Wes Andre Goodrich
Film: ROT
Wes Andre Goodrich is a Brooklyn-based writer / director. Since graduating from Columbia University’s MFA Film Program, he has been the festival circuit run with two shorts: SPEAK UP BROTHA!, a musical romance in the style of 90s Black films, and PALM SUNDAY, a southern gothic film about a Jamaican man attempting to assimilate into an all-white church in 1970s Raleigh, North Carolina. Palm Sunday was an Oscar Qualifying Short for the 2024 Academy Awards. He recently directed a short film: “Meal Ticket,” for Hillman Grad’s Rising Voices Fellowship, which premiered at Tribeca Film Festival last June. Meal Ticket was an Oscar Qualifying film for the 2025 Academy Awards.
Wes was selected by Filmmaker Magazine as one of the 2023 New Faces of Film.
Sandy Honig
Film: THE WEIRD GUY
Sandy Honig is a director, comedian, and photographer. She co-created the absurdist comedy show "Three Busy Debras" on Adult Swim & HBO Max, and has written for other shows like The Eric Andre Show and the upcoming Ren & Stimpy reboot. Her past short films "Pennies From Heaven" and "Caller Number Nine!" premiered at SXSW 2023 and 2024.
Daniel Jaffe & Michelle Uranowitz
Film: CLARITIES
Daniel and Michelle have been collaborating on films together for ten years. Their work has shown at Slamdance Film Festival (Grand Jury Honorable Mention, Best Actress Award), SXSW, Atlanta FF, Palm Springs Shortsfest, New Orleans, AFI, Brooklyn Film Festival, and more. In 2020, they were jointly named as one of Filmmaker Magazine's “25 New Faces of Independent Film.” Their films have been featured on Showtime, Vimeo Staff Pick, Short Of The Week, NoBudge, The Bureau of Creative Works, and the Slamdance Channel.
Lindsay Callerhan
Film: I’M REALLY SCARED I’M DYING TBH
Lindsay is a filmmaker living in Brooklyn, NY, centering her work around identity, addiction and family. They hold an MFA in directing from Brooklyn College's Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema.
Lindsay's work has been featured Palm Springs ShortFest, Rooftop Films, Sun Valley Film Festival, and Sundance Catalyst.
Lindsay’s debut feature, CAITY will have it’s premiere in competition at the 2026 Tribeca Festival.
Brendan McHugh
Film: HEAD OVER HEELS
Brendan McHugh is a writer, director, and producer based in Brooklyn, NY. His debut narrative short film, VICTOR IN PARADISE, starring Nicholas Braun, premiered at Palm Springs International ShortFest and the Maryland Film Festival before debuting online via Le Cinéma Club and earning a Vimeo Staff Pick. As a producer, Brendan has worked on acclaimed film and television projects including HBO’s Emmy-nominated HOW TO WITH JOHN WILSON, the HBO/A24 documentary series NEIGHBORS, Josh and Benny Safdie’s GOOD TIME, Michael Cera’s forthcoming directorial debut, LOVE IS NOT THE ANSWER, and many others. He is currently developing original film and television projects as a writer-director.
Lucas Ansel
Film: FLOCK
Lucas Ansel is an Academy Award–winning filmmaker based in New York City, with a degree from the Rhode Island School of Design. His work spans stop-motion, live-action, 2D/3D animation, and motion graphics. He has independently crafted music videos for Grammy-winning musician Pierre Bourne, produced work for global companies such as Adidas and Sega, and seen his short films win awards and screen at festivals worldwide, including the renowned Ottawa International Animation Festival. Lucas’s creative philosophy balances the unforeseen and the imperfect with meticulous craftsmanship, embracing the human touch as essential to meaningful artistic work.
Jessie Barr
Film: SYLVIA
Jessie Barr is a writer/director, actor, Sundance Fellow, and 2024 Half Initiative directing fellow (Ryan Murphy Program) with roots in independent film, theater, and comedy. Her debut feature Sophie Jones premiered at the 2020 Deauville Film Festival. Her darkly funny, deeply personal cancer chronicle Serving Cunt debuted at SADE Gallery in 2024, combining original films, installations, and photography. Jessie’s work has screened globally at festivals including Berlinale, Tribeca, and Mar Del Plata, and has been featured by The New York Times, Vimeo Staff Pick, and the National Board of Review. .
Chloe Xtina
Film: OF A SEXUAL NATURE
Chloe Xtina is a Brooklyn based filmmaker originally from Oakland, CA. She tells stories that blur the line between the sexualized gazes and sexual appetite of young women. Chloe wrote and directed the short films Ghost of you (2024 Sundance Film Festival special screening), The First Taste (2020 NoBudge Film of the Year), and Arcadia (upcoming). She is a 2023 Sundance Ignite x Adobe Fellow and her work has been featured in New York Magazine, Variety, Vulture, and TimeOut. Chloe completed a BA in playwriting from UCLA in 2021.
Molly Scotti
Film: A TAVOLO
Molly Scotti is a Brooklyn-based filmmaker, cinematographer, and photographer. A 2022 graduate of Wesleyan University’s film program, her short film “The Christening” won multiple awards at the Hollywood Blood Horror Festival and the Pittsburgh Moving Picture Festival’s Thriller Picture Show. Molly’s work as a director of photography has been screened at South by Southwest, Filmfest München, New/Next Film Festival, and beyond. In addition to her film work, Molly teaches classes at the documentary film community DCTV in Chinatown and is a regular volunteer at the nonprofit film school and community dark room Mono No Aware.
Wren Stark Haven
Film: WOMEN DO NOT POOP
Wren Stark Haven is a director and re-recording mixer. She holds an MFA in Directing at NYU Tisch Grad Film and owns and operates Wild Shape Sound, a post sound studio in Ridgewood, Queens. Wild Shape has post-mixed films which have gone to festivals like Sundance, Slamdance, Palm Springs, Tribeca, Cannes, and San Sebastian.
Wren’s film, Women Do Not Poop, had it’s festival premiere at the Brooklyn Film Festival.
Idil Eryurekli
Film: SOME STRANGE RACE
Idil Eryurekli is a Turkish-born cinematographer based in Brooklyn, New York. She focuses on any and all forms of compelling visual storytelling: narratives, documentaries, and branded. Her approach is to create images that are story-driven, emotional, and nuanced.
Her narrative work has premiered at Tribeca, Cannes, SXSW, Telluride, and Palm Springs ShortFest among others. Being a queer immigrant herself, Idil aims to amplify multi-national stories and marginalized characters by showing them outside of their molds and in unconventional structures.
Joji Baratelli
Film: OKEI IN AMERICA
Joji Baratelli is a director and cinematographer from Los Angeles, based in New York, and occasionally in Tokyo. He is currently developing his first feature film.