COLORVISION FILMMAKER BIOS
BIG HEAD PEOPLE
Monteria Ivey
Monteria Ivey is a comedian, author and screenwriter. He was the co-executive
producer and host for the HBO Snaps television specials and the host of Think
Twice, the first adult game show produced for public television. Ivey was also the
host, cast member and writer for the Uptown Comedy Club, a nationally-
syndicated television program. He works regularly for HBO on their stand-up
comedy specials as well as the annual HBO/Toyota Comedy Festival held in
New York City. Ivey is currently working on HBO‟s The Chris Rock Show.
Stephen Dweck
Stephen Dweck has worked as a prominent entertainment attorney specializing
in music, film and television. His clients have included over 40 recording artists
ranging from current Top 40 bands on major labels to underground acts that he
cultivated. Dweck has also represented over 75 television and film actors. He
was co-executive producer for the HBO Snaps specials. Dweck sits on the Law
Advisory Board for Quinnipiac College School of Law.
BUS 44
Dayyan Eng
Dayyan Eng was born in Taiwan and raised in Seattle. He studied film arts at the
University of Washington and transferred to the Beijing Film Academy where he
finished his undergraduate studies in directing. East 22nd Street, a 35mm short
film he wrote and directed in 1997, won awards and nominations at eight
international film festivals, and was acquired by CANAL for exclusive rights in
France. For the past four years, Eng has directed TV commercials and music
videos for the Asian market. His second short film, Bus 44, won awards at the
Venice Film Festival and the Sundance Film Festival, becoming the first Chinese-
language short film to win at both festivals. He is currently in China working on
his first feature film project.
DIRTY LAUNDRY
Cristina Ibarra
Cristina Ibarra has immersed herself in filmmaking, artistic and academic communities
throughout Texas, San Francisco, Mexico City and most recently, New York City. She
has participated in and contributed to the National Association of Latino Independent
Producers. As a 2001 CPB/PBS Producer‟s Academy Fellow, Inarra participated in the
historic Producer‟s Workshop in Boston. She was recently named one of the top 10
emerging Latino filmmakers by Latino Public Broadcasting. Her narrative directorial
debut, Dirty Laundry: A Homemade Tele-novella won “Best Short Fiction” at
CineFestival 2001 in San Antonio, the “Jury Award” at ImageNation 2001 in New York
City and the “Audience Award” at this year‟s African-American Women in Cinema
Festival. This short is currently airing on various regional public television stations
throughout the country.
DIWALI
Nick Sivakumaran
Nick Sivakumaran was born in Sri Lanka and raised in the suburbs of New York.
He was initially expected to follow in his father‟s footsteps and enroll in medical
school; however, Sivakumaran says he knew his life‟s path was in filmmaking. As
a child he made several movies with a home video camera, using his
neighborhood as a stage and his friends and family as actors and film critics. His
early influences were David Lean and Steven Spielberg. Diwali, which he wrote,
directed and co-produced, was his graduate thesis from the University of
Southern California. The film won the “2001 Directors Guild of America Student
Film Award.” Sivakumaran is currently working as a part-time teacher at the New
York Film Academy while pursuing future writing and directing projects.
DREAMER
Ray Spiess, Jr.
Ray Spiess, Jr. makes his directorial debut with Dreamer. With his extensive
background in sound, Spiess was nominated 10 times for an Emmy Award and
seven times for a Golden Reel Award. He was the supervising sound editor for
the acclaimed HBO series, The Sopranos, during the shows first two seasons.
Spiess also co-supervised Tom Hank‟s From the Earth to the Moon, A Soldier’s
Sweetheart and Peter Benchley‟s Creature. As a dialogue editor, Spiess has
contributed his talents to hit television series such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer,
Melrose Place, Beverly Hills 90210, Baywatch, Party of Five and Dr. Quinn,
Medicine Woman.
ESTHER, BABY & ME
Louis Taylor
Louis Taylor has worked as an associate producer, actor, dancer and script
consultant. He‟s also stolen a few cars, sold shoes and ingested way too many
drugs in the 70s. He regrets none of it and is not a recidivist. Esther, Baby & Me
is his first film. His next project, David & the Conglomerate, a 20-minute satire on
corporate duplicity, existentialism, grand obsessions and “just do it” philosophies
was filmed in the spring of 2002. Taylor is also developing a one-hour
documentary, The Myth, which will explore the myth of the black male “savage”
from the viewpoint of black men.
