Eugene Brancolini
Loyola Marymount University School of Film and Television Assistant Clinical Professor Eugene (Gino) Brancolini joined the faculty in 2007 and recently ended a six-year tenure as Graduate Director for its production MFA. Before joining the LMU faculty, Brancolini produced and directed public television documentaries and studio programming for WTIU, PBS Channel 30, Bloomington, Indiana, the public television station owned and operated by Indiana University. During his last decade at Indiana University, Brancolini worked as WTIU’s Director of Production Services, managing a production unit that produced local, regional, and national public television programming. His work has been awarded both regional Emmys and CINE Golden Eagles. He has served as a documentary juror for various regional Emmys, the Broadcast Education Association, and the Kentucky Humanities Council. Brancolini holds a BS in Secondary Education, English, and an MS in Communication from Clarion State College (Pennsylvania). At LMU he teaches courses in documentary production, producing and directing short-form narrative fiction, directing fundamentals, and episodic television multi-camera studio production. Born and raised near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Professor Brancolini holds both American and Italian citizenship. He and his wife Kristine reside in Redondo Beach, California.
Colin Campbell
Colin Campbell is a writer and director for theater and film. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his short film, “Seraglio,” which also won Deauville’s Grand Prix and ran on HBO. He directed the feature film Guido, starring Billy Zane, Armand Assante, Gary Busey, and Lupe Ontiveros. His productions of “The Ballad of Ricardo Flores Magon at the Ford Theater” and “Variedades on Olvera Street” were broadcast on KCET TV. His web series, “Dealbreakers,” is on Amazon Prime. Colin has written and directed for Instant Films, winning Best Writer, Best Director, and numerous Best Film Awards. He has taught Theater and Filmmaking at Chapman University, Loyola Marymount University, Cal Poly Pomona University, Relativity Education, and to incarcerated youth through The Unusual Suspects. His solo show, Grief: A One Man ShitShow, premiered at the Hollywood Fringe Festival and ran for a month at New York’s Theatre Row. The New York Times described it as “Unforgettable.” Colin’s book, Finding the Words: How to Work Through Profound Loss with Hope and Purpose, was published by Penguin Random House in 2023.
Maria Elena de las Carreras
Maria Elena de las Carreras is a Fulbright scholar and film critic from Argentina. She has a PhD in film studies and lectures on film history and esthetics at Cal State Northridge and UCLA. Carreras is the co-editor of Hollywood Goes Latin (2019). Since 2014, she has conducted research for the Visual History Program of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. She is a regular collaborator of the Latin American Cinemateca of Los Angeles and attends the Berlin Film Festival yearly as an accredited press. Carreras was a guest speaker in the Library of Congress inaugural Film and Sound Festival in 2023 and provided the audio commentary in the forthcoming release of the documentary Light Outs in Europe (1940). In May 2023 she conducted a Q&A with Mexican American documentary filmmaker Lourdes Portillo for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Museum. She also screened documentaries for the Sundance Film Festival and the Social Impact Media Awards and has been a documentary juror for the San Luis Obispo Film Festival and the SIMA Awards.
Cheng Guo
Cheng Guo is a Chinese professional working in visual development and concept art in China and the US. He has worked in the featured animation and video game industry since 2013. After successfully graduating from USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, he joined the National Cartoonist Society, Animation Guild, and Asians in Animation. His clients include Warner Bros. Picture Animation, The Getty Center, Tencent, and other international companies. He has made a name for himself working on projects such as “DC League of Super-Pets,” and Getty Unshuttered. His animation short “Kungfu Express” was selected by the International Film Festival of Wales, ANIMAZE Montreal International Animation Film Festival, and LA under the Stars Film Festival. He also works as an artist for the independent game ARIA, nominated for the IndieCade Game Festival.
Lisa Ogdie
Lisa Ogdie is a Short Film Programmer for the Sundance Film Festival. She has been part of the shorts programming team since 2009, selecting the Sundance short film slate from over 12,000 submissions each year, and has curated shorts for the 2019 and 2020 editions of the Durban Film Festival in South Africa. In addition to her work at Sundance, Ogdie is also Head of Cinema Programming in North America for Soho House & Co, providing Soho House members with exclusive access to the most exciting titles in film and television being distributed each year.
