BEYOND THE VEIL: NEW FRONTIERS IN GENRE FILMMAKING

A digital media expert, Anna Levine, spent the last 4 years serving as the creative architect of DUST, a brand that is the definitive taste-making source for emerging voices in the science fiction space with over 10 million subscribers across platforms. In partnership, with Gunpowder & Sky, Levine is continuing to develop multiple feature and TV adaptations of DUST properties.

Prior to her time at DUST, Anna started Geek World Radio a news and media company where she served as a producer and correspondent, often lending her services to Cinefix, Anime Vice, ComicsOnline, Cox Media’s The Point, and others. Anna just took on the role of Head of Creative for the Open Door Film Project in addition to working as an independent producer, speaker, and digital consultant. She continues her work with Gunpowder & Sky and Geek World Radio while teaming up with new partners to give opportunities to up and coming filmmakers.

Gigi Saul Guerrero is a Mexican director and actress living in Vancouver Canada, she's described by Variety as part of the new wave of Latino talent. She has been praised as one of the top, emerging directors in the horror genre by Empire, Dread Central, and Bloody Disgusting. Guerrero completed her feature film debut "Culture Shock" for Blumhouse Production's "Into The Dark" anthology series for Hulu. She is also a directing instructor at the prestigious Vancouver Film School. In her mid 20's Guerrero became one of the co-founders of award winning production company "Luchagore Productions".

Noah Wagner is an award-winning director, writer, and Los Angeles-based filmmaker, who specializes in ‘grounded genre’ and dark comedy. A graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, his work has appeared on HBO, NBC, BBC, VIMEO STAFF PICKS and THE NEW YORKER. His films have screened at festivals worldwide, including the Oscar-Qualifying Cleveland Int’l FF, Nantucket, London Sci-Fi and Sonoma, where his latest effort – existential AI thriller, WATCH ROOM - won the Jury Award for Best Dramatic Short and has since released to nearly 1 million views on DUST and Amazon. He’s also worked in varying capacities for THE DAILY SHOW, BBC, NICKELODEON, and HBO, where he spent close to a decade creating ancillary video and VR content for docs, sports, and series including WESTWORLD, SILICON VALLEY, BALLERS, and GAME OF THRONES. He is currently developing his first feature - a dark romcom called The Dirty Oyster - and is in pre-production on an animated space western series.

Lizz Marshall is a Los Angeles-based writer/director and editor who earned her B.A. in Film and Television Production at the University of Southern California in 2018.

Shortly after graduating, Lizz was awarded the inaugural Stephanie Rothman Fellowship for Women Student Filmmakers for her sci-fi/horror proof-of-concept short script for What Daphne Saw. The fellowship, supported by Blumhouse’s Shock Waves podcast, was presented at Etheria Film Night 2018, an annual showcase of short films by women genre filmmakers.

The proof-of-concept short film for What Daphne Saw headlined the annual fundraiser for anti-human trafficking group NotInOurCity. The film is currently on the festival circuit and has won multiple awards.

Lizz is drawn to the thriller, sci-fi, and horror genres. She believes these genres provide a creative vehicle for examining difficult subjects and encourages us to question our own world.

Austin S. Harris is a writer, performer, and filmmaker from South Jersey. Austin has written and directed several projects, including Stevie’s Aliens, a sci-fi short film that was a finalist in the Amazon Prime All Voices Film Festival, won Best Cinematography at NFFTY 2018, and was selected by the SFO Arts Commission to be screened at the San Francisco International Airport; and Jordan Presents, a comedic short film about race that Austin also acted in which won two Craft Awards at NYU’s New Visions and Voices Festival (including Best Lead Actor for Austin), and won Best Comedy Film at the Hollywood Verge Film Awards. Austin has been profiled by SYFY Wire, written for The Huffington Post and Afropunk, and in 2017, won the Lorraine Hansberry/Ralph Ellison Arts, Performance, and Media Award from NYU, an award that recognizes a student who has worked to promote the diverse representation of people of color in the arts, entertainment and media. He currently works a development assistant at Walt Disney Television.