GUILELESS GUILE
Wil Lin
HASTA LOS HUESOS (DOWN TO THE BONE)
Rene Castillo
Rene Castillo was born in Mexico City and studied communications at the
Western Technological and Superior Studies Institute (ITESCO) in Guadalajara.
In 1992 Castillo discovered animation during a five-day course. Since Mexico
does not have any schools specializing in animation, he became a self-taught
animator by experimenting with different techniques. In 1998, he co-wrote and
co-directed a 35 mm short animated film titled No Support. It was an “Official
Selection” at the Cannes Film Festival that year and won many national and
international awards. In mid 1998, Castillo began to produce the short film Down
to the Bone. It was completed in 2001 and premiered at the Annecy Festival in
France with great success. Since then, Down to the Bone has been competing in
various film festivals and winning many awards. Since 1996, Castillo has offered
animation workshops and produced animated commercials for television. He is
currently working on his next short film.
I AM ALI
Dream Hampton
Over the past decade, Dream Hampton has established herself as a journalist,
critic and advocate of hip-hop music, culture and politics. Born in Detroit, she
came to the East in 1990 to major in film at New York Univeristy. She established
friendships with future icons and pioneers of 90s hip-hop such as Sean Puffy
Combs and Biggie Smalls. While at NYU, Hampton founded a black filmmaker
collective, the first in the university‟s history. She also developed several hip-hop
documentaries, including a series of interviews with the Notorious B.I.G. at the
peak of his career. In 1997 she moved to California to work as head of the
editorial department of Larry Flynt‟s Rap Pages. She is currently co-authoring the
biography of Sean “P-Diddy” Combs and has written profiles of Mary J. Blige,
D‟Angelo, Bjork and Jay-Z. I Am Ali represents the first full realization of
Hampton as a filmmaker. It was screened at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival.
I SCREAM, FLOATS AND SUNDAYS
Leah U’ilani Kihara
Leah U‟ilani Kihara learned her craft while earning a B.A. at the University of
Southern California School of Cinema. After graduating, she gained experience
in film and television production while working on a number of PBS productions.
Kihara emerged as a producer in 1997 with the short film, Hawaiian Sting, which
was accepted into the 1998 Sundance Film Festival. Since then, she has
produced and directed a number of independent productions allowing her to
travel extensively to many countries including India, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Tahiti
and Rapa Nui. Her documentary, Hokule’a – Guiding Star, was recently screened
at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. Her short film, I Scream, Floats and
Sundays, won the Hawaii International Film Festival‟s “Aloha Airlines Hawaii Film
& Videomaker Award.” Kihara currently works as the special projects manager at
„Olelo Community Television.
MORNING BREATH
Brin Hill
Brin Hill earned an M.F.A. from New York University. A Glance Away, his thesis
film, was completed with the help of executive producer and independent film
guru, Larry Meistrich (Sling Blade). Hill‟s mentor, acclaimed Director Spike Lee
(Do the Right Thing), provided production, casting and editing guidance on the
project. A Glance Away won the “Special Jury Prize” for Best Narrative Film at
Houston‟s Worldfest in 1999. Since graduating from NYU, Hill has continued
writing and directing. Two of his screenplays, Walking on the Wrong and Silent
Treatment were finalists for the Sundance Summer Writer‟s Lab Workshop and
Nicoll Fellowship grants. Hill and writing partner, Amyn Kaderali, have a three-
film deal at Dimension Films, a division of Miramax. Their first joint script for
Dimension, Street Teams, a hip-hop comedy, was highly praised. The duo
recently completed a thriller called Yellow Fever. Hill‟s panoply of experience has
led to his passion for filmmaking, which has brought him to Morning Breath. This
is his favorite work as a filmmaker. While this writer/director has been exercising
his talents in many other mediums, this film is the first movie he‟s made outside
of the confines of academia. It is also his first collaboration with famous spoken
word artist and actor muMs.
