Alisa Stern & Scott Ampleford
Country: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandAlisa is an artist, puppet maker, and animator from New York City.
Scott is a composer, musician, and actor from Newcastle upon Tyne, England.
Despite living thousands of miles apart, Alisa and Scott have collaborated on many projects including the web series Doctor Puppet (2012-2018) which has over 4 million views on YouTube, animated short Sum of its Parts (2019) which screened at many pandemic-era festivals including the New York International Childrens Film Festival and Woodstock Film Festival, animated short Posted No Hunting (2021) which screened at dozens of horror and genre festivals including Boston Underground Film Festival, FilmQuest, Grimmfest, Anomaly, Panic Fest, Feratum, Portland Horror Film Festival, Another in the Head and Coney Island Film Festival and won “Best Micro-Scare” at the Blackbird Film Festival. Alisa and Scott also co-wrote and co-directed live action featurette Spiral to the Center (2023) which played at Chattanooga Film Festival, FilmQuest and Beeston Film Festival and won “Most Innovative Film” at the Romford Horror Festival and “Best Short Film” at the Philadelphia Unnamed Film Festival.
Talia Shea Levin
Country: United States of AmericaTalia is a Director, Writer, and Producer for film, theater, and virtual reality. She uses speculative storytelling and non-naturalistic narrative techniques, from dance to science-fiction, to create worlds that help us see our own more clearly.
Her short film NEXT TIME took home an Audience Award at the Nashville Film Festival and also screened at HollyShorts. Her dance films have been featured across international platforms and festivals including Short of the Week, NOWNESS, Source Creative, The Cut Magazine, and Dance Camera West. Her short film MAKE ME A PIZZA had its world premiere at the 2024 SXSW Film & TV Festival.
Her music videos for artists like Jordana Lilly and BURNS have over five million total views online, and she maintains a focus on story in her advertising and industrial directing work for clients such as Uber ATG, Caseworx educational videos, and NanoString Technologies.
She has served on the jury for the National Film Festival For Talented Youth and the L.A. Dance Film Festival, and is a member of Amsterdam and Mexico-based art collective Snowapple and the Festival Director for their Jardin Rouge Film Festival. She is also a Filmmaking Mentor for the Latino Film Institute’s Youth Cinema Project.
She holds a degree in Directing and Screenwriting from Carnegie Mellon University, and has expanded her education through work with extraordinary filmmakers like Apichatpong Weerasethakul (UNCLE BOONMEE WHO CAN RECALL HIS PAST LIVES), Josephine Decker (MADELINE'S MADELINE), and Paula Wagner (MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE). She is also certified in Mental Health First Aid and has trained in intimacy coordination with Theatrical Intimacy Education.
She likes goat cheese on her pizza.
Jason Sheedy
Country: United States of AmericaJason Sheedy is an independent film director, screenwriter, and editor who has created award-winning short films, as well as the horror feature, Patient, which went on to air on Showtime. His screenplays have landed him semi-finalist and finalist awards with Screencraft, Stage 32, Film Empire, and the Finish Line Script Competition. In addition to his film work, he is also the Senior Editor for Bark Bark, a full-service commercial production company working with top brands and networks.
