EMILY KALISH

Emily Kalish is a filmmaker and photographer based in Los Angeles, CA. She graduated from The New School with a BA in Culture and Media in 2015 and from USC School of Cinematic Arts with an MFA in Film and TV production in 2018.

Marcela Heilbron

Marcela Heilbron was born in Panama in 1991. At the age of 15 she moved to the United States to attend Walnut Hill School for the Arts where she majored in dance and choreography. She then went on to study anthropology at Fordham University, which sparked her interest in film- making and led her to pursue an MFA in film at USC School of Cinematic Arts. She’s now back in Panama working in a flourishing industry.

Justine Suh

Justine Suh is a film director/editor. She was born in Indiana, but since lived in Vancouver, New York, and Seoul. She got her BA in History with a minor in Dramatic Literature at New York University. Her love for theatre and literature led her to become a script translator. She got an MFA at University of Southern California for Film & TV Production, focusing on directing and editing. She thrives to make whimsical fiction films and inspiring documentary films.

Lo lam

Lo Lam, an LA-based Hong Kong commercial writer/director with an MFA in Film Production from USC. Before coming to the US, Lo worked extensively in Taiwan's digital commercial industry, writing and directing up to 15 spots -- most of which are quirky, original comedies with more than 500k to 1.5 million views each. With a sunny, never-give-up personality, Lo strives to make creative and visionary content with unconventional ideas.

halima gikandi

Halima Gikandi is a Kenyan-American freelance reporter and producer based in Nairobi, Kenya. She regularly reports for  National Public Radio, and contributes to Marketplace, Public Radio International, and the Christian Science Monitor

After graduating from Columbia University with a degree in history, she decided to side step the whole lawyer track and take an unpaid internship at WBUR in Boston. Two months later, Halima was a freelance producer on the national radio program "On Point with Tom Ashbrook."

After another production stint at PBS's "Washington Week with Robert Costa," Halima jetted to Nairobi to try and make it as a reporter. Since then, Halima has reported on the protests in Sudan, terrorism in Nairobi, and natural disasters in southern Africa.

Halima is also a board member on the Foreign Correspondents' Association of East Africa.