Sir muMs
Sir muMs, born Craig Grant, is a writer, performance artist, poet, playwright,
emcee and actor. He has performed his poetry in New York‟s underground rap
and poetry scenes since 1992. He has performed at venues such as the Fez,
Acme Underground, CBGB and the Nuyorican Poets‟ Café. Tom Fontana, writer
and producer of the critically-acclaimed Homicide series and HBO‟s Oz,
discovered him at one of these performances. Fontana, impressed with muMs‟s
poetry, created a character named Poet and gave muMs the freedom to write
and recite his own work on the prison drama. Oz has established a cult following
due to its graphic reality and the unique poetry performed by muMs. muMs has
had roles in feature films such as Martin Scorcese‟s, Bringing Out the Dead and
Spike Lee‟s, Bamboozled. muMs has also shared the stage with artists Ericka
Badu, the Roots, Saul Williams, the Last Poets and Ntzoke Shange among
others. In 1996, muMs travelled to Portland, Oregon as a member of the New
York Poetry Slam team to compete in the national poetry competition. The event
was released as a documentary called SlamNation, starring Clare Moore,
Williams, muMs and poet Beau Sia. SlamNation received rave reviews in 1998
when it was shown at the Film Forum in New York.
MOUSE
Greg Pak
Greg Pak directed the short documentary Fighting Grandpa, which has won 20
awards including a “Student Academy Award” and a “Gold Apple,” from the
National Educational Media Network. Fighting Grandpa has appeared in over 35
film festivals and had its television premiere on Cinemax. Pak‟s short dramatic
film Mouse has won six awards, was screened in 30 festivals and was broadcast
by the International Channel, Japanese satellite television and some public
television stations. Pak‟s other short films: Po Mo Knock Knock, The Penny
Marshall Project, Asian Pride Porn and Mr. Lee have also won awards and have
been shown around the world. Pak was the cinematographer for the Academy
Award-winning short documentary The Personals: Improvisations on Romance in
the Golden Years. As a writer, Pak has won awards for his screenplays Rio
Chino, Stay Warm and Corporis Vesalius. Pak studied political science and film
production at New York University and history at the University of Oxford as a
Rhodes Scholar.
O TAMAITI (THE CHILDREN)
Sima Urale
Sima Urale was born in Savali, Samoa, and immigrated to New Zealand in 1974.
She graduated from the New Zealand Drama School and worked as a stage
actress for two years, then enrolled at the Victorian College of the Arts Film and
Television School. Her first short film, O Tamaiti, won eight international awards
including Best Short Film Award (Silver Lion) at the Venice International Film
Festival. Her first documentary, Velvet Dreams, was produced for Television
New Zealand and won Best Documentary at the Yorkton Film Festival in
Canada. Sima also directs commercials, corporate videos and music videos and
she is currently writing her first feature film.
PEEPING TOM
Jason Todd Ipson
Born and raised in Salt Lake City, Jason got his start in directing making videos
for his high school‟s monthly assemblies. While in medical school, his interest in
film pushed him to study the use of cameras in surgery and eventually led to his
decision to pursue a general surgery residency in Boston, Massachusetts.
Throughout medical school and his residency, Ipson continued to develop ideas
for feature films. He dabbled in filmmaking until finally resigning his position as a
surgical resident to attend the University of Southern California School of
Cinema-TV. While at USC, he directed the award-winning short film, Peeping
Tom and won the “Sloan Scholarship Competition” with his sister for his short
script, A Modern Vampire. Ipson graduated from USC at the top of his class,
winning the prestigious “Ferguson Marketing Award” for best graduating thesis.
He is currently slated to direct the short film, A Modern Vampire.
A PIECE OF EARTH
Jorge Gaggero
Jorge Gaggero received his B.A. in Film Studies in 1994 from the Centro de
Experimentación y Realización Cinematografica in Buenos Aires. While working
as a producer and director at Edicion Plus, he was a finalist for the 1995 Emmy
Award in the category of “Best Foreign Documentary.” Gaggero worked with
Academy Award-winner Louis Puenzo and in 1996 wrote and directed Ojos De
Fuego, which won “Best Short Subject Script” at the National Film Institute and
“Best Short Film” at the Sin Cortes Film Festival. The film was distributed in
Europe, Australia, Latin America and the United States. Gaggero was awarded
the “Fullbright Scholarship” in 1998 and obtained his Masters degree in film
directing at the American Film Institute, where he also received the “Henry
Hathaway” and “Bridges Larson” Awards.
PROFILES IN SCIENCE
Wes Kim
Wes Kim is a part-time screenwriter and filmmaker. He lives with his wife and two
sons in Seattle, Washington. Profiles in Science is his first film. It won the Best
Animated Short at the SXSW Film Conference and Festival 2002. He also
moderates the Seattle Asian-American Filmmaking Mailing List:
http://groupsyahoo.com/group/saafml.
