DIRECTOR
PORTLYNN TAGAVI recently received her MFA in Directing at AFI. Before attending AFI she spent three years working professionally as a Story Artist for Fox, Paramount, the Jim Henson Company and DreamWorks. Her short film THEY WON’T LAST won a student Emmy and has been recognized by festivals such as LA Comedy Film Festival - (Best Director Winner), First Glance Film Festival - (Audience Award For Best Comedy Winner), Prague International Indie Film Festival - (Best Student Female Director Winner), Pensacola Indie Fringe and Comedy Festival - (Best Director Winner & Best Relationship Comedy Winner), and College Television Awards - (Best Comedy Short). She is currently working as a story artist on her second film with Netflix.
WRITER
ERIKA HAMILTON is an award-winning screenwriter & actress. Ohio-born and Meisner-trained, Erika received her SAG card from being prominently featured in the first generation of iPod ads. Her solo silhouette dancing opposite of Bob Dylan was noted in Steve Jobs’s biography as the most important commercial of that era for Apple. Erika has acted for and worked with some of the most renowned directors including Tony Kaye, Martha Coolidge, Mark Romanek, and Anne Fletcher, to name a few. Recently, Erika has opened the door to the next chapter— writing and producing films that better represent her unique worldview. The first script she’s penned recently won GOLD at the 2020 PAGE INTERNATIONAL SCREENWRITING AWARDS. Erika lives in Santa Monica Canyon with husband, director Christian Loubek and their kids Charley and Baer.
PRODUCER
ALEXIS BOOZER STERLING is a storyteller dedicated to bringing underrepresented voices to the forefront to expose, educate and empathize. A long-time collaborator with Kalilah Robinson, she attended Stanford University (BA, Drama '04; Evelyn M. Draper Prize for Performance), where both her production work and research included interdepartmental studies (Political Science) to explore theatre as a tool for social change and international development. Her work as a performer and production manager spans almost 20 years of theatre, film and digital productions. As a creative producer with [Door Flies Open], Alexis develops, directs and produces diversity-promoting content with unique and important viewpoints. She is a member of SAG-AFTRA and the Director’s Guild of America. Alexis lives in Los Angeles with her husband, actor Maury Sterling, and their son, Ford Bryant.
CINEMATOGRAPHER
KALILAH ROBINSON is an award-winning cinematographer and filmmaker. Born and raised in Bermuda, Kalilah attended Stanford University and is a graduate of AFI’s Cinematography Master’s Program. Experienced in a multitude of positions in the industry, cinematography has always been Kalilah’s abiding passion. It is cinematography that has taken her from the Bay area, to London, Lagos, Paris, Bermuda and back again. Currently, Kalilah is based out of Los Angeles, CA where she continues to freelance as a Cinematographer and Producer. In 2017 she was a Film Independent Project Involve Cinematography Fellow. Most recently, Kalilah shot the feature American Murderer starring Ryan Phillippe and Idina Menzel.
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
MEL JONES is a multi-talented producer, director, and writer. The Howard University alum holds a Bachelor of Science in Radio, Television and Film, and her Master of Fine Arts in Producing at the American Film Institute. Mel worked for Stephanie Allain’s Homegrown Pictures for 8 years, rising through the ranks serving as President of Production for 5 years. Jones’ credits include Justin Simien’s Dear White People and Gerard McMurray’s Burning Sands and recently Really Love starring Kofi Siriboe which premiered at SXSW. Jones made her directorial debut at Sundance with Leimert Park, a MACRO/Homegrown digital. She currently serves as SVP of Production and Development at Confluential Films.
MARTIN MYCOO’s love of music across all genres, and for TV and film, led him to a career where the two converge - Music Supervision.
Martin started his music supervision journey working independently on acclaimed web series and independent shorts. He went on to work for all3Media America’s in-house music supervision team working on unscripted projects including the Emmy award-winning series Undercover Boss (CBS), United Shades of America with Kamau Bell (CNN), Chrisley Knows Best (USA) and 24 Hours to Hell and Back with Gordon Ramsay (FOX).
He currently works at Format Entertainment as a Senior Music Coordinator assisting on a variety of films and tv shows that include projects from Paramount, New Regency, Lionsgate and Marvel Studios. Recently Martin co-supervised his first feature film, "Meet The Blacks 2: The House Next Door".
Martin received his BA in Communications with a minor in Marketing from San Francisco State University and a certificate in Intellectual Property Law from NYU. He is a Los Angeles native - Inglewood born and raised.