AHAMEFULE J. OLUO
Screenwriter, Composer, Performer
Aham is a Seattle-based musician, composer, writer, and stand-up comedian. Oluo is a founding member of and trumpet player in the Stranger Genius Award-winning jazz-punk quartet Industrial Revelation, and was featured in City Arts Magazine’s 2013 Future List as one of Seattle’s most promising artists. Oluo has collaborated with such diverse acts as Das Racist, Macklemore, Hey Marseilles, and TacocaT. He was a semi-finalist in NBC’s Stand Up for Diversity comedy competition, and co-produced comedian (and writing partner) Hari Kondabolu’s albums Waiting for 2042 and Mainstream American Comic, for Kill Rock Stars. He was the first ever artist-in-residence at Seattle’s Town Hall, and in 2015 he appeared on This American Life and received a Creative Capital Award. In 2016 Oluo was awarded Artist Trust’s Arts Innovator Award, and the performance of his autobiographical musical “Now I’m Fine” at the Public Theater in New York City was called “dizzying,” “engaging,” and “grand” by the New York Times.
CHARLES MUDEDE
Screenwriter, Director
Charles Tonderai Mudede is a Zimbabwean-born cultural critic, urbanist, writer, and filmmaker. Mudede collaborated with the director Robinson Devor on two films, POLICE BEAT and ZOO, both of which premiered at Sundance. POLICE BEAT is a part of the Museum of Modern Art's permanent collection, and ZOO was presented at the Directors Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival. Mudede is a co-screenwriter for YOU CAN'T WIN, which stars Micheal Pitt and James Hong and will be released in 2017, and is currently the film editor for The Stranger, a Seattle weekly.
LINDY WEST
Screenwriter
Lindy West is a columnist at The Guardian, a contributor to This American Life, and a freelance writer whose work focuses on feminism, social justice, humor, and body image. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, Cosmopolitan, GQ, Vulture, Jezebel, The Stranger, and others. She is the founder of I Believe You, It's Not Your Fault, an advice blog for teens, as well as the reproductive rights destigmatization campaign #ShoutYourAbortion. Her first book, SHRILL, has made the New York Times Best Seller's list. It has been adapted into a television series which was optioned and put into production by HULU.
MICHAEL SEIWERATH
Producer
Michael Seiwerath has produced or executive produced five feature films and produced a handful of shorts, including MY LAST YEAR WITH THE NUNS, which premiered at the 2014 Seattle International Film Festival. His two previous features, POLICE BEAT and THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF LITTLE DIZZLE, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. He successfully lead efforts to raise nearly one million dollars for feature films in Seattle. The former Executive Director of Northwest Film Forum, he has aided in the production of scores of films. He has won the Stranger Genius Award for Film, the Seattle Mayor’s Film Award. He has attended the Sundance Producer’s Lab and the National Art Strategies Chief Executive Program. He is the founder of Skookum Pictures, a Seattle-based production company.
JENNESSA WEST
Producer
Jennessa West is the founder of Pressing Pictures – a production company dedicated to creating diverse commercial and narrative works. West started her career working in long form episodic television in Los Angeles for companies as Warner Brothers Television, FX and CBS Productions. Jennessa’s recent producing credits include Megan Griffith’s feature film SADIE which premiered in competition at SXSW 2018 with distribution through Amazon. SJ Chiro's coming-of-age film LANE 1974 with Katherine Moenning, which premiered at SXSW in 2017 and received two grand jury prizes from acclaimed festivals and distribution through The Orchard. She produced MY LAST YEAR WITH THE NUNS with fellow producer Michael Seiwerath which premiered at the Seattle International Film Festival in 2014 with distribution through Fandor.
JONATHAN CASO
Producer
Jonathan Caso has produced various features, series, shorts, and commercials. He is the producer the episodic series Automata from writer/director Van Alan, based on characters from the Penny Arcade web-coming of the same name. He also produced Thin Skin, an upcoming film by Ahamefule Oluo, Charles Mudede, and Lindy West based on the smash off-Broadway show “Now I’m Fine.” He is the co-producer of Sadie the newest film from writer/director Megan Griffiths (Lucky Them, The Night Stalker), starring Melanie Lynskey & John Gallagher, Jr, which premiered at SXSW 2018, and Outisdie In from director Lynn Shelton (Your Sister’s Sister, Laggies, episodes of Fresh of the Boat, GLOW, New Girl) starring Edie Falco, Jay Duplass, and Kaitlyn Dever., which premiered at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival. He is a producer on the adult swim show Three Busy Debras, created by and starring Sandy Honig, Mitra Jouhari and Alyssa Stonoha, and executive produced by Amy Poehler.