WRITING & DIRECTING
JESSICA EDWARDS
Commercial and Film Director, US commercial Rep: Cutter Productions
Raised on a hobby farm by musician parents, Jessica Edwards’ imagination for storytelling was inspired at a young age.
After a decade growing a career on the marketing/production side of media and advertising, Jessica made the natural transition to direct commercials and branded content for clients such as; Huawei, The Washington Post, Air Canada, Sport Chek, Canadian Tire, Kellogg’s and RBC. She launched the next phase of her career with a short narrative film, HARD BOILED EGGS, and a fashion film (which paid homage to the 1966 film Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf) for an online magazine. She quickly established herself with visually rich stories told using unique angles of narrative.
Jessica’s first feature film, STAY AWHILE, is a personal story chronicling her parents’ brush with fame as they climbed the worldwide music charts in the 1960s/70s as Canada’s first supergroup, The Bells. The film premiered at the Whistler International Film Festival and was an opening weekend selection for the Hot Docs International Film Festival, receiving glowing reviews at both. It was subsequently picked up by Netflix, iTunes, Amazon Prime, and DirectTV in the U.S. Her content work has won Best-Of-Show at the Gramercy Content Marketing Awards and her recent short films Connecting The North for Huawei was nominated for Best Documentary at the Cynopsis Media Awards taking place in NYC .
The success of the film Stay Awhile led to Jessica being deemed a “filmmaker to watch”.
While continuing to direct branded content and evolving series work, she is currently meeting with producers to develop her next feature script The Laurentians.
NIKA OFFENBAC
Director & Executive Producer
Nika Offenbac is an award-winning director, producer and collaborator whose heart lives in the world and whose stuff lives in Brooklyn NY.
Commercially she has directed brand campaigns for Evian, Airbnb, Ubisoft, Nestle & TBS, among others. Her visual style and onset approach is based on 10+ years of experience in post-production, animation and visual effects leading tour visuals for Skrillex, Tiesto & Zedd, and branded content for Nordstroms, Macy's. Toshiba, & Sprint.
In the realm of network television, she has executive produced rebrands, show packages, promos, series and network campaigns for the likes of truTV, Amazon, Netflix, FX, MTV & HBO, including co-executive producing a 5 part documentary series for MTV World, “Until the Sun Comes Up,” about the global evolution of dance music.
When not on set, in meetings or a windowless editing bay, you can usually find her in the boxing ring taking a refresher course on some of life’s deeper lessons which can be boiled down to the following. Be fearless. Be kind. Never ask how many.
JUSTINE SIMONSON
Producer, Writer, Director of Non-Fiction media
Justine Simonson is a producer and writer of documentary media and the owner of Co Lab Productions in New York City. She’s worked in various genres from investigative journalism to arts and entertainment, and her work has appeared on PBS, ABC, NBC, National Geographic, and Showtime among other outlets. Her favorite topics to cover include travel and social issues.
NICOLE COSGROVE
Producer/Director
Nicole started her career as a local 600 camera woman on a variety of projects ranging from film, television and commercial.
She transitioned away from the camera department and into producing with short film GUN (2013 Sundance Film Festival) followed by Ludovic Littee’s White Horse (San Diego FF 2017) and SWEEP (2015 Aspen Shortsfest, LA Film Festival).
Since, she has produced dozens of short films, commercials and documentaries. Including feature length film Lingua Franca, (Venice Film Festival Premier 2019, Dir. Isabel Sandoval) and Donal Ward’s We Only Know So Much (Nantucket 2018, Amazon).
Nicole marked her directorial debut in 2014 with narrative short film GLINDA premiering at the Palm Springs International Shortfest and winning Best of Fest.
Nicole currently serves as Head of Production for Vice overseeing long form and short form scripted and unscripted branded content in conjunction, she has two narrative feature films in development with her creative partners.
Click Here to learn more about her films and WATCH “Glinda” on Vimeo Here
VANESSA HUDSON
Director/Producer, VICE Media
Vanessa Hudson is a director and producer with VICE Media. In her current role, Vanessa spearheads creative direction of programming for The Olympic Channel - a collection of documentary series’ that illustrate sport’s impact on society worldwide.
