Merrell Brand-Supported Storytelling Program

She wrote, directed, and starred in the feature film Not an Artist (Utopia), alongside RZA, Ciara Bravo, and others. Previously, she co-created, wrote, and starred in Olympic Dreams with Nick Kroll, which premiered at SXSW and was released by IFC. Her debut film Tracktown—which she co-wrote, directed, and starred in—was developed through the Sundance Creative Producing Labs.

Her award-winning memoir-in-essays, Bravey (with a foreword by Maya Rudolph), was a #1 new release in both sports and film categories and is being adapted into an animated series at HBO with comedian Michelle Wolf. A young readers edition, with a foreword by Maya Hawke, followed. Alexi's story and work have been profiled in the New York Times, Rolling Stone, The Atlantic, on NPR's All Things Considered, Armchair Expert, Psychology Today, and Outside Magazine, and she is the host of the podcast Mentor Buffet on Rich Roll’s Voicing Change network.

She is currently writing and directing the film adaptation of the NYT bestselling book, What Made Maddy Run. Alexi competed in the 10,000 meters for Team Greece at the Rio Games, where she set the Greek national record. Alexi is still sponsored by Merrell and other major brands as a runner and influencer. Alexi lives at the intersection of sport, storytelling, and soul—bringing an original voice to all she creates.

Billy Luther (Navajo, Hopi and Laguna Pueblo) is the writer/director of the award-winning feature film Frybread Face and Me, Executive Produced by Taika Waititi and distributed by Ava DuVernay’s Array for Netflix. The film was selected as part of SXSW 2023’s Narrative Spotlight and TIFF 2023’s Discovery and New Wave Selects. His feature documentary Miss Navajo, premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival and aired nationally on PBS’ Independent Lens that same year. His second documentary feature, Grab, premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and was screened at over 80 film festivals around the world. His short documentary film, Red Lake, had its world premiere at the 2016 LA Film Festival and was nominated for Best Documentary Short at the 2016 International Documentary Association Awards. In 2018, he launched his web series alter-NATIVE for PBS’ IndieLens StoryCast. He is currently a writer and director for the AMC series Dark Winds.

Priya Ahluwalia is a London-based Designer, Creative, & Film Director of Nigerian and Indian heritage who established her name-sake label “Ahluwalia” in 2018. Ahluwalia is informed by the designer’s dual heritage and London roots and explores the potential of vintage and surplus materials by giving them new life.

Ahluwalia embarked on the MA Menswear Design course at The University of Westminster, and it was here that she developed her design ethos and point of view that would inform her work moving forward. During the course, Ahluwalia went on a family trip to Lagos, where she noticed hawkers wearing obscure vintage European clothing and wanted to learn more about how the clothing ended up there. It was then that she learnt about the global second-hand clothing trade. Following the thread of research, she learnt about Panipat in India, which is the global capital of recycling clothing in the world. Shortly after, Ahluwalia visited Panipat and saw first-hand the sheer amount of clothing that ended up there. The research and photographs Ahluwalia took culminated in a book, “Sweet Lassi”, and informed the direction of her final collection and ultimately, the brand.

Ahluwalia has achieved many industry accolades, she won the H&M Design award in 2018, was a joint winner of the coveted 2020 LVMH Prize, was awarded the 2021 Queen Elizabeth II award for British Design, won the 2021 GQ Menswear Fund, was in the final of the 2022 International Woolmark Prize and was awarded the 'Leader of Change' award at the 2022 Fashion Awards, a third consecutive win for her continued work in creating positive change in the fashion industry. In September 2023, Ahluwalia won the CNMI Sustainability x Bicester Collection Award for emerging designers and in 2024, Ahluwalia won the New Establishment Menswear Award at the Fashion Awards. Creative & Film Director Priya Ahluwalia was featured on British Vogue’s January 2024 cover, in recognition of her design and eco-social contributions.

Since the inception of the brand, Ahluwalia has enjoyed working with others and has collaborated with Mulberry, GANNI, Paul Smith, Microsoft, Ace & Tate, Pandora and Puma. She has also worked on brand partnerships with Porsche, NTS, Adidas, Cartier and Levi's, among others.

Ahluwalia made their MET Gala debut in 2025 with custom looks for BAFTA-winning actor Aimee Lou Wood and Olympic champion athlete Gabrielle Thomas. Priya’s designs cater to the theme Superfine: Tailoring Black Style, are inspired by the beauty of Black Dandyism and elegance to celebrate strength, heritage and cultural pride.

