Bernardo Duran jr.
Producer

Bernardo Durán Jr. is from East Los Angeles, California.  Duran earned a B.S. in Business Admin from Cal State Los Angeles and an M.B.A. from the University of La Verne. Durán was accepted to the USC School of Cinematic Arts M.F.A. Film & TV Production program where he produced over 20 short films. he worked under Diego Luna and Gael García Bernal's brand, CANANA,

where he served as the In-House Producer for the T.V. series Back Home, branded content projects for McDonald's, Chevy, Pepsi, and the Cesar Chavez Foundation, and Production Coordinator for CANANA L.A. Durán is now Finance Manager for Silver Pictures, owned and operated by Joel Silver.

Meenakshi Ramamurthy
Producer

Meena is an aspiring comedy writer/director from South Texas—that means she’s one of the few Indian people who can tell you where to get a good taco. Currently, Meena is in her final year of the M.F.A Production program where she is the recipient of the James Bridges Directing Scholarship and the Jack Oakie Scholarship in Honor of Lisa Kudrow. She looks forward to making a career out of making people laugh, telling culturally relevant stories, and eating too much ice cream. Nzara '76 was the most fun she’s had in the desert.

Saira Haider
Editor

Prior to studying at the University of Southern California, Saira Haider received her Bachelor of Arts from Virginia Tech in Communication and History, with a minor in film. To learn more about film production, she decided to move from Washington D.C. to Los Angeles to continue her education.

After taking the advanced project classes at USC, she has worked on many short films, including A Different Tree and ‘Nzara 76 as an editor. Since graduating in May, she is currently working as an editor wrapping up her first feature film for network television.

Sasha Williams
Costume Designer

Sasha Williams graduated from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM) Magna Cum Laude in 2010. After a few months working as a Set Costumer and Assistant Costume Designer, she began work on her first Designer position for a USC music video titled “Anywhere” by Our Hospitality. For the next three years she worked on and designed on over 40 short film as well as several commercials and two Feature Films for the Asylum (Atilla; Santa Claws). Recently, she has worked in the Costume Department on Children’s Hospital and NTSF (Adult Swim) under Designer Leslie Schilling, as well as Co-Styling #OWNShow (for Oprah.com) with Terra Stuart. Currently she is working in the Costume Department on Disney’s Mighty Med under Designer Anthony Tran. In 2015 she is looking to join the Costume Designers Guild and being work as a union Costume Designer and Illustrator.

Jon Noble
Writer/Director

Jon Noble spent his formative years either in a virology lab or a movie theater. His life has always been split between his two great passions, science and film. Noble earned his bachelors at the University of Rochester with a dual major in Biology and Film Studies and, in 2014, graduated from USC's School of Cinematic arts with an MFA in Film and Television Production. Jon was awarded the 2012 USC Sloan Student Production Grant for the short film "Nzara '76" and the 2015 Sundance & Sloan Commissioning Grant for the feature script "Tyfus".

Micaela Colman
Producer

Originally from Kent, WA, Micaela studied Film and Communications at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA.  It was here that she learned the art of collaboration and problem solving, something she has taken with her ever since. In 2011, she was accepted into USC’s School of Cinematic Arts graduate program. During her time at USC Micaela discovered a deep passion for several aspects of the process, including, producing, directing and production design.

Sean McDaniel
Director of Photography

Sean McDaniel attended the University of Florida where he expanded into experimental and narrative film work while earning a B.S. in Film and Media Studies. Guided by his passion for the moving image, Sean attended USC's School of Cinematic Arts MFA program, continuing his focus in cinematography. His work has screened at  Palm Springs Film Festival, LA Shorts Film Festival, Holly Shorts, and the Vancouver International Film Festival, among others. As a Director of Photography, Sean strives to tell powerful stories through his work behind the camera in collaboration with talented directors.

Angel Herrera
Production Designer

Angel Herrera (b. El Salvador) is a theater and film artist based in Los Angeles with an MFA in Scenic Design from the California Institute of the Arts.Angel was also the scenic designer for The Center for New Performance (CNP) and the University of Guadalajara’s production– Timboctou– directed by renowned Mexican theater artist, Martín Acosta.Angel Herrera received his B.A. in Media Studies, Scenic Design and a minor in Photography from Pitzer College. He also studied a summer at the Department of Architecture at UC Berkeley and filmed a documentary while on the S.I.T. Berlin program in 2005. He was also recently the assistant scenic designer for the world premiere of Dead Metaphor at ACT in San Francisco, Matsukaze at the Dock Street Theater in Charleston, SC and has also designed for Tim Robbin’s theater company—The Actor’s Gang.

Charles Leisenring
Supervising Sound Designer

A 2014 graduate of the USC School of Cinematic Arts, Charles works as a freelance editor and sound designer, DP for documentary and serves as adjunct faculty member at the Relativity School, where he is helping to develop a video curriculum for the organization GetLit. He is currently in development for a documentary feature about disability rights through the Creative Visions Foundation.