Shoot Your Shot

Geeta Malik is the winner of the inaugural Academy Gold Fellowship for Women, the Academy Nicholl Fellowship, and the Austin Film Festival Comedy Screenplay Award for her feature script, DINNER WITH FRIENDS (retitled to INDIA SWEETS AND SPICES). Geeta directed INDIA SWEETS AND SPICES, which stars Bollywood superstar Manisha Koirala (HEERAMANDI, DIL SE…), Adil Hussain (LIFE OF PI, DELHI CRIME), Sophia Ali (UNCHARTED), and Rish Shah (MS. MARVEL). The film was produced by SK Global and Madison Wells Media, and premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. INDIA SWEETS AND SPICES was released theatrically by Bleecker Street, and is currently streaming on a variety of platforms, including Hulu and Netflix. Geeta was a mentee for Ryan Murphy’s HALF Initiative, and shadowed director Brad Buecker on an episode of Fox’s 9-1-1. She was also one of seven directors selected for the Warner Bros. Television Directors’ Workshop, where she shadowed director Randall Einhorn. She directed episode 217 of the Emmy-winning show ABBOTT ELEMENTARY, titled “Mural Arts.” Geeta is a Film Independent Project Involve Fellow and an alumna of UCLA’s graduate film program. She wrote and directed the viral narrative short, AUNTY Gs, which earned a College Television Award (a “student Emmy”) in comedy from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Her other short films include SHAMELESS, BEAST, and APU’S REVENGE. Her first feature film, TROUBLEMAKER, premiered at the Cinequest Film Festival. She has sold projects to Tri-Star and Netflix, among others.

Featured in Free the Work’s Creator Spotlight/Directors to Watch and Essence Studios Black Femme Directors Showcase, Nicole Taylor-Roberts is a writer-director and native Baltimorean. She participated in the SPT Diverse Directing Program, Commercial Directors Diversity Program, and AFI Directing Workshop for Women. Her film, out now 410 Stamped, stars Indie Spirit Award-Winning actress Eden Duncan-Smith (See You Yesterday) and was produced by Will and Jada Smith Foundation. She directed numerous competitive short films, commercials, and moonlights as a T.V. producer. Nikki is a prolific screenwriter and copywriter. She wrote for the Biden-Harris Campaign and created the ‘Reclaim Your Vote’ 2020 for BET and The National Urban League featuring spokesperson T.I. her feature “A Girl from Haiti” won the Grand Prize in the We screenplay Diverse Voices Competition, supported by Array. Nikki directed ‘The Battle of Lexi Smith’, staring Kisha Knight Pulliam and Jean Elie (Insecure), for ‘BET Her: The Waiting Room.’ Nikki’s drive is to tell stories about multi-dimensional BIPOC folks and women.

Terrie Samundra is a Director and Screenwriter whose debut feature, the Netflix original film KAALI KHUHI, was released internationally in October 2020. Samundra is in development of her original series THE BALLAD OF POOJA with an international partnership and has just wrapped work as a staff writer on a Netflix original series. Along with being a current fellow of the Sundance and Women in Film initiative ReFrame Rise, she is an alumna of the Sundance Institute Screenwriters Lab, the SFFILM Rainin Screenwriting Fellowship and the Sundance Women in Film Finance Intensive. Samundra’s short films have screened internationally, garnering numerous accolades. She was commissioned to direct a documentary series for Planned Parenthood to coincide with the 100 year anniversary. A multicultural artist, Samundra grew up between a rural village in Punjab, India, a small farming town in Missouri, and along the coast of California. She’s a member of the Writer’s Guild of America, a Princess Grace Award recipient and is represented by the Gersh Agency and Circle of Confusion.

A visionary storyteller from Detroit, multiple award-winning director Christine Swanson earned her MFA in Film from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Christine also earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Notre Dame double majoring in Communications and Japanese. Christine has become one of television’s most trusted directors of music-driven and culturally significant biopics. Her early television films include To Hell and Back (2015) and For the Love of Ruth (2015), the latter earning her an NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Directing in a Television Motion Picture. Her work on Love Under New Management: The Miki Howard Story (2016) shattered network ratings records and earned a Black Reel Award nomination. In 2020, Christine helmed The Clark Sisters: First Ladies of Gospel, which became the #1 cable movie of 2020 across all networks. The film won Best TV Movie from the African American Film Critics Association, the Satellite Award for Best Television Movie, and the NAMIC Vision Award, while earning nominations from the Critics’ Choice Awards, Women’s Image Network Awards, and five NAACP Image Awards, including Outstanding Directing.That same year, Christine received a Women’s Image Network Award nomination for Outstanding Film Directed by a Woman. Her short film Fannie (2022), starring Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor as Fannie Lou Hamer, earned NAACP Image Award and Black Reel Award nominations, continuing her commitment to telling stories of legacy, courage, and cultural impact. Christine’s feature Albany Road (2024), a deeply moving road-trip drama starring Renée Elise Goldsberry and Lynn Whitfield, premiered at Ebertfest and screened at the American Black Film Festival. The film won Best Feature Filmat the Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival, received a Black Reel Award nomination for Outstanding Independent Film, and earned two NAACP Image Awards — including Outstanding Supporting Actress for Lynn Whitfield and Outstanding Independent Film. Christine’s television directing credits include episodes of Chicago P.D., FBI, P-Valley, MacGyver, All American, Roswell, New Mexico, Found, All American Homecoming, Sweet Magnolias, Bel-Air and BMF. Christine resides in LA.