Team

Jay is a queer, trans South African filmmaker living in Los Angeles. Their previous work includes the documentary shorts The Clean Up, The Vanishing Act, and Shaping Masculinity. They have worked on shows for NBC Universal, Amazon Prime, and HBO. Their artistic interests lie at the intersection of film and organizing and they are passionate about using the documentary medium to explore these interests.  They are a proud union member and a recipient of IATSE Local 871’s 2022 Lily La Cava Award. Jay graduated from the University of Southern California with a BFA in Film and Television Production.

Wendy is a Los Angeles-based producer and non-profit professional. She immigrated to the US from China at a young age and was raised in the South Bay area of California. Wendy currently works at the production company Maximum Effort in Los Angeles. Simultaneously, she works as a freelance theater and film producer. She has previously worked in fundraising and grant management. Wendy holds a BFA in Theatre Design from the University of Southern California and an MA in Gender, Sexuality and Culture from the University of Manchester.

Claire Evans is a filmmaker originally from Kansas City, now residing in Los Angeles, California. She is passionate about all elements of filmmaking, but particularly loves involving herself in documentary works. Her work includes the short films Doors, Teenage Daydream, Two Thieves Arrive in an Erotic Store, and A Wistful Memoir. She has worked for Cannes Film Festival as well as for both Variety and Indiewire at Sundance Film Festival. Claire graduated from Pepperdine University with a BA in Communication and Media Studies.

Lily is a Los Angeles based film editor. She has worked as an assistant editor for feature films and television. She has also edited trailers, music videos, sizzles, and short films. Lily received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Film Production from Chapman University. 

More of Lily's work can be found at www.lilyxfears.com.

Chance is a Los Angeles-native cinematographer and stop-motion animator. He works as a freelance editor and cinematographer in commercials, notably for the Trolli Ferrara Company. His previous work includes the Student Academy Award-winning film Not Just a Name and the mixed-media shorts Use Your Voice and Plastic Surgery. He graduated from the University of Southern California with a BFA in Film Production.

Ed is a composer from a small town in Wisconsin, now based in San Francisco. He is a queer, transgender man who, in another lifetime, was  the "head homo" at Homocore Minneapolis, where he produced live shows for touring queercore bands.  That led him to Olympia where he founded the queer music and arts festival Homo A Go Go, which showcased hundreds of queer artists from 2002-2009. Ed has composed music for dozens of films, video games, and social media pieces.

More of Ed's work can be found at www.edvargamusic.com.

The complete score of The Empty Chair is available on Bandcamp as the album Neon Uprising.

Nicholas is a production sound mixer, sound designer, and musician. Originally from the suburbs of Atlanta, they now live in Los Angeles and work full-time doing production and post-sound for documentaries, narrative shorts, and features. Their work includes the short films Hell is a House Party, Killer Views, Transparency, and In the Gray. Nicholas also makes music for the indie folk band goodtree and their solo project, sandalwood. They graduated from the University of Southern California with a Bachelor of Arts in Cinema and Media Studies.

More of Nicholas's work can be found at www.nicholasladue.com.

Jordan Williams is an artist and proud LA native who loves to explore the city to get to know its people as inspiration for art and character design. Jordan worked as a Render QC Artist on Avatar 2: Way of the Water. They received a Bachelor of Art in Art and minors in Visual Narrative Arts and Game Animation from the University of Southern California. Jordan's goal for The Empty Chair is to use animation to tell a deeply human story about a fight for representation and struggle for support.

More of Jordan's work can be found at jordanvonwilliams.myportfolio.com.

Joe is the owner and lead audio engineer at Mystery Street Recording Company. He is an adjunct professor and graduate of Columbia College Chicago’s school of Audio Arts and Acoustics, with a degree specializing in Audio Design and Production. He is a member of the Association for Recorded Sound Collections, the Audio Engineering Society, Chicago Area Archivists, and is a voting member of The Recording Academy (Grammys). Joe is also a volunteer producer for the Punk Rock Karaoke Collective and an advocate for Jail Guitar Doors. Joe was involved in early efforts to unionize Starbucks with the International Workers of the World between 2006-2009.

More of Joe's work can be found at www.mysterystreetrecording.com.

Rudy is a Los Angeles-based colorist with experience on features, television, advertising, and music videos. Rudy currently works at Harbor Picture Company.

More of Rudy's work can be found at rudypesci.com.

Dane is an editor, photographer and cinematographer. He was born and raised in southern California, and in his spare time he enjoys surfing, hiking, playing soccer and traveling. Dane graduated from Pepperdine University in December 2022 with a Bachelor's degree in Screen Arts. 

StormMiguel Florez is a trans, queer Xicane filmmaker, whose work includes the award-winning documentaries The Whistle and MAJOR!. StormMiguel is also an event and media producer, actor, and life-long musician. He is a 2022 SFFILM/Rainin grant winner and a 2021 Sundance Trans Possibilities fellow. He is originally from Albuquerque, NM, which he considers to be his homeland, and has lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for 25 years. 

CJ is an editor finishing his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Film Production at Chapman University. He is from San Jose, California, and enjoys table top games, pickleball, reading, and traveling.