ShortFest Awards

Julia Aks

Writer, Director, Actor for JANE AUSTEN'S PERIOD DRAMA

Julia Aks is an Oscar-nominated filmmaker, actor, and opera singer based in Los Angeles. She co-wrote/directed/starred in the short film JANE AUSTEN’S PERIOD DRAMA, a 13-minute satire about menstruation, which culminated a wildly successful festival run with an Academy-Award-nomination in 2026. Prior to that, Julia rose to internet fame with a slew of viral sketches on her YouTube channel. On stage, Julia has performed with companies such as LA Opera, La Mirada Theatre, and the Independent Shakespeare Company. She can be seen on Marvel’s AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D., and heard as the featured vocalist on the score for JOHN WICK III.

Kayla Foster

Producer

Kayla Foster recently starred in and produced YOUR MONSTER, which premiered at Sundance. After a theatrical run, the film went on to stream on HBO and Netflix. She played Barbara on two seasons of David Simon's THE DEUCE on HBO and appeared opposite Elizabeth Banks in CALL JANE, which also premiered at Sundance. Kayla also starred in and executive produced THE WILD, which premiered at the Atlanta Film Festival and screened at the Lower East Side Film Festival’s Off/Season series. Her short films have screened at SXSW, Sun Valley Film Festival, Palm Springs International ShortFest, and more.

Dana Ledoux Miller

Dana Ledoux Miller is a Samoan writer, producer, director, and showrunner. In 2024, she directed and co-wrote Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Moana 2, which surpassed $1 billion at the global box office. She co-wrote Disney’s live-action Moana, scheduled for theatrical release in July. Previously, she co-showran Netflix’s Thai Cave Rescue and executive produced Last Resort. Her television credits include Kevin Can F**k Himself, Lodge 49, Designated Survivor, Narcos, and The Newsroom. Dana is also co-founder of PEAK and was named one of Variety and Gold House’s inaugural “8 APIs Up Next in Entertainment” in 2024.

Gus Van Sant

Gus Green Van Sant Jr (born July 24, 1952) is an American filmmaker, photographer, painter, and musician. He has earned acclaim as an independent filmmaker, and is considered to be one of the most prominent auteurs of the new queer cinema movement. His films typically deal with themes of marginalized subcultures.

William Caballero

Colibri Creative Media

William D. Caballero is an award-winning filmmaker and multidisciplinary visual storyteller, who tells big stories using small figures. His feature documentary TheyDream won the Special Jury Award for Creative Expression at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, following the Sundance premieres of his acclaimed shorts Victor and Isolina and Chilly & Milly. He is also the creator of Gran'pa Knows Best for HBO. A recipient of a 2018 Guggenheim Fellowship and 2022 Creative Capital Award, Caballero has built a reputation for developing visually singular projects that merge auteur sensibility with commercial imagination.

Wilson Chapman (Moderator)

IndieWire

Wilson Chapman is an editor and writer at IndieWire, covering film and television with a focus on animation. He has been at the company since 2023, where he writes the animation newsletter Sketch to Screen. Prior to IndieWire, he interned at Variety Magazine. He received his B.A. in Journalism and Political Science from the Medill School at Northwestern University in 2020.

John Kelly

Director

Dolphin’s Barn Pictures

John Kelly is a filmmaker specialising in animation. He studied at the Royal College of Art in London, and lives and works in Dublin, Ireland. His film RETIREMENT PLAN won both the Grand Jury and Audience Awards in the Animated Short Competition at SXSW 2025 and was nominated for an Oscar® at the 2026 Academy Awards. He’s currently developing an animated docu-series, alongside too many other things.

Noah Baldwin

Tremolo Productions

Noah Baldwin is a documentary production professional and assistant to the Oscar, Emmy and Grammy award winning documentary filmmaker Morgan Neville at Tremolo Productions, where he has worked for nearly seven years. During his time at Tremolo, he has production coordinated projects including Hack Your Health: The Secrets of Your Gut and Saint of Second Chances, and founded the company’s internship program, which he continues to lead as primary supervisor. In addition to his production work, Baldwin has supported Neville across a range of high-profile projects, including, Piece by Piece, Paul McCartney: Man on the Run, Lorne, and Breakdown: 1975

Edda Manriquez

Femtasia Fest

Edda Manriquez is an award-winning Latinx experimental filmmaker, documentarian, and founder/director of Femtasia Fest, formerly Les Femmes Underground International Film Festival. Femtasia Fest is an official 501(c)(3) centered on women, femme, and non-binary filmmakers. Her avant-garde and documentary work preserves Latinx oral histories in Southern California. She holds an MFA from CalArts and a B.A. from UCSD. She has served as a juror for FilmOut San Diego, Fantasia International Film Festival, Etheria Film Night, Blumhouse, SD Italian Film Festival, and the SD Latino Film Festival. She currently works at a major film archive, where she manages access to its collections.

