Season 1

Contributors

  • Executive Producer, Advisor

    Joanna Levitt Cea is an advocate, researcher and practitioner of funding practices that lift up the well-being of all. She has worked in community-driven efforts to stop destructive investments, as well as to build solutions that re-imagine investment and the role we each play in defining our community’s economic future. Joanna served as a Visiting Scholar with Stanford University’s Global Projects Center from 2015-2019 to co-facilitate research with more than 200 collaborators on co-creative practices that awaken next economies. Joanna has been drawn to the interconnection of human and environmental well-being since childhood, and now as a mother herself, her awe at the interconnectedness of all life continues to deepen.

  • Writer, Director

    Catherine Eaton’s feature debut as a director and writer, The Sounding, starring Harris Yulin (Training Day, Ozark) and Frankie Faison (The Wire, Silence of the Lambs), has won two-dozen awards on the festival circuit (including four Festival Grand Prizes) and recently sold to HBO Europe for international release, myCinema for North American theatrical release, and Giant Pictures for North American digital release. Catherine and The Sounding are the subject of a branded mini-doc by Stella Artois currently running on Hulu. Catherine was chosen for Tribeca's "Through Her Lens" Lab and Grant, and was selected as a Shadowing Director for Show Runner Ryan Murphy's Half Program. Her newest pilot script "Breaking News" – based on her personal experience working with freelance news crews in conflict zones – was selected for IFP's Independent Film Week Project Forum. Catherine shares an Emmy with the production team on "The Human Toll of Ethanol" for Bloomberg TV, and did freelance production work for various news crews for five years. As an actor, she's been seen on Broadway, TV and film, and is currently nominated for a Helen Hayes Award. Catherine teaches Screenwriting and Screen Directing at Harvard University. Her father is from Paraguay, and her mother is French-American.

  • Writer, Director

    Cidney Hue is a director and filmmaker in NYC with a focus on building inclusive futures through science fiction. Her most recent award-winning film, Ovum, is a Black Mirror-esque short on the convergence of reproductive rights and VR technology. Her previous award-winning short, Odessa, recounts the journey of an astronaut’s last night on Earth. Her webseries for Wired & Reddit, Cyborg Nation, profiles scientists at the forefront of prosthetics, robotics, and brain-computer interfaces. Her environmental documentary, Shark Loves the Amazon, toured nationally and premiered at the World Sustainability Forum to leaders and policy makers. Cidney serves as the Director of 360 Video at NSENA and has traveled across the US to film VR for law enforcement and corrections training. She teaches filmmaking at NYU’s prestigious Tisch School of the Arts. Cidney founded NYC Women Filmmakers in 2015, where she leads its monthly workshop series and its thousands strong grassroots community to support women and non-binary filmmakers in New York. In her spare time, Cidney designs and creates art, sets, and futuristic visions from her imagination. She can often be found traveling the world with her camera in tow, capturing Earth’s most spectacular natural phenomenons. Her lifelong goal is to visit space by 2050 so you should email her if you have an extra seat on your rocketship.

  • Writer

    Katerick Lash was born in Seattle, grew up primarily in the PNW, but was exposed to a lot of different parts of the US before transition. He has a passion for social justice and equality, knowing the world will only be able to improve if we put in the effort and work to change deeply entrenched systems of oppression. He studied in Mexico and Germany, speaks Spanish and German, and after a lot of moving, ended up in Los Angeles. He lives there with his fiance, Owen, and their three cats, Steeb, Peggs, and Phoenix.

  • Writer

    Makia Martin is an actor, writer, and cookie lover lurking around NYC. She’s been seen in The Deuce, Ray Donovan, and recently booked a role on NBC’s Manifest. Makia is super excited to be joining The Light Ahead team. She's planning to propose to Levain Bakery any day now. Look out for those Save The Dates.

  • Co-Creator, Executive Producer, Showrunner, Writer, Director

    Naomi McDougall Jones is the writer, actress, producer of two, 13-time award-winning feature films, Imagine I’m Beautiful (2014) and Bite Me (2019), which was released via the 3-month, 51-screening, 40-city Joyful Vampire Tour of America. Naomi is also an activist, speaker, and author for bringing gender parity to cinema. Her TEDTalk, What it’s Like to be a Woman in Hollywood, has received over 1M views. Her book, The Wrong Kind of Women: Inside Our Revolution to Dismantle the Gods of Hollywood (Beacon Press), is now available wherever books are sold. More at www.naomimcdougalljones.com.

