Making the Leap

Ekwa Msangi’s award-winning and critically acclaimed feature film Farewell Amor premiered in competition at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, garnering 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, and was bought for distribution by IFC Films. Previous to that, she has written & directed several shorts, most recently award-winning comedy Soko Sonko (The Market King), and Farewell Meu Amor starring Tony Award nominee Sahr Ngauja, and actress Nana Mensah of the famed series An African City. For Farewell Amor, Ekwa was awarded the Jerome Foundation Grant, Tribeca All Access Fellowship, Cine Qua Non Lab Fellowship, IFP/No Borders, and Sundance Feature Film Development Fellowship. Ekwa has also written & directed several drama series for mainstream broadcasters in Kenya and MNET South Africa, including The Agency, MNET’s first-ever original hour-long Kenyan drama series. In the past Ekwa has been adjunct faculty at Tisch School of the Arts, as well as a recurring mentor in Mira Nair’s East Africa based Maisha Screenwriting Labs. Currently, Ekwa is the resident educational instructor with the African Film Festival, and teaches Screenwriting at The New School and Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema, Brooklyn College. One of Ekwa’s key goals as an artist is to transform our society’s images and relationships with African cultures, and to empower African filmmakers in telling their stories.

Laura Terruso directed the Netflix film, Work It, which premiered worldwide as the #1 movie on Netflix US its first weekend and remained in the top 10 for two weeks. She co-wrote and directed the comedy Good Girls Get High, now available on HBO Max. Her feature debut as writer/director/producer Fits And Starts, premiered at the 2017 SXSW Film Festival and is available on Amazon. She co-wrote and co-produced the film Hello, My Name is Doris , starring Sally Field. The feature is based on her short film Doris & The Intern. Released by Roadside Attractions, it went on to become one of the top grossing indies of 2016. Laura graduated from NYU’s graduate film program at the Tisch School of the Arts.

Lena Khan is a Canadian-American writer and director. Her first feature film, The Tiger Hunter, garnered critical acclaim and awards across the festival circuit and is releasing in the fall. ​Lena graduated summa cum laude and received undergraduate degrees at the University of California, Los Angeles in political science and history, after which she went on to graduate from the prestigious UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. Lena spent years directing short films, commercials, and music videos for international artists such as Maher Zain, while also gaining experience at noted production companies such as Participant Media (Syriana, The Help). Her films and videos have received over 30 million hits on YouTube, won film festivals, broadcast across the world, and have been seen anywhere from universities to international embassies. Lena has been profiled in USA Today, Teen Vogue, The New York Times, and various other media outlets; won Sony Entertainment Television’s South Asian Excellence Award for contributions to entertainment, and now dedicates herself to making films that call attention to social issues through fun and engaging entertainment. Lena is now working on a TV show, a feature, and a children’s book.

Leslye Headland began her career writing and directing the Seven Deadly Plays series (IAMA Theatre Company), including Bachelorette and Assistance, which both had successful runs in New York. Bachelorette was the basis for her directorial film debut starring Kirsten Dunst. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2012. Her other film credits include writing the 2014 remake of About Last Night starring Kevin Hart and writing/directing Sleeping with Other People starring Jason Sudeikis and Alison Brie which also premiered at Sundance in 2015. Most recently, Headland served as writer, director, and showrunner for Netflix’s acclaimed series Russian Doll, which was nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards and nine Creative Arts Emmy Awards, the latter of which it won three. Headland is currently working on an untitled Star Wars series for the Disney+ streaming platform and will serve as writer, executive producer, and showrunner. Headland’s additional TV writing/directing credits include: pilots for HBO, ABC, and NBC, as well as Terriers (FX), Blunt Talk (Starz), SMILF, and Black Monday (Showtime), and Heathers (Paramount).