Ambriehl Turrentine

Denver Film

Ambriehl Turrentine is the Programming Manager at Denver Film and a passionate film programmer with experience curating screenings at festivals and theaters nationwide. A graduate of the University of Missouri, she has enjoyed work with BendFilm, Destiny City Film Festival, True/False Film Festival, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Her interests in political and pop cultural histories, classic cinema, and physical media collecting continue to shape her work as a communicator, educator, and storyteller in film.

Ash Cook

Video Store•Age

ASH COOK [HOYLE] is the founder & CEO of Video Store•Age an unconventional, grassroots distribution label. Prior, he was a longtime features Programmer at the Sundance Film Festival. Ash is currently serving as the Festival Director of the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival and the Associate Director of Programming & Operations of the Los Angeles Festival of Movies. Ash is a 2026 Queer|Art Mentorship Fellow & a 2021 Project Involve Fellow with Film Independent. He has also worked as the Director of Programming of Damn These Heels Film Festival, a Senior Programmer at Outfest Los Angeles & a Programmer at Palm Springs Shorts Fest.

Micah Gottlieb

Artistic Director

Los Angeles Festival of Movies

Micah Gottlieb is the artistic director of Mezzanine, a nonprofit supporting independent and arthouse cinema in Los Angeles, whose programs are frequently done in collaboration with artists, curators, and other luminaries. He is also the co-founder and director of programming of the Los Angeles Festival of Movies. He is formerly the assistant programmer at the Quad Cinema in Manhattan and previously worked in independent film distribution in New York.

Rebekah Smith

The Film Festival Doctor

Dr. Rebekah Louisa Smith, The Film Festival Doctor, is a change agent. Her focus on film festivals and mental health is the first of its kind within the film industry. She creates new ways to approach festival strategies and redefine how to look after one’s mental health within the intense & rewarding world of the film festival circuit. Rebekah and team are committed to nurturing filmmakers in order to help them secure film festival screenings, win awards, and cultivate a positive recognition within the film industry. She has helped her clients win over 3,000 awards and four Oscar success stories.

Noah Baldwin

Tremolo Productions

Noah Baldwin is a documentary production professional and assistant to the Oscar, Emmy and Grammy award winning documentary filmmaker Morgan Neville at Tremolo Productions, where he has worked for nearly seven years. During his time at Tremolo, he has production coordinated projects including Hack Your Health: The Secrets of Your Gut and Saint of Second Chances, and founded the company’s internship program, which he continues to lead as primary supervisor. In addition to his production work, Baldwin has supported Neville across a range of high-profile projects, including, Piece by Piece, Paul McCartney: Man on the Run, Lorne, and Breakdown: 1975

Edda Manriquez

Femtasia Fest

Edda Manriquez is an award-winning Latinx experimental filmmaker, documentarian, and founder/director of Femtasia Fest, formerly Les Femmes Underground International Film Festival. Femtasia Fest is an official 501(c)(3) centered on women, femme, and non-binary filmmakers. Her avant-garde and documentary work preserves Latinx oral histories in Southern California. She holds an MFA from CalArts and a B.A. from UCSD. She has served as a juror for FilmOut San Diego, Fantasia International Film Festival, Etheria Film Night, Blumhouse, SD Italian Film Festival, and the SD Latino Film Festival. She currently works at a major film archive, where she manages access to its collections.

Ambriehl Turrentine

Denver Film

Ambriehl Turrentine is the Programming Manager at Denver Film and a passionate film programmer with experience curating screenings at festivals and theaters nationwide. A graduate of the University of Missouri, she has enjoyed work with BendFilm, Destiny City Film Festival, True/False Film Festival, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Her interests in political and pop cultural histories, classic cinema, and physical media collecting continue to shape her work as a communicator, educator, and storyteller in film.

