A list of directors in the Chicago Film Scene directory. Reach out to directors in Chicago about jobs and film work or collaboration here.
Total Records Found: 234, showing 100 per page


I am based in Elmhurst, a western suburb 30 minutes from Chicago.
I’m a videographer, photographer, director, and editor.
My passion is for narrative films, but I will love to help out on any film project.


Kate Alden is currently an (unintentionally) nomadic filmmaker who has lived and worked across the US, with concentrated stints in Los Angeles, Seattle, New York, and Boston. She graduated from Chapman University (after transferring from Emerson College) with a degree in Theater Performance and a minor in Film Production.
Kate’s creative spark (and deadpan wit) is shaped from her lived experiences as the kid of divorced creatives (a visual artist/designer and an acoustical engineer/musician) and forging an identity and perseverance out of childhood adversity.
Kate started in this industry as an actor, appearing on a multitude of features, commercials and television shows, including ‘Twin Peaks,’ ‘Sorry for your Loss,’ and ‘The Librarians.’ About 10 years ago, she began concentrating on production and dove headfirst into the entire process. She has worked primarily as a 1st Assistant Director for the past 6 years, helming movies for Paramount, Vertical Entertainment, Buffalo 8, and Blumhouse, and working with the talents of Ashley Judd, Keith Carradine, Eiza Gonzalez, Rosanna Arquette, Steve Coulter, Barbara Rosenblat, and many others. She helped develop and was the creative producer on the 2018 short ‘Relationship Deli’ which amassed over 10 million views and was featured on Funny or Die and in the New York Times. Since reviving her focus on directing (with a slight ambition jump from the plays and films she directed with her friends as a teenager), she has created several music videos (for indie darlings Therese Curatolo and Alyssa Suede), a handful of dark comedy shorts and is in development on two features and a documentary based on true stories.

Akshaya Sawant is an award winning filmmaker with an extensive experience of working in India and the United States across branded content, episodic series, narrative films, documentaries and social media campaigns. Most recently, she was invited to Dubai by the U. S. Consulate to exhibit her cross-border short film When Jay Met Ammar; The film has been released in 190 countries on the popular OTT platform Zee5.
As a Director and Creative Producer, she has worked with prominent global brands such as Spotify, Netflix and Amazon, collaborating with superstars of the Indian film industry, esteemed sports personalities, leading political figures and popular influencers across multiple campaigns. Her films have featured on Disney Hotstar, Zee5, Roku TV and KVMD, the national broadcasting channel for Southern California. Her first feature documentary Talking To The Wind received 2 grants from The Virgin Unite Social Impact Film Fund (2017 and 2018), won 8 prestigious awards and screened at 17 International film festivals in 7 countries. Her extensive 10 years of content creation experience with roots in photography, design and fine arts empowers her to navigate each story through a unique and intentional perspective, with a dash of magical realism.
She has a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts and completed her Master’s in Film and Media Art from Emerson College (Boston) earning the Dean’s Fellowship. In July 2020, she was invited by the U. S. Presidential Scholars as the Keynote Speaker to discuss Narration – as Art and Responsibility at the Morningside Scholars Forum in China. In 2021, she was granted the O1B visa which is awarded by the U. S. government to select Individuals with extraordinary achievements in art. When not working, she spends her time making art with her nephew, exploring new places and chasing sunsets.

Local filmmaker, based out of Schaumburg, IL. I write, produce, direct and edit all of the projects that are produced and distributed from my studio BGil Studios. I’ve been a professional indie filmmaker since 2016 (when I graduated from the Illinois Institute of Art- Schaumburg).
I’ve always wanted to create my own action packed original stories based in the Superhero genre, with own flare of story telling that brings the audience to the edge of their seat through an engaging character driven story, that makes them want to see more. My writing style for the films I create is very episodic in nature, because I feel you can’t tell a good story with out having to flesh out all the important elements in one film.

