Director

One of Indie Wire’s “Top Ten Filmmakers You Should Know”

Carrie Schrader is an award-winning writer-director who is currently developing a one-hour drama pilot with A Really Good Home Pictures, the company behind "Unstoppable," produced by Amazon/Artist’s Equity. She is known for co-directing "Don't Mess With Texas" alongside Tricia Cooke and Ethan Coen from the Coen brothers, as well as the Netflix commercial "Batdad: Battle For Bedtime," and the feature film "The Founders," which is available on Peacock. Her television pilot "Phoenix" recently won the Blacklist's Georgia LIST prize. Carrie supports herself through multiple write-for-hire contracts, specializing in adapting real-life stories for film and television. She has a ridiculously expensive but surprisingly useful MFA in screenwriting from Columbia University and will be forever proud of her early days as a theater nerd.

Producer

LaLa Halsema is an award-winning director, writer, and producer. Her 2022 debut short film premiered with Diversity in Cannes during the Cannes Film Festival and went on to screen in 23 festivals internationally, winning 13 awards. Driven by a belief in the power of community, and her love of people and stories about the messiness and beauty of being human, LaLa Founded Shimmer Films in 2011. Shimmer’s first project was an award-winning TV Pilot for kids. Since then, she has written, directed, and produced hundreds of film and video projects which include feature films, short films, television, music videos and commercials. Lala spent her childhood in theatre classes and community productions, earned a Bachelor of Arts in theatre, and attended American Academy of Dramatic Arts. She delights in collaborating with actors and has a deep love for the process. Lala is currently in development on feature films This I Know, and Memaw's Dead. 

Director of Cinematography

Alexxiss Jackson is a Director of Photography and Camera Operator, as well as Adjunct Cinematography Professor at Spelman College. She is a member of the International Cinematographers Guild (IATSE Local 600), the Society of Camera Operators, and the International Collective of Female Cinematographers.

She has served as Director of Photography on narrative features, narrative shorts, commercials, music videos, and more; including work for Vogue Magazine, Google, BET+/Tyler Perry Studios, VH1, Sony Pictures, MSNBC, Uber, and Kroger. She has worked as Camera Operator on projects for Hulu and Vice News; including the Emmy®-winning series, "The 1619 Project".

​She holds a dual degree in Film/Video Studies and English from the University of Michigan. She also completed the Summer Film Program at the University of Southern California.

​Alexxiss was selected for the American Society of Cinematographers Vision Program, 2022-2023.

Alexxiss served on the Cinematography Jury for the Atlanta Film Festival in 2022. She has appeared on panels such as "Women Behind the Scenes" at the 2019 Atlanta Cine Gear Expo. She was spotlighted on Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls in 2018. Also in 2018, she was invited to speak at TERMINUS Conference + Festival, where she presented a seminar entitled “Cinematography: Crafting a Look with Lenses and Filters” that was very well received. She has also spoken on several other panels, podcasts, radio interviews, etc; not only about cinematography, but also what it’s like to be a woman of color in the film industry.

Though her focus is cinematography, she occasionally directs music videos as well

Editor

Chris is an award-winning Director and Cinematographer living between Atlanta, GA and Verona, Italy.

With an education in film from Hofstra University, Chris honed his skills in New York City working with giants including Spike Lee, Sesame Street and Ralph Lauren and has had the likes of such prolific people as Barack and Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey in front of his lens.

His award-winning short films have screened at festivals internationally and his content has garnered more than 17 million views online.
Most recently he received the award for Best Director at the 2020 Beyond Earth Film Festival.

He may be most proud, though, of his eclectic karaoke repertoire which he’s happy to put on display at the wrap party.

Julia

Aria Celeste Castillo is an Actress and Dancer known for her commercial and scripted work most known for Tyler Perry’s Assisted Living, Love’s Secret Ingredient, NCIS New Orleans, and Nickelodeon’s School of Rock. Castillo’s radiantly romp personality is powered by her large Dominican family. As the sole sister to her brothers, she’s learned to balance splendor and grit. Aria is passionate about literature and writing and missions to fill the Afro-Latina disparity on the big screen and beyond.

