Bio – Lab 2021 Emerging

RespectAbility Entertainment Professionals Lab, Summer 2021

Jessy Holtermann

Jessy Holtermann is an actor, writer, producer and teacher. She has acted in indie films, commercials, and TV shows on Syfy, TLC and Investigation Discovery. She has also performed in plays in New York City. Jessy has produced three short films that she wrote and starred in that went on to film festivals. Jessy is also a children’s acting teacher. She holds a B.A. from The New School. [continue reading…]

RespectAbility Entertainment Professionals Lab, Summer 2021

Carmen Vincent

Carmen Vincent is a freelance video editor and documentary filmmaker based in Chesterton, IN with a fire inside her to engage with a diverse range of people and stories through her work. [continue reading…]

RespectAbility Entertainment Professionals Lab, Summer 2021

Gabby (G) Momah

Gabby {G} Momah (they/them) is a Black queer nonbinary storyteller, actor, writer, director, and producer raised on the unceded territories of the Tongva and Ohlone peoples on the west coast. G’s writing, directing and performance work is rooted in showcasing black trans voices and experiences from both comedic and dramatic lenses. They have also performed in various Bay Area theater productions including Schoolgirls; Or the African Mean Girls Play at Berkeley Repertory Theater, Top Girls at American Conservatory Theater and numerous shows with the sketch comedy group Killing My Lobster and the National Queer Arts Festival. Gabby is a Resident Artist of Crowded Fire Theater in the Bay Area, and has trained at Stanford University, San Francisco Mime Troupe, and The Actors Space. They are currently pursuing their MFA in Acting and Directing at Brown / Trinity Repertory Theater on occupied Narragansett and Wampanoag land. They are also a bomb cook, enjoy expressing their creativity in the kitchen and always down to build community and prism resources through food. Stay connected with G on IG @gabriellamomah. [continue reading…]

RespectAbility Entertainment Professionals Lab, Summer 2021

Laquana Lightfoot

Laquana Lightfoot started writing at six years old to manifest the life of her dreams. She’d write about overcoming the obstacles that a girl just at 7 years old went through in school from being bullied. When she wasn’t writing, she spent most of her time watching television, movies, and reading books that she begged her mom to purchase from the school catalog every year. During her high school years, she encountered numerous obstacles that led into traumas. At the age of 17, she was diagnosed with severe depression and post traumatic stress disorder. The students and friends around her couldn’t relate nor was mental health even discussed within her family or friendship groups. After graduating high school, she wasn’t so sure what it was she wanted to do with her life, but she knew that it would involve writing. So, she enrolled into LaGuardia Community College and graduated with a degree in Communications. [continue reading…]

RespectAbility Entertainment Professionals Lab, Summer 2021

Kimisha Renee Davis

Kimisha Renee Davis is an emerging Los Angeles based writer, director, and cinematographer. She is dedicated to telling diverse stories that transform the world. She is all about positive vibes she loves creating dynamic visual storytelling through: screenwriting, detailed character development, selecting and manipulating lenses and cameras, composition, color design, and painting with light. Thus bringing beautiful stories to life.

She was recently invited to attend American Film Institute’s Directing Workshop for Women: The Interchange. She was awarded a scholarship to attend Directing: Visual Storytelling at Sundance Institute Collab. She received a SLED Grant to attend the Lighting for Film and Television Maine Media Workshop. She was awarded a grant from ZEISS Cinematography Lenses through Women in Media. She was selected to attend Sony EDU. She was sponsored by Panavision and RED Digital Cinema to attend the Cinematography Intensive for Women at American Film Institute. Additionally, she was named ‘A Rising Star in Cinematography’ by Anton Bauer.

Kimisha Renee hires at least 50% women, BIPOC, LGBTQ, and disabled cast and crew members on every project. She champions inclusion riders to hire diverse film production employees in leadership positions above and below the line. Additionally, her sets are environmentally friendly to support efforts to end climate change. She especially enjoys action, adventure, fantasy, science fiction, and super hero films. She is committed to creating ones that have super heroines, BIPOC characters, and Afrofuturistic themes in the forefront. She is in pre production on her short film Prima and she is in development on a feature film and television series.

Davis’ life circumstances has significantly influenced her passion to pursue authentic diverse representation behind the camera and on screen. She especially supports and celebrates disability initiatives because of her personal medical journey and because she believes that everyone’s voice matters.

[continue reading…]

RespectAbility Entertainment Professionals Lab, Summer 2021

Ben Fox

Ben Fox, the founder of the blindDANCE Film Festival, is returning to filmmaking after previously giving up on a lifelong dream.

Only a few months after being featured amongst the first class of the GEN-Y Sundance Summer workshop, and having his short film premiering at the Gen-Y Theatre during the 2001 Sundance Film Festival, Fox was diagnosed with a progressive eye condition. Fox then turned to print journalism. [continue reading…]