ANDREW CARLIN currently serves as the Director of Theatrical Distribution and Sales for Oscilloscope Laboratories. Prior to that, he was the Head of Theatrical Sales for Music Box Films from 2012-2015. He has worked on the theatrical releases of over a hundred and fifty films, including The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo Trilogy, Oscar nominee Monsieur Lazhar (2012), Oscar winner Ida (2015), and Oscar nominee Embrace Of The Serpent (2016). He is also an Executive Producer of the 2022 documentary After Antarctica.

NEAL EDELSTEIN is an award-winning independent film producer, writer and director. He is also known as an early technology adopter who holds multiple patents on digital distribution. A native of Chicago, he began his film career in Los Angeles in the early 1990s. In 1997, Edelstein produced David Lynch’s segment in the French film Lumiere And Company, shot with the original Lumiere brothers’ camera. After completion of the film, Edelstein and Lynch became partners in The Picture Factory, where Edelstein produced The Straight Story and Mulholland Drive, as well as worked with Lynch to conceive and launch DavidLynch.com. Following Mulholland Drive, Edelstein formed Macari/Edelstein Filmed Entertainment with New Line Cinema executive Mike Macari. Their first project was the successful American remake of the Japanese horror film The Ring. Other credits include the Netflix thriller Fractured, directed by Brad Anderson and starring Sam Worthington; Disney-distributed The Invisible, directed by David Goyer; and Shelter, starring Julianne Moore. Driven by his passion for storytelling and producing, in 2013 Edelstein directed and produced the first ever movie app of its kind called Haunting Melissa. With over 1 million installs in less then a year Haunting Melissa won multiple awards. In 2014 he produced and directed the sequel Dark Hearts: The Secret Of Haunting Melissa. In 2017 Edelstein launched his new production company Crow Island Films to focus on film, television and new media production. Edelstein is a graduate of New Trier High School and has a BFA in film studies from the University of Arizona.

ANGELA LEE is a Spirit Award-nominated producer whose film Songs My Brothers Taught Me, Chloé Zhao’s debut feature, premiered in competition at the Sundance Film Festival, Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes. She also produced the fiction short The Row (w/d Philiane Phang), commissioned by Indigenous Media and distributed by Condé Nast Entertainment. Angela is currently developing the debut fiction feature films for writer/director Philiane Phang, Oscar-nominated director Bing Liu and Grammy-nominated director Andrew Thomas Huang. She is a 2018 Women at Sundance Fellow, and has been supported by the Berlinale Talents and Co-Production Market, Film Independent, IFP, PGA Diversity Workshop, SFFilm, Sundance Institute Creative Producing Lab and Fellowship, and the Center for Asian American Media. Angela is also the Director of Artist Development at the arts non-profit Film Independent, where she oversees the fiction and non-fiction labs and programs including Fast Track finance market, Fiscal Sponsorship program, and Project Involve. A native Chicagoan, Angela graduated from the University of Chicago with a degree in Economics.

AJ LINKS is a leader in the Chicago film and theater community for the past 25 years. Favorite projects of theirs include: A24’s/Austin Vesely’s Slice, Steve McQueen’s Widows, both Noah Hawley’s fourth installment of Fargo and Chris Storer’s The Bear for FX, and HBO’s/Hiro Murai/Patrick Sommerville’s Station Eleven.

GREG NEWMAN is a Chicago-based producer and founder of genre distribution label Dark Sky Films. Newman has launched over 30 feature films including Ti West’s critically beloved The House of the Devil; Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer’s debut, Starry Eyes; Ted Geoghegan’s We Are Still Here; Jim Mickle’s Stake Land; and Onur Tukel’s viciously funny Catfight. In 2018, Newman, along with Nicola Goelzhaeuser and Giles Edwards, formed Chicago based Queensbury Pictures, a film and television development and production company. The company’s first production was the highly successful Girl on the Third Floor, followed by Jacob Gentry’s Broadcast Signal Intrusion. Queensbury Pictures’ current slate includes Clare Cooney’s Departing Seniors.

