A visionary filmmaker from Detroit, Michigan, Christine Swanson recently directed the genre bending dramedy “Albany Road” starring Renee Elise Goldsberry and Lynn Whitfield. It will be released in Fall of 2024. She also directed the record-breaking, smash-hit film The Clark Sisters: First Ladies of Gospel, starring Aunjanue Ellis. It was 2020's Best TV Movie award recipient from the African American Film Critics Association and nominated for a Critics Choice Award for Best Movie Made for Television as well as five NAACP Image Award Nominations including Outstanding Directing. Her other celebrated movie credits include All About You, The Miki Howard Story, and For the Love of Ruth, for which she also earned an NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Directing in a Television Motion Picture. Christine has directed numerous episodes of television including Sweet Magnolias, Bel-Air, BMF, P-Valley, All American, All American Homecoming, Found, Chicago PD, FBI and Roswell, New Mexico to name a few. Christine received her Master of Fine Arts degree in Film from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and her Bachelors of Arts degree from the University of Notre Dame. Christine serves on the Board of Trustees for Saint Mary’s College and on the advisory committees for Film Fatales and PANO Network. She lives in Los Angeles with her Studio Executive husband, Michael Swanson and their four amazing children.

Katie Hooten is Head of Studio at MPC in Los Angeles, leading a team of creatives and artists who visually develop worlds and solve production issues using art and visualization. A founder of Hardy Howl Films alongside partners Todd Edwards and Timothy Hooten, she has a background in TV and feature development and production. Producing work includes projects with Blur Studio as well as The Third Floor in Los Angeles, producing pre-vis and post-vis for some of the largest franchises in the feature space. Katie's filmography includes independent and studio productions for live action and animation, as well as award-winning music videos and commercials. Her company's breakout hit Hoodwinked (2006) kicked off a wave of indie animation that continues today, establishing a new model of quality entertainment made for a fraction of the cost of its competition. Katie began her professional film career with the independent feature Chillicothe (Sundance Film Festival, 1999), followed by various roles in production management at Walt Disney Feature Animation Studio, working on such films as Atlantis, Lilo and Stitch, Spirited Away, and Treasure Planet.

As Director of Technology, Matt Giblin leads the Innovation Team at AbelCine, a leading provider of products and services to the production, broadcast, and new media industries with locations in LA, New York, and Chicago. In this role, Matt identifies new and emerging motion picture technologies and develops strategies to support and implement them to enable visual creatives to produce cinematic imagery at the most advanced technical levels. In addition to his position at AbelCine, Matt is an experienced Director of Photography and Producer. He has filmed three features, several web series, and dozens of short films, commercials, and music videos. He loves collaborating with filmmakers who have a unique vision, a strong script, and is open to trying new ideas. His favorite projects allow him to travel—including to Abu Dhabi and Dubai for the Special Olympics World Games.