DIRECTORS

Abby Ellis is a Peabody and Emmy nominated Director. Her film, FLINT’S DEADLY WATER, was a multi-year investigation that exposed a steep number of unknown deaths from a deadly disease outbreak during the Flint water crisis, the negligence of officials who allowed it to continue and the efforts to obstruct the legal and scientific investigations around it. In 2020 she was the Hollyhock Filmmaker-in-Residence at PBS, where she wrote, directed and produced SHOTS FIRED, an unflinching look at the connection between the high rate of police shootings in Utah and the state’s controversial police training methods. Prior to that Abby produced AMERICA DIVIDED, an original docu-series executive produced by Norman Lear and Shonda Rhimes, which featured narratives around inequality in America woven into an eight-story, five-part series. Abby’s work has earned her a Peabody Award, several Emmy nominations, an Edward R. Murrow Award, a Scripps Howard Award, an Izzy Award, Sentinel Award, Acting for Justice Award, two Livingston nominations, and other honors. At the start of her career Abby spent six years at VICE where she produced and edited on some of the network’s most pivotal and award-winning shows, from character-driven social and cultural documentaries to current affairs films.

Abby Ginzberg, a Peabody award-winning director, has been producing compelling documentaries about race and social justice for over 35 years. Her latest film, Shaking It Up: The Life and Times of Liz Carpenter (co-directed with Christy Carpenter) premiered at SXSW in March, 2024 in the Documentary Spotlight section. Her short film, Judging Juries, premiered at the Pan African Film Festival in February, 2024, and won an Outstanding Achievement award from the Accolade Global Film Awards. Her film, Barbara Lee: Speaking Truth to Power, won the 2022 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Documentary. This intimate and compelling film, about Representative Barbara Lee, who is best known for her lone NO vote against the use of military force following the 9/11 attacks, is available on Amazon Prime and Starz. Abby also produced A Double Life, directed by Catherine Masud, which premiered at the 2023 Mill Valley Film Festival and won an Audience Favorite award. Abby is also the co-producer of American Justice on Trial, co-directed by Andrew Abrahams and Herb Ferrette, which premiered at the 2022 San Francisco International Film Festival, and won Best Short documentary from the Pan African Film Festival. Waging Change, her 2019 documentary, is about the challenges faced by tipped servers who are forced to rely on their tips and the federal tipped minimum wage of $2.13 per hour. It was broadcast on public television in February and March 2021.

Abby Berendt Lavoi is an award-winning Writer, Director and Producer. She directed the multi-award-winning feature documentary Roots of Fire which earned the prestigious Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities Documentary of the Year Award and screened at over 25 film festivals. She is currently in development on the sequel, and in production on an episodic spinoff series, Dry Bones. She was the Showrunner of the 12 episode half-hour unscripted streaming series, My Amazing Cheap Date: New Orleans. Her work has screened at over 35 film festivals and has received awards and honors from the New Orleans Film Festival, Hot Springs Doc Fest, SIFF, Hawaii International Film Festival, SFIndieFest, Indie Memphis, the Telly Awards, Promax, and many others. Her TV staff credits include MTV, TVLand, Nick@Nite, Nickelodeon, and Current TV. Her screenwriting work has been recognized at Austin Film Festival, CineStory, and Stowe Story Labs. In 2021, she was awarded the Women in Film and Television’s Resilient Woman Award. Her series, It’s a Rough Life, was a finalist in the 2014 NYTVF History Channel Unscripted Development Pipeline. Her team won Best Film at the San Francisco 48 Hour Film Festival in 2012, and in 2011 she won Best Editor at Mockfest for the film Rolled, which she also produced. Since 2008, she has successfully run Lavoi Creative, a full service creative agency and production studio.

Abi Damaris Corbin is a Boston-bred writer and director based in Los Angeles. Corbin's BAFTA shortlisted live-action short “The Suitcase” had its world premiere at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival and screened worldwide as an official selection at over 50 festivals.

Abigail is a writer and director who loves dark comedy. Her debut feature film BLOW UP MY LIFE, a whistleblower comedy-thriller starring Jason Selvig and Kara Young and co- written/directed with Ryan Dickie, premiered at Austin Film Festival in 2022. Her previous short films have played at SXSW, Fantastic Fest, LA Film Festival, Cleveland International, Woodstock Film Festival, and received multiple Vimeo Staff Picks. Accolades for her directing work include "25 New Faces of Independent Film” from Filmmaker Magazine, shortlist for the D&AD Next Director Award, a 2018 Webby Award Nomination, UKMVA Nominations, and 2 Gold Cannes Young Director Awards. Her commercial work is known for off-beat visual comedy and fantastic performances, for clients like Spotify, NBCUniversal, Audible, Skittles, and General Mills. Abigail is in development on her next feature film GESTURES, a dark comedy about women in private equity. She studied film at Wesleyan University, loves to speak Spanish, play charades, and is a member of the National Board of Review. Party time excellent.

I am a highly experienced filmmaker with a wealth of knowledge in concept writing, directing, producing and film editing. With a passion for storytelling and a keen eye for detail, I bring a unique perspective and creative vision to every project I work on. Whether it's bringing a script to life on the big screen or fine-tuning the final cut, I am dedicated to creating captivating and impactful content that resonates with audiences.