ANIKAH McLAREN serves as the Head of Film for Higher Ground, Barack & Michelle Obama’s production company. Since its 2018 founding, the company has produced award winning and commercial films such as Leave the World Behind, Rustin, American Factory, Fatherhood, and Worth. Prior to joining Higher Ground, Anikah served as the Executive Vice President of Narrative Film at Participant, was Senior Vice President of Production at Fox Searchlight Pictures, and had stints at Universal Pictures, Focus Features, and Miramax. She was an Executive Producer on Judas and the Black Messiah and the Chicago-made We Grown Now. McLaren received a BA in English from The George Washington University and lives in Los Angeles.

JENNY RASKIN is the Executive Director of Impact Partners, a fund dedicated to supporting independent documentary films that entertain audiences, engage with pressing social issues, and propel the art of cinema forward. Her executive producer credentials include Going Varsity In Mariachi, Aftershock, Procession, Nuclear Family, Trophy, and Dina. Other credits include: Here Come The Videofreex (director/producer), Found (producer), Facing The Dragon (producer), Motherland Afghanistan (producer), and On Hostile Ground (director/producer). She received a B.A. from Barnard College and an M.A. from the Culture & Media program at NYU.

HUMZA SYED is a producer and writer based in Chicago. At Full Spectrum Features, has co-produced a multitude of films which have screened and won awards at festivals like Sundance and Tribeca, and supported films in co-production markets at Berlinale. He particularly specializes in production finances, budget management, financial incentives, tax credits, etc. In addition to his work in production, Humza has also supported FSF in the exploration of the international co-production space, non-traditional film financing, and specialty/impact distribution. Prior to joining Full Spectrum, Humza worked as a consultant for Deloitte within their Life Sciences Healthcare Division, building financial models, dashboards, and deliverables for clients across the healthcare & pharmaceutical industry.

MARY TRIER works primarily with production companies and creators on film and television projects, directing clients through varied development stages, whether it be through industry norms or complex chain of title issues. She oversees business and legal affairs at Imagine Entertainment alongside Elsa Ramo, offering legal guidance on projects like Netflix’s tick, tick…BOOM! and Hillbilly Elegy, and also advises Imagine Kids & Family, Imagine Documentaries, Imagine Impact, Hello Sunshine, Boardwalk Pictures, Balboa Productions, and Funny or Die. Mary recently provided general counsel for the Laugh Out Loud/Sundance Women Write Now Fellowship and has worked on titles such as Skydance’s Grace and Frankie and the film Arkansas starring Vince Vaughn and Liam Hemsworth. Mary was named in Variety’s “Hollywood New Leaders of 2022,” and was selected as a “Rising Star” in Super Lawyers Magazine from 2021-2023. She’s licensed in both California and Illinois, and has previously worked for Paradigm Talent Agency, Entertainment Studios, and The Film Collaborative. Mary earned her Bachelor of Journalism from University of Missouri, and Juris Doctorate from Southwestern Law School.

JOHN VON THADEN is the SVP of Acquisitions for Magnolia Pictures. Since joining the company in 2011 he has negotiated on titles such this summer’s Thelma, starring June Squibb, Ruben Ostlund’s Force Majeure, Palme d’Or-winner The Square, Palme d’Or-winner and Academy Award-nominee Shoplifters, Academy Award-nominees RBG and I Am Not Your Negro, Sean Baker’s Tangerine, Andrew Bujalski’s Results and Support The Girls, along with hundreds of others. John graduated from Boston University and is based in New York.

YVONNE WELBON (she/her) is an award-winning filmmaker and founder and CEO of the Chicago-based nonprofit Sisters in Cinema, inspired by her documentary of the same name, about the history of Black women feature film directors. She has produced and distributed dozens of award-winning films, including Living With Pride: Ruth Ellis @100. Welbon’s work has been broadcast on PBS, Starz/Encore, TV-ONE, IFC, Bravo, the Sundance Channel, BET, HBO, Netflix, and iTunes, and screened in over 100 film festivals around the world. Projects in development include The Spies Who Loved Me, a thrilling exposé on surveillance that focuses on the six years she lived in Taipei, Taiwan; and American Pride, a Black lesbian coming-of-age series set on the south side of Chicago. She has taught at the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, and Bennett College, where she chaired the Journalism & Media Studies Department. Raised in an Afro-Latinx Honduran household on the South Side of Chicago, Welbon holds a B.A. from Vassar College, an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, a Ph.D. from Northwestern University, and is a graduate of the American Film Institute’s Directing Workshop for Women. In 2020, she became a member of the Documentary branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.