which explores the subject of domestic abuse and is a Creative Producer at ARVORE Immersive Experiences.
Ana Leocha (ONE-ON-ONE MEETINGS) is a junior executive at Tango Entertainment, an LA-based production company, and financier with the mission to be nimble and story driven. She has previously worked in literary management at the Gotham Group and, prior to that, spent three years working in music management and marketing for touring artists.
Douglas Lowell (FILM FINANCING PANEL) is a well-regarded entertainment financial consultant having enjoyed an extensive career in operations, distribution, and finance. Mr. Lowell has worked with leading bank and law firms servicing the entertainment industry. His current and past consulting clients include Freestyle Digital Media, Independent International Television, Radiant Films, Starz Entertainment, and Morgan Creek. He has been quoted in The Economist, Business Week, Forbes, and many other leading magazines and newspapers.
Dan Lupovitz (JURY) is a LA based producer who works internationally. With projects in the UK, Spain, Denmark, Australia and South Africa, as well as the US, Dan has developed the rare identity as an American producer with an expertise in international coproductions. His credits include HUNKY DORY, DEATH DEFYING ACTS, GOOD and SIMPATICO.
Vangelis Lympouridis (NARRATIVE IN VR PANEL) is part-time faculty at the Viterbi School of Engineering at USC teaching VR and Mixed Reality at USC Games, and a visiting scholar at the School of Cinematic Arts and the Creative Media and Behavioral Health Center. He is also the Chief Design Officer at Applied VR overseeing R&D and Production of a series of medical VR products. As the founder of Enosis, he worked with Google and Queen to produce the Bohemian Rhapsody VR Experience, an early day’s interactive music VR piece for Google Cardboard. Vangelis holds a Ph.D. in Whole Body Interaction from the University of Edinburgh and has a diverse background in Fine Arts, Interactive Media, Design and Engineering.
Christian Meoli (FILM FINANCING PANEL) is CEO of Voltaire Media, a full-service entertainment and media services company based in Hollywood, CA. He offers an unparalleled perspective on the entertainment industry, bringing more than 30 years of experience with a formidable background in marketing, theatrical exhibition (currently owns and operates ARENA CINELOUNGE movie theaters in Hollywood), and special events. Meoli’s Voltaire Media specializes in strategic marketing concepts, digital engagement, social media, and brand identity development for entertainment companies.
John Nein (ONE-ON-ONE MEETINGS) is a Senior Programmer at the Sundance Film Festival where he has worked since 2001, dealing primarily with American and international feature films as well as the festival’s panel conversations. He curates Sundance Institute’s film preservation initiative, the Sundance Collection at UCLA. John grew up in Europe and the United States, studied history as an undergraduate at Carleton College and earned his MFA in Film Directing from the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. He is also the curator/host of the Library Foundation of Los Angeles’ popular film culture conversation series Lost & Found At The Movies at the downtown Central Library. He lives and works in Los Angeles.
Dorothea Paschalidou (JURY) is a Los Angeles based producer from Greece, with an MFA from USC’s Peter Stark Producing Program and a BA in Film in London. After being Head of Development, Paschalidou now is a Producer for Hyperion Media – a financing and production company (I’LL SLEEP WHEN I’M DEAD, MAGGIE’S PLAN, MEDITERRANEA). She is also producing a historical Docu-Series starring Peter Stormare. She recently was the talent producer on Lionsgate’s series, SWEDISH DICKS, starring Keanu Reeves and Peter Stormare. She has also worked for producer Bob Shaye, and served as the executive assistant to the Chairman & CEO of 20th Century Fox. In 2014 she produced her first feature film, WORLDS APART, starring J.K. Simmons. Paschalidou worked as a Creative Producer at Justin Lin’s YOMYOMF Network on projects including notable YouTubers. Before that, she was with Alexander Payne’s Ad Hominem Enterprise.
Karolina Peysakhov (ONE-ON-ONE MEETINGS) works at the LA-based film and television production company, Blue Harp. She has previously worked in film finance, packaging, and sales at United Talent Agency, and at the San Francisco FF prior to that.
