Kris Lefcoe is a director-writer whose work has screened at Toronto International Film Festival, SXSW, Art Basel Miami, IFC, and the Sundance Channel, among many others. Lefcoe’s half-hour pilot “Giving Up,” executive produced by David Wain, won Overall Best of the Fest and Best Writing at New York Television Festival, and Best Comedy and Best Director at Seriesfest, before landing a development deal with Imagine Television.
Lefcoe’s audacious feature debut, the dark comedy “Public Domain,” was about a surveillance-based game show that awards cash to the contestant with the saddest life. The film premiered at SXSW, and was installed at Art Basel Miami. Her intricate stop motion short “Tiny Riot Project” premiered at International Film Festival Rotterdam and was installed in numerous international galleries and art fairs, before selling to the Sundance Channel.
Her explosive music videos have garnered a number of nominations and awards, including the Peaches smash “Boys Wanna Be Her,” and two for hip hop duo POW’s: one which shot in a federal penitentiary while the group was incarcerated, and one which won Best Video at the Ottawa International Festival of Animation.
Lefcoe is currently developing new projects, writing her next feature film, and teaching on the faculty of the MFA Film and Television program at Stonybrook University. She lives with her husband and daughter in New York City. Lefcoe is repped by The Gersh Agency.
Inaugural Class
Kris Lefcoe
“Superstore”
Brenna Malloy
“Chicago Fire”
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Brenna Malloy
“Chicago Fire”
Los Alamitos, California native Brenna Malloy is a writer-director who has a passion for bringing female characters with depth to the silver screen, and an affinity for directing action.
Malloy participated in the competitive Filmmaker-In-Residence program with Gary Foster p.g.a. while developing her master’s thesis film “Rocket,” which throws the audience into the world of 1950’s dirt track racing, a world her family history is steeped in. The short earned a Student Academy Award® in 2016, an Individual Merit Award for Best Director at the Richmond International Film Festival, awards in China and the United Kingdom, and has screened in more than 40 festivals in eight countries.
Malloy’s experimental short “Candy Apple Red” celebrated its world premiere at The Bentonville Film Festival in 2018, and her horror short “The Birthday” screened at genre festivals all over the U.S. In the spring of 2019, Malloy directed a feature documentary about activist Manal Al-Sharif’s Freedom Drive across America.
As a participant of Ryan Murphy’s Half Initiative, Malloy shadowed executive producer and director Brad Buecker on Fox’s hit show “9-1-1” Previously, she was closely mentored by directors David Ward and Martha Coolidge, and shadowed Martha on an episode of “Angie Tribeca.”
Malloy graduated from the University of San Francisco with a BA in media studies and a minor in theater. She went on to earn an MFA in film production with an emphasis in directing from Chapman University. She is represented by The Radmin Company.
Malloy participated in the competitive Filmmaker-In-Residence program with Gary Foster p.g.a. while developing her master’s thesis film “Rocket,” which throws the audience into the world of 1950’s dirt track racing, a world her family history is steeped in. The short earned a Student Academy Award® in 2016, an Individual Merit Award for Best Director at the Richmond International Film Festival, awards in China and the United Kingdom, and has screened in more than 40 festivals in eight countries.
Malloy’s experimental short “Candy Apple Red” celebrated its world premiere at The Bentonville Film Festival in 2018, and her horror short “The Birthday” screened at genre festivals all over the U.S. In the spring of 2019, Malloy directed a feature documentary about activist Manal Al-Sharif’s Freedom Drive across America.
As a participant of Ryan Murphy’s Half Initiative, Malloy shadowed executive producer and director Brad Buecker on Fox’s hit show “9-1-1” Previously, she was closely mentored by directors David Ward and Martha Coolidge, and shadowed Martha on an episode of “Angie Tribeca.”
Malloy graduated from the University of San Francisco with a BA in media studies and a minor in theater. She went on to earn an MFA in film production with an emphasis in directing from Chapman University. She is represented by The Radmin Company.
SJ Main Munoz
“Chicago Med”
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SJ Main Munoz
“Chicago Med”
SJ Main Muñoz is an award-winning filmmaker whose path to directing began when she became the first female intern at DreamWorks’ Feature Development division at Amblin. She graduated with honors in Theatre Directing and Acting from UCLA, where she was the recipient of the James Bridges Award for Acting. She completed her MFA in Film Directing at Columbia University, once again graduating with Honors. She went on to acquire a PhD in Media and Communications from EGS Switzerland, where she studied under Claire Denis and Atom Egoyan, among others.
Main Muñoz has spent over 20 years working in production, notably as a freelance production supervisor for commercials and director of development at Merchant Ivory Productions.
