Mark Lammerding is an award-winning writer, director and composer whose work has screened at major festivals around the world. His debut narrative short ‘Another Life’ (2014), starring Sosie Bacon, premiered at Dances With Films in Hollywood. After competing in the fourth season of HBO’s ‘Project Greenlight’, Mark wrote and directed the short films ‘Legend’ (2016) and ‘Wildflowers’ (2017), which both had successful festival runs. In 2018, his short film ‘Yogurt’, which he wrote, directed, DP’d, edited and scored, had its world premiere at the 71st annual Cannes Film Festival, as part of a curated Top Global Shorts showcase. The film went on to win ‘Best LGBTQ Film’ at the Brentwood & Pacific Palisades Film Festival. That same year he was selected as one of the Shots Awards '2018 Rising Stars Under 30'. In 2023, he was a writer / producer on the Peacock original series, Mrs. Davis (2023), co-created by Tara Hernandez and Damon Lindelof, starring Betty Gilpin, which premiered at SXSW. In 2025, he wrote and directed the proof-of-concept short film ‘The Night Within’ (2025), starring Andy McQueen. The film screened at dozens of genre festivals, including Telluride Horror Show, FilmQuest and Dances With Films, winning several awards including ‘Best Horror Short’ and ‘Best Horror Director’. He also composed the original score for the WB-produced CBS half-hour comedy pilot ‘The Tillbrooks’.

Mark currently resides in Los Angeles, CA. He is repped by Marc Mounier at Entertainment 360 and Sean Faussett at Faussett Media Law.

Jasmine J. Johnson (“J.J.J”) is a director, writer and producer whose short films have screened world-wide and played numerous Oscar-qualifying festivals including SXSW, Tribeca, Hollyshorts, Cleveland International Film Festival, and Atlanta Film Festival among others. As a writer/director, Johnson uses heightened elements like magical realism, surrealism, genre, and a pinch of humor to focus on themes of grief, discovery and those seemingly modest moments that epitomize human resilience. She was selected to participate in AFI’s prestigious DWW+ program (Class of ’25), Rideback Rise’s 2026 and 2025 Circle, was a finalist for Sundance’s Cultural Impact Residency, and was one of ten directors selected for Season 5 of Indeed and Hillman Grad’s esteemed Rising Voices program. Her short film, INNER DEMONS, screened in SXSW’s Midnight Shorts Competition (2024), and won numerous awards on the festival circuit including the Programmers’ Award for Best Short Film at the Pan African Film Festival and the Silver Award for Best Short Film at the Proof Film Festival. Her second short, CUMING OUT, won Best Director, independent Comedy Pilot at SeriesFest and has played numerous Oscar-qualifying festivals. Her latest short, HONEY BARE, screened at Tribeca and premiered on Hulu this year.

Johnson was also an executive producer on THE ANGRY BLACK GIRL AND HER MONSTER (SXSW ’23), which was nominated for two NAACP Image Awards coming off its theatrical run. It was named by USA Today and Esquire magazine as one of the top 10 horror movies of 2023.

She originally hails from Bowie, Maryland and attended Temple University where she received her BA in Film and Media Arts.

Eduardo Braun Costa is an Argentine film director with a background in acting and writing. His work in music videos has received international recognition, including a Latin Grammy and a Cannes Young Director Award. Los Mentirosos (The Liars), his first narrative short film, premiered at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Special Jury Award.

Katelyn Douglass is a Florida-raised, Chicago-based filmmaker and performer. She often blends horror and comedy in playful, unexpected ways, with a special fondness for ghost stories. Her work has been featured at Steppenwolf, Fantastic Fest, Rooftop Films, Woodstock Film Festival, American Cinematheque, NoBudge, and more. Her recent short film, Spanked by a Ghost (Fantastic Fest, Beyond Fest, Overlook), is routinely a crowd favorite. She is a founding member of the performance collective Hot Kitchen and Head of Production at Crumbs, a video agency she runs with her husband, Drew.

Jill Marie Sachs is a mixed Filipina-American writer-director whose genre work explores cultural memory, identity, and the lingering effects of colonialism. Her folk-horror short Taga, shot in the Philippines, was funded by the CAPE Julia S. Gouw Short Film Challenge and was an Official Selection at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival in the Midnight Shorts program. The film received the Wes Craven Award for Best Horror Short at the Catalina Film Festival, Best Short Film at FilAm Creative, and Jill was honored with the Minerva Award for Female Writer-Director-Producers at FilmQuest. She recently directed Marisol for Tubi's upcoming Bite Size Terror anthology and is currently developing several feature-length horror projects, including a feature expansion of Taga. A graduate of the American Film Institute (MFA, Directing) and the University of Chicago (BA, English), Jill’s films and music videos have screened internationally at festivals including Galway Film Fleadh, LA Asian Pacific Film Festival, Fantaspoa, HollyShorts, Hawai‘i International Film Festival, BendFilm, Indie Shorts, and Bentonville. Drawn to the strange and the unseen, Jill’s work blends folklore and horror to surface stories that resist erasure.

Chaconne Martin-Berkowicz is a filmmaker from Portland, Oregon, based in New York City. Her work explores power dynamics, desire, and the female gaze. Her short films have screened at festivals worldwide, including SXSW, Seattle, and Maryland, and have won awards including Best Narrative Short at the Atlanta Film Festival. She is an alum of the American Film Institute's Directing Workshop for Women (DWW+), a Sony Pictures Directors Program fellow, and is currently developing her debut feature. As a screenwriter, Chaconne was a staff writer on Amazon's Cruel Intentions and I Know What You Did Last Summer. She studied Creative Writing and Film Production at Johns Hopkins University.

J. Zachary Thurman is an award-winning filmmaker and USC graduate whose horror short IT HELPS is slated to appear at both this year’s Fantastic Fest and Screamfest. Across platforms, Zac’s work has generated more than 90 million views.
His horror-comedy FINLEY has amassed more than 16 million views on YouTube alone and has been widely shared, memed, and recreated across social media platforms, with audiences also adopting the film’s central doll character in Halloween costumes. 

His recent work also includes the award-winning short THE DEMON CORE.
Working across horror, comedy, and drama, Zac has built an audience within the 18–35 demographic through both festival-circuit shorts and online releases. His work spans viral digital content and award-winning genre filmmaking, with projects that have reached audiences across festivals, YouTube, and social media.

Boise Esquerra is a screenwriter and director dedicated to crafting compelling stories that highlight diverse and underrepresented perspectives. A member of the Colorado River Indian Tribes in Parker, AZ, Boise brings a distinctive voice to the film industry, blending traditional influences with modern themes to challenge stereotypes and expand representation. A graduate of the New York Film Academy with a double MFA in Filmmaking and Screenwriting, Boise has built a career in the horror, thriller, and drama genres. He wrote the hit shark thriller The Black Demon—which reached #1 on Amazon Prime in 2023 and remained in the top spot for seven weeks—and co-wrote its sequel The Black Demon: Atlantis (in pre-production, announced in Variety). His award-winning shorts Blackwater and Cowboy screened at Austin, Nashville, Bend, and Slamdance Film Festival. Boise has collaborated with top producers and companies, including Mucho Mas Media and Silk Mass Productions, on features such as Cauldron and Skinwalker. His work consistently aims to inspire a new generation of storytellers by telling authentic stories with cultural depth, emotional impact, and cinematic flair. Based in Los Angeles, Boise continues to write, direct, and develop projects that push creative boundaries while amplifying voices and stories rarely seen on screen.