Bushwick Beats

About the directors

A. Sayeeda Moreno - A. SAYEEDA MORENO is a director, screenwriter and proud native New Yorker. Her short, White, premiered at SXSW and screened at Tribeca Film Festival, BAMcinemaFest, and MOCADA Museum, among other international venues. The feature-length script White won the San Francisco Film Society Hearst Screenwriting Award and is a 2018 Athena List winner. Sayeeda’s short Sin Salida, aired on HBO/HBO Latino and was a finalist at the American Black Film Festival.The Grey Woman premiered at Lincoln Center and won the Hallmark short film competition. Sayeeda earned her MFA in Film from NYU where she was a dean’s fellow. She is a Film Independent and Sundance Women in Finance Fellow. In addition, Sayeeda was selected to be a participant in both the AT&T/Tribeca Untold Stories Pitch Competition and Tribeca All Access in 2017. Sayeeda is currently developing her feature film I’m Not Down and White. Sayeeda is an artist in residence at Bard College.

Chloe Sarbib - CHLOE SARBIB is a screenwriter and director based in Brooklyn. Her recent short film, GO TELL YOUR FATHERS, was an official selection at Palm Springs International ShortFest in June. Another short, GIRL FRIEND, won Best Student Short at the Provincetown Film Festival, and will play NewFest in October. Her previous work has featured Brad Dourif, James Franco, and Jesse Tyler Ferguson. She is currently working on 2 features scripts, and is an MFA candidate at Columbia University, where she received the Janowsky Screenwriting Fellowship.

Brian Shoaf - BRIAN SHOAF is a writer and director best known for his feature film Aardvark (Great Point/Universal), which stars Zachary Quinto, Jenny Slate, Sheila Vand and Jon Hamm, and made its world premiere at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival, as well as the award winning independent pilot Hamsters.

Sonejuhi Sinha - SONEJUHI SINHA began her directing career with a narrative short film, Love Comes Later, which was one of ten short films accepted to the 2015 Cannes Film Festival. Sonejuhi was selected for the prestigious Shoot New Director’s Showcase in New York and participated in Tribeca Film Institute’s prestigious Through Her Lens program where she was mentored by Dee Rees, Catherine Hardwicke and Rashida Jones, among others. She is the recipient of the Jerome Foundation Grant and Tribeca’s prestigious IWC award. Her feature narrative Stray Dolls, a Crime / Drama starring Cynthia Nixon, Rob Aramayo, Olivia Dejonge and Geetanjali Thapa, is listed in Filmmaker Magazine’s most anticipated films of 2018.

James Sweeney - JAMES SWEENEY is an actor-turned-playwright-turned-filmmaker who was born in Alaska. His work has been featured on Short of the Week, Vimeo Staff Pick and played at film festivals worldwide. He is currently in post-production on his feature debut, Straight Up, produced by Valparaiso Pictures, in which he directs and co-stars opposite Katie Findlay.

Anu Valia - ANU VALIA is an Indiana-born, New York-schooled filmmaker whose award-winning short films have screened across the country and abroad. Her short film, LUCIA, BEFORE AND AFTER, won the Jury Prize for US Fiction at Sundance Film Festival. She has directed episodes for Comedy Central's THE OTHER TWO, created by former SNL head writers Sarah Schneider and Chris Kelly, and Paramount Network's FIRST WIVES CLUB, created by GIRLS TRIP writer, Tracy Oliver. She is the Director and Executive Producer of Adult Swim's, SOFT FOCUS WITH JENA FRIEDMAN.