Tausha

Millie Rose Evans is a dynamic actor, musician, writer, and improv teacher from Athens, GA. She has built a strong career in both film and commercial work, with credits including Amazon Prime, Uber, Anheuser-Busch, Hallmark, Moderna, McDonald’s, Disney, and Wicked Weed Brewery. Her print clients include Microsoft and Hallmark Health. On-screen, Millie recently starred in the highly anticipated film Uglies and co-starred in the Paramount plus film The In Between.

She also led the cast of Withdrawal, set to premiere at the Atlanta Film Festival in April. Beyond acting, she is a skilled musician, proficient in piano and guitar, and an emerging filmmaker—her debut production, 9 Lives, premiered last year at the Oscar Qualifying festival Out on Film. With a passion for performance, Millie has trained extensively, spending five years at Relapse Theatre, five years at Dad’s Garage, and currently studying Advanced Meisner at Drama Inc. As an improv teacher, she brings a sharp, spontaneous energy to every role she takes on. Millie Evans is a dedicated artist, ready to bring depth and authenticity to every project she joins.

Mother

Actor, Producer. Theatre, Film, Television. These words, when used in reference to Lorraine Rodriguez-Reyes, describe creative pathways on which a consummate artist can relentlessly pursue her passion. Lorraine received her MFA from Harvard's American Repertory Theatre (A.R.T.)/Moscow Art Theatre Institute for Advanced Theatre Training.

Lorraine received her MFA from Harvard's American Repertory Theatre (A.R.T.)/Moscow Art Theatre Institute for Advanced Theatre Training. Illuminating an acting career that has led her to the stages of Cherry Lane Theatre Verse Chorus Verse, Mint Theatre On The Edge, Repertorio Español La Gringa, Theatre Row A Bicycle Country, Dog Day Afternoon, Columbia Stages Three Sisters, LaTea Theatre GlassChord, The Importance of Being Blanca, Moscow Art Theatre Dostoevsky Demons and Melancholy, a show she did at the beginning of her career at Harvard, directed by Scott Zigler; and the role of La Extraña in De Dónde at The Looking Glass Theatre which earned her an OOBER Award.

Lorraine's one woman show Mami Confessions was the winner of the ONE Festival in NYC and had two runs Teatro Circulo and at the Kitchen Theatre, Ithaca NY. Lorraine also co-wrote Cuatro Mujeres which premiered at the prestigious FILEY 2017 Festival Feria Internacional de la Literatura Mérida, Yucatán México. Cuatro Mujeres had its stateside premiere at the Aurora Theatre. Lorraine's on-camera work is nearly as prolific as her stage work. Some highlights include, in television, Lorraine was cast on the CW Legacies, NBC Good Girls, Tyler Perry's The Have's and Have Nots, HBO mega-hit series, The Sopranos, as Nurse Ramirez, and over at ABC she was cast in a recurring Guest Star role on "What Would You Do?" In film, Lorraine again joined team HBO as part of the HBO International Latino Film Festival as Carmen in Taught To Hate. The Lifetime movie, Room for Murder and The Stick Up Kids. Another of her many film projects, Willets Point, an independent film by TJ Collins, made its World Premiere at the Quad Cinema in New York City. Willets Point, nominated for Best Dramatic Actress at The Long Island International Film Expo.

Lorraine's credits as Producer are no less impressive. At the Atlantic she produced the reading of The Genius by Daniel Mitura and a reading of Kathleen McGhee-Anderson's new play A Shift in Gravity, directed by Ricardo Khan at The Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theater - The Pershing Square Signature Center in Manhattan. Featuring Golden Globe and Emmy Award winner S. Epatha Merkerson ("Law & Order"), and Screen Actors Guild Award winner Peri Gilpin("Frasier"). She also produced a Benefit reading of Gloria, screenplay adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Beautiful and Damned at The Mainstage Theater at Playwrights Horizons. At Cherry Lane she produced the Stripped Festival in association with Barefoot Theatre Company and East 3rd Productions; at Theatre Row, the Israel Horovitz Festival Reading and A Bicycle Country by Pulitzer Prize Winner, Nilo Cruz; and at the Gene Frankel, Weird Sisters. Also with East 3rd Productions: Strange Snow by Steven Metcalf, Mary Esther conceived by Christopher Petit and written by Nick Zagone. Film Producer credits: Award Winning short films Tapeworm and Capicu. Lorraine also produced Eli Moran, an independent film shot in NYC.