NICOLE MEJIA
WRITER & DIRECTOR
Nicole Mejia’s films are driven towards socially conscious narratives, often turning tragedy into comedy and using it as a healing vessel. Her approach is greatly influenced by her Honduran heritage and being raised navigating two cultures. Two of her short films were awarded the 2019 AFI/Audi Fellowship for Women, a full scholarship to attend the American Film Institute.
Her goal is to continue developing stories about the resilience of the human spirit through drama and magical realism. She is currently in post-production for her first feature A PLACE IN THE FIELD that was shot in August 2020 during Covid, following The Safe Way Forward guidelines.
AHMAD ALERWI
PRODUCER
Growing up in Saudi Arabia, a country that did not have cinema theaters at that time, Ahmad began his career in emerging tech startups. Later, he found his way into film and content. For six years he led marketing and sales operations at a top Middle East YouTube network @Telfaz11. During this time, Ahmad worked on award-winning commercials, viral videos and short-films—that got licensed to Netflix globally in 2020 (Six Windows In The Desert).
Alerwi is a current MFA producing fellow at American Film Institute and has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree in Marketing.
SETH MACMILLAN
CINEMATOGRAPHER
Seth is from Takoma Park, Maryland. He picked up his first camera in middle school and hasn’t stopped photographing since. He studied international politics and spanish at Princeton University, where he also played soccer and began dabbling in film production. However, it was the study of Spanish and Latin American cinema in college Spanish classes that sparked his curiosity and love for film. Since graduating from Princeton, Seth has worked in the film industry in San Francisco and New York, shooting and directing short films, music videos commercials, and live television. He is currently in his second year of the American Film Institute’s Conservatory MFA program in Cinematography. He is interested in films that investigate the psychological state of characters through an exploration of emotion and physical space, light and shadow.
GUANGPING 'BEN' NIU
EDITOR
Guangping holds a BA in Journalism from Northwest University of Political Science and Law. He also did a summer session at UCLA's School of Theater, Film and Television, and studied six months' refresher courses at the Beijing Film Academy's School of Literature. Working as a professional editor in Beijing for three years, Guangping made many popular trailers and a few short films. He just finished editing a feature film called PATHFINDER, and edited more than 150 versions in 18 months of hard work. This experience made him find his abiding passion to be a great narrative film editor.
