Sundance Collab x Dolby Creator Lab Horror Soundscape Challenge 2025

Ryan Binse is an independent producer born and raised in Houston, Texas. Ryan made his way to California by way of the United States Navy's Nuclear Propulsion Program where he was stationed in San Diego.

After eleven years of service, he left for Los Angeles to attend the Producing program at the American Film Institute Conservatory. There, he focused on creative production while interning in prestige development departments within the industry such as HBO and Silver Pictures (The Matrix, Sherlock Holmes). Upon graduating AFI, Ryan was already filling the shoes of a temporary assistant to producer, Joel Silver (Die Hard, Roadhouse), while simultaneously delivering his graduate thesis film, A Rodeo Film which went on to win the DGA Grand Prize for an African American directed film, the Golden Tadpole at Camerimage for its cinematography, and was sold to HBO for a three year term.

Since then, Ryan has worked in various roles of production and producing: Line Producer of The Wedding Pact 2 (The Baby Pact) starring Haylie Duff, produced The Nightmare Machine, and is working with Darius Dawson and Peter Farrelly on the development of the feature adaptation of A Rodeo Film.

Ryan is currently a freelance line producer, production manager, and assistant director represented by GSK Talent.

Michael A H Kurihara is a Supervising Sound Editor and Re-Recording Mixer based out of New York, NY. His Narrative Feature credits include VAMPIRES VS. THE BRONX (Dir. Osman Rodriguez), MASTER GARDENER (Dir. Paul Schrader), and SWALLOW (Dir. Carlo Mirabella-Davis). His Documentary Feature credits include RISK (Dir. Laura Poitras) and MICHAEL MOORE IN TRUMPLAND (Dir. Michael Moore). His Broadcast TV/Streaming credits include Season 2 of LOS ESPOOKYS (Dir. Ana Fabrega) and Seasons 1-3 of JOE PERA TALKS WITH YOU (Dir. Marty Schousboe). Michael holds an MFA in Cello Performance from NYU and learned the craft of Post Production Audio while working at Sound One and later Technicolor-Postworks. His other credits include PIERCING (Dir. Nicolas Pesce), PAINT (Dir. Brit McAdams) and TYREL (Dir. Sebastian Silva).

Sebla Demirbas is a Los Angeles based producer and performer whose work explores identity, memory, and transformation through bold, thought-provoking storytelling. Originally from Istanbul, she studied Political Science and International Relations at Yeditepe University before continuing her creative education in Los Angeles.

Her producing work includes the feature Project MKHEXE, in which she also appears as Meryem Yildiz, as well as a growing slate of independent projects. She has also worked on studio-adjacent productions such as The Wedding Pact 2: The Baby Pact, sharing the screen with Haylie Duff (Napoleon Dynamite) and Quinton Aaron (The Blind Side).

Sebla began her artistic training at the Eric Morris Actor’s Workshop and the Sanford Meisner Center, while also studying classical voice and piano at the Silverlake Conservatory of Music. She is the co-founder of Feathered Fish Films with Gerald Waddell and currently collaborates with Top Spin Entertainment, contributing to the development of numerous feature films and series. 

Gerald Robert Waddell is a Paris-based writer, director, and producer and the co-founder of Feathered Fish Films. A “third culture kid” who was born in the USA but raised in Brazil, Gerald began making short films at a young age using his parents’ Hi-8 camera and editing to VHS tapes.

After graduating from the University of Chicago with double honors in 2009, Gerald was the Senior Producer at UChicago Creative where he produced, directed, and edited over 150 documentaries, commercials, webcasts, and live event videos, including the proposal for the Obama Presidential Library and 2014’s University of Chicago Inquiry and Impact Campaign videos.

Gerald graduated with an MFA in Producing from the American Film Institute Conservatory in 2018, where he produced 8 short films including his thesis film, A Late Separation, which opened the 2018 Monaco International Film Festival, winning him the award for “Best Producer.”

Most recently, Gerald was the producer and co-writer the short film Witches in the Window, the unit production manager of the feature SMILE: The Worst is Yet To Come, and the line producer of the feature Project Child: Perfect Knight.

Project MKHEXE is Gerald’s directorial feature debut. 

Glenn Kiser is the Director of the Dolby Creator Lab, Dolby’s initiative to bring education and inspiration to filmmakers and content creators about the creative use of sound and picture in storytelling. Previously, Kiser was the VP & General Manager of Lucasfilm’s Skywalker Sound, where he oversaw sound work on film projects such as Avatar, The Incredibles, the Star Wars prequels, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, the Pirates of the Caribbean and Harry Potter films. 

Before joining Skywalker, Kiser was a post-production executive at Propaganda Films, where he worked with directors including David Fincher, Spike Jonze, Jane Campion, and Neil LaBute. Fun facts: Glenn played a mean tuba in high school, and at one time Marlon Brando called him obsessively for two weeks. 

He is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.