Marisé Samitier (SCREENPLAY FEEDBACK) is a director/screenwriter born in Spain and currently resides in Los Angeles. She graduated with an MFA in Screenwriting from UCLA. and is an alumna of the American Film Institute’s Directing Workshop for Women. Her films have garnered multiple awards. and her action thriller AFRICAN HARVEST is currently in pre-production. Samitier works as a development consultant for Spanish production company Áralan Films, and is currently working on two projects: a romantic-thriller called A FISTFUL OF ASHES (chosen to the Maison des Scenaristes in Cannes 2019) and psychological-thriller called METEORA. She is a member of Women-in-Film, European-Women-Filmmakers, Alliance of Women Directors, and WGA.
Jeff Stockwell (GROUP INTRO) is an instructor and mentor of the Screenwriting Lab at Film Independent, Global Media Makers and American Film Showcase screenwriting workshops in LA and across the Middle East. His credits as a screenwriter include: THE DANGEROUS LIVES OF ALTAR BOYS, produced by Jodie Foster; WILDER DAYS, Disney’s BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA and A WRINKLE IN TIME. In 2016 he worked as a writer at Disney’s Pixar Animation Studios.
David Streit (JURY) is a film producer, consultant, and documentarian whose resume includes JURASSIC PARK 3, SPECIES, RIVER’S EDGE, DEEP COVER, and INTERNAL AFFAIRS. He taught at the American Film Institute for over a decade and his films have been to major FFs.
David grew up partly overseas, and cultural differences have always fed his curiosity. He began his career producing on ROCKERS, a film shot in Jamaica, which later premiered at Cannes. David’s passion for film has not wavered since. He still mines cultural differences for dramatic opportunities in storytelling.
Elia Urquiza (SCREENPLAY FEEDBACK) is a filmmaker and independent producer based in Los Angeles. She is one of the founding partners of La Panda Productions, a creative collective formed by a group of bilingual directors, writers and producers, which has developed an array of internationally acclaimed independent films such as Carlos Marques Marcet 10,000 KM and ANCHOR AND HOPE, NOBODY’S WATCHING, OPEN WINDOWS, 70 BINLADENS and Urquiza’s own NEXT, among many others.
Jenn Wilson (JURY) received her MA in Film Studies from Chapman University and her BA in theatre from Illinois State University. She worked as Senior Programmer with the LAFFl for 10 years, and now works as a programmer for the screening series, Film Independent Presents, as well as FIND Future Filmmakers – a curated day of screenings and programs for high school filmmakers. She also currently co-manages the Film Independent Spirit Awards nomination process, programs and moderates the Film Independent Conversation Series “The Conversation.” This year, Jenn programmed with the Bentonville Film Festival, AFI Docs, and Outfest.
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IPDF 2019 FILMMAKERS
February 26, 2020
7th International Project Discovery Forum @ Egyptian Theatre
June 3-9, 2019
Telemachos Alexiou (THE VOICE OF AN ANGEL, Director) was born on the island Evia in Greece. At 17, he moved to London to study Communication and Visual Culture at the London Metropolitan University. After that, he moved on to Berlin to study Film Theory at Freie Universität and started working as a freelance filmmaker and video artist. His works have been shown at the Berlin IFF, Thessaloniki IFF, Arsenal Institute for Film and Video Art, Human Resources Los Angeles, the Temporärer Kunsthalle Berlin, HAU Berlin, and the Mumbai IFF.
Artemis Anastasiadou (BELONGINGS, Director) is a versatile director from Greece, working across genres in comedy and drama. Her directorial work has been screened at SXSW, Austin FF, Athens IFF, and others. Before transitioning to film directing, Anastasiadou was a professional editor for film and TV in Greece. She has edited many award-winning short films, documentaries, and TV shows commissioned by the Greek Film Centre, ERT SA & Microfilm Program, ARTE, Vice-Greece, and others. Anastasiadou holds a BFA in Drama & Theater Studies from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and an MFA in Film & Media Production from the University of Texas at Austin. She has also directed short films in Greece, UK, Denmark and USA.
