The Digital Hollywood Experience

The Digital Hollywood Experience

Thursday, May 25th, 2017

The DigiFest - Co-Sponsored by Women in Film - HollyShort - NALIP

2:00 PM – 3:45 PM, Herscher Hall, Guerin C

Drama and Documentaries

1. THE RED PILL (documentary) - Created by Cassie Jaye

2. THE LIST (short) - Created by Amin Jay Rupani

3. SANVEAN (short) - Created by Elizabeth Yoder, Paul E Allan, Alina Patra, Jonathan Abrahams, Wolfgang Bodison, Ed Brotherton

4. SPARK (short) - Created by Juan Martinez Vera & Diego Nareja

5. DESCRY (short) - Created by David Michael Yohe, Jenna Bleecker

1. THE RED PILL (documentary) - Created by Cassie Jaye

Cassie Jaye founded Jaye Bird Productions in 2008, which has since produced a collection of documentary films that have been praised for being thought-provoking, entertaining and respectful in representing multiple competing views within each film. Jaye is known for tackling complex and often controversial subject matters. Prior to “The Red Pill”, Jaye’s most notable films were the award winning feature documentaries “Daddy I Do”, which examined the Abstinence

-Only Movement versus Comprehensive Sexual Education, and “The Right to Love: An American Family”, which followed one family’s activism fighting for same-sex marriage rights in California. Both films showed that Jaye’s interview style is to allow people to share their views honestly, openly and candidly while allowing audiences to come to their own conclusions.

3. SANVEAN (short) - Created by Elizabeth Yoder, Paul E Allan, Alina Patra, Jonathan Abrahams, Wolfgang Bodison

ALINA PATRA: Alina Patra is an actor, writer and member of Play Four Films, a collective of award-winning indie filmmakers. Her work includes numerous short films, web series and a recurring role on General Hospital. In between productions, Alina continues her studies as a long-time alumna of the famed Playhouse West acting school and current member of James Franco’s Studio 4.

ELIZABETH YODER: Elizabeth’s journey to Hollywood began with humble origins. She was raised on her family’s 1800’s homestead by German-Swiss parents of Amish and Mennonite lineage. She lived in a community where tele¬vision and radio were taboo. As she matured, Elizabeth became aware of a modern and progressive world outside her strict upbringing and eventually the intrigue of Hollywood transformed into her love for filmmaking. She has won multiple awards from International film festivals, most recently the Audience Choice Best Actress Award for her portrayal of Margo in ‘Sanvean’, which she also directed. Previously, she re¬ceived ‘Storytelling Achievement Award’, ‘Best Actress’, ‘Best Actor’ and the ‘Ribaut Award for Best Short Film’ and was nominated alongside screen icon Shirley MacLaine in the ‘Best Actress’ category.

JOHNATHAN S. ABRAHAMS: Jonathan has shot commercials, short films, features and a television episodic as Director of Photography. In his twen¬ty-six year career as a Union Camera Operator, he has worked with many Celebrities and Directors of Photography. Nu¬merous credits include “Avatar”, “Blades of Glory”, “The Red Canvas”, “Ninong” with Dominick Keating (Star Trek “En¬terprise”), “America’s Next Top Model”. He’s worked with James Cameron, John Savage, Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers, Jose Feliciano, former Secretary of State, Alexander Haig. “A Soul Diaspora” took an Audience Choice award at the Pan African Film Festival and won an Academy Award in Africa and he won a Golden Eye Award for “The Pros and Cons of Breathing”. At present, he is prepping to shoot a TV movie for Lifetime called, “All Good Things.” and has been a member of The Society of Camera Operators (SOC) since 2004.

PAUL E. ALLAN: Co-Director and Executive Producer of Sanvean, Paul E. Allan has fifteen years in visual arts and music. Working with some of the worlds leading brands, he brings a fine tuned creative eye to his filmmaking journey, which he embarked on in 2015. His collabo-rations have won awards with several notable clients..

WOLFGANG BODISON: Bodison, is best known for his role as, “Lance Cpl. Harold W. Dawson,” in the critically acclaimed, Rob Reiner film, A Few Good Men, starring Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson and Demi Moore, for which he received an Image Award nomination. Wolfgang won the Audience Choice Best Actor Award for his per¬formance as “Joshua” in Sanvean at the World Premiere in Los An¬geles, March 2017, for which he was also a collaborating writer. He has also written and directed several indie films, all of which have screened in major festivals worldwide and won multiple awards, including the Jury Choice Award for Best Director, Best Short Film and Storytelling Achievement Awards.

