DIRECTORS

Saray Guidetti is a writer, director and producer who has created and directed a handful of award-winning webseries, from "Inspira,” which was produced alongside the Hispanic Heritage Foundation, "Planet Progress," fiscally sponsored by the International Documentary Association and awarded with a Webby Honoree recognition and "Entanglement," which premiered at the San Francisco Latino Film Festival in 2018. Saray also produced and directed feature documentary, "American DREAMers," which premiered at the 2015 LA Film Festival and was released by Gravitas Ventures and Tugg Inc. And most recently produced feature film, “Amor en 266 Millas,” which premiered at the Grauman’s Chinese Theater in 2022.

Saray has also produced a handful of award-winning short films, from NALIP's "Swimming in the Desert," AFI DWW's "The Haircut," “Ballon” and "El Campo." In 2019, Saray wrote and directed short film, "Lady Justice," which won various nominations and awards for best action film and best picture. “Lady Justice” was acquired during its festival run and is currently being developed into a feature film.

In addition, Saray works in television, having worked on various scripted comedies and dramas. Most recent shows include CW’s “Supergirl” and HBO MAX’s Pilot, “Dead Boy Detectives.” Saray just completed work on a feature film, "Home Delivery," she post-produced, a series of branded content she directed and produced and a documentary for HBO Max. Saray is currently attached to direct horror-thriller feature film, Mount Mendocino.

Gia-Rayne B. Harris is an LA based writer/director, Mississippi native and an alumna of the University of Pennsylvania. She has been writing and directing professionally since 2018, when she created a global campaign with The Advocate Magazine called #LEADWITHLOVE. During her time in New York, she was part of THE NEW YORK NEO FUTURISTS - where she wrote, directed, performed in and premiered over 70 of her own short plays. 

In 2019, Gia-Rayne was awarded the Alfred P. Sloan Tuition Scholarship to attend American Film Institute Conservatory. She has directed 12 short films to date, several of which are on the festival circuit, and have screened at such festivals as the PAN AFRICAN FILM FESTIVAL, HOLLYSHORTS, OUTFEST, and AMERICAN BLACK FILM FESTIVAL. During ABFF, she was named a top 5 finalist for the HBO Short Film AWARD. Her film PENS AND PENCILS was acquired by HBO and will premiere on the platform in Spring 2023. 

She gravitates towards complex, character-driven narratives and tends to tell personal stories that come from her own backyard and inspire radical empathy. She seeks to place women and BIPOC individuals at the center of her work and sees her career as a love letter to them - more specifically the women that raised her - her mother and grandmother. She loves to learn and sees each new project as an opportunity to grow, not only as a filmmaker, but also as a person. 

Gia-Rayne completed her MFA at American Film Institute in Directing in 2021. Her thesis films BEFORE YOU and CAIRN will both be premiering this year.

Jean E. Lee is a Korean American writer/director from Allentown, Pennsylvania. A lover of global cinema and universal stories, Lee has directed in 9 languages spanning 7 countries and 5 continents. Jean’s feature directorial debut, PECADO ORIGINAL (ORIGINAL SIN) was recently distributed on HBO and HBO Max and is the first ever Paraguayan and American co-production. Jean recently completed her sci-fi action short film STRONG with support from AFI DWW, Google, the Sundance Institute, the Knight Foundation, and Panavision. She is currently developing her second feature, a horror magical realism film, BUT POLLY WANTS TO EAT YOU. Lee is also in post on a VR docuseries THE HEART OF PUERTO RICO, which won the 2020 AT&T Film Award and received support from Luis & Lin Manuel Miranda’s Foundation, Flamboyan.

Jean will be making her episodic directorial debut in 2022 on the NBC show NEW AMSTERDAM through NBC Female Forward. Jean is an alumnus of the 2014 Film Independent Directors Lab, 2015 AFI Directing Workshop for Women, the 2016 Blacklist/WIF TV Writers Lab, the 2017 Fox Filmmakers Lab, 2018 NALIP TV Writers Lab, and the Ryan Murphy HALF program. In 2019, she was named one of the “Top 25 Screenwriters to Watch” by Moviemaker Magazine and Austin Film Festival. Her first short magical realism film, CAHAYA which was shot in Jakarta, Indonesia, premiered at Berlinale International Film Festival. Jean graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa. She then earned her MFA in film production at NYU Tisch Asia as a Jacob Javitz Fellow. In her spare time, she can be found enjoying blueberry donuts and freshly steamed dumplings.

Kantú Lentz is a Peruvian filmmaker who creates films that take place in alternate realities with magical realism elements. She recently directed the award-winning short film “Jack and Jo Don’t Want to Die,” starring Justin Kirk and Olivia Edward which premiered at the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival. Lentz is an AFI DWW, Sony Television Diverse Directors Program, Viacom Emerging Directors Program & Tribeca/Chanel ‘Through Her Lens’ alum.

Over the past 3 years, Lentz directed over 50 political ads for ‘One Vote at a Time’ which creates in-kind campaign videos for democratic candidates who believe in gun safety legislation. In commercials, Kantú has worked with such brands and clients as New Balance, Verizon, TUMI, Ulta Beauty, LG, Aveda, AARP, AD Council, Refinery 29, VICE Media & YouTube Originals. The comedic video Rollercoaster Break-up, Kantú wrote and directed starring Moses Storm went viral with currently 8 million views and counting. In 2021 she was commissioned to write and direct a comedic short film for Paul Feig’s Powderkeg Fuse Anthology series. Kantú is slated to make her TV Directorial debut on the Dick Wolf series “Chicago Fire,” as part of this year's NBC: Female Forward Program. Lentz is currently developing the feature-length version of “Jack and Jo Don’t Want to Die.”