Director
Samantha Lavin​ is an award winning DGA director, assistant director and writer who has worked on film and television projects including "Fatal Attraction", “Lucifer” and “Criminal Minds”. Samantha adapted and directed the British play “Key Change” in its West Coast premiere. It received an LA Times 99 Seat Beat Critic’s Pick for its innovation and raw staging of a story highlighting women in prison. Her feature film "7 on 10” was accepted to the Outfest Screenwriting Lab and workshopped in the Joan Scheckel Filmmaking Master Class whose graduates include Mike Mills and Jill Soloway. Samantha wrote and directed the film, ​"In Memory of Me"​ which screened at over 40 festivals worldwide, winning awards including Panavision’s New Filmmaker Grant. She created a television show called "Out of the Frying Pan" which was optioned by NBC/Comcast who hired her to direct the presentation pilot. Samantha has served on the Lesbian and Gay Advisory board of West Hollywood as well as Women for Sobriety Center; an organization serving formerly incarcerated women.
Producer
KRISTINA KONDRATH has produced dozens of projects ranging from feature films to music videos and commercials.
Notably, Kristina produced the 2017 feature “Tilt" (starring Joseph Cross and premiering at Tribecca Film Festival) and the 2019 horror/thriller “Do Not Reply” starring Jackson Rathbone (Twilight Series) and Courtney Henggeler (Cobra Kai, The Big Bang Theory).
Kristina has been the UPM on several feature films, including “The Good Neighbor” (starring James Caan and premiering at SXSW), “Female Fight Club” and Aisha Tyler’s directing feature debut “Axis." Kristina has worked on music videos for musicians including: Justin Timberlake, The Weeknd, Ariana Grande, Charli XCX, and Rita Ora.
Writer
Jess Waters writes stories about queerness, blackness, family, and all the ways that people on the margins of society can find healing and family. Building on her childhood growing up in
Cleveland, Ohio, she aims to create characters like herself and those who nurtured her growth as a writer. As a queer Black woman, Jess understands how and why representation matters, and makes it her purpose in life to fight for the opportunity to tell stories like her own, especially stories that detail young Black women’s coming of age in dynamic and compelling ways. Jess
has won numerous screenwriting awards including Official Selections at WeScreenplay’s Diverse Voices Competition and Shore Scripts Screenplay Competition. In order to hone her craft, she has taken up freelance opportunities as a screenplay analyst for film festivals and continues to pursue projects from independent production companies that are run by women looking to make their mark on Hollywood. Jess is determined to use her platform as a tool for change.
Cinematographer
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JEANNE TYSON'S work includes narrative and documentary features, shorts and series, and has been featured in film festivals worldwide. She is currently the alternating Director of Photography for ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy. You can watch her most recent feature length documentary, Black Boys, directed by Sonia Lowman on Peacock.
Jeanne frequently lectures on cinematography, directing, and film production. Recent engagements include the Film Independent Director’s Toolkit Series, the Warner Brothers Director’s Workshop, and as an adjunct lecturer in the Department Film & Television at USC and at the UCLA School of Theater, Film & Television.
Born and raised in Mobile, Alabama, Jeanne earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art and Theatre from Rhodes College, and a M.F.A. in Production and Cinematography from the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television.