Talia Shea Levin

Director, Writer, Producer

Talia has produced two shorts with writer/director Matthew Serrano, including XOLO (ShortFest 2026). Her films as writer/director have screened at 70+ festivals and been featured by IndieWire, Vimeo Staff Picks, Short of the Week, and NOWNESS. She is developing her viral short MAKE ME A PIZZA (SXSW 2024) into a feature after winning awards at Fantasia Frontières and PROOF Film Festival. A Carnegie Mellon graduate in Screenwriting and Directing, she has developed projects at residencies like Cine Qua Non and PlayLab Film’s Amazon workshop with Apichatpong Weerasethakul. She is also a passionate educator at AMDA and the Youth Cinema Project.

Jesy Odio

FUJIFILM

Jesy Odio is a Costa Rican film producer drawn to original voices and bold, irreverent storytelling. Her feature Every Day in Kaimukī premiered at Sundance 2022 and won Best Narrative Feature at Bentonville Film Festival. A Sundance Producers Intensive and Gotham Market fellow, her short films have screened at Sundance, SXSW, Tribeca, Sitges, Fantasia, and Slamdance. She has produced for Netflix, Hulu, and Paul Feig's Incubator Powderkeg, and produced Moloka'i Bound with Google, ARRAY, Nina Yang Bongiovi, and Forest Whitaker. She holds an MBA from UCLA Anderson and works Production at FUJIFILM.

Maura Towey

Love & Squalor Pictures

Maura Towey is a producer and development executive based in Los Angeles. She is the Director of Development for Elisabeth Moss’ Love & Squalor Pictures where she works across both film & television. Love & Squalor most recently produced IMPERFECT WOMEN for Apple TV and THE TESTAMENTS for Hulu. Previously, Maura held artist development positions at Sundance and AFI where she focused on identifying & supporting emerging talent, including leading 23 directors and their short films through the AFI DWW+ initiative.

Alana Duthie

Agent

Gersh

Alana Duthie is an agent in the Feature Film Department at Gersh, where she represents writers and directors across film and television. She specializes in identifying singular voices, packaging projects, and building strategic partnerships between filmmakers, producers, financiers, and buyers.

Mia McNiece (Moderator)

Gold Derby

Mia McNiece is an entertainment journalist and editor with over 20 years of experience. As Senior Editor of News and Awards at Gold Derby, she spearheads coverage of major accolades like the Oscars and Emmys, alongside conducting in-depth interviews with A-list actors, directors, and showrunners. Previously, she served as Senior Entertainment Editor at PEOPLE, where she spearheaded high-profile cover stories and oversaw television, film, and pop culture content. Celebrated for her sharp editorial instincts, Mia has dedicated her career to connecting audiences with the creative voices shaping Hollywood.

Peter Van Steemburg

XYZ Films

Peter Van Steemburg started his career in NYC with stints at Miramax & Cinetic Media. He spent the next 7 years working in the Acquisitions department of Magnolia Pictures. He relocated to LA to run West Coast acquisitions in 2010. In 2015, Peter joined ICM as an Agent where he arranged financing and distribution for feature films before returning to film distribution. He was most recently the VP of Acquisitions & Production at the Universal Pictures Content Group. He’s been at XYZ Films as the Head of Talent Management since 2019 building out the talent management roster, focusing on global genre filmmakers.

Ernest Quiroz

Santa Barbara, the Loft, Phoenix Art Museum

Ernie Quiroz is a filmmaker, curator and programmer with over 15 years of film programming experience. He works as an Associate Programmer for Sundance as well as Telluride. He's based in Phoenix, AZ and is the Curator of Film at the Phoenix Art Museum and also programs for numerous festivals including the Phoenix Film Festival, the Loft Film Festival, Santa Barbara International and Cine Las Americas in Austin, TX.

Irene Soriano Saxon

Sundance Film Festival

Irene Soriano Saxon is an LA–based film curator, festival programmer, and film marketing & distribution strategist. She programs short films for the Sundance Film Festival and has curated film programs for the Norwegian Short Film Festival, Outfest Fusion QTBIPOC Film Festival and the Echo Park Film Center. Irene has moderated industry conversations and filmmaker Q&As for Sundance London and DOC Leipzig and has served on juries including Kortfilmfestivalen [Norway], Tampere Film Festival [Finland], and the QCinema International Film Festival [Philippines]. Her work with Studio Iró centers on community, collaboration, and inclusive cinematic representation of diasporic Filipinos across global independent film spaces.

