Lagueria Davis, Director/Producer

Lagueria Davis graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 2007 with a BFA in Media Art. Since graduating, Davis has established herself as an award-winning filmmaker. Maid of Dishonor, a feature she co-wrote, was a 2016 Nicholls Fellowship Quarter-Finalist. In addition, she’s had four scripts place in the Austin Film Festival Screenplay Competition. In 2019, her short film, Light in Dark Places hit the film festival circuit and is now streaming on Amazon.

Currently, her project Black Barbie: A Documentary is moving from the festival circuit to theatrical release. She is a 2021 fellow in the Mentorship Matters program. Davis resides in LA where she’s on the Emeritus Board of the Alliance of Women Directors.

~~~~~~~~

Aaliyah Williams, Producer

Peabody Award nominated producer Aaliyah Williams is the founder of Just a Rebel, a television and film production company that focuses on contemporary stories that center and celebrate Black women. Just A Rebel’s first look deal with CBS Television Studios has been renewed for a second year.

Previously, Williams ran The Digital Studio at MACRO, where she developed and produced Gentefied which was acquired and adapted by  Netflix. Williams is an Executive Producer on the series which just wrapped Season 2 and received a Peabody nomination for Season 1.

As CCO she co-created the MACRO Episodic Lab with the Black List’s Franklin Leonard. Additionally, she developed and produced the 2018 Sundance selection Leimert Park which is currently streaming on BET+ and has wrapped Really Love starring Kofi Siriboe, Uzo Aduba, Yootha Wong-Loi-Sing.

Originally from Arkansas and Oklahoma, Williams graduated from Harvard and is a Film Independent Project Involve, Sundance, and active Ron Brown Scholar alumna.

~~~~~~~~

LinLay Productions, Executive Producers

LinLay Productions is led by Grace Lay and actress Sumalee Montano. The two Asian-American women support intergenerational stories that center multicultural talent in front of and behind the camera. LinLay strives to amplify voices that deserve the chance to leave a visible and lasting mark in the history of storytelling. LinLay’s first project, a dystopian sci-fi adventure titled The Deal, was produced with Lisa Brenner and Dean Devlin of Electric Entertainment.

~~~~~~~~

Camilla Hall, Executive Producer

Camilla Hall’s first feature documentary, Copwatch, was nominated for Best Documentary at Tribeca in April 2017. She produced feature documentary Circus of Books, premiered at Tribeca and sold to Netflix.

She produced Freedom for the Wolf, which studied freedom struggles around the world. The film premiered at Sheffield Doc Fest, and screened at IDFA, won the Slamdance audience award and went on to show at over 40 festivals around the world.

~~~~~~~~

Jyoti Sarda, Executive Producer

Jyoti Sarda brings twenty years as a senior-level global marketing executive with major studios and blue chip brands to developing impact-creating, documentary and narrative content through her company Nimble Media LLC.

Her production And She Could Be Next, following a defiant women of color led movement to transform politics from the ground up aired on POV in June 2020.

She is also Co-Executive Producer of Equal Means Equal, an award-winning documentary feature that is an unflinching examination of the discrimination against women built into the US legal system. She is intently focused on improving the diversity of elected officials and the electorate.

~~~~~~~~

Milan Chakraborty, Executive Producer

Milan Chakraborty is Head of Film at Marginal MediaWorks, where he oversees the company’s efforts in independent, studio and streaming film. He is a 15 year veteran of the film industry and has produced and executive produced about 20 films, including My Friend Dahmer, Assassination Nation, and Plus One.  Milan began his career at Warner Bros Pictures and New Line Cinema in production finance and accounting and has been independently producing and co-financing and since 2008.

~~~~~~~~

Team member bios courtesy of BlackBarbieFilm.com.

Sosena Erco

Currently on assignment with Procter & Gamble, Sosena Erco is a project manager and senior consultant with SOGETI, the technology and engineering subsidiary of the French multinational CapGemini Group. She holds an MS in Information Systems and BS in Biology/Business Administration, from the University of Cincinnati.

With time spent in Europe, Africa and Japan, she is conversant with international cultures and business practices. In Cincinnati, Sosena is a board member and Vice-President, Marketing & Communications with APNET USA (the African Professionals Network) and volunteers with Cincinnati World Cinema.

~~~~~~~~

Abi Esmena

A board member and Secretary with Women in Film Cincinnati, Abi Esmena was born in Hawaii and transplanted to the Queen City, where she majored in theatre at UK and finished her degrees in theatre / electronic media & broadcasting at NKU. She is a SAG-Aftra actor with over a decade of experience in front of & behind the camera.  

As an actor, Abi has performed in numerous feature films, theatrical productions and more than 100 local and national commercials. Her professional experience includes directing, producing, and screenwriting with a foundation gained via studies at Second City in Chicago and the Stella Adler Studio.

Abi owns and operates AuditionRoom513, a local acting studio focusing on Commercial, Film and TV training for actors of all ages, including voice over and audition coaching and taping.

~~~~~~~~

Ashley Glass

With a Masters degree in Public Health from Kent State and Bachelors degree in Public Health Education from U.C., Ashley Glass is a mental health and general healthcare advocate. Over the past two years she has been active in producing documentary films about people and significant issues in the Cincinnati area.

Her ongoing professional roles include consultancies, staff positions and volunteer board memberships with organizations such as UC Health, Best Point Behavioral Health,Women Helping Women, 4C for Children, Cincinnati Health Department, Dayton Children’s Hospital, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, and others.

She is passionate about mental health, women’s health equity and empowering others to recover from and overcome the adversities faced in life. Ashley is the executive director of Black Women Cultivating Change; read more at Linked-In.

~~~~~~~~