Giselle Bonilla received her MFA in Directing from the American Film Institute Conservatory. Her thesis film, THE BULLFIGHTER, won the Student Director's Guild of America Grand Prize Award and the AFI's Richard P. Rogers Spirit of Excellence Award. Giselle is a Latino Film Institute x Netflix Inclusion Fellow, Telluride FilmLAB Fellow, and an alum of the Sundance Institute as an Ignite x Adobe Fellow. She received her BFA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, where her undergrad thesis film VIRGENCITA received the Audience Award at NFFTY. Her feature debut, THE MUSICAL, played in U.S. Dramatic Competition at Sundance 2026 and is based on a short of the same title she and her crew made while at AFI. The short won the Audience Award at the American Cinematheque's 2024 Proof Film Festival and received Special Mention from the jury. The feature is executive produced by her mentors: director, Jonathan Levine, and producer, Gillian Bohrer. THE MUSICAL stars Tony-award winner: Will Brill, Gillian Jacobs, and is produced by and starring Rob Lowe.

Brittany Alexia Young is a Florida-born filmmaker based in LA telling genre-blending, coming-of-age films following black, queer protagonists — without centering trauma. Following her career playing Division 1 lacrosse at the University of Delaware, she earned her MFA at Florida State University’s College of Motion Picture Arts, where she was honored with the program’s coveted Strickland Pathfinder Award. Her student films have screened at numerous festivals including Palm Springs International ShortFest, NewFest, and the National Film Festival for Talented Youth, where she earned an audience award and the Kathy Reichgerdt Inspiration Award! Her most recent project 'MUNCHIES’ has been supported by the WAVE Grant, Inside Out’s Re: Focus Fund, and Decentralized Picture’s Keslow Camera Award. She is a Future of Film is Female x NEON Grant Recipient, a TDE Short Film Fund Recipient and a 2025 Sundance Ignite Fellow.

Emma Weinswig is a writer-director originally from Mill Valley, California, now based in Los Angeles. Her most recent Oscar-qualifying film, "Ben's Sister" featuring Michael Gandolfini, won the Audience Award for Best Narrative Short at SXSW and The Grand Jury Prize at Nashville Film Festival this year. She is currently in development for the feature version. Previously, her award-winning short film, "I Probably Shouldn't Be Telling You This," premiered at SXSW in 2023.She started out as an actress— graduating from University of North Carolina School of the Arts with a BFA in Drama. Her training as an actress is the primary influence on her work as a director. Studying theater and becoming obsessed with playwrights like Annie Baker, Will Arbery and Kenneth Lonergan was originally how she discovered her love of writing.

Hannah Schierbeek is a Chicago based writer, director, and producer. As a producer, Hannah’s credits include The Headhunter’s Daughter (Short Film Grand Jury Prize 2022 Sundance) and Vox Humana (2024 TIFF, Gold Hugo 2024 Chicago IFF) directed by Don Josephus Raphael Eblahan, and Video Funeral (2023 Chicago IFF), directed by Linh Tran. As a director, Hannah’s films explore intimate interpersonal stories backdropped by today’s socio-ecological dilemmas. Her credits include the short films An Alternative Method (2021 BFI Future FF), A Black Hole Near Kent County (2024 Clermont-Ferrand ISFF), and Radiant Frost (2026 Sundance FF). Hannah is an alumni of the 2025 Berlinale Talents.

Kevin Xian Ming Yu (they/them) is a non-binary filmmaker from Queens, NY. Kevin received the 2025 NewFest/Netflix New Voices Filmmaker Grant and they were a 2024 Film at Lincoln Center Artist Academy Fellow. Their latest short film ”i saw you in the flood”, is premiering at SXSW 2026 and their previous short “Yú Cì (Fish Bones),” premiered at SXSW 2025. Both films were supported by the UFO Short Film Lab. Kevin is committed to telling stories that start empathetic conversations across generations within Asian-American communities and diaspora.

LexScope is a North Carolina–born, Seattle-based filmmaker, producer, and curator. He is the founder and Festival Director of Scope Screenings, a monthly short-film festival dedicated to elevating emerging and underrepresented voices. Lex has served as a curatorial partner with the Seattle Black Film Festival, is a Seattle Film Commissioner, and sits on the board of Northwest Film Forum. His work spans narrative film, programming, and artist development, with a focus on storytelling that reflects lived experience and cultural authenticity.