Berrak Çolak (EVERYTHING IN ITS RIGHT PLACE, Director) received her BA and MA degrees on Film and Television Studies from Istanbul Bilgi University. Her graduation film, BIRGÜNBIRGÜNBIR(..)EVDEGELMIŞKIMSEYOK, was named Best Short Film by SIYAD (Turkish Film Critics Association). She worked as an assistant director on Reha Erdem’s JIN, SINGING WOMEN and various commercials. Following an academic career at Istanbul Bilgi University’s Film and Television Department, she shot her second short film, NEDRET GETS LOST FOR A DAY, which was selected for competition at Adana IFF. Her in-development feature-length film project, EVERYTHING IN ITS RIGHT PLACE, won Transilvania Pitch-Stop Award at Istanbul IFF Meetings on the Bridge, Pitching Platform Award and Villa Kult Cultural Residency Award at Antalya Film Forum, and MFI Script 2 Film Workshop Award at Thessaloniki IFF Crossroads Co-Production Forum.
Fisnik Maxhuni (THE LAND WITHIN ME, Director) was born in Kosovo, ex-Yugoslavia. He wrote and directed his first short films during his studies at the University of Geneva and King’s College, London. He has a masters in Film Studies from ECAL / HEAD in Switzerland. His film, LOST EXILE, was presented at the 2016 Locarno FF where it was awarded the “’Cinema & Gioventù” Jury Prize. In 2017, he founded Visceral Films. Since then, he has produced and directed the films LA VALLÉE HEUREUSE and ZVICRA. Currently, he is writing THE LAND WITHIN ME, his first fiction feature-length film. The project has received pitching awards, prizes, and grants while still being in development.
Cat Papadimitriou (ZAGOROHORROR, Director) is a Bronx born, Brooklyn based filmmaker with a background in fine arts. She attended Laguardia High School for the Arts, and later majored in filmmaking with a concentration on screenwriting at the School of Visual Arts.
As a camera operator, Cat has shot three short documentary films for the PBS series Films ByKids, two of which she also produced. Cat’s first feature film as director/writer/producer, NIA ON VACATION, is currently being submitted to festivals. The film was funded entirely through crowdsourcing and a finishing grant from the New York State Council on the Arts. She produced and directed a short film in November 2018 that is currently in post-production. Working in various genres, Cat focuses on deeply ambivalent characters, and attempts to tell stories subtle in their structure, with dark humor ever present.
Elina Psykou (PATRIMONIAL FEARS AND OTHER SYMPTOMS, Director) was born in Greece where she studied filmmaking and sociology. Her first feature, THE ETERNAL RETURN OF ANTONIS PARASKEVAS, premiered at the Berlinale and participated in more than 40 international festivals. During that same year, the trade publication Variety listed her as one of the “10 European Directors to Watch,” and in 2014, she won the first-time director award from the Hellenic Film Academy. Her second feature, SON OF SOFIA, was selected for the 2013 Berlinale Residency program and the 2014 Berlinale Co-Production Market. It premiered at Tribeca FF and won the Best International Narrative Feature Award. It also won 5 awards of the Hellenic Film Academy, including best feature film, best director and best screenplay. PATRIMONIAL FEARS AND OTHER SYMPTOMS was presented at the 2019 Berlin Co-production Market.
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SELECTED 2019 PROJECTS
February 26, 2020
7th International Project Discovery Forum @ Egyptian Theatre June 3-9, 2019
BELONGINGS
Writer/Director: Artemis Anastasiadou
Country: Greece
Upon the death of her mom, Vicky finds herself with no house, job or purpose; an exile in her own land. When she spots her mom’s favorite vintage couch on a scavenger’s market, she will embark on a quest to re-track her family belongings as a last attempt to keep her mom’s memory alive.
EVERYTHING IN ITS RIGHT PLACE
Writers: Berrak Çolak & Engin Palabiyik
Director: Berrak Çolak
Producer: Engin Palabiyik & Müge Öze
Country: Turkey
Production Company: Harikulade Film
Nedret faces losing her sweet lifestyle after the disappearance of her husband, and finds herself in uncharted territory when she invites a woman from her past back in her life.
PATRIMONIAL FEARS AND OTHER SYMPTOMS
Writer/Director: Elina Psykou
Producers: Maria Drandaki & Konstantinos Vassilaros
Country: Greece
Production Company: Homemade Films & StudioBauhaus
Widower Dinos seeks company. Lakis is about to lose his professional status as a magician. Konstantinos’ wife has gone missing. Three chubby generations deal with love and fear, while Copperfield attempts to make the Acropolis disappear.
