team lola
Director: Grace Hanna
Grace Hanna is a Filipino-Egyptian writer/director obsessed with fantastical stories and things that go bump in the night. They are a directing Fellow at the American Film Institute, where they recently directed three short films centered on the Asian-American experience. Grace’s work has been shortlisted for competitions at Sundance/Sloan, Disney, and Sony. Their short films have premiered at multiple film festivals around the country and Last Frame in London. Grace has been a director’s assistant on Aquarius (NBC) and Chance (Hulu). Grace is a recipient of the Alan J. Pakula and Henry Hathaway scholarships. Grace lives for fantasy and horror, which take us to dark and dangerous places. After all, our lives are full of beautiful and terrifying things, and these genres — like Grace — embrace both.
Producer: Uloaku Anyiam-Osigwe
Uloaku is a second year Producing Fellow at the AFI Conservatory from Nigeria, and a graduate of the University of St Andrews, Scotland with an MA in International Relations and Management. Following her degree she returned home, where she worked at a television station and as the Head of Production for a marketing company producing branded video content. She set up a production company, Next Tomorrow Productions where she produced short films and branded commercial content. She is interested in placing African stories center stage.
Writer: Duke Yang
Duke Yang is a Hmong American writer based in Los Angeles. Duke began his entertainment career working as a development intern for Blumhouse, Appian Way, and Groundswell. His writing has been showcased at Second City Hollywood and the Upright Citizens Brigade where he was a UCB Diversity scholarship recipient. He is currently a Screenwriting Fellow at the AFI Conservatory. Beyond writing, Duke is a travel junkie, foodie, and sports enthusiast.
Cinematographer: Sarah Megyesy
Sarah Megyesy received her BFA in Filmmaking in 2011 from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Since moving to Denver in 2012, Megyesy has often worked with Colorado's thriving music scene. She created the music video "Liars" for Grammy®-nominated artist Gregory Alan Isakov and has made multiple videos with award-winning poet Andrea Gibson. In April of 2019, Megyesy finished her first documentary feature film, THE RIGHT TO REST, about Denver's homeless rights movement and is currently in post-production on her second documentary feature titled IN A DRY LAND.
Production Designer: Jisoo Jeong
Jisoo Jeong studied Scene Design at the Graduate School of Performing Arts, Hongik University in Seoul, Korea. She also spent her time in London and Los Angeles working as a production designer. Before switching over to the entertainment industry, she studied Fine Art for 11 years, earned a BA degree in 2014, held exhibitions in many different cities, such as New York, Beijing, Seoul and Los Angeles. She is a Production Design fellow at American Film Institute Conservatory, Class of 2023.
Editor: Jenna Schaelling
Jenna Schaelling is a film and tv editor based in Los Angeles. She graduated with a BA in Media Arts from Brigham Young University. She's edited numerous short films including PAPER TRAILS, which won Best Comedy/Dramedy Short at the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival Awards. At BYU Broadcasting, she edited promotional content for popular shows including DWIGHT IN SHINING ARMOR and STUDIO C. She was an assistant editor with Sorø Films on the docu-series THE KIDNAP THEORY. Jenna is a currently a 2nd-year Editing Fellow at AFI. Outside her editing cave, Jenna enjoys skateboarding and playing with puppies.