  • Writers, Directors

    Nat & Veronica Moonhill are a dynamic writing/directing duo working in film and theater. The Moonhills work is visually striking, humorous and character driven, they are deeply driven towards the fantastic and beautiful. Together they ran a New Orleans based theater company, Skin Horse Theater, who created immersive experiences to sold out houses and touring to many parts of the US. In 2016 they re-located to LA to focus on film. Their first short, Amanda_Test_1, a queer sci-fi drama, premiered on DUST and was presented at OUTfest, LA film fest, and Berlin LGBT festival. Their most recent short, This World and The Next, premiered at The New Orleans Film Festival and is currently making the festival rounds. They have directed episodes of the web-series, City Kitties and a PSA on sexual assault that premiered on USA Today. They are currently in development for an absurdist comedy pilot called Kiki Goes Baby Crazy! and their first feature film, Hammond Castle, with Naomi McDougall Jones.

  • Writer, Director

    A Harlem native, Melissa V. Murray had fallen in love with cinema at a young age. Her mom, a cinematographer, introduced Melissa to Hollywood classics when she was five; in junior high Melissa enrolled at Ghetto Film School where she created several original short films, screened her first narrative work at Lincoln Center and wrote the 2007 Thesis Project script, which was produced on-location in Paris, France. Melissa cut her teeth in the industry, interning and eventually a full-time staffer at Lee Daniels Entertainment where she worked on PRECIOUS and THE PAPERBOY. She later worked as a freelance director, writer and editor for companies such as Warner Brothers, Funny or Die, Jordan Brand and Deep Focus to name a few. Under her own production company, The Cynical Owl LLC, she has written and directed several original short films that have gone on to play at film festivals and received distribution from companies such as Amazon and Gravitas Ventures. Melissa is currently in development on her original comedy/thriller feature script titled, “WE REAL COOL,” of which she will also direct. As well as a half-hour comedy show titled, “Free$tyle” with Trevor Noah’s Day Zero Productions. Melissa uses genre filmmaking (thriller, horror, sci-fi, fantasy) as a vehicle to examine complex social issues, specifically as it relates to the Black experience. She is currently in development on her original action/thriller feature script titled, “WE REAL COOL,” of which she will also direct. And developing a half-hour comedy titled, “Free$tyle” with Trevor Noah’s Day Zero Productions.

  • Production Coordinator

    Marlee Newman (they/them) is a Brooklyn-based visual artist, project manager, and an aspiring creative for the entertainment industry. Their diverse design & strategy clientele range from yogis and arts nonprofits to LGBTQ+ events and luxury brands. In their spare time, Marlee enjoys painting, amateur cosplay, watching video essays and theme park vlogs, and listening to Kate Bush on repeat. Marlee loves immersive storytelling and interdisciplinary collaboration, so they are very grateful to be part of this unique project.

  • Writer

    Jacqueline Pereda is a writer, producer, and comedian who is passionate about creating comedy that comments on the culture and our universal struggle with identity. Most recentl, Jacqueline wrote, directed and produced her half-hour comedic pilot, Generation Por qué? which chosen as an Official Selection for SeriesFest and The Women in Comedy Festival after the short form web-series was a Finalist for the 2017 Sundance New Voices Lab. Her full-length play, A Visitor's Pass on the Virgin Mary was awarded the 2019 Residency at the New York's Governor Island's Arts Center through Hypokrit Theater Company. Her comedy has appeared on TruTV, Funny or Die, Mas Mejor, WhoHaha, Comedycake, Brown Girl Magazine, and at the Brooklyn Comedy Festival. She also wrote, produced and directed the satirical news show, The Ethnically Ambiguous News Hour, that aired weekly on her YouTube channel for one season. She has written, directed and produced over 20 comedic shorts and musical parodies in NYC and on her YouTube channel and is an alum of the UCB sketch program. As the child of Cuban immigrants, Jacqueline spends most of her time explaining to her parents that Uber is not pronounced “You-ber” and that working from home is not “surfing the internet in your pajamas.” She is also a proud Zumba Instructor and can literally not stop making Zumba choreography to every song she hears.

  • Writer

    Tanya Perez is an actress, writer & filmmaker who actively campaigns for female focused inclusion on stage and screen. Notable TV & Film performances include Orange Is the New Black, Jessica Jones, Blue Bloods & Hal Hartley's Ned Rifle opposite Parker Posey. Stage appearances include DQT's The Pet Play, Seattle Rep's Anna in the Tropics, Sonia Flew at CATF & Laguna Playhouse, and her sold-out solo show at the Downtown Urban Theatre Festival at the Cherry Lane Theatre. As a filmmaker in comedy, her web series Itty P & DJ Model-T gained two ITVF award nominations for Best Comedy & Best Actress in a Comedy, her quirky short , Peep Show, was a finalist at the 2018 Women in Comedy HBO Insider Competition and her latest dramedy, Veronica, has played in 18 film festivals around the world winning multiple awards for Best Actress & Screenplay. This multihyphenate also received an Audioverse Award nomination in writing in Cocotazo’s CAT podcast and will be appearing in their critically acclaimed podcast Timestorm early this year. Shameless boasting aside, she is also incredibly talented with balloons, laughs inappropriately during movies, and loves her four-legged roommate Tia Tortilla. Contributing writer with Ms. In The Biz. Proud member of Brown Girls Doc Mafia, SAG/AFTRA & Actors Equity.

