the industry leaders we live vicariously through

There’s something to be said about filmmaking and how it impacts our society — it’s visually stimulating, it helps people reach emotional catharsis, and it sheds light on stories we might miss in the real world. At the same time, filmmaking is a business, one that’s all-encompassing and comes with emotional politics, financial struggles, and creative blockages. Still, as many of us are young filmmakers here, learning to run, trip, fail, and succeed during this long endurance race, it is encouraging to know that there are purely brilliant role models in the industry. They are not only very good at what they do: telling underrepresented narratives on screen while also mentoring young artists, but they also carry kindness into everything they do. It’s how they speak. How they listen. How they uplift. It’s how they move through the world. They’re not in the industry for fame or money, but for the core of creating passionate stories that weave tapestries of people together, similar to how many stars connect to form a constellation. As the Editor-in-Chief across four incredible issues, I can say in full confidence that my team and I have interviewed such generous, intelligent, world-class industry leaders who continue to make the filmmaking world a better place. They do it with sincerity, and it gives the young generation courage to do the same.

1. Karen Joseph Adcock

Karen Joseph Adcock grew up in a small town in Louisiana, has a BA in film studies from Columbia University, and an MFA in TV Writing and Producing from Loyola Marymount University. Her most recent credits include FX’s The Bear, Showtime’s Yellowjackets, and Amazon Prime's Swarm. Her past work includes Atlanta, How I Met Your Father, and unforgettable assistant stints on BoJack Horseman, Undone, and Tuca & Bertie.

Up next: Bait, The Bear, various television shows

2. Elizabeth Ai

Elizabeth Ai is a Chinese Vietnamese American award-winning filmmaker, storyteller, and author. Her debut feature documentary, New Wave, premiered in competition at the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival, earning a Special Jury Mention for Best New Documentary Director and critical acclaim from The New York Times, Vogue, IndieWire, Los Angeles Times, and San Francisco Chronicle. She is the author of New Wave: Rebellion and Reinvention in the Vietnamese Diaspora and an Emmy winner and nominee for her branded content with ESPN and National Geographic.

Up next: New Wave screening tour, various films

3. Tony Bui

Tony Bui is an esteemed Vietnamese American filmmaker, Artist-in-Residence, and professor at Columbia University's Weatherhead East Asian Institute and School of the Arts. He has also taught at Loyola Marymount University and Fulbright University Vietnam. Tony Bui graduated from LMU's film production undergraduate program, where he wrote, directed, and produced his award-winning short film, Yellow Lotus. He then wrote and directed his feature film, Three Seasons, which also won the Sundance Film Festival’s Audience Award, Grand Jury Prize, and Best Cinematography Award.

Up next: Untitled documentary, various feature films

4. Gabriela Dematteis

With almost a decade of industry experience, Gabriela Dematteis has worked for VICE Media, Refinery29, Tribeca Film Festival, Sundance Institute, Warner Bros. Television, CBS Television, Paramount Pictures, and Participant Media. Her work, published on the VICE Media YouTube Channel, which has 18+ million subscribers, has been seen by millions of viewers worldwide. Her project, Ritos De Paseje | Sicarios, won an Emmy® Award for Outstanding Feature Story in Spanish. Her other projects have been published on The New Yorker Magazine's digital site and have screened at various film festivals around the world.

Up next: various short films, various documentaries

5. Daril Fannin

Daril Fannin is an executive producer, writer, and army veteran (MFA, LMU). Daril’s military logistics background has given him a unique edge in Hollywood – notorious for its inefficiencies. Daril has created, sold, and produced film/TV projects with A-list talent such as Matt Damon, Peter Berg, and Jimmy Kimmel for studios like Netflix and ABC/Disney. He is the CEO & Co-Founder of KINO, a venture-backed film technology company with the mission to create greater efficiency and equity for artists in the film & TV industry. KINO recently released Undertone, a horror film acquired by A24, which had a successful premiere at the Sundance Film Festival.

