Diversity & Inclusion Program
The Ojai Film Festival continues this program begun last year that reflects the theme “Enriching the Human Spirit through Film.” The focus explores the breadth and scope of “diversity” and the “intersectionality” of social activities addressing contemporary problems.
Intersectionality is an analytical framework for conceptualizing a person, a group of people, or social problem as affected by a number of discriminations and disadvantages, how aspects of a person’s social and political identities combine to create different modes of discrimination and privilege. The concept of diversity encompasses acceptance and respect. It means understanding each individual’s uniqueness, and recognizing our individual differences. These bridge the dimensions of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, age, physical abilities, religious beliefs, political beliefs, or other ideologies. Come explore these differences in a safe, positive, and nurturing environment. Learn about understanding each other and moving beyond simple tolerance to embrace and celebrate the rich dimensions of diversity contained within each individual.
You will find films related to this theme sprinkled throughout the festival’s screening blocks. In addition two panels focus on this important topic. The Festival will award its Social Impact and Vision Award (sponsored by Panavision) to the festival film judged best representative of the category’s theme. The award will be presented as part of the Awards Brunch on Sunday morning, November 6th.
Moderator for both Panels
Rosa Costanza is an Award-winning Screenwriter, Director, and Emmy nominated TV producer. Rosa is a third-generation filmmaker with twenty plus years of experience in film and television production. Currently directing a feature length documentary, producing a TV series and casting for a feature film XING, the short film of the same name was screened in Cannes and 25 other festivals, and won six awards. She received credits in multiple departments on over one-hundred projects from North America, Asia and Africa. She’s an advocate for the arts, and feels passionate about mentoring, lecturing, and volunteering: past-times that have involved her with The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), the Yale University’s Film Studies Center, the Ojai Film Society, CalArts and the Orange Coast College where she taught film production master classes. Honorable withdrawal from IATSE Local 695 after a decade. Producer member of the Emmys/TV Academy (ATAS). VIP member of Women In Media.
Career Pathways for Female Filmmakers
Sunday, November 6 @ 1 PM • AC Raymund Room
Francene Selkirk runs a full-service casting company for commercials, television, film, print, web, and new media content. Her beginnings in real people casting and her background in Avant Garde Theatre have given Francene a competitive edge in discovering interesting characters in the extensive talent pool and a keen eye for improv/comedy skills. Her work with director Tom Kuntz (DGA-Director of the Year) has earned her world-wide recognition, particularly with the OLD SPICE – the man your man could smell like, campaign. The list of memorable commercials cast by FSC is extensive: DIRECTV campaign…Don’t have a grandson with a dog collar, et al, WHITE GOLD “Got Milk” campaign, the Clio-winning CareerBuilder.com campaign, FreeCreditScore.com NEW BAND SEARCH, etc. In addition, Francene received the Commercial Casting Director of the Year award from the Talent Managers Association in 2011 and 2012. FSC has diversified her expertise in comedy to casting pilots for Comedy Central (The Nick Kroll Show), half-hour TV shows for Fox (including The Spike Fereseten Show and Free Ride), Bravo (Significant Others), Oxygen, MTV, and others. …And she played the ukulele with Tiny Tim!
Chelsea Stardust has enjoyed horror films since the age of 10 when her father showed her George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead and Tod Browning’s Dracula. When she wasn’t racing sled dogs in the snowy Midwest, Chelsea consumed all the cinema she got her hands on. After high school Chelsea attended Ohio University’s Honors Tutorial College School of Film program where she focused on Directing. Upon graduating Chelsea moved to Los Angeles to pursue her filmmaking dreams. She’s worked for comedy legends Ivan Reitman and Judd Apatow, Chelsea found her horror home at Blumhouse Productions where she served as the executive assistant to Jason Blum for several years. She also shadowed Adam Robitel on the 2018 Blumhouse film Insidious:The Last Key. Since leaving her post at Blumhouse Productions, Chelsea has been directing full time. Chelsea’s first feature film, the science fiction thriller All That We Destroy, was part of the Blumhouse Into The Dark series and is currently available on Hulu. Her second feature film, the horror comedy Satanic Panic is currently streaming on Shudder.
Mackenzie Munro grew up on set, worked her way up to AD on History Channel’s Sons of Liberty filmed in Bucharest, Romania while also working as a trainer for the on screen horses. Out of University, Mackenzie’s short film LCD took her around the world from Cannes Film Festival to New York Premiere Film Festival winning international awards. Her screenplay Blonde Malfunction also went on to win Best TV Original Pilot at Beverly Hills Screenplay Contest and Best First-Time Writer + Short Screenplay at London Film Awards. Mackenzie directed, wrote and produced her first pilot PINK TAX which screened at Oscar Qualifying festival HollyShorts in 2021. At the end of 2021, Mackenzie Directed her first feature film called Salvation set to release in 2023. Currently, she is in post production editing her second feature film, a rom com called BOOTCAMP, a Wattpad Story with 30 million reads and is Wattpad’s first financed feature, also set to release in 2023. Mackenzie has written eight original projects, all in different stages of development with multiple partners.
