Here at the Dr. BSH Foundation strives to educate and motivate our students to pursue a level of higher education after high school. Our foundation goes beyond the traditional classroom learning. Educating our young teens through experiences, even during the time of Covid-19 is what is most important to us. That is why we brought our annual filmmaking workshop virtual. On Saturday, March 20 our organization welcomed industry professionals from the entertainment community to speak with young individuals with a passion for casting!
We were joined by experts in television writing, producing, directing and film editing. The virtual workshop allowed for our students and young teens to be broken up into various breakout rooms on Zoom to have smaller group discussions with our industry experts.
In the various rooms our panelists discussed how they began their careers, what they’ve accomplished and tips for the students to work on in the upcoming years so they too can be successful in the entertainment industry.
The afternoon was filled with helpful tips and tricks for our students but it wasn’t all serious! Our guest speakers talked TikToK with our teens and how different social media apps can be helpful when it comes to casting or getting practice with directing and film editing.
We had yet another successful Filmmaking Workshop and from everyone at Dr. BSH Foundation we want to thank our students and panelists for joining us! Below you will see the list of our panelist and short background of the many accomplishments they have within the industry.
GUEST SPEAKERS:
Music Supervisors & Composers:
● Alex Kovacs: Emmy nominated composer has worked on various projects throughout Los Angeles, CA. His work can be heard throughout projects in connections with Marvel, Disney, Universal, Netflix, OWN and HBO. Alex’s most recent work can be heard in the hit Marvel series WandaVision airing on Disney+.
● Jermaine Stegall: With over 50 projects to his credit, Stegall is a versatile and accomplished composer and director. He conducted a live orchestra alongside singer Tori Kelly at the 2019 ESPY Awards and the orchestra for Camilla Cabello’s performance at the American Music Awards a year prior.
● Rob Lowry: Los Angeles Music Supervisor for Film, Television and Advertising. As one of the top tier supervisors for music and shows he was nominated for a Guild of Music Supervisors Award for his music supervision work on The Intervention in 2017.
● Joe Wong: As a composer, his projects range from Emmy-winning series Russian Doll and Master Of None; to critically lauded The Midnight Gospel, beloved hit YA film To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. Joe’s debut solo album, the psychedelic, orchestral Nite Creatures, was released to acclaim by Decca/Universal in 2020.
● Ryan Leach: An award-winning composer for Film and TV, his music has been heard on every major network and clients include Disney, The California Lottery, MTV, Lowe’s and Rainn Wilson’s SoulPancake.
Television Editing:
● Felicia Mignon Livingston: While working as a Post Production Assistant, she gained experience and technical skills about the filmmaking process. This led to working on the Disney channel show, Lizzie McGuire, that Felicia got the opportunity to join the Motion Picture Editors Guild as an assistant editor. From there, she expanded her on-the-job education working as an assistant editor on various shows such as Smallville, Hawaii Five-0, American Crime, and Supergirl.
● Jacqueline Basse: As an editor in New York City, her eight year career in post production has had her working for Netflix, HBO, Travel Channel, and Investigation Discovery. She has worked as an assistant editor on Spike Lee’s Netflix series adaptation of his first film, She’s Gotta Have It, Joris-Peyrafitte’s feature film Dreamland, and is currently assisting on Gossip Girl for HBOMax.
Film Editing:
● Michelle Harrison: most recently known for To All the Boys: Always and Forever, and You Get Me on Netflix, as well as AFTER, which was the winner of the People’s Choice Awards for Best Drama and Teen Choice Award for Best Drama in 2019. TV series she has worked on include Tell Me A Story on CBS All Access, Channel Zero on SyFy, Fishing Pono on PBS, and 14 Women on the Sundance Channel.
Director/Producer:
● Sarah El Khawand: now a Director and Senior Producer for Mamag Studios which was celebrated as 2019’s Fourth Fastest Growing Agency by Adweek and one of the Top Storytellers to Watch in 2020 by Variety Magazine. She recently produced XZBIT’s music video WAR. And directed two music videos for Rapper and Instagrammer CANDY KEN.
Actor/Director:
● Jillian Clare: Miss Clare produced her first short film, Advent, which she is also starred in. Advent will be the first in a series of short and feature films that Jillian plans to produce under her production company, Whimsical Entertainment. The film was a Finalist at the 2016 USA Film Festival Short Film Competition and an Official Selection at the 2016 Great Lakes International Film Festival. Most recently, Jillian stepped behind the camera for her directorial debut on the feature film To The Beat! Jillian once again stepped behind the camera for the sequel To The Beat! Back 2 School, making her one of the only women to direct both films in a series. The film was released in March 2020.
● Sade Clacken Joseph: As a writer, director, shooter and editor she is a genuine storyteller with a dedication for shining a light on underrepresented groups. Her film Knight (2018) was the first narrative film produced by Spotify via their Black Girl Magic platform. Her documentary work on Common’s Hope and Redemption Prison Tour has been featured on VICE, Variety, and Rolling Stone. Her short film Ponyboi, which she produced and directed with River Gallo, recently premiered at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival where it was named one of the “Five not to be missed short films” by Forbes.
Writer:
● Benjamin Kasulke: an award-winning Director and Director of Photography, whose work has screened at multiple film festivals including Toronto, Berlin, Sundance, and Cannes Film Festival Directors Fortnight. His feature film work has been released by A24, IFC Films, Magnolia Pictures, Film District, and The Criterion Collection. He is also a member of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Cinematography branch, having worked with filmmakers including Lynn Shelton, Guy Maddin, Greta Gerwig, Joe Swanberg, and The Duplass Brothers.
● Kyle Lau: A director, writer and producer in Los Angeles, CA, he has projects featured in the indie film festival circuit, as well as content for RedBull, Jack Daniel’s, 20th Century Fox, UCLA and more. He currently writes on Comedy Central’s AWKWAFINA IS NORA FROM QUEENS.
Foley Artist:
● Alex Ulrich: He feels lucky to have been working in a field that allows him to utilize his skills and talents in a wide variety of genres: feature films, short films, TV, commercials and animation. Alex is known for his work on The Hurt Locker (2008), Zero Dark Thirty (2012), Oz the great and Powerful (2013) and San Andreas (2015).