Up next: Projects with KINO, feature films, documentaries, genre films

6. Keshia Hannam

Keshia Hannam is the Global Editor-in-Chief of Dua Lipa’s Service95. She previously served as the Editor-in-Chief of Eastern Standard Times, a multimedia platform for AANHPI creatives and underrepresented voices. Growing up mixed-race and later living as an immigrant across Hong Kong, India, Australia, the UK, and now the US, Keshia has always been drawn to how belonging and assimilation shape identity. Her work includes being an environmental advocate and building communities worldwide with women’s safety organization: Camel Assembly. She has worked with innovation platform Mettā and has also given talks on stage with the United Nations and Dear World. She has over a decade of experience in the media industry.

Up next: projects with Service95

7. Maegan Houang

Maegan Houang is a visionary screenwriter and director based in Los Angeles/ Michigan. She recently wrote on Shōgun (FX/Hulu), Park Chan-Wook’s The Sympathizer (HBO/Max), having previously served as a staff writer on Counterpart (Starz/MRC). She is also currently writing Nekrokosm (A24) for director Panos Cosmatos (Mandy). Maegan has also directed music videos for award-winning artists such as Mitski, Vagabon, Charly Bliss, and Hana Vu. In 2023, Filmmaker Magazine included her among 25 New Faces of Independent Film.

Up next: Nekrokosm with A24 & Panos Cosmatos, various television shows, various music videos

8. Ti Mikkel

Ti Mikkel is an acclaimed television writer making her debut as a novelist with “The Archivist”, the first in a genre-bending trilogy nearly a decade in the making. Raised in small-town Indiana by a family of golfers, she studied German in Colorado and Germany before undergoing spinal fusion surgery for advanced scoliosis—a turning point that set her on a new path. After college, she moved to Los Angeles, where a chance internship led to working as George R.R. Martin's writing assistant. She has since joined the writing teams of HBO's House of the Dragon and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. She now splits her time between the U.K. and Florida with her English husband and their Chihuahua, Brisket.

Up next: House of the Dragon, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, Archivist Book 2

9. Jordan Mitchell

Jordan Mitchell is a Los Angeles–based television and film writer with credits on the Emmy-nominated Raven’s Home (Disney Channel) and the iCarly reboot (Paramount+). A graduate of Loyola Marymount University’s MFA Screenwriting program, Jordan has developed original projects for talent including Cedric the Entertainer and Gabrielle Union. His work spans comedy, drama, and family entertainment, often blending heartfelt storytelling with sharp social insight. In addition to his industry work, Jordan mentors emerging writers through his sitcom writing program, guiding new voices from concept to completed pilot.

Up next: various comedy shows, various television projects

10. Kevin Lau

Kevin Lau is a writer and director with a WGA Award nomination, currently serving as an Executive Producer on the HBO series Dune: Prophecy. He has several projects in development, including writing and producing on the Game of Thrones spinoff House of the Dragon and Westworld, and has also been staffed on the HBO series The Nevers, Lovecraft Country, and USA's Damnation. As an HBO Directing Fellow, Lau directed the comedy pilot presentation F**KED UP and sold a half-hour dramedy titled, Disconnect to FX. A Columbia University MFA graduate, Kevin’ s stylish thesis drama film Made in Chinatown was a recipient of the Panavision New Filmmaker Grant, SimonSays Entertainment Award for Innovative Filmmaking, and has won multiple awards in various festivals.

Up next: Dune: Prophecy, House of the Dragon, Untitled animated feature film, various feature films

11. Matt Ogens

Matt Ogens is an Academy Award-nominated, Emmy-winning director known for capturing authentic human stories through an evocative visual and narrative aesthetic. His Netflix Original Audible was nominated for an Oscar®, an immersive coming-of-age documentary told from the perspective of Deaf high school students and communicated through sign language. His latest film, Madu, a Disney Original Documentary, is the epic journey of Anthony Madu, a 12-year-old who leaves his home in Nigeria to study at the prestigious Elmhurst Ballet School in England. It recently earned an Emmy Award for Outstanding Arts and Culture Documentary. His breakthrough documentary, Confessions of a Superhero, premiered at SXSW to critical acclaim and a devoted following. He has earned numerous awards, including Cannes Lions, Clios, One Show, Webby Awards, D&AD, Communication Arts, and the SXSW Interactive Award.

