Pitching Yourself & Your Work (On Demand)

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. 

Films developed at the Labs during her tenure include Dìdi (弟弟), A Thousand and One, Aftersun, Nanny, The 40-Year-Old Version, The Last Black Man in San Francisco, The Farewell, Sorry to Bother You, We the Animals, Beach Rats, Swiss Army Man, Diary of a Teenage Girl, Fruitvale Station, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Pariah, Sin Nombre, Red Road, Me and You and Everyone We Know, Paradise Now, and Maria Full of Grace, among many others. Before joining Sundance 25 years ago, she held positions at ICM and Red Wagon Entertainment. Her roots lie in the theater; her first job after graduating from UCLA was as a production stage manager in the Los Angeles theater scene.

Jandiz Estrada Cardoso is the Director of the Sundance Institute Episodic Program. Previously, she was the Sr. Director of Global Talent Development & Inclusion for film, TV and streaming at NBCUniversal for a decade. Jandiz spearheaded the bicoastal NBCUniversal Short Film Festival, The YA TU SABES Monologue Slam, and the national tour of StandUp NBC. In her freelance career, she has worked on dozens of pilots and features for studios including Disney, Warner Brothers, Paramount, Universal, New Line, AMC, ABC, CBS, Starz, and NBC (notably on their Emmy-winning series 30 ROCK). As an instructor, she has led master classes across the US and Brazil. She is a recipient of the Golden Eagle Award for Diversity Impact in Television.

John grew up in rural South Carolina. When he was thirteen, a movie filmed in his hometown. He got hired to play a supporting role (because he "looked local") and ended up spending a month on set, following around the director and cinematographer. He quickly became interested in the process of filmmaking.

After graduating from The American Film Institute, his thesis film, PATROL, premiered at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. He found work as a screenwriter soon after, penning scripts for Sony, Universal, and Disney. His directing debut was EMILY THE CRIMINAL, starring Aubrey Plaza. The movie premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, where it sold to Roadside Attractions and Vertical Entertainment. He lives in Los Angeles.

DuBois Ashong is a graduate of AMERICAN FILM INSTITUTE CONSERVATORY (MFA in the study of Directing) whose first feature GEECHEE, starred Andrea Riseborough for AGC Studios and was produced by Jamie Foxx. DuBois recently stepped into the world of television, directing episode 9 of the CW’s horror television show TWO SENTENCE HORROR stories.

DuBois’ short, WHERE THE WATER RUNS was screened at CAA MOEBIUS 2018, and has the distinction of winning awards at the Blackstar Film Festival 2018, Tide Film Festival 2019, PAFF 2018, and the historic first ever Smithsonian African American Center for History and Culture Film Festival. DuBois blends his gritty style with a larger worldview to create stories that speak to the plight of the under-appreciated and unrepresented, with a keen eye for breathing humanity into each frame.

Randy is a multi-platform writer currently penning an assassin franchise for Universal with Oscar-winning producer Marc Platt. He recently sold the Shakespearean action-thriller ROME & JULES to Lionsgate with Will Smith’s Westbrook producing, and has projects in development with major studios including a heist thriller with 21 Laps/New Line), a football comedy reimagining for Amazon Studios/MGM, and won a bidding war to adapt NOTES FROM A YOUNG BLACK CHEF for A24, starring Oscar nominee Angela Bassett.

His recent film SAFETY premiered on Disney+ in 2020. On the television side, Randy was a writer for CHAMBERS – A Netflix original series starring Uma Thurman and Tony Goldwyn. He served as writer on INVASION Tv series for Apple+ and Simon Kinberg’s Genre Films, and is currently a writer and producer on the Nascar series GODSPEED for Amazon Prime. He also created, directed and produced THE PROPHECY – A supernatural thriller with Audible, starring Kerry Washington, Laurence Fishburne, David Oyelowo, Daniel Dae Kim and Asa Butterfield. The latter, was nominated for a NAACP award and is currently being adapted by Randy into a feature film.

Rebecca Murga is a Chicago-born, Latinx filmmaker who produces and directs films, commercials, and documentaries for clients such as ABC, CBS, HBO, Mundo FOX, AT&T, and A&E Networks. She is currently the Director of the AFI Directing Workshop for Women (DWW), a hands-on training program committed to increasing the number of women and gender non-binary artists working professionally as narrative screen directors.

Rebecca served as a Captain in the US Army and deployed to Iraq, Kuwait, and Afghanistan. She was awarded a Bronze Star for her work as one of the first women attached to Special Operations in Afghanistan. She currently works with the John Mayer Foundation, Heart and Armor, advocating for women in the military.

As one of the WGA writers in the Dan Lin / Rideback TV incubator produced by Rideback Television with financing and other support by MRC, Rebecca is experienced in collaborating with producers, designers, editors and executives from creative development to post-production.

Rebecca was selected for and has completed the AFI Directing Workshop for Women, the Disney / ABC Directing Program, Ryan Murphy Television Directing Program and has been the recipient of several grants including the National Association of Latino Independent Producers (NALIP) grant, the Panavision New Filmmakers Grant, and The Nancy Malone Directing Award.

Rebecca is a passionate advocate for veterans and women's issues with articles published in The New York Times and The Global Journal. She has appeared on ABC's "Good Morning America," and "The View." Most recently, she was featured on NPR as the director of a short film WAR INK which tells veteran's war stories through their tattoos. 

Chris Licud is an award-winning screenwriter, playwright, and Virginia native. Her short film, WE WERE MEANT TO, which she co-wrote, premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, won the Special Jury Prize at the 2023 Student BAFTA Awards, and won the Grand Prix Award at the 2023 HollyShorts Film Festival. It is now in development as a feature film. Her play LIFE WITH A FRENCH BULLDOG was a finalist for the American Playwriting Foundation’s 2023 Relentless Award Picket Plays, which was initiated by the Writers Guild of America.

Chris is the writer/co-director and producer of the scripted horror podcast SOMETHING STRANGE IS HAPPENING, which premiered at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival as part of its inaugural podcast selection. Estuary Films optioned the series, which is now in development for TV. Chris was one of 10 participants selected for the 2020 PGA Power of Diversity Master Workshop for her half-hour dramedy GRINGAS, which she sold to Hulu/The Onyx Collective. Prentice Penny (INSECURE) is executive producing the series. She earned her MFA in Screenwriting from the American Film Institute, where she won its 2020 Writers’ Room Ready Award for her half-hour dramedy 24K and its 2020 William J. Fadiman Award for her coming-of-age drama DAUGHTERS, which was also a 2021 Nicholl Semifinalist.

Before transitioning to film, she worked in advertising at the executive level in both creative and strategy for major brands. She also holds an MS in Publishing from New York University, where she specialized in new media experiences and cinematic audio. She served as the Associate Producer of the AFI Screenwriting and Directing Showcases, which segues graduates into the global media industry, and now teaches filmmaking at Montclair State University and Chapman University.