Eleanor Wilson

Writer/Director

Eleanor Wilson is a writer/director from South Australia, who often collaborates with her partner Alex Fischer. Their most recent film, WICKER, starring Olivia Colman, Alexander Skarsgård, Peter Dinklage & Elizabeth Debicki, had its premiere at Sundance and will be distributed by Black Bear. Their debut feature SAVE YOURSELVES! premiered at Sundance 2020. Her solo work includes the award winning short films Low Road, Everything All At Once and Possum which have screened at MoMA, Nitehawk Shorts Fest and SundanceTV, among many others.

Adam Keresztes

Calgary International Film Festival

Adam Keresztes has served as the lead shorts programmer at the Calgary International Film Festival since 2020 and has also programmed in sections including New American Cinema Features and Generation Next Features. In addition to his work at the Calgary International Film Festival, Adam has been programming for the Chilliwack Independent Film Festival since 2024 as a shorts programmer. He has also served on multiple juries across Canada and spoken on multiple film festival panels. You can usually find him in the nearest movie theatre, at a film festival, or writing hot takes on old classics on Letterboxd.

Séverine Tibi

Sevana Films

Séverine Tibi is a film producer from Cannes currently living in Los Angeles. After working in distribution and in sponsorship at the British Film Institute in London, she co-founded the Cannes-based production company Sevana Films. Séverine has produced films in several countries, which have screened at festivals such as Locarno, Toronto, SXSW and Palm Springs. She is a Sundance Producers Summit, Rotterdam Lab and Zurich Film Festival Academy alumna, and she was a Film Mentor at SXSW. Since February 2022, Séverine has also been working as Creative Analyst at the independent finance and co-production company Sons of Rigor.

Noah Baldwin

Tremolo Productions

Noah Baldwin is a documentary production professional and assistant to the Oscar, Emmy and Grammy award winning documentary filmmaker Morgan Neville at Tremolo Productions, where he has worked for nearly seven years. During his time at Tremolo, he has production coordinated projects including Hack Your Health: The Secrets of Your Gut and Saint of Second Chances, and founded the company’s internship program, which he continues to lead as primary supervisor. In addition to his production work, Baldwin has supported Neville across a range of high-profile projects, including, Piece by Piece, Paul McCartney: Man on the Run, Lorne, and Breakdown: 1975

Edda Manriquez

Femtasia Fest

Edda Manriquez is an award-winning Latinx experimental filmmaker, documentarian, and founder/director of Femtasia Fest, formerly Les Femmes Underground International Film Festival. Femtasia Fest is an official 501(c)(3) centered on women, femme, and non-binary filmmakers. Her avant-garde and documentary work preserves Latinx oral histories in Southern California. She holds an MFA from CalArts and a B.A. from UCSD. She has served as a juror for FilmOut San Diego, Fantasia International Film Festival, Etheria Film Night, Blumhouse, SD Italian Film Festival, and the SD Latino Film Festival. She currently works at a major film archive, where she manages access to its collections.

Ambriehl Turrentine

Denver Film

Ambriehl Turrentine is the Programming Manager at Denver Film and a passionate film programmer with experience curating screenings at festivals and theaters nationwide. A graduate of the University of Missouri, she has enjoyed work with BendFilm, Destiny City Film Festival, True/False Film Festival, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Her interests in political and pop cultural histories, classic cinema, and physical media collecting continue to shape her work as a communicator, educator, and storyteller in film.

Daniel Cardone

Film Independent

In Australia, Daniel Cardone worked on critically acclaimed productions such as “The Home Song Stories,” “Animal Kingdom,” and the Emmy award-winning “The Pacific.” Moving to the US, Daniel was a contributing director to the anthology “Still Around” (2011), and wrote and directed the short “Incident,” premiering at Palm Springs Shortfest 2012. In 2015, he completed his first feature film, the documentary “Desert Migration", which premiered at Frameline Film Festival, San Francisco. Since 2019, Daniel has been employed with Film Independent, Los Angeles, where he currently serves as Senior Manager of Nonfiction Programs and Fiscal Sponsorship.

Hayley Marie Norman

Filmmaker

Hayley Marie Norman boasts a distinguished list of on-camera credits and accolades from Roger Ebert to Vulture. As a writer, she has sold projects to and developed with top Hollywood studios and networks. The Errand, her directorial debut short film, played at the 2025 Palm Springs ShortFest (among many others) and was subsequently awarded a Vimeo Staff Pick. Hayley also wrote and starred in the film. Hayley won the Silver Lake Shorts fellowship to make her next project- a comedy short titled My Black Vagina. Again, she serves as the writer, director, and lead actor.

