Winter Party 2021

Dami Rock, a British-Nigerian filmmaker who works internationally. Her career in media started over 15 years ago in broadcast television and music journalism working for LWT /Granada Media and hosting the Lil Miss Chatterbox radio show. She is also an alumni of the BBC/Skillset Millennium Awards, and recipient of the bespoke BBC Directing and journalism training. As part of her fellowship, she produced the film ‘Go to your room: The Bedroom MC Competition’, which was selected to tour internationally with the British Council, representing UK arts and culture. Her television directing credits include: I used to be a Gangsta, Finding Inner Peace, Jude Law’s Nanny, Darklingdami About Town, Africans of the Burial Ground and ground breaking film Bleach My Skin White, the first UK ITV documentary to tackle the issue of skin bleaching on primetime television. Her first feature Malcolm’s Echo: The Legacy of Malcolm X won the African Movie Academy Award for Best Documentary, and inspired her move to America, re-launching her film company Darkling Productions, and kicking off with an exclusive piece about 25yrs of Public Enemy. She has a number of projects in development; one of which asks: “Where are the Black Panthers of the 21st century?”

A global citizen, Iram Parveen Bilal is an award-winning empathic creator excited to tell thought-provoking stories that are socially impactful and envision an inclusive world. Bilal has quickly become a voice to reckon with in the Muslim community and on the World Cinema stage. Invested in “raising while rising”, her past films have led to measurable shifts in causes they championed. She has not only formed initiatives to uplift her community in film and tech but has also championed causes that are traditionally unpopular to support. Bilal initiated the formation of the Pakistani Oscar committee and is the founder of QALAMBAAZ, Pakistan’s first professional screenwriting lab, now in year ten. Iram is also an active mentor for women in film and tech. Spotlighted as 1 of 8 directors to watch by the Alliance of Women Directors, a board member of the Film Fatales, she is also a Film Independent, Watson fellow and multiple time Women in Film awardee. She has been profiled by the New York Times, featured on NPR, BBC, Bloomberg, Filmmaker Magazine among others. She is a proud graduate of Caltech and the USC Peter Stark Program. When she isn’t telling stories, she is dancing to Bollywood tunes or nerding out with fellow Caltech engineers. She believes genuine curiosity is the only antidote to fear. Her biggest and boldest work to date, feature film Wakhri (English Title: One of a Kind) just returned from a critically successful World Premiere at the Red Sea Intl. Film Festival, a nationwide theat.

Julie Sharbutt (Writer/Director) is a female-forward genre and comedy filmmaker who comes from the worlds of theater and improv comedy. Her work explores contemporary social issues with character-driven stories filled with warmth and dignity, even and especially within Genre. Recent credits include 2021 Tribeca Film Festival World Premiere short comedy film Cupids, which she co-wrote with director Zoey Martinson for Tribeca Studios‘ 8:46 Films Program. Her 2021 horror comedy feature screenplay Ghosts was a 2021 Nantucket Film Festival Tony Cox Screenplay Competition, FilmQuest and Other Worlds Finalist. Her feminist horror feature screenplay Retreat is currently in development for production in 2022. Prior to her career in filmmaker, Julie was a full time theater, film and television actor in New York, with an MFA in Acting from NYU. Julie’s 2019 short horror film 3 Days screened at over thirty film festivals including 2019 Fantastic Fest, San Francisco Indie Fest, and Atlanta Shorts Fest (Best Screenplay), and is now streaming on premiere horror channel Alter. Her debut feature film debut as a writer and director, Moved, was distributed by 1091 in 2015. With additional background in comedy writing and performance from the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater and The Peoples Improv Theater, Julie‘s comedy writing has been featured in The New Yorker: Shouts & Murmurs, McSweeneys, Funny-Ish and more.