Vanessa started her career as a production manager at MTV World. With a strong desire to be in the field and a passion for storytelling, Vanessa joined VICE in 2014. She made her directorial debut in 2016 with Dutee, a short documentary which premiered at multiple film festivals worldwide. Her series, Identify, won the Webby for best online video in the sports category in 2018. She is currently working on her first docu-series,Taking Refuge, which chronicles three refugee athletes as they train with a 3-time Olympic Gold medalist for a chance to qualify for the 2020 games. The series will be edited into Vanessa's first feature length documentary.
Her latest short film, Inspired by Sport: Pal-O-Mine Equestrian, represents the intersection of Vanessa's two greatest passions - horses and film, and is the manifestation of Vanessa's longtime goal - to visually represent the beautiful connection between horse and human. The piece will premiere at The American Documentary Film Festival later this month.
Vanessa has created content in 20+ countries and is driven by the impassioned stories told through her films.
AUBREY SMYTH
Commercial and Film Director, Commercial Rep: Cutter Productions
Aubrey Smyth is a NYC based commercial and fim director who has helmed national and digital commercials for hallmark brands including Audible, Google, Netflix and Colgate to name a few.
Her first documentary about donor conception and the unregualted fertility industry, The Need To Know, was executive produced by Tribeca Studios and 23andMe. Aubrey was the Grand Prize Winner for Moët Moment Film Festival sponsored by Moët & Chandon for her film The Bout and recipient of a $25,000 prize.
LAUREN ANDERSON
Director & Graphic Designer
Lauren Anderson is a Group Art Supervisor and short film director/producer living in Brooklyn, NY. Lauren graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 2018 with a degree in Advertising. After graduation, Lauren began her career at one of the largest public relation agencies in the world, BCW Global. She now works at Marina Maher Communications where she designs for the Creative & New Business team and production assists for the Content Studio.
LISA CORTÉS
Producer/Director (Precious, The Apollo, The Remix)
Lisa Cortés is an Academy Award®–nominated Producer whose credits include PRECIOUS; and THE APOLLO. Her work with trailblazing companies such as Def Jam Records, Lee Daniels Entertainment and Cortés Films has defined a career that has been distinguished by her commitment to empowering inclusive voices in front of and behind the camera. Her productions have received over 70 awards and nominations including the Academy Award®, the Golden Globe, the Berlinale Golden Bear, and the Sundance Film Festival's Grand Jury Prize among others.
She has collaborated with directors including Ernest Dickerson and Gabourey Sidibe, producing innovative features, documentaries and short films that assert the centrality of diverse and untold stories while delighting audiences. She recently produced with Academy Award Award®-winning director, Roger Ross Williams, a feature-length documentary about the legendary Apollo Theater, THE APOLLO (HBO) and produced and co-directed the documentary, THE REMIX: HIP X FASHION. Both films opened at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival to great acclaim.
Cortés is a proud mentor to filmmakers affiliated with Sundance, Tribeca Film Institute and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Gold Mentorship program.
SEWRA KIDANE
Fashion Film Director/Editor
Sewra G Kidane is a renowned Creative Commercial Film Editor, working with fashion and beauty brands such as Creme of Nature, Estée Lauder, Herring & Herring, and Ooshie. She has an innate ability with her editing style, elevating the quality of the footage, whether its high budget beauty rushes, gritty digital handheld material, or found media and transforming it from a raw concept into a stylized spot.
Ms. Kidane is also the highly acclaimed Director and Editor of the award-winning fashion film, “Punctuation Proclamation”. The film has been featured in various national media outlets and has been named on Forbes’ list of “The 12 Best Fashion Films” and Aesthetica Magazine "5 To See Fashion Films"; along with winning several awards, including “Best Visual Moving Art”, “Best Short Film” and “Best Glam Fashion Film”. Noticing a lack of Black fashion, glamour, and beauty being shown and celebrated, particularly in the fashion film world, Ms. Kidane decided to create her own lane. Her vision combined with her meticulous artistry has allowed her to pave a new style of fashion film.
Her second fashion film "As Above" is currently on festival tour; already receiving 7 Official Selections, including 2019 LA Fashion Festival, 2019 Women of The Lens Festival in London, and 2019 Reel Sisters Film Festival in NYC. "As Above" has been nominated for Best Director at the 2019 Croatia Fashion Film Festival and Best Glam at LA Fashion Festival, and Best Fashion Film for 2020 Taste Awards and Best Score at the Hollywood Art and Movie Awards (which btw was scored by a woman... Alexia Riner). The film has won two awards; Achievement in Narrative Short at 2019 Silicon Valley African Film Festival and Stylemaker Award at 2020 Taste Awards in Beverly Hills, the second time Ms. Kidan'e work has won the Stylemaker Award.
