Ariel Zengotita is an award-winning Puerto Rican filmmaker based in Los Angeles. His work tends to explore the space between psychological horror and dark comedy. His films have been selected for notable festivals such as SXSW and Palm Springs International ShortFest, and have been featured on sites like Short of the Week, Director’s Notes, and Vimeo Staff Picks. He’s also been featured on Latinx Directors, the first-ever database dedicated to showcasing prominent Latinx directors based in the United States.

Chandler Crump received her BFA in Film and Television at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Born and raised in San Francisco, she is currently based in NYC. Crump’s debut short film Color Him Son had its world premiere at the 9th Annual Afrikana Film Festival, its New York premiere at the 12th Annual New York International Shorts Film Festival, and was awarded the Best Undergraduate Narrative Film at the 2023 Fusion Film Festival. As of Summer 2024, she has picture-locked her second short, a one-room feminist horror film entitled There’s Someone at the Door. Planting her industry roots as a junior executive in television development at Billy Porter’s production company, Crump’s emerging voice in Hollywood is a force to be reckoned with.

Charlie Dennis is a writer-director from the West Midlands in the United Kingdom. He has developed a cinematic style that anchors cutting-edge filmmaking with unheard and underrepresented stories. He looks to induce positive change by blending humour, high-octane moments, and authenticity into his work, giving an honest punch to all that he creates. Dennis strives to improve accessibility within film and TV. His Deaf-led BBC short film Silent World was subsequently picked up as a TV series after winning the National Lottery Arts Project of the Year, alongside BAFTA-, Academy Award–, and BIFA-qualifying festival nominations. As well as recently directing splinter units for a Sky TV series starring Kenneth Branagh, and being long and shortlisted for prestigious commercial accolades such as Cannes Lions and 1.4 Awards, he ensures that even the most exciting stories stay profoundly human.

Helena Hawkes, the middle child to a mixed Hispanic family of 10 children in New Mexico, set foot on her first film set in the sixth grade. Since then, the screenwriter, director, painter, and occasional poet honed her genre skills by cutting her teeth at Blumhouse Productions, where Jason Blum handpicked her from a pool of interns to assist him. Upon doing so and wanting to strengthen her skills as a director, she pivoted and began working as an apprentice to horror screenwriter and director Leigh Whannell. Since then, she worked closely with Whannell on his upcoming anticipated film while developing her own projects. As a writer, Hawkes explores female-driven tales that deal with family dynamics, identity, transformation, and self-image, all of which are told through a genre and sometimes surrealist lens.

Jared Leaf is a writer, director, and producer based in Portland. Through his production company, Ninety Third Story, he aims to tell stories at the highest level. His directorial approach is influenced by his background as both a classically-trained actor and former college linebacker at San Jose State. Since moving from Los Angeles to Portland in 2021, he has written and directed numerous projects for Nike, including documentaries for Serena Williams and the Serena Williams Design Crew, as well as Decolonizing Design, a five-part docuseries on cultural appropriation in design. His feature directorial debut, a documentary on the Black Seminoles of Florida and their fight for freedom amidst 19th-century US expansion, is currently in production and set to wrap in early 2025. Since 2018, Leaf has directed eight short films across genres, including romantic comedy, noir mystery, action, comedy, and horror. His first horror short, Sketch, won an award and received three nominations.