About

Joshua McVeigh-Schultz is a filmmaker and researcher for virtual, augmented, and mixed reality. He earned a PhD in Media Arts and Practice at USC (2016). At USC he has worked as a designer and project director in Scott Fisher’s Mobile and Environmental Research Lab, designing speculative interfaces for creative collaboration in VR (among other topics). For his dissertation, he researched the relationship between technology and ritual and conducted research at Intel Labs and Microsoft Research. At MSR New England he researched the role of affordances in a microsocial relationship app, Couple. At Intel Labs’ Interaction Experience Research group (IXR), he spearheaded the rapid prototyping efforts for the “data monster” toolkit. In 2013, he won an Intel PhD Fellowship for his research on data-driven objects and speculative ritual design. He earned an MFA at UC Santa Cruz’s Digital Arts and New Media program and an MA in Asian Studies at UC Berkeley. He earned an undergraduate degree at the University of Chicago, where he studied linguistic anthropology, primatology, and cinema & media studies. Between his undergraduate and graduate careers, he lived, studied, and taught in Japan and China.

Director/Producer Gwydhar Gebien was born in New Mexico before her family relocated to the suburbs of Chicago and she got down to the practical, Midwestern business of Growing Up. From an early age she spent many hours drawing pictures of real and imaginary characters for stories that never got written and, she believed, never needed to be: the story was in the pictures. Realizing that she could tell a lot more story through motion pictures than through still images she decided that she wanted to be a filmmaker. She pursued her Bachelor’s Degree at Illinois Wesleyan University with a double major in Theatre and Fine Arts. Upon graduation she found gainful employment in the Chicago-based commercial studio, Steven Edsey and Sons. She founded a small, independent production company called Blue Damen Pictures through which she produced four short films and one microbudget feature: all of which she is very proud of, but she won’t force you to watch them. After seven years in the professional world she packed up her husband and cats and drove across the country to study at the University of Southern California. Now graduated back into the real world, Gwydhar now works with the Jacobson Group, discovering the exciting new world of entertainment financial service. One way or another, she’ll see you at the movies.

The characters embodied by Darnell Rhea (ˈrēə) have lived during Shakespeare’s time, our time, and into a future that’s only been imagined, like Love Log. These characters live in what some call “a world of make-believe”. Darnell sees it as a link from the people on the stage/screen to the audience. That link is made up of an empathy that is developed by telling the stories of the people who exist in this very real world that we all live in together. In hopes that this empathy will allow us to see ourselves in people we thought were so different from us, Darnell continues to breathe as these characters while telling their stories.

Darnell has had the pleasure of studying and working with masters of their crafts during opportunities she will never forget. Her earliest training started in her hometown at The New Orleans Center for Creative Arts and The University of New Orleans. Her studies continued later with acting coaches in New York and Los Angeles (her current home). From La to LA she has worked with greats like Taylor Hackford, Bernie Mac, and Jaimie Foxx.

With only a few destinations checked off her list of travel plans, Darnell has begun to see the world and the beautiful mixture of people in it just as she had always hoped. Her other pleasures lie in food and wine, reading, playing chess, learning new skills like the piano and American Sign Language, feeling the warmth of the sun on her skin, and staring out the window at trees swaying in the wind.

Tom Larochelle is known for his work on Dual Survival (2010), First Person Killers: Ronald DeFeo (2006) and Hidden Agenda (2010).

Allison Tate is an award-winning filmmaker based in Los Angeles. She is passionate about working with diverse teams of collaborators and loves the unique near-future perspective of LoveLog. She works as the Video Producer at Here Media, creating content for the world’s leading LGBT brands including The Advocate, OUT, and PRIDE. Her experience as a director, 1st AD, and video journalist enhances her producing in whatever format the story demands. Allison graduated cum laude from the USC School of Cinematic Arts with a B.A. in Film & Television Production.

Sharon Park is a Korean-American from New York, the melting pot of rich cultures and godfathers. Her fascination in the art of storytelling develops early in her childhood as the infamous middle child exploring her mind. After she earns her Bachelors degree in Biochemistry from the University of Washington, Park enters USC: School of Cinematic arts to further pursue her lifelong passion for storytelling. Her strength in story development, producing, and directing led her to successfully produce a handful of MFA thesis films, including the 2015 Sloan Fellowship Awarded film, Lovelog, an award winning Advance Production film, Mango Sticky Rice, the musical. She also produces two indie short, Wytches with Lunacy Productions, and Worn Shoes an international short film produced in China. Park continues her journey by directing a live interactive project with Flint Dillie for Ingress by Niantic, Inc., and she explores the world of interactive and narrative storytelling in Virtual Realty. Park also serves as the Vice President of Graduate Student Government Council for the School of Cinematic Arts and as a mentor for the Youth Storyteller Foundation. She is also the honorable recipient of the prestigious Mary Pickford Endowment Scholarship. Besides storytelling she likes to eat, a lot.

Sean McDaniel has been working as a cinematographer for over a decade on narrative, commercial and documentary projects. Sean furthered his studies as a cinematographer while acquiring his MFA in Film Production at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts. His work has screened in numerous film festivals around the world including the Cannes Short Film Corner, Palm Springs Film Festival, LA Shorts Film Festival, and the Vancouver International Film Festival, among others. This includes his work as a cinematographer on the Sloan Grant recipient short film, Nzara ’76, for which he was a USC selection for the 2014 A.S.C. Heritage Award. As a Director of Photography, Sean strives to tell powerful stories through his work behind the camera in support of his collaboration with talented directors.