A native New Yorker and a graduate of Emerson College, Boston, Ms. Kidane is currently based in New York City. Along with cutting client work and directing fashion films, she also teaches “Film + Fashion” and "Edit + Post" at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn and is in post with her next 2 fashion films; "Bitch I Got An Attitude" with editorial model Iman Mariah, and in the final finishing post stages for "The Monks of Brooknam", a conceptual fashion film created for menswear designer Anitra Michelle.
JENNIFER CHO SUHR
Writer/Director
Cho Suhr is a writer/director based in Brooklyn. Her debut feature, YOU AND ME BOTH, was selected for Tribeca Film Institute’s All Access, both the Film Independent Producing Lab and Fast Track programs, and was a finalist for AT&T’s Untold Stories. Most recently, Jennifer was chosen to participate in Tribeca Film Institute and CHANEL’s Through Her Lens program where she was mentored by Kathryn Bigelow, Christine Vachon, Marti Noxon, and Rachel Morrison, among others. She is currently developing a live action series with Daniel Dae Kim and Alan Yang and an animated series with Frederator Studios.
WHITNEY CUSACK
Executive Producer, Filmmaker
Whitney Cusack is a creative production consultant who inspires and empowers you to create content that your customers will love, igniting a connection with your audience and purpose. At the intersectionof creativity and strategic leadership, Whitney harnesses order and excellence while producing high-quality and compelling stories.
With over 10 years of experience in brand strategy, she has worked on multimedia projects with numerous leading consumer brands including: St. Ives, Caress, Axe, Suave, TRESemmé, Dove, Hellmann’s, Bank of America and Colgate.
In 2013, Whitney founded her company, Reelistic Media LLC, which produces creative content that delivers real impact. In collaboration with The Catch by Elyse, Reelistic Media executive produced fashion campaigns focused on the diversity and beauty of women.
Understanding the importance of the female voice in media, Whitney empowers women to persevere in the film and digital media industry. She mentors and trains the next generation of creative talent by conducting film workshops in academic arenas. Passionate about uplifting communities, Whitney wrote, directed and produced grassroots media projects ranging from a series of inspirational shorts for a faith-based organization to a video campaign raising funds to further education for children in Liberia.
Whitney currently works as an Executive Producer at an award-winning global communications agency in New York City. Leading a team of producers for mid to large-scale branded content shoots, she uses an integrated digital approach to bring clients’ stories to life. Cusack has also worked on awareness campaigns for healthcare brands resulting in increased sales and social engagement. Her goal is to remain at the forefront of content production, either through her continued work in the independent film space or creative directing projects for social justice. Her most recent project, "No More..." Hashtag Campaign, is an initiative that calls for an end to systemic racism, demanding action.
FARAH X
Director/Editor
Farah X is an award-winning Pakistani-American director and editor, whose list of clients includes Prince, Mariah Carey, and Beyoncé – among many other industry icons. Her first music video got her on Billboard Magazine's 'Top 10 Up and Coming Directors to Watch' list. She was sought out by Mariah Carey to be her personal editor and soon thereafter, took on the same role for the legendary Prince. Since then, Farah has gone on to edit and direct award-winning projects, with a consistent focus on women’s stories – especially women of color. Her work has been showcased at SXSW, AFI Docs, LA Film Festival and can be seen on Netflix and iTunes.
Farah co-directed (and co-edited) her first feature length documentary, The Remix: Hip Hop x Fashion. The film premiered at Tribeca Film Festival in 2019 and has gone on to win several awards worldwide before being picked up by Netflix.
Her online docu-series SeeHer: Multiplicity, an extension of the SeeHer campaign, won a Gracie Award for Original Online Programming – Video Series National (previously won by First Lady Michelle Obama). The series also won Gold and Silver Telly Awards. She recently directed an episode of Hulu’s acclaimed doc series Rap Caviar Presents, and her short documentary Mamba’s Murals for the upcoming Sports Explains the World Series premiered at Tribeca Film Festival 2023.
Farah is currently in development on a project with Five All in the Fifth and Jesse Collins Entertainment and calls Brooklyn home.
