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    Production Grant

    Each year, the Voices With Impact Film Production Grant offers filmmakers $7.5k USD to filmmaking teams making transformative 5 minute films on the topic of mental health.

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    LEARN MORESEE PREVIOUS YEARS

    Filmmakers

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    Meghna Chakraborty

    Meghna Chakraborty is an LA-based director, producer and dancer/choreographer. Her projects span documentaries, music videos and narrative film.

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    Hae Ji Cho

    Hae Ji Cho is a Korean Brazilian American writer-director exploring the beauty and grief in human contradictions. With experience across scripted and unscripted media, her work has contributed to projects nominated for Clio, Webby, and Shorty Awards.

    Jurors

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    Emily Diamond

    Dr Emily, a lover of illustration and arts, studies mental health and societies under strain from climate destabilization. Favourite film: The Last Emperor

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    Shenuka Corea

    Shenuka Corea is a visual storyteller from Sri Lanka and is the creator of the animated shorts ‘Sweet Oranges’ and ‘The Plastic Horror’. She is currently working on a graphic novel. In her free time, Shenuka enjoys fiber arts and Dungeons and Dragons.

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    Margaret Kroen

    Margaret Kroen is a clinical social worker from Baltimore. In her long diverse career, she’s learned that all people have both beauty and pain inside. Art nourishes beauty and sends love to the pain.

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    Aliza Brugger

    Aliza Brugger, an award-winning screenwriter and director from rural Nebraska with an MFA from Columbia, lives in Los Angeles. Their internationally recognized work explores queerness, class, and family dysfunction, aiming to create empathy and connection through narrative, music, and commercial projects.

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    Michelle Jobes

    Dr. Michelle Jobes is a dedicated public servant working in substance use disorder research with an eye and heart always on reducing the stigma of substance use disorders and mental health.

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    Leanne Dimant

    Leanne, a Northern Canada-raised film director now in the UK, has created films for the Red Cross, Glastonbury Festival, and the V&A Museum. She is currently producing a documentary funded by the BFI Doc Society. Favourite Film: Lady Macbeth.

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    Sonya Littlejohn

    I'm a poet, writer and community championing active listener who loves movies!​​ ​ Favourite film: The Princess Bride

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    Juan Sosa

    Juan Sosa, M.D. is a psychiatrist with sub-specialty training in forensic and addiction psychiatry. Dr. Sosa appreciates the use of various art forms, including film, to highlight and reflect on the impact mental illness has on those diagnosed.

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    Carly Stock

    Carly is a LPCC in Oakland, California. She approaches therapy from an existential lens and supports adults trying to navigate dread, worry, fear and depression. She's passionate about sustainability, cycling and films! She loves anything by David Lynch and Wong Kar-wai.

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    Nich Perez

    Nich Perez is a Filipino-American filmmaker and educator, blending human connection with storytelling. Through his nonprofit, the Nonprofit Film Collective, he crafts powerful narratives that inspire change. His latest film, letters to eleanore, explores disability, hope, and community.

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    Perry Voulgaris

    Creating, managing, launching and distributing programming in screen-based, immersive and experiential media.​ ​ Favourite film: Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert

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    Jason Eskuzian

    A 2023 Voices With Impact grant recipient, Jason Eksuzian is an award-winning director, writer, producer and cinematographer based in Los Angeles, California. As both a scripted and unscripted director, Jason has helmed a vast array of projects, from independent short films to commercials and network television shows.

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    Julie Colman

    Head of Production at Rural Media and Rural Studios and I absolutely love films that make an impact!​​ Favourite film: Cabaret

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    Asha Alaji-Sharif

    With a passion for creativity, Asha aims to uplift underrepresented communities through storytelling. She is a graphic designer and filmmaker from Atlanta, GA, who has created two documentary shorts through VWI. Her favorite film is Zoolander!

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    Kincaid Walker

    Kincaid Walker, a Northwestern graduate based in LA, is an actress, writer, and producer. She has appeared alongside Rosario Dawson, Minnie Driver, Aziz Ansari, and Nick Offerman. Kincaid also created the award-winning digital series Hug it Out and received a writing fellowship from the Ucross Foundation. Favourite film: The Royal Tenenbaums

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    Fu Yang

    Fu is a stop-motion filmmaker and partner at the boutique animation studio, Cafe LaBobo. She specializes in mixed media storytelling and crafts each project from concept to final. In one of her past productions, she directed a segment for "Yo Gabba GabbaLand!", streaming on Apple TV+.