DIRECTOR

Eli Snyder began his film career as a child actor in films such as 300 and Watchmen. He went on to study directing at UCLA's prestigious theatre, film, & television program. His undergraduate thesis film, Interlude, received awards at film festivals across the country.

PRODUCER

Tara Austin graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a BA in Film Studies. She also holds an MA in Film Studies from Concordia University in Montreal. Austin was the 1st AD on the independent action feature The Badge, assisted the lead actor and producer on both Riddick and Fast & Furious 6, and worked in the VFX department on Smurfs 2.

PRODUCER

Shunchao Xu is from Wuxi, China. He recieved a BA in Film and Marketing at Emerson College. In addition to producing short films, he assisted the producer of the TV series April Star and the DP of feature film The Legend Hunters. Shunchao has rich bilingual production experience and he’s currently a 2nd year producing fellow at AFI.

CO-WRITER

Kevin Sweeney is a half black, half Italian writer from Los Angeles. He’s a member of American Mensa, and studied directing at CalArts. He's worked for Ridley Scott, Activision, Phoenix Pictures, and Valhalla Entertainment. He was the youngest director selected for both the ABC DGA Television Directing Program and the Sony TV Directing Program.

CO-WRITER

Hayley Tibbenham graduated from the University of Michigan in 2020 with a B.M.A. in Voice Performance and Minor in Creative Writing. She wrote, directed, and acted in her debut short film, Inhuman, which was invited to the Cannes Film Festival Short Film Corner. Her feature screenplays earned a Hopwood Prize in Dramatic Writing and won Best Overall on the Blue List.

CINEMATOGRAPHER

Tianyi Liu is a graduate of the School of Visual Arts, and a current fellow at The American Film Institute. He is a student member of The Society of Camera Operators. Irretrievable, a film he shot, was selected as a semi-finalist at the "Flickers" Rhode Island International Film Festival and finalist at the New York Cinematography Award. His film, Leaf, has been publicly screened in Beijing Times Gallery.

PRODUCTION DESIGNER

Hailing from Cancun, Mexico, Cyrum A. Ramirez began her career in Canada where she studied visual arts and design. She then furthered her education by earning a BFA in Filmmaking from the New York Film Academy, where she wrote and directed ten short films. Since then, she has lived in Los Angeles, where she has been the production designer on 22 short films, two feature films, three commercials and four music videos.

EDITOR

Yijuan “Reggie” Zhao is a recent graduate of UC San Diego, with a BA in Visual Arts-Media. While at UCSD he focused on shooting and editing short films. He has also worked at a television station in Guangzhou. Last summer, he served as an assistant editor in Lerfilm & Reason studio. He is currently a 2nd year editing fellow at the American Film Institute.