Hugh O’Gorman
Hugh O’Gorman is a Greek-Irish actor, director, author, teacher, and artist active in professional theatre for over 30 years. Since 2002 he has been the Head of Acting at Cal State Long Beach and teaches at USC. Hugh is the author of Acting Action: A Primer For Actors and The Keys To Acting. He is a faculty member of MICHA, as well as MCE, and runs The Praxis Studio in LA. He Co-Executive Director of the National Alliance of Acting Teachers. Hugh has appeared on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway, and at over a dozen of the nation’s most respected Regional Theatres and Shakespeare Festivals. He is a founding member of New York City’s Mint Theatre Company (2002 Drama Desk Award). Hugh portrayed Jeff Singer on AMC’s critically acclaimed, Emmy and CableAce award-winning show Remember WENN (SAG Award nomination). Hugh earned a BA from Cornell and MFA in Acting from the University of Washington. His maternal grandfather emigrated from the small goat-herding village Manina Vlizianon in the Aetolia-Acarnania region of Greece. www.hughogorman.com
Jourdain Searles
Jourdain Searles is a film critic, programmer, and performer. She has written for The Hollywood Reporter, Vulture, Sight & Sound, Fangoria, and Indiewire, among many other publications. Jourdain is also a member of the Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association as well as the African-American Critics Association. She lives in Brooklyn with her movie collection and stacks of unread books.
Jaswant Dev Shrestha
Jaswant Dev Shrestha is an award-winning actor and Emmy-winning documentarian. His cultural five-part Nonfiction series “Festivals” earned him an Emmy award, a historic win as the first Nepali/American Filmmaker to receive such an honor. His latest project, the travel/adventure six-part series filmed in Portugal, “ON A QUEST: with Jaswant,” is currently in the competition for an Emmy® 2024 award in the “Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series or Special” category at the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards.
Spiro Skentzos
Spiro Skentzos grew up reading the dramas of Greek mythology—as well as living the drama of being in a Greek-American family, so it’s no surprise he became a screenwriter. Pulling from personal experiences, he enjoys writing about characters who face their struggles with pathos and humor. Spiro has written on and been involved in over 100 episodes of TV in the hour-long and half-hour spaces, including Arrow and Grimm; he also co-created the web series Chadam, based on the cult character; and has sold a feature as well as three pilots. In addition to being a writer, Spiro is a sought-after lecturer and moderator on the craft of writing and teaches screenwriting at Loyola Marymount University. He is the current chair of the WGA’s LGBTQ+ Committee. To encourage the next generation of writers, Spiro created the “Intro To TV Writing” panel at San Diego Comic-Con, now in its twelfth year. Spiro holds both American and Greek citizenship.
Portlynn Tagavi
Portlynn Tagavi is a half-Persian, half-African American writer/director. She just received her Master’s in Directing at AFI, where she developed her skills as a writer and director for narrative film. Originally from Houston, Texas, Portlynn moved to California in 2010 to study Character Animation at Cal Arts. Before attending AFI, she spent three years working professionally as a Character and Story Artist for Fox, Paramount, Psyop, the Jim Henson Company (“Splash and Bubbles”), and DreamWorks (“Trolls: The Beat Goes On!”). Her short film “They Won’t Last” has been recognized by the LA Comedy Film Festival (Best Director Winner), First Glance Film Festival (Audience Award For Best Comedy Winner), Prague International Indie Film Festival (Best Student Female Director Winner), Pensacola Indie Fringe and Comedy Festival (Best Director Winner & Best Relationship Comedy Winner), and College Television Awards (Best Comedy Short). Currently, Portlynn is a directing fellow in the 2024 Project Involve Program with Film Independent, and a story artist at Netflix Feature Animation Studios.
Chris Tsirgiotis
Chris Tsirgiotis has been working professionally in the animation industry since 1997. He has won multiple Emmy awards and an Annie Award for his work as a Background Designer and Visual Development Artist.
Andrew Wagner
Andrew Wagner directed and co-wrote Breakable You, which premiered at the Palm Springs International Film Festival, was released by Sony Pictures, and streamed on Hulu. Previously, Andrew directed and co-wrote Starting Out In The Evening, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was released by Roadside Attractions. Frank Langella received numerous Best Actor accolades and the movie was named a Top 10 Independent Film, made over 30 Best Films of the Year lists, and was nominated for two Spirit Awards. Andrew’s first feature film, The Talent Given Us, was an Official Selection at the Sundance Film Festival. It also won the Jury Prize at the CineVegas Film Festival and Best First Feature at Michael Moore’s Traverse City Film Festival. It made the New York Times and other critics’ Best Films of the Year lists. Andrew was a Creative Writing major at Brown University and earned his MFA in Directing at AFI, where his thesis film, The Last Days of Hope and Time, won for Excellence in Directing. Andrew continues his affiliation with AFI today as a Senior Lecturer & Faculty Lead, Directing.
