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Ruwan Heggelman started making short films after experiencing the amazing Shaun of the Dead way back in 2004. At the age of 13 he finished his first zombie film and his journey to become a filmdirector had started. The dark side of humanity appeals to Heggelman, because it lives in everyone and it just needs the right incentives to wake up. It is one big playground for interesting themes, stories & characters. He graduated from the University of the Arts Utrecht as a writer & director with the Tuschinski film nominated short film Best Friends. Best Friends is a 30 minute buddy comedy, with a touch of horror, film and has been shown at 20+ film festivals and various movie theatres for a year and a half. After the succes of Best Friends he started focusing on other theme's and genre's. The short romantic comedy with a fantasy twist I Can Fly was born after experiencing a emotional abstract dream, that tried to process certain experiences. He took inspiration from the abstract dream and wrote the scenario together with Thij de Haan. He directed I Can Fly, with Remy Jesse Schepers as the producer at his side. Heggelman is constantly looking for interesting perspectives for telling a story, often with a mash-up of genre's, like his SCREAMFEST selected short film MIME. The film serves as a pilot for a full fledged (web) series or feature film. Heggelman and his team are currently looking for parties to collaborate.

Mark Andrews is an Academy Award Winning director of Brave the 2012 Pixar animated film. He’s worked on numerous Pixar films as Head of Story, Incredibles, Ratatouille as well as being part of the Pixar senior creative team. He Co-directed and Co-wrote the live action blockbuster, John Carter of Mars for Disney Feature. He was also nominated for an Academy Award for his short animated film One Man Band. He’s received an Emmy for his writing and storyboard work on Star Wars Clone Wars the Animated series, as well as an Annie award for storyboarding on Iron Giant. He is a versatile filmmaker, writer, director and visionary, lending his talents and skills on several other animated feature films and TV series like Samurai Jack, which he wrote and story boarded five episodes, and the New Adventures of Johnny Quest. He’s been a force of Nature in the Animation industry for twenty-six years working at the biggest studios in Animation and Live action. He graduated CALARTS in 1993 with a BFA in film.

LIZ FANIA WERNER
Director / Writer
Liz earned an MFA from the University of Southern California’s Writing for Screen and Television program.
She went on to work as a staff writer on the one-hour drama series RPM MIAMI, which aired on the Mun2 network, and to pen a feature adaptation of BABYLON SISTERS, a novel by Oprah Book Club selected author
Pearl Cleage. Most recently, her feature script, KIN, won the PAGE Award Silver Prize in the Horror-Thriller category. Liz lives in Los Angeles where she is currently working with co-director Carlos Montaner on the feature film version of Into the Uncanny Valley.

CARLOS MONTANER
Director / Cinematographer
Carlos was raised in Madrid and earned an MFA in cinematography at the American Film Institute. He has shot multiple independent films, including FRIENDS AND LOVERS starring Robert Downey Jr. for
Lionsgate. He has also photographed over a hundred commercial campaigns and has pitched, directed and
photographed many others, including the San Francisco Super Bowl spot for ESPN.

Izzy Ezagui is the world’s only one-armed Special Forces sharpshooter. After losing his dominant arm in combat, he literally soldiered on.

When it comes to channeling resilience and beating the odds, Izzy credits his appetite for the arts. After all, the stories we tell ourselves often serve as the fuel to keep us going.

Izzy's obsession with story began when he was a kid in Miami, consuming Animorphs, The Hardy Boys, and all of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld—probably all before he spoke to a girl.