Up next: Love and War documentary, various feature films, various documentaries

12. Amanda Overton

Amanda Overton began her career as a molecular biologist. Later, she decided to pursue her passion in film and television, eventually graduating from USC’s School of Cinematic Arts. During her time there, she created a teenage lesbian superhero web series titled, Edge of Normal. Over the course of her career, she has worked in various writers' rooms and served as a multifaceted producer. Her portfolio includes HBO’s True Blood, and True Detective, Amazon’s Transparent, I Love Dick and The Tick, Netflix’s Marco Polo, Umbrella Academy, and more. However, most people know her as the legendary co-executive producer of Arcane, collaborating closely with Riot Games and Fortiche. Arcane is a record-breaking animated television series based on video game League of Legends. She is also a producer and screenwriter on Apple TV’s Severance season 1, followed by her time as co-executive producer of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters.

Up next: Untitled pilots for Netflix & streamers, various television shows

13. Archie Panjabi

Archie Panjabi made history as the first Asian actor to win a Primetime Emmy® for acting, earning acclaim for her role as Kalinda Sharma on the CBS drama, The Good Wife. Born in London to Indian parents, she draws on her global perspective and cultural heritage to inform her work. In addition to her Emmy win, she has received an NAACP Image Award, multiple Emmy and SAG nominations, and a Golden Globe nomination. She earned the EFP Shooting Stars Award at the Berlin International Film Festival and the Chopard Trophy at Cannes for Female Revelation of the Year. Known for her magnetic screen presence, Panjabi has starred in a wide range of acclaimed projects, including Bend It Like Beckham,A Mighty Heart,Run, and Hulu’s Under the Bridge. Her fearless approach to complex, multidimensional characters has made her a standout in both Hollywood and international cinema.

Up next: FLIGHT 182 feature film, Hijack, Doctor Who, various television shows

14. Shruti Parekh

Shruti Parekh is an Atlanta-bred, Brooklyn-based filmmaker and artist who tells intimate, incisive stories about life on the margins of society. Her most recent narrative short film, Zari, filmed in Delhi, India, won the Grand Jury and Audience Awards at NewFest and was nominated for Best Narrative Short at Austin Film Festival. Zari was also a winner of the Julia S. Gouw Short Film Challenge, presented by CAPE and Janet Yang Productions. Shruti’s previous project as a writer/director, Esperanza, won Best Narrative Short at the Portland Film Festival, Best Student Short at Ojai Film Festival, and Best Screenplay at Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival. As an editor, she has worked on award-winning documentaries and edited for clients such as Food & Wine, Vanity Fair, Elizabeth Arden, Chowhound, and Yellowbrick. Shruti has a BA from Brown University and an MFA in Directing from UCLA, where she received the Jack Nicholson Distinguished Student Director Award and the Edie and Lew Wasserman Film Production Fellowship.

Up next: La Brea feature film, Zari screening tour, Homebody screening tour

15. Jamil Akim O’Quinn

Compton native Jamil Akim O’Quinn is a Black, queer, neurodivergent writer with a penchant for writing stories about characters in worlds where they don't fit in, who learn to adapt and thrive. O’Quinn has earned Bachelor’s degrees in integrative biology and sociology from UC Berkeley, a Master of Divinity from Princeton, and an MFA in screenwriting from Loyola Marymount University. As a child, he was groomed to be a Pentecostal megachurch pastor, but 38 O’Quinn always preferred empowering communities through performance art and storytelling – not preaching. As a writers’ assistant on The Equalizer and NCIS: Los Angeles, O’Quinn co-wrote/produced his first episode of television, 1414 - "Shame". He was most recently staffed on Season 8 of S.W.A.T., where he wrote and produced episode 810 - "The Heights", now streaming on Paramount+.