THE LAND WITHIN ME
Writer/Director: Fisnik Maxhuni
Producer: Britta Rindelaub, Jasmin Basic
Country: France, Switzerland, Kosovo
Production Company: AlvaFilm Production
Winter, 2008. After years of exile in Geneva, Val returns to his home country Kosovo where the exhumation of a mass grave forces him to deal with vile secrets from the past.
THE VOICE OF AN ANGEL
Writers: Panayotis Evangelidis & Telemachos Alexiou
Director: Telémachos Alexiou
Producer: Anja Wedell, Fenia Cossovitsa
Country: Germany, Greece, Bulgaria
Production Company: CZAR
A Greek actor living in Berlin returns to Athens following his father’s death. Broke and aimless, he starts performing at a drag-queen bar impersonating his deceased mother, legendary singer Avana. His success leads to an unexpected encounter, which will not only reveal secrets about his family but also force him to face his innermost traumas.
ZAGOROHORROR
Writer/Director: Cat Papadimitriou
Producer: Cat Papadimitriou
Country: Greece
Production Company: Yes & No Pictures
A scholar tries to focus on her work in rural Greece, but the ancient spirits of the region are intent on reminding her that she is still a woman.
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LAGFF Jury 2019
February 23, 2020
13th Los Angeles Greek Film Festival
June 3-9, 2019
Allen Evenson-An accomplished, Artist, Director, Marketer, Producer, Instructor,Technician and Business partner. Allen has created original, movies, musicals,touring shows, national television specials, screenplays and a successful regionaltheatre company, he is loyal and insightful in allof his areas of expertise. His abilityto adapt to all situations is what has allowed him to succeed for so long in ahistorically difficult business
Andres Torres-Vives is a professor, artist and award-winning filmmaker whose films have played at numerous festivals. Along with being a J. William Fulbright and Jacob K. Javits Scholar, Torres-Vives has won awards from the MPAA, the Jack Nicholson Directing Award, the National Endowment for the Arts, the California Arts Council, the San Diego Commision for Arts andCulture, along with multiple awards from the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts. He has aired work for the BBC, PRI, and KCET Los Angeles. Torres-Vives is a professor and head of theFilm-Directing track at The Herberger Insitute for Design and the Arts and the School of Transborder Studies at Arizona State Universiity (ASU).
Carol Damgenholds an MFA in Writing for the Performing Arts from UC Randis a full time faculty member with California State University, San Bernardino’s Theatre Arts department. She has won numerous Inland Theatre League Awards. Recently taking home awards for her performance in the Redlands Theatre Festival’s production of Circle Mirror Transformation and as director for Theatrical Art Foundation’s production ofBeauty and the Beast. As a freelance director, she has presented many modern and classic productions, such as: Fiddler on the Roof, The Great Gatsby, God of Carnage, Into the Woods, The Music Man, Noises Off and To Kill a Mockingbird to name a few. She is a member of: Screen Actors Guild, AFTRA, the Dramatists Guild and Vice Chair for the National Playwriting Program for the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. Carol earned two Kennedy Center Regional Awards for direction and playwriting. Notably, her latest prizewinning film, Human Resources is currently touring the National and International Film Festivals. Currently, Carol is in UCLA’s “Acting for the Camera Professional Program”, graduating in June. As a writer, her three original shows, The Twists and Turns of Edgar Allan Poe, Jackie Robinson: An American Dream and Grimm Tales were produced at CSUSB. Carol is a resident director for Ovation Entertainment GroupInc., based at the Historic California Theatre.
Cinematographer and Professor, Charles Swanson’s creative work includes the award-winning short films, Rain, I’d Rather Be Dancing, and Tia and Marco. As a Cinematographer Charles has also photographed the feature films Girl’s Best Friend, From Barbados With Love, Contradictions of the Heart, This is Not a Test, and Small Beautifully Moving Parts, the later premiered at the 2011 South by Southwest Film Festival and also screened at the Mill Valley, New Orleans, Denver, Hamptons and Atlanta Film Festivals. The film also earned the 2011 Sloan Award for most creative portrayal of technology in a film.) Charles has taught Cinematography and Filmmaking at Loyola Marymount University’s School of Film and Television since 2003 where he Chaired the Production department for eight years and recently earned full professor.
