Anisa Alamia is an accomplished actor, writer, and producer.  She produced, wrote, and starred in one of her first comedic shorts, Deferred Pay Receptionist, which was invited to screen at the Fringe Festival Los Angeles. During this time, she worked steadily co-writing the webseries 30 Is Still 30 and the 40-episode series Broad Strokes -which was later featured three times on Laughs, (FOX)-  and is currently working on producing more comedic shorts.  Anisa is having a blast with Dances With Films, having volunteered since 2012. 

Ariana is a lifelong film enthusiast, watching nearly two films a day for enjoyment. Several years ago she thought, “Why don’t I do something useful with this passion?” Since then, she became a film competition judge and festival programmer. Also a filmmaker, Ariana produced the film The Garlock Incident – the first film of its kind, blurring the lines between social media and feature film. When she’s not watching or producing films, Ariana runs her cosmetics regulatory consultancy business, writes children’s books, plays with her cats, and travels. Currently Ariana is touring the U.S. presenting on Film Festival Submission Strategy for Filmmakers, including speaking engagements at Film Independent, USC School of Cinematic Arts, and Women in Film Chicago.

Jackie Tepper is a seasoned Film Industry vet who is most currently a Producing Partner and Documentary Programming Chair of the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival Dances With Films, aka DWF:LA. In her fourteen years with the festival, she is involved in many facets which include: programming documentaries, Industry Choice Award committee, ICA Judge selection, arranging and moderating VIP Panels and Cocktails & Conversations guest speakers, Spotlight World, sponsorships, etc. She spent three years as Vice President of Acquisitions & Co-productions at foreign sales company E7, and eleven years at New Line Cinema/Fine Line Features as Executive Director of Acquisitions & Co-productions, where she worked on in house productions, as well as attended major film festivals year-round in an acquisition and talent scouting capacity. Additionally, Ms. Tepper has been involved in feature film development, and finance. Coming from a music industry family/background, she is deeply passionate about all things creative.

Kerim Duran is a freelance Filmmaker/Technical Consultant, specializing in Post-Production, Cinematography, and Digital Cinemas. He has been working professionally since 2001, as a Technical Consultant to Sony Pictures Classics since 2005 and A24 Films since 2012, focusing on Quality of Theatrical Presentations and Digital Cinemas Installations. And as Film Festival Technical Consultant/Director, Kerim has worked with AFI FEST, LA FILM FESTIVAL, DANCES WITH FILMS, SCREAMFEST, Bahamas Int’l Film Festival, and many others. He also produced Tribute show for Penelope Cruz, Pedro Almodovar, Johnny Depp and Guillermo Narravo.  Kerim holds a B.A. in Film & Digital Media from the University of California at Santa Cruz. Has an Award for Best Cinematography from Napa Valley Film Festival for the film, My Brother Jack. Currently, in production with a few Narrative Feature projects slated to be release in 2020. Kerim Duran currently resides in Los Angeles, CA.

Robert Mellette is a DWF alumni from 2000 with his award-winning feature, Jacks Or Better. His debut novel, Billy Bobble Makes a Magic Wand, from Elephant Bookshelf’s Press is about to be followed up by the sequel, Billy Bobble and the Witch Hunt. Prior to the Billy Bobble series, Mellette’s Sci-Fi short stories were published in the anthologies: The Fall: Tales from the Apocalypse, Spring Fevers and Summer’s Edge. Mellette is now an Associate Director of Dances With Films. He wrote the first web-to-television intellectual property, “The Xena Scrolls,” for Universal Studios’ Xena: Warrior Princess. Mellette is a member of the Science Fiction Writers of America and a regional board member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.

His short film A Day In The Life Of Your Cats won the audience award in 2012. Follow him on Twitter @jeffrey723 and feel free to bother him with questions about the screening process there. Except “did you watch my film” because the answer is ‘no’.