Up next: The Pitt, various television shows, various feature films

16. Irene Soriano Saxon

Irene Soriano Saxon is a Los Angeles–based film curator, festival programmer, and writer who programs short films for the Sundance Film Festival and has curated programs for Film Independent, Outfest Fusion QTBIPOC Film Festival, Echo Park Film Center, The Carlos Bulosan Book Club and the Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS). She was the first Film Independent/Project Involve Fellow to initiate a Film Programming Industry Track in 2003, and in a full-circle moment, returned two decades later as a Film Programming Resident Mentor in 2024 and 2025. Irene also moderated an industry podcast on equity and inclusion in the film programming space for DOC Leipzig in collaboration with the Programmers of Colour Collective. Through various initiatives like Studio Iró, Irene uplifts Filipino filmmakers from the Philippines and in the diaspora—advocating for their stories and expanding the platforms for their work.

Up next: The Weapons Between Us poetry collection, various film festivals, projects with Studio Iro

17. Rippin Sindher

Rippin Sindher is a fearless filmmaker who fuses sociology with cinema to ignite impactful conversations around justice and identity. Her work is bold, unflinching, and deeply personal—rooted in her perspective as a Punjabi-Sikh woman and driven by a passion for stories that inspire social change. A two-time Bank of America Big Tell Award recipient, she earned Congressional recognition for SEVA, her anti-hate documentary on Sikhs in America, and followed with ZONE, which exposed California’s legacy of redlining. Her narrative shorts, Broken Drawer and The Hideout, explore the intricacies of human connection and have won acclaim on the festival circuit. In 2023, she won the Julia S. Gouw Short Film Challenge with CAPE and Janet Yang Productions for FLIGHT 182, a gripping true-crime drama executive produced by Emmy® winner Archie Panjabi. Sindher was elected Vice President of the RISE Council (Dan Lin’s accelerator for POC creators) and was honored with UCLA’s Women Leaders Award for her impact as a storyteller. She is also the founder of KAUR Creative and co-founder of Sindherella Co.

Up next: FLIGHT 182 feature film, various feature films

18. Valerie Weiss

Award-winning film and series director Valerie Weiss is drawn to stories that explore complicated human relationships in feel-good ways. She has infused this tonal complexity into her feature films and dozens of television episodes while spanning a variety of genres. Most recently, Weiss directed two episodes of the Paramount+ series Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Weiss also directed an early block of the new NCIS: Tony and Ziva spinoff for Paramount+ as well as a new series for Prime Video called It’s Not Like That starring Scott Foley. Prior television work includes the finale of Netflix’s limited series Echoes, for showrunners Brian Yorkey and Quinton Peeples, and five episodes of Netflix's global YA sensation Outer Banks. Weiss began her career in independent features, having directed her award-winning dramatic debut, A Light Beneath Their Feet, starring Taryn Manning, and The Archer, which premiered at SXSW. Her first studio film was Netflix’s Mixtape, starring Julie Bowen and Nick Thune. Weiss has an intriguing background, having studied X-ray Crystallography at Harvard Medical School, earning a Ph.D. in Biophysics and a master’s degree in medical science.

Up next: It’s Not Like That, Watson, Ginny & Georgia, various television shows

19. Jo Willems

Jo Willems is a renowned Belgian cinematographer known for his work on both major Hollywood films as well as independent films, including The Hunger Games franchise (starting with Catching Fire, Mockingjay Part 1, Mockingjay Part 2, The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, and Sunrise on the Reaping), The Long Walk, Red Sparrow, His House, and more. His cinematography on his first feature, Hard Candy, directed by David Slade, won Best Cinematography at the 2006 Málaga International Week of Fantastic Cinema and His House was nominated for a British Independent Film Award. He has also won the Albert Bert Prize for Best International Achievement at the Ensor Awards. Willems, now based in Los Angeles, is a prestigious member of the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS).

Up next: Sunrise on the Reaping (Hunger Games franchise), Mr. & Mrs. Smith, various feature films