ED BROTHERTON: Ed Brotherton got his start in production doing Live Television before he even graduated from High School.   He joined the Air Force and found himself in California.  On his days off he volunteered at the local cable company and when his military enlistment was over he was hired by the cable company and began shooting and editing local TV Commercials.  Ed found his way to Los Angeles where he began camera assisting and technical supervising on reality TV shows like “Rendez-view”, “Blind Date”, “Mobile Home Disaster”, “Split Ends”.  To hone his directing skills, he trained as a script supervisor under Hollywood legend Robert Gary.   He spent 10 years in the freelance world working on dozens of commercials, music videos, promos and an occasional photo shoot.  For the past 7 years Ed has been the on-staff Technical Manager for 44 Blue Productions working on such TV shows as “Lock Up”, “Pitbulls & Parolees”, “Wahlburgers”, “Hollywood Medium” and many more.  When he’s not building camera packages for TV he’s writing, and producing films.  “Sanvean” being one of the latest projects and soon to be making his directorial debut with “Rose in the Wall”.

4. SPARK (short) - Created by Juan Martinez Vera & Diego Nareja

JUAN MARTINEZ VERA: Juan was born in the rural town of Tacubaya in the Mexican state of Guanajuato. When Juan reached the age of eleven he moved to the U.S. with his family to pursue a college education. In the U.S., movies became his main source of entertainment and also a tool he could use to understand and connect with the American society. In 2010 Juan graduated from UCLA with a B.A. in Political Science and a minor in Film Television and Digital Media. While at UCLA, Juan directed, wrote, and produced over 35 projects that ranged from soap operas to the college’s award-winning News show. Immediately after graduating from UCLA, Juan enrolled at the USC School of Cinematic Arts. In May 2014, Juan had the honor to be one of three directors selected to direct an advanced film project for the school. On his last year at USC, Juan received the prestigious Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Grant to write and direct his most recent project, SPARK. This film went on to receive a US Student BAFTA Award nomination in 2016. That same year, Juan received the award for Best Student Latino Director from the Director's Guild of America. Most recently,  Juan was selected to develop the Latinovela television project for Univision, Televisa, and NALIP. Juan’s goal as a filmmaker is to inspire people to use their imagination to transform their reality.

DIEGO NÁJERA: Diego was born and raised in Guadalajara, Mexico in a household where films, 3D puzzles, Pink Floyd and novels are greatly revered. He received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communication Sciences from Tec de Monterrey and participated in an exchange program at UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television. Since 2009, he joined the team of the Guadalajara International Film Festival (FICG), supervising theater operations and subsequently becoming part of the programming team as full-time producer and film programmer. For the last seven years, Diego has worked in the entertainment and creative industries producing an array of short documentary videos on social entrepreneurship; institutional and advertising campaigns; and contributing in the organization of other international events such as LéaLA, the Spanish-language book fair of Los Angele, FICG in LA, and the live show Puebla, Orgullo de Mexico in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Cinco de Mayo battle. Diego is currently pursuing a Master of Fine Arts degree in Film at USC’s Peter Stark Producing Program and has been awarded with an International Artist Fellowship by USC’s Provost Office.

5. DESCRY (short) - Created by David Michael Yohe, Jenna Bleecker

DAVE YOHE, Director, Producer, Co-Writer DESCRY: Dave Yohe is an award-winning writer/director with a passion for people and life. His films range from family friendly to dark and powerful. With a unique method of storytelling and a larger than life imagination, he moves his audience while entertaining and inspiring them. As important as film is to Dave, so is his enthusiasm for sports, love of animals "especially his dog Mama,” family and friends. Dave's short films have been selected to screen in over 40 national, regional and genre festivals, garnering him best film awards at ComicCon and HollyShorts. Dave is the co-founder of Isotropic Films based in Burbank, CA. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0948355/

JENNA BLEECKER, Co-Writer, Producer, Actor DESCRY: Jenna is from Mankato, Kansas. Jenna has had roles in shorts films such as Death Dream, Undying Love and Roar opposite Jonathan Banks. Jenna lives in Los Angeles and trains at the Upright Citizens Brigade and The Anthony Gilardi Acting Studio. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm5287064/