M.F.A. DIRECTORS SPOTLIGHT

Al Mawqaf (The Incident) by Meedo Taha

At a bus stop near Beirut, a veiled Lebanese woman and a migrant Syrian worker get in a tumultuous moment and are arrested. They must argue their innocence in the face of the only witnesses: a bus full of women on their way to Koran school, each with her own version of the truth

Meedo Taha is a writer/director born in Beirut, at a time when his country was at war with itself. Perhaps because of that, his work explores questions of identity, with characters outside predefined social groups. An all-consuming desire to tell stories led him from a PhD in Architecture at the University of Tokyo to a life of filmmaking. He earned an MFA in Film and Television from UCLA, where his screenplays have received a Samuel Goldwyn Screenwriting Award and have been shortlisted twice for the Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship. He’s currently developing A Road to Damascus, a feature film based on his mystery novel published in 2016. Meedo speaks Spanish, French, English, Arabic, and Japanese, but is still trying to make sense of this world with his wife Samira and son Cyan. When lost, he can be found at the local movie theater.

Outside by Laura Norris

After bringing home a monster he found in the woods, a lonely boy must keep it a 
secret from his mom or risk losing his only friend.

A northern Minnesota girl at heart, Laura Norris loves everything woodsy and cold. After getting her BS in Animation at DePaul University, however, she thought she’d check out the desert and move down to SoCal. While currently pursuing her MFA at UCLA’s Animation Workshop, all her stories somehow end up back in the woods behind her house. She has big dreams of working as a storyboard artist in children’s entertainment, but until then, she’s going to keep making films about weird little kids and their misadventures.

Rest In Peace by Zheng Nie

Aggrieved by the sudden death of his oldest son, and troubled by the subsequent disappearance of his doctor, Du Guangcai, a 32-year-old factory worker, is misled by a shifty con man, Wang Junsheng, into a scheme to hire a large group of strangers to pretend as Guangcai's family members and then occupy the hospital until the hospital pays them a million yuan.

Zheng ‘Nathan’ Nie is a rising Chinese filmmaker who has dedicated his life to exploring many different aspects of filmmaking. Having lived in the U.S. for nine years, Zheng started developing a can-do spirit since his undergraduate study at Michigan State University. With very limited resources, Zheng and his fellow film students embraced the indie-spirit and made quality films. Upon earning his B.A. in Media Arts at Michigan State, Zheng moved to New York City for professional experience. He started as an intern in Simba Productions. He worked part-time for the company as both editor and videographer. During six months in Simba, Zheng has worked with many clients including major law firms, publication houses, and medical companies to produce their promotional/educational video products. He is pursuing his MFA in directing at the UCLA School of Theater, Film & Television. Grown up in Henan, a rural yet highly progressive province in China, Zheng hopes to bring light to expose the authentic lifestyle in China through his films.

Dear Death by Kate Isenberg

Stewball, a horse wasting away at his office job, writes a letter to Death and makes a decision that will change the course of his life.

Kate Isenberg is a Los Angeles-based writer and animator. After earning her BA in English from Harvard, she went to work as a fact-checker for MOTHER JONES magazine, in San Francisco. There, Kate began drawing comics featuring Stewball—the equine antihero with an existential dilemma—which she self-distributed on foot to bookstores, cafes, and Laundromats around the city. Alongside her media jobs, and a stint as a singer-songwriter, she continued to draw Stewball, who earned a following among underdogs of all ages. Kate’s first Stewball film, DEAR DEATH, won a Matt Groening Production Fellowship and served as her MFA thesis at UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television. Kate is now developing Stewball and his world of friends for television.

Boy In The Elvis Suit by Peter Fuller

An Elvis impersonator’s first orgasm-via accidental hypnosis-uncorks years of repressed fantasy, leaving him desperate to feel it again. But happiness doesn’t come that easy.

Peter Fuller hails from the strange and magical beach-town of Santa Cruz, CA, where he got his start in musical theater at a young age. After singing and dancing his way into college, he began writing, and graduated from UCLA’s acclaimed creative writing program in 2010. As a member of the New Guard Theater company and 3rd Year MFA director at UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television, Peter is constantly seeking ways to push the boundaries of creative expression. With a particular interest in Jungian psychology, fantasy, and cultural absurdity, Peter looks at each project as an opportunity to reveal the exuberant, dark, and ageless spirit buried deep within us all. He mostly eats burritos.

Invisible by Will Rowe

When a homeless mother suddenly begins to vanish from reality, she sets out in a desperate race against time to find someone who can save her

I was born in Raleigh, North Carolina. My parents are civil rights lawyers, my brother makes beer in Portland, and I make movies in L.A. I was first introduced to storytelling through Twilight Zone marathons with my dad. I studied filmmaking and philosophy at UNC Chapel Hill before moving to Los Angeles. I initially wanted to go into live-action filmmaking, but after learning of the supportive and wonderful animation community in L.A. decided to change my career. I worked in several different jobs while taking night classes at the Animation Guild in Burbank before applying to UCLA.

Along with my animation classes I am taking screenwriting classes at UCLA, and hope to go into story for animated features. To me, a good story is entertaining first, but also meaningful. I want to make films that reach a wide audience, but also deal with significant and important issues. My favorite kinds of movies are action/adventure and sci-fi.

Departare (A Distance) by Teodora Totoiu

Three women reunite on a rural farm and struggle to reconnect while mourning the loss of a loved one.

Teodora Totoiu is a Romanian-American filmmaker and member of the International Collective of Female Cinematographers (ICFC). She has recently completed her fourth graduate year at UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television with an MFA in Production, with an emphasis in Cinematography. Over the last four years, she has directed three short films and has lensed over twenty short narratives and three documentary feature films.