Thomas Allen Harris - Raised in the Bronx and Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania, Thomas Allen Harris is an award-winning filmmaker and cultural warrior, whose documentary films, installations, and experimental videos have been featured in venues across the international landscape on television, at festivals, museums, and galleries. For over 6 years, Harris produced for public television, which included two Emmy nominations (in 1991) for his work as a staff producer at WNET (New York's PBS affiliate) on THE ELEVENTH HOUR and THIRTEEN LIVE.
His documentary programs CRISIS: Who Will Do Science? and CRISIS: Urban Education aired nationally on public television in 1989 and 1990 respectively.
Kenneth Tin-Kin Hung - Kenneth Tin-Kin Hung was born in Hong Kong and is now living and working in New York. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Arts degree from San Francisco State University.
His work has been exhibited at the New Museum, New York; Yerba Buena Center Of The Arts, San Francisco; Berkeley Art Museum, Berkeley, California; Sundance Film Festival, Park City, Utah; Postmasters Gallery, New York; Cartwright Hall Art Gallery, Bradford, United Kingdom; Urbis, Manchester, United Kingdom; Hebbel Am Ufer theatre, Berlin, Germany.
He has received several awards throughout his career, including Tribeca Film Institute Media Arts Fellowships, the VIPER International Award- Internet in Switzerland and Honorary Mention- Net Excellence in the 2002 Prix Ars Electronica.
Nina Paley - Nina Paley is an American cartoonist, animator and free culture activist. She directed the animated feature film Sita Sings the Blues.
She was the artist and often the writer of comic strips Nina's Adventures and Fluff, but most of her recent work has been in animation. Her early short films include Fetch!, The Stork, and The Wit & Wisdom of Cancer.
Jay Smooth - John Randolph -- better known by his deejay name Jay Smooth -- is the founder of New York City's longest-running hip hop radio program, WBAI's Underground Railroad.
He is also known for blogging on the website hiphopmusic.com and hosting Ill Doctrine, a hip hop video blog that features his commentary on hip hop and politics.
In 2008 he was chosen as one of Salon.com's "sexiest men living".
Contemporary filmmakers tell their stories using the latest tools, including everything from digital cameras to computer animation. The way they tell their stories has been shaped by the rise of short-form and user-generated content, video games, and virtual worlds that invite audience participation.
At the same time, audiences are expanding their role by making films that are just one piece of a larger project. Come hear a panel discussion exploring storytelling in film today.