Steven Snyder

Cienega Films

Steven Snyder is an independent producer and 2025 Sundance Producers Lab fellow. His short film work, Azi and Seniors, both premiered at the Sundance Film Festival (2026 and 2025 respectively). He's participated in such programs as Film Independent's Fast Track, PGA Create, and Inside Out’s International Finance Forum, the first and only 2SLGBTQ+ finance forum of its kind promoting queer creatives.

Adam Keresztes

Calgary International Film Festival

Adam Keresztes has served as the lead shorts programmer at the Calgary International Film Festival since 2020 and has also programmed in sections including New American Cinema Features and Generation Next Features. In addition to his work at the Calgary International Film Festival, Adam has been programming for the Chilliwack Independent Film Festival since 2024 as a shorts programmer. He has also served on multiple juries across Canada and spoken on multiple film festival panels. You can usually find him in the nearest movie theatre, at a film festival, or writing hot takes on old classics on Letterboxd.

Séverine Tibi

Sevana Films

Séverine Tibi is a film producer from Cannes currently living in Los Angeles. After working in distribution and in sponsorship at the British Film Institute in London, she co-founded the Cannes-based production company Sevana Films. Séverine has produced films in several countries, which have screened at festivals such as Locarno, Toronto, SXSW and Palm Springs. She is a Sundance Producers Summit, Rotterdam Lab and Zurich Film Festival Academy alumna, and she was a Film Mentor at SXSW. Since February 2022, Séverine has also been working as Creative Analyst at the independent finance and co-production company Sons of Rigor.

Noah Baldwin

Tremolo Productions

Noah Baldwin is a documentary production professional and assistant to the Oscar, Emmy and Grammy award winning documentary filmmaker Morgan Neville at Tremolo Productions, where he has worked for nearly seven years. During his time at Tremolo, he has production coordinated projects including Hack Your Health: The Secrets of Your Gut and Saint of Second Chances, and founded the company’s internship program, which he continues to lead as primary supervisor. In addition to his production work, Baldwin has supported Neville across a range of high-profile projects, including, Piece by Piece, Paul McCartney: Man on the Run, Lorne, and Breakdown: 1975

Edda Manriquez

Femtasia Fest

Edda Manriquez is an award-winning Latinx experimental filmmaker, documentarian, and founder/director of Femtasia Fest, formerly Les Femmes Underground International Film Festival. Femtasia Fest is an official 501(c)(3) centered on women, femme, and non-binary filmmakers. Her avant-garde and documentary work preserves Latinx oral histories in Southern California. She holds an MFA from CalArts and a B.A. from UCSD. She has served as a juror for FilmOut San Diego, Fantasia International Film Festival, Etheria Film Night, Blumhouse, SD Italian Film Festival, and the SD Latino Film Festival. She currently works at a major film archive, where she manages access to its collections.

Ambriehl Turrentine

Denver Film

Ambriehl Turrentine is the Programming Manager at Denver Film and a passionate film programmer with experience curating screenings at festivals and theaters nationwide. A graduate of the University of Missouri, she has enjoyed work with BendFilm, Destiny City Film Festival, True/False Film Festival, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Her interests in political and pop cultural histories, classic cinema, and physical media collecting continue to shape her work as a communicator, educator, and storyteller in film.

Rika Dharmesh Bhakta

Independent Producer

Rika Dharmesh Bhakta is a professional storyteller, or as the industry calls it, a development executive and producer of television and film. She’s worked in development and production at Rob Mac’s More Better, Carlton Cuse’s Genre Arts, and Lord Miller, expanding her taste and finding her love of the strange. Her north star has always been elevating creative and diverse, character-driven voices through left-of-center, genre bending stories. She’s a sucker for romance and dystopian novels, obsessed with Marvel and Star Wars, and is very much a Bollywood loving Brown girl.

Alex Fischer

Writer/Director (Wicker, Save Yourselves!)

Alex Huston Fischer writes and directs, often in collaboration with his wife, Eleanor Wilson. Their latest film, WICKER, starring Olivia Colman and Alexander Skarsgård, had its premiere at Sundance 2026 and is being distributed by Black Bear. Their debut feature SAVE YOURSELVES! premiered at Sundance Film Festival 2020. Alex’s previous 40-minute dance comedy SNOWY BING BONGS, directed with Rachel Wolther, premiered at BAM CinemaFest 2017. He is an alum of the Sundance Screenwriters Lab and appeared in Filmmaker Magazine’s 25 New Faces of Independent Film.