James P Axiotis is a Greek Native who has worked in Television and Film for over 40 years. He has feature film credits, including “The Bridges of Madison County”, “The Puppet Master”, and “The Postman Always Rings Twice”. In Television, he has also worked in both scripted and non-scripted (reality) shows such as “Hell’s Kitchen”, “American Grit”, “Home Free”, “Audience Music”, “America’s Most Wanted”, “Undeniable with Joe Buck”, “Cold Case Files”, and “NBC Nightly News”. He has worked with celebrities such as Clint Eastwood, Keith Urban, Jennifer Lopez, John Cena, and Darius Rucker, and artists like Imagine Dragons, Lorde, and Kelsea Ballerini. He has also worked with athletes such as Shaun White, Alex Rodriguez, and John Mcenroe. Most recently, he worked on a show with Sofia Vergara for Facebook. James is a member of the Producers Guild of America who serves on the National Board. He is also a member of the Television Academy and was a judge for the local Los Angeles Emmy awards and the College Awards. James is a proud member of Order of AHEPA and the Greek American Foundation.
Joseph Henson is an experienced producer, writer and director of numerous film, television and stage productions for over 30 years.
Feature films include Court of Appeals (Writer/Director) The Invisible Man (Producer/Writer/Lead Director), The Enchanted Cottage (Lead Director,Producer Writer, Winner F.A.M.E. US International Film Fest, Riverside International Film Festival, Noho International Film Festival), Lady Windermere’s Fan (Producer, Lead Director), W.I.B. (Producer), Shadows (Producer, Director, Writer).
Writing credits for feature films, The Invisible Man, The Enchanted Cottage (Anthony Rhine co-author) and Shadows Anthony Rhine (co-author).
Producing and directing credits for over 400 stage productions.
Soudabeh Moradian is an Iranian-American writer and director based in Los Angeles. She began her career in directing, screenwriting and editing in 1996 and since then established a strong career with creating over seventy documentaries, short fiction, TV series and feature films focusing on cultural issues, women’s rights and the psychological impacts of war. A number of her movies have been showcased in film festivals around the world and won awards such as “Doomsday Machine”(2009), “Story of the Land on Ashes”(2001), “Mahin”(1999), “The Leader of Caravan”(1996), “Les Chroniques d’Iran”(2008-2009) and “Polaris”.
Her most recent feature “Polaris” (2016) is the culmination of her 20 years’ experience as a storyteller and documentarian: a non-political drama which addresses universal human issues attendant to war, immigration, cultural diversity, women’s rights and children of war. Polaris is being distributed on the art-film circuit in Canada, Europe and the US to critical acclaim.
She’s also been working as a film professor at film schools and colleges such as the Art Institute of California, College of the Canyons and Columbia College Hollywood since 2016.
Bobby Roth
Studied Philosophy and Creative Writing at U.C. Berkeley 1970-71
BA Cinema, University of Southern California 1972
MFA Motion Picture Production, U.C.L.A. 1975
Roth is married to photographer Pam Springsteen and the father of Nicholas Tobin Roth and Ruby Grace Roth.
Sunil Sadarangani is a Los Angeles based multiple award-‐winning producer and writer, having being a part of international digital film projects for over 15 years and worked with productions from the US, India, Sweden, France, Australia and the UK. Some of the projects include features September Tapes (First Look Media) and The Answer which had its theatrical release in 2019; international broadcast documentaries ‘World Religions’ (featuring a two-‐hour interview with HH The Dalai Lama), and ‘Bollywood Extras’ to name a few. He has created award-‐winning short films ‘In Transit’ (Shorts International and Oscar nomination qualifier), ‘Blind’, ‘Nova’ and ‘With You’. He is the Co-‐Founder and Director of Programming of the Ojai Short Film Festival, a subsidiary of his streaming venture, Future Shorts Media (FUSEMM). Two films programmed at the 2018 festival, secured Oscar nominations (Weekends and Period. End of Sentence) with the latter winning the 2019 Oscar for Best Documentary Short. He has been officially accredited as a writer covering film and digital media at leading film festivals and industry award events such as Sundance, Tribeca, LA Film Festival, Colcoa French Film Festival, Indie Spirit Awards and the Academy Awards. Most recently Sunil was invited to be one of the assistant programmers at the Oscar qualifying film festival, Outfest. Sunil has been recognized by the California State Senate for his ongoing commitment to creativity and innovation in the Los Angeles community.