Adriana was born in the suburbs of São Paulo. She graduated in Social Communication from PUC-SP and studied Documentary at PUC-SP, USP, and Escuela Internacional de Cine y TV (Cuba). Her latest documentary, “The First Women,” premiered at the Tiradentes Film Festival 2024, where it won the Best Film Award from the Public Jury. The film has been selected for various festivals around the world. Her three short films have also been selected for several festivals, including the It’s All True and the Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK). In 2020, she released "A Crime Amongst Us" (60 min), a documentary about sexual violence against children and adolescents, which gained significant media attention. Produced by Maria Farinha and acquired by Globoplay, it highlights critical social issues. For television, she has directed series and special projects for ESPN, SporTv, and TV Globo. Recently, she directed episodes for the series "The Burnout Society, available on Globoplay, and "The World According to Football," available on Showtime and Paramount+ (USA), which won a Sports Emmy Award in 2024.

A graduate of Yale, Adrienne Weiss began her career as a theater director but became a filmmaker after realizing that in film she could combine her two great passions- powerful, spontaneous performance and beautiful images. Love, Ludlow, her first feature film as a director, premiered at Sundance ’05 and starred David Eigenberg, Brendan Sexton III and Alicia Goranson, The Sundance catalogue read, ”Weiss sticks close to the raw emotional truth of her characters, and we fall in love with them because their behavior is always unpredictable. With her deeply humanistic sensibility, her flair for ironic humor, and her ability to creatively mine cultural references, Weiss is unequivocally someone to watch.” The film screened at over 20 festivals worldwide, was released by Time/Warner DVD and was broadcast on Sundance Channel, Starz and other cable networks. Adrienne has worked for over fifteen years as directing and script consultant. Recent feature projects include The Bad Intentions (nominated for Best Foreign Film Oscar 2013) May in the Summer, Opening Night Sundance Film Festival 2013, Homewrecker, Best of Next Award, Sundance, The Abolitionists and Murder of a President for the American Experience (PBS), Sunbelt Express, Kalushi: The Solomon Mahlangu Story (post production).

Adura Onashile is an award-winning Glasgow-based artist. In 2020, she wrote and directed her screen debut, Expensive Shit, a BAFTA Scotland–nominated short produced by barry crerar, which premiered at the 2020 BFI London Film Festival. Girl is her feature debut.

Aeyliya Husain is an award-winning documentary filmmaker whose work focuses on issues of representation, images of war and their interpretation, women, and photography. She has exhibited at festivals both nationally and internationally including, Tribeca Film Festival, where her film ‘Shooting War’ was nominated for best short documentary. Her other films, ‘The World at Ten’ and ‘Daughters of the Revolution’ have also been screened at San Francisco Docfest; Glasgow Short Film Festival and São Paulo Film Festival and have been broadcast on CBC, BBC, RSI (Swiss Public TV) and France 4. Her most recent film ‘The Fifth Region’ premiered at the ImagaineNATIVE Film Festival in October 2018 and is currently screening at various festivals. Her work has been supported by production grants from the National Film Board of Canada, Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council and the Toronto Arts Council and VICE media. Husain holds an MFA in Film Production from York University (Toronto, Canada) and a BA from the University of Waterloo (Waterloo, Canada).

Pakistani-American filmmaker, Afia, loves pushing the boundaries of narrative storytelling. Her debut feature Dukhtar (Daughter) premiered at Toronto (2014) becoming Pakistan’s Official Submission for Foreign Language Film at the 87th Academy Awards®. The film played to critical acclaim in over 20 countries to rave reviews and became the Critics’ Pick (Village Voice) and the People Magazine’s Pick of the Week. The film has won several awards including Adrienne Shelly award for Directors, Audience Award at Creteil, Best World Feature at Sonoma, Best Director + Best Feature Film at SAIFF. Afia has been featured in the Variety, NYT, Indiewire, NPR, Huffington Post and Screen Daily. Variety says, “Nathaniel proves her mettle in a national industry where distaff directors are rare” with Indiewire labeling Dukhtar as “groundbreaking”, New York Times calling it “exquisite” and LA Times billing it as a “gorgeous, suspenseful cinematic achievement”. Afia was nominated for a Gotham award (2013) and the Women Film Critics Circle award (2015) for the “Best Foreign Film by or About Women”. She is an alumnus of IFP, TFI, Film Independent and Berlin Talent Project Market. She has received support from HBO, Netflix, National Geographic, Tribeca Film Institute, Cinereach, WIF, NYFA, IFFR, SORFOND, NYSCA + Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

AIMÉE LAGOS is an award-winning director and screenwriter whose films include the #1 box office hit from Sony Picture’s Screen Gems, NO GOOD DEED starring Taraji Henson and Idris Elba which she wrote and Executive Produced and the award winning indie thriller 96 MINUTES starring David Oyelowo and Brittany Snow which she wrote and directed. She is currently adapting a New York Times Best Selling novel for New Line Cinema and Working Title Films. She's written multiple features currently in development for Universal Pictures including I ALMOST FORGOT ABOUT YOU, an adaptation of Terry McMillan's best selling novel starring Viola Davis, TALENT SHOW, starring Cynthia Erivo and produced by George Tillman and Bob Teitle and the film adaptation of THEATER GEEKS produced by Jason Bateman and Tobey Maguire. Lagos is developing multiple TV series for studios such as HBO and Warner Brothers and has developed television dramas with 20th Century Fox TV, Fox Network, Chernin Entertainment, and CBS. She's won multiple directing awards at film festivals around the world including awards for her films at SXSW as well as a BAFTA Award for Excellence. Lagos is a mentor for Women In Film, she is a member of the Writers Guild West’s Inclusion and Equity Group and also writes opinion pieces for several publications including The Huffington Post, CNN and The Hollywood Journal. She is repped by UTA, Fourth Wall Management and Lichter Grossman Nichols Adler and Feldman.