Jody grew up near Philadelphia and attended USC for film production. In the past, he has worked in film and TV as an editor on everything from breakout reality hit “Duck Dynasty” to social justice documentaries to horror films, most recently editing Comedy Central’s “Drunk History,” Netflix’s forthcoming animated comedy “Big Mouth,” and the doc series “Last Chance U.” In 2016, Gravitas Ventures released his directorial debut, indie drama “Echo Lake.”

O’Shea’’ Myles is a writer, director and producer who has worked on over 15 short films and has written four independent features. She was the Associate Producer on the Oscar nominated student short “Amelia’s Closet”. She is a recent graduate from the University of Southern California (USC) School of Cinematic Arts where she earned her Masters of Fine Arts degree in Film and Television production Dec. 2016. In 2009, Ms. Myles’s undergrad, thesis film, “All Out” was chosen for Official Selection at the Texas Black Film Festival. She was a recipient of the Shriram Family Graduate Support Fund 2014-15 and 2015-16 and the Johnny Carson Endowed Student Support Fund 2015-16.
O’Shea’’ comes from a theater background, starring in such plays as “In Darfur” and directing plays including Amiri Baraka’s “The Dutchman”. O’Shea’’ is an advocate for and member of the LGBTQ community and volunteers time to supporting community organizations. Since furthering her education after working in the industry, her focus has turned to using her skills and talents to innovate the dynamic and diverse world of storytelling. As such, Ms. Myles is dedicated to showcasing and ushering diverse voices and stories into the mainstream discourse.

Nix Guirre is a Pinay immigrant filmmaker and activist based in San Francisco. She likes to use films for social change and healthy & purposeful entertainment. She received her BA degree in Film and TV Production from USC where she learned how to effectively tell stories not only through moving images, but also through sound. She’s currently an editor and soundie for AstigVegan, a Filipino vegan cooking show on YouTube, and a proud member of Gabriela SF, a Filipina activist group resisting and fighting US imperialism.

Sundance Institute fellow and ASCAP scholarship recipient, Jacques Brautbar, combines traditional orchestral colors with the palates of electronic and etherial sonic art. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Jacques began his professional music career at the age of fifteen as a founder, guitar player, arranger and songwriter for Sony recording artist Phantomplanet. While with Phantomplanet, Jacques collaborated on the band’s three singles, “Lonely Day,” “Big Brat,” and the theme song to the hit show The O.C, “California.” After a decade with the band, Jacques signed with Sony/Atv publishing and produced hundreds of songs spanning pop, hip-hop and rock genres. It was during this time that he recognized a desire within to write music for visual story telling. Some of his recent credits include, “Animals.” for HBO, “Born this Way” for A&E, and AMC’s “The Walking Dead.”

Jacques has since dedicated himself to the pursuit of creating music for Film, Television and Interactive Media. His immersion in both popular and classical aspects of music gives Jacques the distinct position to see composition from a perspective not often viewed by traditional classical musicians.

Nami Melumad is an LA based film & TV composer, originally from Tel Aviv, Israel. Her credits include over 65 films, series, theater productions and video games. Her films have screened worldwide, claiming multiple international awards. Most recently she scored ‘Mindgame’, a thriller starring Seamus Dever, directed by Jamie Neese, and ‘Not Your Skin’, a documentary directed by Ester Brym. She currently collaborates with composer Jeremy Rubolino on ‘The Little Mermaid’. Nami recorded music at East West Studios, Capitol Records, Fox Newman Scoring Stage and Warner Brother Eastwood Scoring Stage, and her works have been performed by the Haifa Symphony Orchestra, The Israeli Sinfonietta Beer-Sheva and the Helix Collective Ensemble. Playing multiple instruments (piano, flute, guitar and more), her academic background includes the highly rigorous Scoring For Motion Pictures and TV program (SMPTV) at the University of Southern California and she holds a B.A. in Multi-Style Composition from the Jerusalem Academy of Music. Nami is an alumna of the acclaimed ASCAP Film Scoring Workshop with Richard Bellis. As an active member of Women in Film and the Alliance for Women Film Composers, Nami is passionately involved in the film community in LA, and was recently invited to be a guest speaker at the Filmmakers’ Alliance masterclass held in Hollywood. She is also part of the judging panel of TopShorts Film Festival.

www.namicomposer.com

I am a designer intrigued and driven by the end-to-end experience potentials of Culture, Materiality, and Technology in order to initiate and sustain reciprocal social design. I intend to breathe more life into my work, solidifying the intersecting bridge between the three, and compelling the questions of why I should challenge, dismantle, and/or even create.

A recent graduate of USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, earning his BA in Cinema and Media Studies. Prior to USC, Renato worked as a Stereoscopic Compositor and Digital Artist for five years. His work can be seen in Alice in Wonderland 3D (2010), The Amazing Spider-Man 3D (2012), and Argo (2012). Currently, he is rewriting his first feature script, Enormity, and slated to begin his MFA in Film and Television Production at USC with an emphasis on screenwriting.

Scott Fisher is Associate Dean of Research at the USC School of Cinematic Arts where he is also Professor of Media Arts + Practice and founding Chair of its Interactive Media Division. He oversees SCA’s research activities and organized research units that include the Immersive Lab, the Game Innovation Lab, the Mobile and Environmental Media Lab, and others. Fisher is an interaction designer whose work focuses primarily on mobile media, interactive environments and technologies of presence. He is well known for his pioneering work in the field of Virtual Reality at NASA in the 80s and Augmented Reality in the 90s. A graduate of MIT’s Architecture Machine Group (now Media Lab), he has taught at MIT, UCLA, UCSD, and Keio University in Japan. In addition, his stereoscopic imagery and artwork has been exhibited in the US, Europe and Japan.