Wendy Mitchell is a seasoned writer/editor who specializes in entertainment coverage for online and print publications. She also consults for film festivals including San Sebastian, Rotterdam, Zurich, Connext, Goteborg, and more. Wendy has moderated many panels, Q&As and masterclasses with filmmakers, actors and industry executives. Her latest book Citizen Canine: Dog in the Movies was published in February 2020 by Laurence King (UK) and Chronicle (US). more...

Justin Simien is a writer, director, and producer of both television and film based in Los Angeles, California. In 2014 he wrote and directed his first feature film, the critically acclaimed Indie Dear White People, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. After being called “timely and important” by critics and audiences alike, the project won him the Special Jury Award for Breakthrough Talent and was picked up by Lionsgate/Roadside Attractions. more...

Janicza Bravo directs theater, film, and TV. She directed the 2017 feature-length dark comedy Lemon, starring her husband Brett Gellman, Michael Cera, Judy Greer, Marcia Gibbs, and Nia Long. She has also directed episodes of Atlanta and Dear White People. Her latest film Zola, starring Taylour Paige, based on the 2015 viral Twitter story about two strippers’ misadventures in Florida, premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. more...

Emerald Fennell is an English actress, filmmaker, and writer. She has received many awards and nominations, including an Academy Award, two British Academy Film Awards, one Screen Actors Guild Award, and nominations for three Primetime Emmy Awards and three Golden Globe Awards. Fennell first gained attention for her roles in period drama films, such as Albert Nobbs (2011), Anna Karenina (2012), The Danish Girl (2015), and Vita and Virginia (2018). She went on to receive wider recognition for her starring roles in the BBC One period drama series Call the Midwife (2013-17) and for her portrayal of Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall in the Netflix period drama series The Crown (2019-20). more...

Romola Garai is an English actress-writer-director who has worked extensively in film, television and theatre. As an actress she is known for her performances in films such as Atonement (2007), Angel (2007), I Capture the Castle (2003) and Suffragette. In television, her work includes her BAFTA-nominated performance in The Crimson Petal and the White (2011), The Hour (2012), Born to Kill (2017) and The Miniaturist (2017). As a director her work includes the Sundance Best International Short Film nominated Scrubber. Her debut feature, the horror film Amulet, premiered in the Midnight Madness section at Sundance 2020. more...

Julie Taymor is an award-winning theater, opera, and film director best known for being the first woman to win a Tony Award for directing a Broadway Musical: The Lion King. After college, she spent a year studying puppetry in Eastern Europe, Indonesia, and Japan and spent four years in Java. Returning to the United States, her career took off quickly. Her theater and opera credits include: The Haggadah (1980), Liberty’s Taken (1985), The Tempest (1986), The Magic Flute (1993), The Flying Dutchman (1995), The Lion King (1997), Grounded (2015), M. Butterfly (2017). Her film credits include: Titus (1999), Frida (2002). Across the Universe (2007), and The Glorias (2020). Taymor has received dozens of awards in addition to her Tony, including a Guggenheim Fellowship and a MacArthur Fellowship. more...