Death is Orange directed by Lauren Tepfer is an intimate look into grief, love, family, and understanding. Heavily influenced by the intersections of time and personal identity, Lauren captures her work in real time as she herself is still processing her life.

Casey Gates is a director and writer with a fierce passion for bringing women’s stories to the forefront of media. From her award winning directing work to #LadyBrain her female focused film initiative to working as a Social Media Producer at NBC, she’s the embodiment of hustle.

Jennifer Albarracin is a filmmaker and recent graduate of William and Mary, in her latest short film she pays tribute to the sacrifices of her immigrant father. The challenges of immigrants exist with or without having legal status and Jennifer is a product of just how hard first generation children work to not allow those struggles to be in vain.

Director Maxine Espanol’s “Morning Talks” is an intimate look at a relationship meeting its end inspired by her own heartbreak. It’s her directorial debut and a departure from her usual work with editing.

The Apocalypse Will Blossom is a beautiful, quick, and intelligent short that captures a depression spiral post 2016 Election in the most relatable ways- protesting, fries, and friendship. Director Courtney Jines wrote and also starred in this short along with friends and details her experience in an interview with TLL.

Crystal Correa is the brain behind the critically acclaimed series “Crystal the Web Series” as well as founder of C+ Media Productions. Her creativity spans painting, hair dressing, and computer science- her desire for creativity is insatiable. With recognition from HollyShorts, LAL FemFest, and acceptance into HBO’s NYLFF, Crystal Correa has found a way to be a filmmaker on HER terms.

Teen filmmaker, Kathryn Zix, uses film to explain her thoughts and feelings. “Ghost of Late” dives into her feelings of isolation and “being different”.

Savannah Magruder is a Brooklyn based filmmaker originally hailing from Maine. Her past work in film includes directing and production design credits where encapsulates themes of queerness and feminism. Her work has landed her press from Vice, Stereogum, and Brooklyn Vegan and also recognition from the Inside Out Toronto LGBT Film Festival, the New Hampshire Film Festival, and the NewFilmmakers New York program at Anthology Film Archives. Currently in pre-production for her next short “Debbie Does Dilators”, we spoke to Savannah about sex in film, the male gaze, and her process as a filmmaker. 

Leila Jarman is an accomplished filmmaker and the creative director of Women’s Voices Now. She has been featured in outlets such as VICE, Afropunk, MTV, The Creator’s Project, and more. Her work focuses on the human body and dimensions of time, space, and reality. But at the center of everything, she focuses on women’s rights. Leila also is the current creative director of Women’s Voices Now, a nonprofit that advocates for women’s rights through film. Via an international online film festival, workshops, advocacy events, and the organization works to educate and support women, truly showing the power of arts intersecting with activism.

Sonejuhi Sinha is nothing short of remarkable. Her start in film took root in editing but soon moved to producing and directing. She’s won Gold Lions at Cannes as well as a number of awards at the Little Rock Film Festival, and the Minnesota Film Festival amongst others. For her next narrative short film, Love Comes Later, she was a recipient of Tribeca All Access development grant. She’s also finished Tribeca Film Institute’s Through Her Lens program where she was mentored by Dee Rees, Catherine Hardwicke, Rashida Jones among others. Sonejuhi truly shines as a filmmaker to watch and we’re excited to share her knowledge.