Main Muñoz’s short films have screened worldwide and garnered dozens of awards. As a second-generation Latino-American with a passion for increasing Latino representation in film and TV, she was the founder of the former Latino Film Fund and Latino Screenplay Competition. Main Muñoz is Costa Rican-American and holds dual-residency in both the US and Costa Rica. She is repped by The Shuman Company.
Main Muñoz has spent over 20 years working in production, notably as a freelance production supervisor for commercials and director of development at Merchant Ivory Productions.
Main Muñoz’s short films have screened worldwide and garnered dozens of awards. As a second-generation Latino-American with a passion for increasing Latino representation in film and TV, she was the founder of the former Latino Film Fund and Latino Screenplay Competition. Main Muñoz is Costa Rican-American and holds dual-residency in both the US and Costa Rica. She is repped by The Shuman Company.
Kim Nguyen
“Brooklyn Nine-Nine”
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Kim Nguyen
“Brooklyn Nine-Nine”
Kim O. Nguyen is an award-winning comedy director who has worked with numerous high-profile actors and comedians including Jason Alexander, Bill Hader, Kevin Hart, Anna Kendrick, Amy Schumer, Emma Stone, and Channing Tatum.
She has directed short films, sketches, documentaries, commercials and branded content for some of the world’s largest brands, including Google, Target, Samsung, and ESPN. Her documentary “Santa Land” has screened in Academy-qualifying film festivals worldwide. Her latest projects include directing sketches for Comedy Central, commercial campaigns with Tracee Ellis Ross, John Cena, and Reese Witherspoon, and a short film she recently wrapped in Texas.
In 2017 she was selected for the Directors Guild of America’s TV Mentorship Program where celebrated television director Gail Mancuso served as her mentor. In 2018, she was awarded a fellowship to the Fox Directors Lab, where she was the sole comedy director selected from over 300 applicants. She was also chosen for the 2018 Sony Pictures Television Diverse Directors Program. She was previously a writer for The Onion and a writer/director for MTV.
She is based in Los Angeles and represented by 3 Arts Entertainment and Verve Talent.
She has directed short films, sketches, documentaries, commercials and branded content for some of the world’s largest brands, including Google, Target, Samsung, and ESPN. Her documentary “Santa Land” has screened in Academy-qualifying film festivals worldwide. Her latest projects include directing sketches for Comedy Central, commercial campaigns with Tracee Ellis Ross, John Cena, and Reese Witherspoon, and a short film she recently wrapped in Texas.
In 2017 she was selected for the Directors Guild of America’s TV Mentorship Program where celebrated television director Gail Mancuso served as her mentor. In 2018, she was awarded a fellowship to the Fox Directors Lab, where she was the sole comedy director selected from over 300 applicants. She was also chosen for the 2018 Sony Pictures Television Diverse Directors Program. She was previously a writer for The Onion and a writer/director for MTV.
She is based in Los Angeles and represented by 3 Arts Entertainment and Verve Talent.
Sara Zandieh
“Good Girls”
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Sara Zandieh
“Good Girls”
Sara Zandieh is an award-winning Iranian-American filmmaker based in LA. Her feature film, “Simple Wedding”, a culture-clash romantic comedy starring Rita Wilson and Shohreh Aghdashloo, premiered at Film Independent’s LA Film Festival and has since won major prizes across the country. It will be released theatrically in 2020.
Her first short film, “The Pool Party”, garnered awards worldwide including a Jury prize at the Tribeca Film Festival. Her next short, “Reza Hassani Goes to the Mall” starring Maz Jobrani, premiered at the Telluride Film Festival, won the Focus Features Best Film Award at the Columbia University Film Festival, and Best Short at the Hamptons International Film Festival. She also directed an episode of MTV’s critically acclaimed documentary series, “Rebel Music”.
Zandieh is a recipient of the Fulbright Grant for filmmaking, the La Fémis director’s workshop, and a MacDowell Colony fellowship. She holds an MFA in film directing from Columbia University’s School of Arts.
Her first short film, “The Pool Party”, garnered awards worldwide including a Jury prize at the Tribeca Film Festival. Her next short, “Reza Hassani Goes to the Mall” starring Maz Jobrani, premiered at the Telluride Film Festival, won the Focus Features Best Film Award at the Columbia University Film Festival, and Best Short at the Hamptons International Film Festival. She also directed an episode of MTV’s critically acclaimed documentary series, “Rebel Music”.
Zandieh is a recipient of the Fulbright Grant for filmmaking, the La Fémis director’s workshop, and a MacDowell Colony fellowship. She holds an MFA in film directing from Columbia University’s School of Arts.
