Mary Kim is a Korean American multimedia artist and writer-director who is currently attending the University of California Irvine. ⁠Hajun Blooms is a beautiful visual short film about repressed nonbinary queer identity and one young Korean’s relationship to the church.

Heather Muriel Nguyen (she/they) is a queer Vietnamese-American filmmaker focused on creating stories that reflect queer and trans communities of Color grappling with intergenerational trauma and self-love. As an actor, writer, and director, Heather is a multifaceted creator who focuses on authenticity and nuanced storytelling. Thơ goes through a journey of questioning and through that, the audience sees the deep emotional depth that Nguyen infuses into their art.

Bente Engelstoft is an Emmy-winning writer, actor, and comedian based in Los Angeles. Starting her career off on the stages of Second City she was then a writer for the 2016 CBS Diversity Showcase and a writer / performer for the 2017 Showcase. Currently a writer for The Ellen Degeneres Show, Engelstoft also founded her own company, Business Woman, where she creates award winning short films.

Sarah Gallegos is a writer and filmmaker based in New York. She is passionate about exploring the "grey areas" and challenging traditional storytelling narratives and structures. Through her work, she is continuously delving deeper into investigations of self-discovery. Her short film Pre Face is a dramedy short about the transitional phases young adults feel in their lives.

Carol Dysinger is an Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker, an award-winning professor at NYU Tisch, and an advisor at the Doc Lab at Sundance FIlm Institute. Her second directorial work, “Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl)” won the Oscar for Best Documentary Short in 2019. She spoke to the Light Leaks about witnessing the progression of Hollywood firsthand, the lessons she’s learned throughout her career, and how it’s never too late to hit your stride.

Ilana Peña, is a TV show creator, executive producer, showrunner, and writer building her tv legacy with hard work and authentic storytelling at the helm of it all. Peña is the creator behind the Disney+’s coming of age comedy, “Diary of a Future President” and started in Hollywood as an assistant and worked her way into the acclaimed writer’s room of “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend”. She dives deep into conversation with TLL about the reality of gaining and maintaining success in Hollywood.

K$K is a writer, director and advocate for women working at the intersections of filmmaking and cannabis who explores her real life experiences through short experimental essay films. The Takeover is a look into K$K’s creative consciousness as she navigates her identity as a woman, relationships - platonic and romantic, money, and all life has to bring.

Ariana Martinez is a first generation hispanic filmmaker and student with her lens focused on representing women of color. Motherland is a short documentary that acts as a love letter to Ariana’s mom, to her culture, and to where her roots are.

Katherine Chou is a Taiwanese-American writer and director whose work explores themes of identity and personhood through a magical realist lens. She’s the creative force behind A Cure for All Things, a sci-fi short about an immigrant family and their struggles finding a sense of belonging in the past, present, and future.

Isabel Sandoval is a trans Filipina filmmaker and the director behind critically acclaimed Lingua Franca. She spoke to the Light Leaks about her start in film, where her career has taken her so far with recognition by GLAAD, Film Independent Spirit Awards, ARRAY, and the Criterion Channel to name a few. Read how she’s manifested her success through visualization and hard work.

Dylan Mars Greenberg is a queer, trans filmmaker, video artist, musician, and performer from New York City. Greenberg has directed six feature films, going on seven. Her work has been featured in Vice, PAPER, New York Times, and more.

Kz Elizabeth is a queer, award-winning filmmaker and performer from Chicago. She’s the director and producer of ‘Pathetic Woman,’ a surreal LGBTQ+ short film that follows Andy and Kathryn, two office co-workers, who find themselves in a sudden and absurd codependent relationship.

River Gallo is a multifaceted creative whose made waves in Hollywood as a filmmaker but also as an actor and model. In 2019, River premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival ‘Ponyboi’: a dreamy yet haunting short film about an intersex runaway turned sex worker that encounters the man of their dreams in real life-- or so it seems. Ponyboi is the first narrative ever to star an intersex actor playing an intersex character with River playing the title character. River has been recognized by GLAAD as a Media Rising Star (2019) and selected for the Ryan Murphy HALF Initiative for Television Directing (2020) as well as the Berlinale Talent Fellowship (2021).

Angie Loveday is a Costa Rican filmmaker and Seton Hall University grad with a degree in Broadcasting and Film program. She’s the director and writer behind, ‘Christmas Lights’, our latest project spotlight that explores grief, coping, and comfort. We’re so excited to share this short and Angie’s talent.