  • Writer

    Jacquelyn Revere was born and raised in Inglewood, Ca. Jacquelyn developed a deep interest in storytelling at a young age and theatre became her outlet. A professed theatre nerd, she studied Shakespeare at Oxford University before receiving her Bachelors and Masters in Fine Arts. After graduate school Jacquelyn became the ambassador for AIS (The American Institute for Stuttering).

    As their Ambassador she traveled to 3 continents connecting facilitating courses and speaking at different conferences. Her speaking engagements grew her a following which quickly grew her Youtube channel dedicated to visibility and advocacy for the stuttering community. Her videos were referenced in USA Today January of 2020.

    Jacquelyn has now written, produced and directed a web series, had her short film screened at The Apollo Theatre in Harlem, NY alongside this years Sundance winning film ‘Clemency' and received her first TV Writing Fellowship which begins May 2020.

  • Co-Creator, Executive Producer, Advisor

    Jess Rimington is a next economy strategist focused on the design and ethics of emerging next systems. Her work is grounded in historical analysis, accessible truth-telling, and imaginative present-day experimentation. After a decade in social movements, Jess served as a Visiting Scholar with Stanford University’s Global Projects Center from 2015-2019 to co-facilitate research with more than 200 collaborators on co-creative practices that awaken next economies. As a 5th generation small business person, she focuses on inspiring the imagination of small business and organizational leaders to step out of current extractive systems into more resilient paradigms.

  • Co-Producer, Advisor

    Sonia Sarkar comes to the next economy space from a career in community health. She is currently a Social Entrepreneur in Residence with Common Future, focused on the intersection of health and closing the racial wealth gap, and was previously Chief Policy and Engagement Officer for the Baltimore City Health Department, overseeing multi-stakeholder community engagement, strategic planning, and policy activities to address health inequity throughout the City. Sonia began her career with Health Leads, a national social enterprise that envisions a healthcare system that addresses all patients’ basic resource needs —housing; food; employment— as a standard part of quality care.

  • Writer

    Kathleen Antonia Tarr is founder of the annual Getting Played Symposium on Equity in the Entertainment Industry and Awards, born of her feature documentary Getting Played: Who’s Playing You?! which received Honorable Mention at the 2010 IBWFF. Going on its seventh year, the Getting Played Symposium puts into conversation experts from entertainment, law, psychology, community organizing, and academia and elevates recognition of individuals whose lesser celebrated contributions are crucial for evolution of the Industry. An award-winning vocalist and filmmaker with stage, film, television, and commercial acting credits, Kathleen’s artistic expertise intersects with her years as a civil and human rights attorney in her decades-long effort to usher Hollywood’s employment practices further toward inclusion, equity, and diversity. Her 2015 General Session at the State Bar of California Annual Meeting – joined by guests Edward James Olmos and Amy Pietz – was delivered to over 1000 attorneys and served as foundation for her law review article Bias and the Business of Show: Employment Discrimination in the “Entertainment” Industry. Kathleen has served as Black Laurel Film Festival juror and UN Women (San Francisco) Global Voices Film Festival judge. Her own short I Have All The Feelings was an Official Selection at the IBWFF in 2014, and in 2015 her short sci-fi film Early Aliens was an Official Selection at ASTRONOMMO: Speculative Fiction on Film + Black Women. Kathleen writes and produces for Novel Approach, LLC and What The … Productions and currently teaches at Stanford University in the Program in Writing and Rhetoric.

  • Sound Editor/Designer, Co-Producer, Writer, Director

    Lila Yomtoob is a Los Angeles based filmmaker and editor. She received her training at NYU Film, and cut her teeth in sound at C5, Inc., where she had the privilege to work with filmmakers such as The Coen Brothers, Spike Lee, John Cameron Mitchell, and Mary Harron, and receive an Emmy for her work on HBO’s Baghdad ER. Lila went on to write, direct, produce and consult on independent features and documentaries. She has worked on over 60 films, television shows and documentaries. Social change and the human condition are often at the core of her work.