Short Stack: Lost & Found

Dong Hyeuk Hwang was born and raised in Seoul, Korea. After he graduated from the Seoul National University with a B.A. in communications, he wrote and directed numerous short films including Our Sad Life and A Puff of Smoke. Moving to Los Angeles, he continued to make films, completing two shorts Heaven & Hell and Desperation. He recently graduated from the University of Southern California with a M.F.A. in Film Production. His short film Miracle Mile has been screened at more than 40 film festivals worldwide and won numerous awards, including DGA Student Award and Student Emmy Award.

Born and raised in Toronto, Canada, Christina Piovesan moved to Los Angeles in 2000, where she earned an M.F.A. degree in film production from the University of Southern California. While at USC she produced half a dozen award-winning short films that have screened at festivals worldwide. She was recently honored with a Student Emmy Award from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for her work as producer on Miracle Mile. After graduation, Piovesan worked on the busy desk of senior television literary agent Ann Blanchard at the William Morris Agency (WMA). She left WMA to work in development for producers Gina Matthews and Grant Scharbo at Roundtable Entertainment. She also contributed on the development of the feature comedy Superfan at Revolution Studios. Piovesan is currently developing several feature film projects with the intent of producing them under her fledgling production banner First Generation Films in the coming year.

Keith Bearden is an award-winning screenwriter, journalist, television writer, and producer. He was head writer on VH1’s long running Where Are They Now?, has co-produced segments for the Independent Film Channel’s Split Screen and written specials for the Children’s Television Workshop. His previous 16mm short, Inertia, was called “odd and hilarious” by the Seattle Times and was given four stars in Film Threat. He has written about film and pop culture for publications as varied as Gourmet, Time Out, the Seattle Weekly, Slant, and Psychotronic.

Chris Newberry is a graduate of Northwestern University, the holder of a master's degree from Goldsmiths College at the University of London and the recipient of a Jerome Foundation Media Arts Grant. His 1998 short film 20/20 Vision enjoyed a national festival run after earning a Best of the Fest Award at the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Film Festival. The film also received national media attention when its featured player, wrestling-star-turned-pop-culture-icon Jesse “The Body” Ventura, was elected governor of Minnesota. Newberry, who lives in Minneapolis, is in postproduction for his fifth short film, Sweet Caroline, and is developing long-form projects. He also works in commercial production and design.

Angelique Midthunder began her career in the film industry on a whim when she answered an ad in the paper for a “girl who can gallop a horse bareback.” This open call landed her a lead role in a Japanese feature film. From there, Midthunder went on to travel extensively in Japan, working as an actor, dancer, and model. Upon returning to the U.S., Midthunder turned her sights to casting; enjoying the experience of selecting characters and watching scenes brought to life. For seven years Midthunder worked booking talent for movies such as Tigerland, Jeepers Creepers, Hidalgo, and for major television networks including NBC, HBO, and FOX, focusing on a combination of creative selection and cultural realism in her work. Most recently, Midthunder started her own production company and has taken on the task of producing a series of public service announcements for wild horse preservation featuring a host of celebrities.

Michael Fukushima has been directing and producing animation films since 1984 — independently, commercially, and for the National Film Board of Canada. On the strength of his first auteur film, Tako, Fukushima was invited to the National Film Board’s Animation Studio in 1990. Two years later, he completed the award-winning animated documentary, Minoru: Memory of Exile. Fukushima has also taught at Concordia University in Montreal. His credits range from abstract animation to kid’s animation to documentaries, interactive web productions and more. His recent productions include the Animation Hothouse project and the experimental cNote by veteran filmmaker Chris Hinton. Fukushima’s current productions include a CG short on adoption and vegetables and HA’Aki, an interactive installation and film co-production with Habitat. His short film, A Monster’s Calling, appeared on Independent Lens in 2004.

Born in Petakh Tikvah, Israel in 1974, Shira Avni was raised in Montreal. An incorrigible doodler with a flair for puppet making, Avni was destined to turn her talents to animation. She graduated from Concordia University in 1998 with a B.F.A. in animation. Her student work earned her the Dean’s Award in 1997 and the Cinema Prize the following year. Her first film, 48 Second Blues, won Best Animated Video at the Montreal World Film Festival’s student competition in 1997.