Komeil Soheili is a documentary filmmaker and producer. He has an M.A degree in Cultural Studies and Media and has done professional film courses in Indonesia and South Korea. He has been a festival director, jury, and consultant at a few international film festivals. His documentaries are mostly about social issues and the environment. He has nominated in international film festivals like GZDOCS, Fajr and awarded in festivals like Cine-Verite, Meihodo, Terres, etc. He is a writer of two books “Media Understanding: Cinema” and “Live with dynamite”.
Cullen Parr is an animator and director in Los Angeles, California. A Chicago native, Cullen discovered a passion for filmmaking and animation in college and he has since been working in the motion graphics industry on film, broadcast, and new media pieces for clients such as HBO, Disney, and The Getty. Over the past several years, Cullen has also worked closely with two time Sundance Grand Jury winner Ondi Timoner on a number of projects including the feature documentary BRAND: A SECOND COMING (opening night film, SXSW 2015) and the period biopic MAPPLETHORPE starring Matt Smith (World Premiere, Tribeca 2018).
Mads Koudal (Aarhus, Denmark, 01/22/1977) has written, edited, and directed music videos, comedy sketches, for TV broadcasting (’TV2 Zulu’ and ’Comedy Central’ among others). In 2016 he was nominated for Music Video Director of the Year at CPH PIX. Besides directing, Mads primarily works as an actor and just recently as a Hospital Clown – at public hospitals in Denmark. “Between a Rock and a Hard Place” is Mads’ first short film experience as a director and writer.
Carrie Sandahl (Writer, Producer, Interviewee) is an artist/scholar and Associate Professor in the Department of Disability and Human Development at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is also the director Chicago’s Bodies of Work, an organization that promotes disability arts and culture year-round through partnerships with cultural institutions and producing original work. Her own research and creative activity focus on disability and gender identities in live performance, including theatre, dance, and performance art. Sandahl has published numerous research articles and an anthology she co-edited with Philip Auslander, Bodies in Commotion: Disability and Performance (University of Michigan Press), garnered the Association for Theatre in Higher Education’s award for Outstanding Book in Theatre Practice and Pedagogy.
Ryan Mayers is an Emmy award winning filmmaker with over 20 years of
experience in both television and film. His work has been seen on CBS, MTV,
A&E Biography, ESPN, BET, DIY, PBS, and Disney. While working at Harpo
Studios in Chicago, he edited the documentary series Oprah’s Next Chapter,
among other shows for the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN).
CJ played Joseph in the 2017 summer hit “Baby Driver”, directed by Edgar Wright and co-starring Ansel Elgort. This role made CJ the first black deaf actor in an international Blockbuster. You can see him as Odin in “Castle Rock”, a HULU Original production, written by Stephen King. CJ is thrilled to be working with the brilliant James Cameron on the Avatar Sequels. He played Uriah in the indie horror film “Door in the Woods” directed by Chase Goforth, which earned him a Best Actor award in the Graveyard Shift category of the Nashville Film Festival. He is interviewed in depth in season 3 of United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell, a season which won several Emmy’s.
Kerrynton is an energetic dancer/actress from Frederick Maryland. She has been featured in print ads, commercials, music videos, television shows and most notably cast in the sequel of High Strung Free Dance directed by Michael Damian. She is currently working as a dancer on the “Descendants of the Dragon World Tour” with Leehom Wang. She is the spokesperson for Neutrogena in a commercial airing nationally. She has trained at Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Joffrey Ballet, and Complexions Contemporary Ballet. Her acting training includes Richard Brander School of Acting and Todd Etelson’s Actors Technique New York.
Camilla Barungi is a cultural and future-of-work strategist. As a strategist, Camilla leverages innovation and cultural bridges to foster job creation and the growth of Africa and the African Diaspora’s innovation ecosystems in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs).
As a university student in Silicon Valley, Camilla was discovered by a fashion agent and has since worked as an international model for renowned luxury designers such as Giorgio Armani, Ralph Lauren, Escada, Oscar de la Renta, Tommy Hilfiger, Tiffany’s and is also remembered for her standout appearance in Season 3 of the Emmy Award winning Project Runway show.
Camilla launched her first entrepreneurial venture in 2008 working with women’s co-ops in East Africa producing sustainable ingredients to supply the global beauty industry. She has since scaled her social enterprise as a founder of Alliance 4 Development (A4D) a global advisory incubator accelerating innovation ecosystems at the intersection of sustainable fashion, emerging technologies, impact film and smart manufacturing. Some of A4D’s clients include Herflix, Encantos Media in the United States and Uganda Federation of Movie Industries, The Kingdom of Tooro, Pangea Under The Stars Film Festival, Viewer’s Choice Movie Awards and Uganda Tourism Board in Africa.
Camilla also currently serves as the Chief Creative Officer of the Pan African Chamber of Commerce, a confederation of 48 chambers of commerce operating across Africa and the African Diaspora, and is passionate about integrating culture and innovation to drive sustainable development.
Camilla also devotes her time and donates her strategic advisory services for philanthropy that drives diversity and inclusion for underserved communities; as a board member for Geeks Rule; a provider of STEM education to underserved students, The Nyaka Aids Orphan Project serving 650 students and as co-chair for ADAPT Community Network’s Santa Project Party for over decade, a provider of cutting edge programs and services for people living with disabilities in the United States.
Bryant J. Reynolds is a film lover and disability activist. His passion is making films and talking about how to improve the life’s of people like him. He is the ticket-taker and usher at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan film department, and has served on the ReelAbilties Selection Committee in 2020.
Tatiana Lee is a Communications Fellow at RespectAbility’s National Leadership Program for Spring 2019. RespectAbility is a nonprofit organization fighting stigmas and advancing opportunities for and with people with disabilities. Lee came to this leadership program to gain better knowledge and skills to be a more effective advocate in Hollywood for disability inclusion. She wants to learn about RespectAbility’s culture to maintain the excellent track record for effectiveness it has in Hollywood. She hopes to help represent RespectAbility in Hollywood. Like RespectAbility, Lee has dedicated her life to fighting for inclusion of people with disabilities in all aspects of mass media.