Tamika Lamison currently serves as the SVP of Development and Production at PhilmCo, a film company with a double bottom line of art advocacy and commerce. Tamika is a graduate of AFI’s Directing Workshop for Women. She is an award-winning writer, director, actor and producer who has produced/written/directed many shorts, features, and documentaries including: Ferguson Rises, Last Life, and Hope. Her first script, The Jar By The Door, was a Sundance Finalist and won several awards. She was the Director and DP on BET’s first reality show, College Hill. Tamika was a Research Consultant at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences helping to develop their Academy Gold Inclusion Program; Executive Director of the Commercial Directors Diversity Program (CDDP) in which she built an Inclusion & Diversity Program under the umbrella of the Directors Guild of America (DGA) and the Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP). Tamika also created and founded Make A Film Foundation (MAFF)- a nonprofit that grants ‘film wishes’ to children who have serious or life-threatening medical conditions. Currently, Tamika is Staff Writer and Supervising Producer of the Amazon Prime/ALLBlK series Monogamy and the Tribeca Audience Award winning feature Documentary Ferguson Rises. Tamika was honored with the ‘Trailblazer Award’ from the Baron Jay Foundation for her various levels of impact and service in the entertainment industry.
A. Laura James is an award-winning filmmaker and television director. Laura began her career as an actor and transitioned to directing after working as an on-set acting coach. Her background in theater, improv and sketch comedy along with years of experience working closely with renowned directors on sets have given her the ability to create and shape a story, invent a rich visual language for each project and the tools to realize that vision. Laura has participated in the CBS Director Program, the Disney Channel Multicamera 360 Program and the inaugural DGA Director Development Initiative. Sharing her love of filmmaking and storytelling with the next generation, Laura has taught directing at USC and AFI, as well as acting and directing workshops around the world.
Growth of Inclusivity in American Cinema
Sunday, November 6 @ 2:30 PM • AC Raymund Room
Mayar Hamdan is a Palestinian multimedia storyteller and immersive filmmaker with a strong eye for design. He worked on a variety of projects, ranging from video games to films to video installations. Hamdan’s work is defined as the interdisciplinary exploration of migration, displacement, and feminist themes expressed through the canopy of color theory. She obtained a BS in Media Industries and Technology at Northwestern University and an MFA in Art and Technology at the California Institute of the Arts. Hamdan worked worked on the Doha Film Institute’s Film Training and Development team. During that time, Hamdan directed, wrote, developed, and produced several independent projects, most notably Beit Byoot (2019), and Don’t Get Too Comfortable (2021). She is based in Los Angeles, and is the Lead Narrative Designer at Lunacy Studios, an independent new media producer (Cinema, CR, AR, VR, & XR), Creative Director of FilmMena, & Northwestern University Studio20Q’s Industry Advisor.
Jorge Suarez specializes in the narrative action genre. Born in Mexico City, Jorge’s family immigrated to America’s Pacific Northwest where his early interest in film dropped him in the middle of Seattle’s independent film scene. Jorge first sparked his directing career when he wrote, produced, directed, and sold his first feature film, a no-budget action heist indie titled, THE SCRATCH. The release of this film garnered attention from top industry professionals including Martin Scorsese, His successive big-budget action sci-fi script, THE MINUTEMEN, helped raise his profile as a screenwriter and directly led to his collaboration with Giant Pictures at 20th Century Fox and Stars Road on the Sony lot. Shortly thereafter, he penned the mystery action thriller, LOOSE ENDS, as a collaboration with producer Gail Lyon. Jorge’s career led him to TV, where he’s worked on various scripted and unscripted shows including FOX’S REALITY BINGE, HGTV’s HOUSE HUNTERS, and AMERICA’S FUNNIEST VIDEOS on ABC. Jorge’s body of work also features dozens of produced and directed commercials for global and national brands, such as HONDA, 7-11, CHOLULA HOT SAUCE, and NETFLIX, where he’s garnered notoriety and awards including an Emmy nomination for his KLCS ad campaign featuring Joaquin Phoenix, Spike Jonze, Weird Al Yanchovic, Moby, and other talents.
Marissa Layne Johnson is a Producer at XR Studios, and an advocate with a background in social justice strategy and community organizing, Marissa’s exploration of identity, equity, and poetics are at the forefront of her practice as a LGBTQ storyteller. Marissa’s writing has been published in Bustle Magazine, Entropy Magazine, The Rumpus, and other notable publications—earning her recognition in the creative community including a nomination for the Pushcart Prize in Poetry. Prior to joining XR Studios, Marissa worked at Company3, where she handled complex post production schedules and executed challenging episodic projects that involved a slate of television’s top shows at the time. Marissa recently completed her first manuscript, a memoir entitled The Light That Captured Us Here, and a short film she directed by the same name. She received her MFA in Creative Writing at the California Institute of the Arts. She’is based in Los Angeles where she’s played an integral role in establishing the XR Studios Hollywood Campus, a new state-of-the-art facility dedicated to entertainment technology.
Kat Meister [they/he] is a trans nonbinary filmmaker and Theatre artist currently based in Los Angeles. With over a decade of experience in live theatrical productions such as THE CHINESE LADY and SOCRATES at the Public Theater in New York, to FALSTAFF at the world class Santa Fe Opera in New Mexico, to HYENA, an experimental queer feminist solo-performance piece that premiered originally at La Mama in New York before traveling to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland and then returning to its home city to win three awards at the NY United Solo Festival. As a graduate of the University of Southern California, Kat has now shifted their career into film. Using their vast Theatre experience they have translated to work as gaffer and best boy on BLOOD MAGICK and ADDRESSLESS, and as various positions of the production team on such tv shows as PROJECT RUNWAY, LAW & ORDER: ORGANIZED CRIME, and DR. DEATH. Finding a new passion in the film industry led them to write, produce, and direct their first film OTRA VIDA/I FEEL… which brought together a team entirely composed of LGBTQ+ individuals.
Natasha Kermani is an Iranian-American filmmaker based out of Los Angeles. Kermani’s credits include Shudder Original LUCKY which premiered at SXSW ’20. She is currently adapting Joe Hill’s short story ABRAHAM’S BOYS with producing outfit Tea Shop, and in post for the upcoming horror anthology V/H/S ’85 (coming in 2023).