Ilyse McKimmie is the Deputy Director for Sundance Institute's Feature Film Program. She oversees the Directors and Screenwriters Labs and the Screenwriters Intensive, provides year-round creative and strategic support to alumni filmmakers, and plays a key role in the Producers and Episodic Programs. more...

Beth de Araújo is a Writer and Director nominated for the 2022 Gotham Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award for her debut film, SOFT & QUIET. SOFT & QUIET premiered at SXSW in 2022, was acquired by Blumhouse, and distributed by eOne. Her sophomore feature, JOSEPHINE, participated in the 2018 Sundance Directors Lab, and went on to win the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award at The Sundance Film Festival in 2026. JOSEPHINE has been acquired by Sumerian Pictures and will have a wide theatrical release in the fall. more...

Katherine "Kat" Street is an LA-based award-winning filmmaker and Philadelphia native. A cinephile at heart, she writes female-driven stories with complex (oftentimes damaged) main characters, centered around self-discovery, self-love, and belonging. She has written numerous short-form projects, including original shorts, pilots, and features. She wrote and directed the dramatic short film “Cycles,” which received festival recognition in both acting and best romantic short. She also created her award-winning flagship web series "The New Adult,” which is currently streaming on Kweli TV. Kat is a Stowe Story Lab SAGIndie Fellow and a participant in the BlackMagic Collective Emerging Filmmakers Initiative. In 2021, she founded the Black Film Challenge, a project that showcases filmmakers of African descent and the movies they create. She earned her BFA from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts with a concentration in Cinematography and has literary representation with Yak Yak Mgmt. more...