Ahluwalia’s work and creative vision extends past clothing; in 2020, she released her second book, Jalebi, which celebrates the beauty of multicultural Britain in London’s Southall. In November 2020, Ahluwalia was invited to join Gucci Fest and create her first film, Joy, a kaleidoscopic look at the Black British experience. Ahluwalia went on to creatively direct and direct a further six notable films, and as a result, she was signed as a film director with Ridley Scott’s Blackdog film agency.

As well as Ahluwalia campaigns, Priya has since directed branded films including spots for Puma, AKT, Nike and Levi's, and various music videos. In September 2025, Ahluwalia’s TVC directorial debut was released, a 60-second commercial for the coveted This Girl Can initiative.

In all her work, Ahluwalia endeavours to create, innovate and design whilst driving social and environmental change.

Stephanie Ahn is a writer, director, and editor based in Brooklyn. NY. Her screenplays, short films, and editing work have been showcased at the United Nations, Gotham Awards, IFP’s Independent Project Forum, and numerous international film festivals. Her first feature, BEDFORD PARK, premiered at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival where it received the Special Jury Prize for Debut Feature Film and picked up by Sony Picture Classics for world wide distribution. She received her film degree from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.

Sami is an award-winning, non-traditional Creative Director and Executive Producer who specializes in building human-focused branded entertainment properties grounded in built-to-release strategy. A former "influencer whisperer," she oversaw top-tier Creator talent and development at Maker Studios and Fullscreen, became BBDO New York’s first EP of Creative Development and Entertainment Partnerships, and in 2022 founded Yarn, a next-gen branded entertainment consultancy, creating films, formats, and podcasts for platforms like Netflix, Youtube Premium, and Amazon Prime. 

In addition to Yarn, she currently serves as Creative Director for MJM, a heritage corporate event agency; building on her longstanding passion for live events, which includes founding the Los Angeles Music Video Festival in 2010, the "AI on the Lot" Conference in 2023, and SoCom, the first social commerce conference in the US, in 2025. 

In 2023, Sami co-created the groundbreaking experimental AI variety show "It Writes Itself." She’s since facilitated AI creativity workshops across the country for companies like Meta, Unilever, Disney, and more. 

Richard McLeod is the Chief Marketing Officer of Merrell, where he leads the brand’s global marketing organization, shaping integrated strategies, consumer engagement, and brand storytelling to drive growth across the outdoor performance and lifestyle categories.

With more than two decades of experience, McLeod is a consumer‑obsessed leader known for building culturally relevant, globally recognized brands and translating insight into demand. He most recently served as Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at Champion, where he led global strategy, elevating the brand’s presence through innovative storytelling, consumer insights, and integrated marketing. Prior to that, he was Senior Vice President of Brand at Canada Goose, where he guided brand evolution, growth, and performance on a global scale.

Across his career, McLeod has built a reputation for developing high-performing teams, strengthening retail and consumer connections, and delivering long-term brand growth through modern marketing capabilities.

Josh Shelton is an Emmy nominated producer and multi-hyphenate filmmaker who leads the content team for the Sundance Institute and Sundance Film Festival. He has produced, written, and directed series for Participant Media, Netflix, MTV, ESPN, and PopTV. He was nominated for an Emmy as a producer on Netflix’s We Are The Champions. As an independent producer, Shelton’s work has been featured at SXSW, Cannes, Austin Film Festival and more. He has also been at the forefront of the digital landscape, winning the first ever YouTube Award in 2007 for Best Short Film of the Year (My Name Is Lisa) and served as interim Head of Production for the joy-filled media company, SoulPancake, where he was a producer/showrunner for social-impact campaigns garnering 50M+ views.

Soheil Rezayazdi is a Digital Course & Event Producer at the Sundance Institute, where he produces multi-session courses, master classes, filmmaker Q&As, and other digital programs for Sundance Collab. Prior to Sundance, Soheil served as the Nonfiction Programs Manager at the Gotham Film & Media Institute. He oversaw the Gotham’s core documentary programs: the Documentary Feature Lab, the Spotlight on Documentaries project market, and the Documentary Development Initiative in partnership with HBO Documentary Films. Soheil has worked with emerging filmmakers since 2015, when he began a seven-year tenure at the Columbia University MFA Film Program. At Columbia he managed the Columbia University Film Festival (CUFF), the Dr. Saul and Dorothy Kit Film Noir Festival, and the Carla Kuhn Memorial Speaker Series. 

Soheil is also a freelance writer on film and pop culture with articles in Indiewire, McSweeney’s, Vice, Filmmaker Magazine, Documentary Magazine, Paper, Paste, and elsewhere. He has also served as an external reviewer for artist programs operated by Creative Capital, Kartemquin Pictures, Chicken & Egg Pictures, and the International Documentary Association. A native of Iran, he holds an MA in journalism and a BA in film studies from the University of Iowa.