JANET OH
Administrative Aide at NYU | Screenwriter & Producer
Janet Oh, an NYC-based Screenwriter, Producer, and Admin Aide, holds a Bachelor’s degree in Cinema Studies from the NYU Tisch School of the Arts and a Certificate in Scriptwriting/YA Fiction from the Oxford University Creative Writing Summer School. Recognized in screenwriting competitions like the Boston Screenplay Awards (Finalist) and the Fan Fiction Film and Screenplay Festival (Best TV Pilot), Janet is passionate about writing and producing romantic pieces, aiming to inspire self-love and healing through her stories. In addition to serving on the Cutter Connections event committee, Janet serves as an Executive Board Member on the NYU Arts and Entertainment Alumni Network.
RAVEN IRABOR
Creative Producer
Raven Irabor is a first-generation Bronx-born Creative Producer, currently living in Los Angeles, where she works as a Senior Production Coordinator at Blavityas well as a Studio Coordinator at Edge Studios & Grip. Raven’s passions for connecting the worlds of fashion music, and culture as well as creating community and sharing the stories of the African Diaspora through editorialized photo and video production, has led her to a few side projects near and dear to her heart: Digital Producer for The Folklore (an online retail shop stocking high-end and emerging designer brands from Africa and the diaspora that serves as a cultural hub for contemporary brands, artists and creatives to showcase their personal stories) and Brand/Content Lead for The Roux (a IRL and digital platform that serves to provide community and safe spaces for black creatives).
She is currently in pre-production for her photobook and in pre-production for season 2 of “Lea the Late Bloomer” a web-series following Lea Watson after a failed attempt at “making it” in Los Angeles. Lea returns home to The Bronx to live with her parents, and is forced to face her old demons and self-sabotaging behavior.
You can watch all of season 1 here
SEHAJ SETHI
Screenwriter
Sehaj Sethi is an Indian American screenwriter and alumna from the New York University Graduate Film Program. She is currently partnering with Scott Free Entertainment on her script Everything is Fine, as well as I Can & I Will Productions on her original TV series Bad Betis. Sehaj is a staff writer on the CW show Two Sentence Horror Stories and previously worked as a staff writer at Luma Pictures, focusing on sci-fi feature projects. Early in her writing career, she created a horror feature for Paperclip Ltd. headed by Yeardley Smith.
In 2019 Sehaj was awarded a fellowship for the New Orleans Writers Residency. Her script The Third Rule was a finalist for the 2017 Athena List. Her script My Husband's Corpse placed on the 2012 Purple List, selected by industry judges as one of the best screenplays from New York University, and was an official selection at the Female Eye Film Festival. She is a member of New York Women in Film and Television, an organization supporting women in entertainment, and of Kalakars, a community promoting and supporting South Asian filmmakers. Sehaj is represented by Corrine Aquino at Artists First Management.
TIFFANY JACKMAN
Film Producer/Director
Tiffany has had a love of storytelling from a young age starting while writing skits and plays for her classmates to perform during school assemblies. Playwriting evolved to filmmaking when she bought her first camera at 12 years old and has been a passion ever since. Through the years she has produced commercial campaigns for various fortune 500 companies while working as a producer at two major advertising agencies. She has produced three feature films. One of which premiered on HBO in the summer of 2017, and another other secured a distribution deal with Amazon. She has also directed or produced web series, music videos, commercials, and short films. She is currently working on an award winning TV pilot titled "The System". When not making films, Tiffany can be found teaching film to the next generation of filmmakers as a Adjunct Professor at The New York City College of Technology. Tiffany loves the thrill of filmmaking and is willing tackle any project no matter how challenging.
REBECCA ESKREIS
Writer, Director & Producer
Rebecca Eskreis, whose work has screened at major film festivals around the world, is a recipient of the Sandra Adair/Empowering a Billion Women Grant for promising female filmmakers from the Austin Film Society, and a selected member of the Austin Film Society’s Artist Intensive in 2017. With select credits that include: WHAT BREAKS THE ICE (director, writer, producer), CLEARMIND, (director, set to premiere in 2024), as well as the SXSW-premiered INFINITY BABY (producer), Eskreis is also set to direct CLEO 2.0, a romantic comedy, in spring 2024. Mentored by the late Jonathan Demme, Eskreis previously worked as a producer at his company, Clinica Estetico, following stints at 72 Productions, Red Hour Films, and Di Novi Pictures (as the Creative Executive). Currently an Assistant Professor at the Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema at Brooklyn College, Eskreis holds a BA, Magna Cum Laude, from Barnard College at Columbia University, and an MFA from the USC School of Cinematic Arts.