Max Geschwind

Creative Artists Agency

Max Geschwind works in the Media Finance department, which focuses on packaging, sourcing financing for, and/or selling the distribution rights to independently financed films, at leading entertainment and sports agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA). Geschwind, who joined the agency in 2021, is a member of CAA Elevate, a state-of-the-art program for agents and executives in training. He graduated from the University of Southern California with degrees in Cinema and Media Studies and Political Science. Geschwind is based in Los Angeles.

Zegan Doyle

Film Programmer

AQUA Film Club, SXSW, Film Independent

Zegan Doyle (they/them) is a film programmer and founder of AQUA Film Club, a virtual film club dedicated to showcasing queer underground cinema. Doyle is an Associate Programmer for SXSW and the Lead Programmer for the Film Independent Artist Development Showcase.

Rowan Haber

Writer & Director

Rowan Haber is an award-winning writer and director whose work spans documentary, narrative, and commercials, often exploring queer history, identity, and cultural memory. Their work has been supported by Sundance, Tribeca, SFFILM, MacArthur and Ford Foundation. They have participated in labs and residencies including Sundance, AFI, Film Independent, MacDowell, Yaddo, and Millay. Their series New Deep South won Webby, New Orleans Film Festival awards. Their documentary We Are Pat (2025), executive produced by Alan Cumming and Lilly Wachowski, received Special Jury Mention Best New Documentary Director at Tribeca and will be streaming in August. Their television work includes FX’s Pride.

Dino-Ray Ramos (Moderator)

DIASPORA

Dino-Ray Ramos is an award-winning journalist and media consultant. In 2021, he founded DIASPORA, which shifted to a nonprofit media organization in 2025. He served as an editor at Deadline Hollywood, where he produced and hosted the GLAAD Media Award-winning New Hollywood podcast Dino works in the intersection of entertainment, advocacy, and culture. He has worked with GLAAD, Amazon/MGM Studios, Lionsgate, Film Independent, the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM), the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), and others. He was also adjunct faculty at Columbia College of Chicago and continues to actively participate in journalism mentorship programs.

Abby Wright

Femme Filth Fest

Abby Wright is a film programmer and festival director who believes that the future of film is filthy. She is the founder of Femme Filth Fest, a Los Angeles-based film festival showcasing gross, weird, taboo, provocative, and transgressive films made by women & queer/trans people. She is also a shorts programmer at the National Film Festival for Talented Youth (NFFTY), Etheria Film Festival, and the Woods Hole Film Festival. She has presented films at the American Cinematheque, The Frida Cinema, Now Instant Image Hall, the Lumiere Cinema Beverly Hills, and more.

Yulissa Morales

Epic Pictures | Dread

A first-generation Colombian-American, Yulissa Morales has carved out a distinct voice in the industry, driven by a deep passion for film. With experience spanning acquisitions, development, distribution, and marketing, she is committed to championing projects and positioning them for success. Known among peers as a collaborative, decisive leader with sharp taste and a reputation for being very well dressed.

Pip Ngo

XYZ Films

Pip Ngo is the EVP of Sales and Acquisitions for XYZ Films. He’s negotiated over a hundred distribution deals for XYZ’s robust sales and production slate, including titles like SKYWALKERS: A LOVE STORY, DANIELA FOREVER, and THE FURIOUS which is set to be released by Lionsgate in June 2026. He has also served as producer or executive producer on films like THE WOLF OF SNOW HOLLOW, MY ANIMAL, GET AWAY, and HISTORY OF EVIL. He began his career in the independent film space after joining CAA’s Film Finance Group, before moving over to Sierra/Affinity and later Vimeo.

Ashleigh Snead

Producer

ASHLEIGH SNEAD is an Independent Spirit Award nominated producer. Her films include NEONS’s 2025 wide theatrical release SHELBY OAKS, AI sci-fi THE ARTIFICE GIRL (SXSW ‘23), Shudder's punk rock horror THE RANGER (SXSW ‘18), and Netflix Original THE BLOCK ISLAND SOUND. Upcoming films include IFC's THE SUN NEVER SETS (SXSW ’26) from Director Joe Swanberg starring Dakota Fanning and Jake Johnson, and a new nightmare from Director Adam Egypt Mortimer. She holds an MBA from NYU and is a member of the DGA.