Chithra Jeyaram is a multi-lingual filmmaker and film educator. She directs, produces, and edits films about identity, relationships, race, art, and health. Currently, she teaches at NYU Tisch. Her work is supported by Chicken and Egg Pictures, New York Women in Film Fund, Brown Girls Doc Mafia, Jerome Foundation, Center for Asian American Media, New York State Council for the Arts, BAVC Media Maker Fellowship, Made in New York Fellowship, American Institute for Indian Studies, Lancet, Dance Films Association, and pitched at competitive industry events like the Gotham, Sheffield Meet Market, DOC NYC, and BFI Production Finance Market. In the near future, she hopes to direct narrative features and fantastical episodic content. She is an avid runner and has completed 14 marathons. Food is her first love.

Erika Valenciana is a Chicana filmmaker and educator based in Chicago. Her work has been supported by Kartemquin Films, Stowe Story Labs, Tribeca Film Institute, Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs, Illinois Arts Council, Puffin Foundation, Ragdale Foundation, Allied Media Conference, and Full Spectrum Features. Valenciana amplifies the voices of her community of women and non-binary filmmakers of color through Mezcla Media Collective’s Leadership Circle. She uses film to share underrepresented stories building towards a media landscape where diverse experiences are visible and celebrated.

Laurie Little is a filmmaker, digital artist and educator. Her award-winning films have screened in festivals and exhibitions worldwide and her observational documentaries and short fiction films work to inspire dialogue and advocacy for change. Her recent film, Sisters March, a short documentary reflecting on the journey between Chicago and DC, connects voices of hope, empowerment, and intersectionality during the Women's March. Her film Totalité about Photographer/Umbraphile Richard Bellia, looks at Bellia's passion for the creative process and its parallels to nature. Little holds a BFA from York University and an MFA in Film and Video from Columbia College Chicago where she teaches documentary and media classes as an adjunct instructor. www.Luministfilms.com

2017 Chicago Digital Media Production Fund Grantee, Nick Nummerdor is a filmmaker based in Chicago. His film, CONCRETE DREAMS, a three-piece documentary following the decade-long struggle and ultimate triumph of one woman’s mission to provide a free public skatepark in Villa Park, IL recently gained distribution through Tony Hawk’s RIDE Channel on YouTube. Nick is a skateboarder, a former intern of Kartemquin films, graduate of Columbia College, and was an outreach coordinator for MINDING THE GAP. Hannibal Takes Edinburgh, a film he produced and did sound on was executive produced by Judd Apatow and purchased by Netflix. In 2009, he helped start Little Cabin Films with friend and business partner, Andrew Morgan. As Co-Director and Producer of Vannin’ (2013) Nummerdor saw his first feature film go from conception to successful distribution via streaming services such as Amazon Prime. More recently, Nummerdor has acted as a producer & director on two short documentaries, North Branch (2018) and Hill Climb (2017), that both focus on unique aspects of Americana. His upbringing in a blue collar port city on Lake Michigan has given him a penchant to look within the cracks of everyday American life.

Susanne Suffredin is an editor and independent filmmaker whose 30 + year career spans non-fiction, scripted and commercial genres with a keen emphasis on long form documentaries. Her work has screened at major festivals around the world including Sundance, Cannes, Venice, Tokyo, Chicago International Film Festival and the San Francisco International Film Festival to name a few. An associate of Kartemquin Films, Susanne was post-production supervisor of “Hoop Dreams” named the great American documentary and best film of the 1990s by Roger Ebert. Susanne’s association with the award-winning Kindling Group includes “@home” as director and editor which broadcast nationally on PBS in 2015 and internationally in 2016. Her prior work includes the landmark series “The Calling” which she co-produced and edited for PBS’s Independent Lens. She edited the MacArthur funded “Count Me In” which had a broadcast in 2016 on PBS. She is also one the editors for the award-winning web series “Other People’s Children” and editor on “The Pool” currently in a festival run. She is a graduate of the ground breaking Community Film Workshop of Chicago where she was recently a speaker at their 50th Anniversary Celebration. She was named one of Chicago Film’s 50 Screen Gems by Newcity Magazine in 2017. She is a Senior Professional Lecturer and Co-Chair of the Documentary Program at DePaul University’s School of Cinematic Arts.

Shannon is a creative filmmaker with over 10 years of experience in producing, directing and editing short films. She became passionate about post-production while attending Western State Colorado University. She views editing as a power to shape the energy, rhythm and narrative drive of a film.

She created SkyPike Productions to surround herself in a creative environment that produces films that are successful, interesting and entertaining. While she enjoy all aspects of producing media, her favorite stage of any project is working with the client to better understand their ultimate vision and goal. As we go through that collaborative process, ideas flow and it helps the ultimate project be a truly finished piece and that is the fun part.