THE SATELLITE SHOOTERS
Annemarie Kattan Jacir
Annemarie Kattan Jacir is a Palestinian filmmaker, writer and poet living in New
York City. She grew up in Saudi Arabia, later moving to Texas and to California
before settling in New York. Jacir has written, directed and produced a number of
short films. She also wrote and directed the film, The Satellite Shooters. Jacir
attended Columbia University where she focused her energies in directing and
screenwriting. She won both the “Kathryn H. Parlan Screenwriting Award” at
Columbia University and the “Zaki Gordon Award for Excellence in
Screenwriting.” Jacir was also the first recipient of the “Jack Shaheen Mass
Communications Scholarship Award.” The Satellite Shooters is Jacir‟s debut film
on the festival circuit.
THE SHANGRI-LA CAFÉ
Lily Mariye
Born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada, Lily Mariye attended the University of
California, Los Angeles and graduated with a B.A. in Theatre Arts. She
performed in many local Los Angeles theatre productions including the West
Coast premieres of Runaways, Cabaret, Into the Woods and Daniel in Babylon.
Mariye made her off-Broadway debut in Tea and received a “Dramalogue Award”
for reprisal of the performance at The Old Globe Theatre in San Diego. Mariye
has written several screenplays, including The Shangri-la Café which is the basis
of her Directing Workshop for Women project. The Shangri-la Café has received
numerous honors including the “Best Short Film” award at the Moondance
International Film Festival and 2nd place in the Best Short Film category at the
Nashville International Film Festival. Mariye was also named “Filmmaker of the
Year 2000” by the National Organization of Women at their annual conference.
SNAPPED
Joie Susannah Lee
Joie Susannah Lee‟s writing credits include: Flight 770, a 10-minute short written
by Spike Lee for the BBC; Crooklyn, Spike Lee‟s compassionate, free-spirited
look at life in 1970s Brooklyn; Accidentally on Purpose, a cable series for
Nickelodeon and James, a cable series in development. Lee‟s directorial debut,
Snapped, a five-minute short film has been screened at the following film
festivals: The New York Latino Film Festival, Beat, Bytes, Big Screen in London,
Pan-African Film Festival in Los Angeles and Urbanworld.
TALL GIRL
Amalia Zarranz
Amalia Zarranz is currently finishing up a new short film, Mercury in Retrograde,
with Lea Delaria, Angela Pietropinto and Sherry Parker Lee. Her first narrative
short, City Green, was shot on digital video. Zarranz has also produced and
directed documentaries that aired on public television including, Hollywood: A
Town Remembered and Old Wise Tales. She has an MFA from Columbia
University Film School and she was born in Havana, raised in Las Vegas and
now lives in New York City.
WHY AM I A THREAT?
Jahmani Perry
Jahmani Perry is a photographer and filmmaker born and raised in Brooklyn,
New York. He began exploring filmmaking while studying photography at Pratt
Institute in New York. After receiving a prestigious film directing fellowship at The
American Film Institute, Perry moved to Los Angeles. There he received “The
Sony Innovator‟s Award” for his short film, The Nightmare, which was
incorporated by Madonna as a visual during her “Who‟s That Girl World Tour.”
Perry was also chosen by the Lollapalooza festival committee as one of 10
emerging filmmakers to create a series of short films for the 1998 nationwide
tour. The special event titled, “Spoken Word,” featured the poems of prominent
music personalities as short films. Perry produced and directed Why Am I a
Threat? based on a poem by and starring the famous rapper, Ice Cube.
YADA YADA
Bennie Klain
Bennie Klain is writer, producer and director of the Official Sundance Film
Festival 2002 short film selection, Yada Yada. This is Klain‟s second premiere at
Sundance. His first was as co-producer of the acclaimed documentary, The
Return of Navajo Boy. An award-winning journalist and filmmaker, Klain‟s career
began as a program director for public radio station KGHR-FM in Tuba City,
Arizona. He gained recognition as a producer of Windsongs, a nationally-
syndicated, Native-American music program. Klain eventually left public radio to
work for KTNN, a commercial radio station licensed to the Navajo Nation. At
KTNN, he worked as a news reporter while anchoring three daily Navajo
newscasts. Klain and the KTNN news team received the 1998 “Arizona
Associated Press Award” for “Best Newscast.” In 1997, they received the New
Mexico Broadcaster‟s Association “Best Newscast Award”, as well as the Arizona
Associated Press “Best Feature Film Production Award.” Klain resides in Austin,
Texas where he is an undergraduate in the Department of Radio-Television-Film
at the University of Texas at Austin.
YOUNGHAWK SEVEN
Anthony Dieter