Originally from Austin, TX, Mandy began her career in New York City doing theatre, sketch comedy and Improv before moving to Los Angeles and putting her film degree to work as a director. Since then, she's directed award-winning shorts, music videos, web series, was awarded a fellowship in the Sony Pictures Television Directing Program, and was named "Best New Filmmaker of the Year" by NewFilmmakers LA.
More recently, Mandy was the co-creator and director of "The Young Hillary Diaries", Lifetime's first digital series, and her Amazon digital series “Dropping the Soap” (starring Jane Lynch, John Michael Higgins, Missi Pyle), won Jane Lynch an Emmy for Best Actress in a Short Form Original in 2017. Her latest screenplay, Late Bloomer, was selected for the Meryl Streep/Oprah Winfrey Writers Lab in 2017.
Mandy now lives in LA with her husband, actor Patrick Fabian, her two daughters, Abbey and Delilah, and an impressive collection of reusable water bottles. For more information, go to mandyfabian.com.
Jesse Knight is a multi-award winning filmmaker and screenwriter. While receiving his BFA in film and fine art from Pratt Institute, Jesse became interested in mythology, storytelling and, eventually, screenwriting. His short film Knock Knock was featured at the 2007 Anthology Film Archives horror film festival. His short, Waiting for Molly, premiered at the Williamsburg Independent Film Festival in 2013. His screenplay, A Lush Life, was a winner of the 2014 Big Star screenwriting competition. His feature film AFTER PARTY, starring Rachel Nichols, Laura Dreyfuss, and Steve Guttenberg, won Best Comedy at the 2017 Madrid International Film Festival. Jesse is an internationally known DJ who has played residencies in Berlin, New York, Paris,and Greece. A documentary about the Lower East Side is currently in production.
Mayuran Tiruchelvam is a screenwriter and producer. His filmmaking is fueled by a vision for a more compassionate and openhearted world.
His feature screenwriting debut, neo-noir THE GIRL IS IN TROUBLE, executive produced by Spike Lee, was released by eOne in April 2015 and a critic’s pick from the Village Voice and RogerEbert.com. As a producer, his feature films include TO BE TAKEI (Sundance 2014), THE UNTOLD TALES OF ARMISTEAD MAUPIN (SXSW 2017), and MY FIRST KISS AND THE PEOPLE INVOLVED (LA Film Fest 2016)
Mayuran is a Sundance Institute Creative Producing Fellow and Film Independent Fellow. He has taught screenwriting and producing in the graduate film programs at Columbia University and Sacred Heart University.
Patrick Wells Valenti is a director, producer and editor currently working out of Los Angeles, CA. Recently he directed, produced and edited the dramatic short film, Head Wound, which played at the 2018 River Bend Festival, 2017 San Jose International Short Film Festival, 2017 New York No Limits Film Festival, and the 2018 Yountville Film Festival. He also has directed various other short films such as Amy and When We Knew. He directed two episodes of Interrogation: A Scifi Webseries , for which he was also the series editor and cinematographer.
Recently Patrick edited the dramedy feature Buddy Solitaire (co-starring Oscar nominee Sally Kirkland), which was an Official Selection for the Cinequest Film Festival, Heartland Film Festival, Newport Beach Film Festival, and others. He was also an editor on the feature documentary Social Animals, which premiered at the 2018 SXSW Film Festival, and on the family comedy Best Mom, which is currently beginning its festival run. In addition he has edited several short mini documentaries, including Comedy Therapy, Miniature Man, and A Walk Through Memory, as well as several short narrative films, such as Coyote, Out of Town, Blue Pig, Word Police, and others.
As for future projects, Patrick is currently in development for his first feature, The Secret Lives of Youtubers, with screenwriter/producer, regular collaborator (and wife) Britain Valenti.