Al Ballard is a Chicago independent filmmaker and the CEO of Ballard Cain Studios, LLC.  Film credits include: Wendy & Victor (2019), GEMINI (2021), FriendZone (2021), and his first feature film titled, The Book of Ruth, to premiere in 2023.

Facebook: Ballard Cain Studios

Instagram: b.c.s_studios

Taylor Dominique Mason (they/them) is a writer, filmmaker, and healing arts practitioner based in Chicago. A graduate of UCLA and Columbia College Chicago,  Taylor’s written and visual work has been featured in HuffPost, ForHarriet, and Rootwork Journal. Their first film, Santé (2022) received both the Albert P. Weisman Award at Columbia College and the Caucus Foundation Award, and premiered at the 28th Annual Black Harvest Film Festival in Chicago.

Social Media

Instagram: @taylor.dmnq

Sante | Trailer | 2022 from Taylor Dominique Mason on Vimeo.

Shiloh Tumo Washington is a 22-year old filmmaker from Chicago, IL.  He is also an aspiring writer of both fiction and nonfiction.  Film has become his preferred medium of artistic expression, and he finds in it the complete synthesis of everything that beauty can be.  Having had his films showcased at festivals, such as the Black Harvest Film Festival (Brother, Where Are You?), his work has been described as a movement in “poetic-realism.” 

Finishing up his undergraduate degree, he will be seeking a further advancement of his studies and the opportunity to travel the world and perfect his craft.  One For My Baby, his next short film, is a step towards the more complex narratives he dreams. 

Brother, Where Are You? ‘Tone Poem’ | TEASER (Short Film) from Shiloh Tumo Washington on Vimeo.