Carlos Lerma is a Mexican multi-hyphenate writer, director, and producer. Lerma is best known for his festival-acclaimed original films, which include “Wish We Never Met” (2022), “Sunflower’s Friend” (2022), and “Faraway Fiesta” (2023). Lerma has also adapted some of his publications for the screen, such as “The Wright Choice” (2022). Additionally, he has published illustrated poetry books, including “Underdog Days” (2022), which is an English translation of one of his Spanish best-selling books.
Beth Ashby is a Chicago-based writer/director whose work revolves around the fantastical on a personal scale. Before earning her MFA at Columbia College Chicago, she made branded digital series for clients including Build-a-Bear, Cepia, and SEGA. She’s worked in almost every position in the art department for commercials, branded digital content, music videos, and narrative projects, including a Mid-America Emmy Winner for best Long Form Content. Her multiple awards for writing include the grand prize in Champion Screenwriting Competition and second place in Scriptapalooza, and her work has screened at festivals across two countries. She centers the narratives of misfits, as well as LGBTQ and neurodivergent characters, and believes storytelling that normalizes inclusion, empathy, and nonviolence is more than capable of keeping audiences enraptured.

A cinematographer with over 13 years of experience in the video production field.
Quiñones Rivera completed a fellowship with Kartemquin Film’s Diverse Voices in Docs in 2016. The same year, she directed the music video for Zeshan B’s “Cryin’ In The Streets”. The video premiered in 2017 and was featured in Rolling Stone magazine, American Songwriter, Impose magazine and the Chicago Reader. In 2017 Quiñones Rivera screened the first episode of her new docu-series, Darling Shear, at the NewFest Film Festival in New York City and the DuSable Museum of Chicago. The first season is available on OTV. She obtained a B.A. in Film and Literature at University of Puerto Rico, a Post Graduate certificate in Filmmaking at London Film School and an MFA in Integrated Media Arts from Hunter College, NYC.
I’m a new Chicago-based DP with experience in a bit of everything. I love to collaborate and I’m happy to lend a hand wherever it’s needed!

Director, Grip, Writer, & Script Supervisor looking to help out on productions!




Rob Christopher wrote, directed, and starred in the acclaimed fiction feature Pause of the Clock, which had its World Premiere at the Denver Film Festival in 2015 and screened at the Gene Siskel Film Center in 2016. In January 2017 it was nominated for “Best Chicago Film” by the Chicago Independent Film Critics Circle. His second film, Roy’s World: Barry Gifford’s Chicago, had its World Premiere at the Glasgow Film Festival, screened at New York’s Museum of the Moving Image and in several other cities, and was acquired by Cinedigm; it is now streaming on Fandor, Amazon Video, Vudu, Hoopla, Apple TV, and other apps.
For his next film project, he is adapting Gary Indiana’s wicked satire Depraved Indifference. Evangeline Slote, a sociopathic grifter who’s a master manipulator of both people and information, heads a family of con artists who specialize in identity theft. When her alcoholic husband Warren is felled by a massive heart attack, she and her incestuously devoted son Devin concoct a final desperate scheme—which may require the elimination of an elderly New York socialite to complete.
Jon Gollner is a Wisconsin-born, Chicago-based filmmaker and editor who has worked on a variety of film and television productions. His recent credits include editing the feature film Moving Parts, editing and producing PBS’s food and interview series To Dine For with Kate Sullivan, and several short films that have played in numerous film festivals. Jon strives to tell stories full of empathy, humor, and celebration of people and their passions.

My name is Emerson Cole, a graduate of Columbia College Chicago. I have experience in many types of production mediums, including but not limited to film, TV, theatre, live events, industrials, and documentary work in various positions. I have been working steadily since graduation and want to continue doing so.
I have been working as a sound mixer since 2018 and have been growing my knowledge since. I really started to build out my sound resume in 2021 with the various types of jobs I was contracted for. I was sound mixer on a tier 1b feature film and worked with a boom operator. I recorded audio for interviews of celebrity artists for Amazon Music Rotation at Dreamville Festival, an indie TV show called Upside Brown where I controlled up to eight different wireless tracks and sometimes duel boom with my operator and myself, Chicago Marathon on the B camera team for a commercial for Abbott where I walked about 10 miles with my kit while capturing different subjects and ambient sound, and a documentary show on LG TVs called The Rivalries where I did interviews, Verite style, and boomed an entire lacrosse game for three and a half hours.
For a while, I have been growing my sound package. I currently am running a Sound Devices Mix Pre 10 ii, Schoeps CMIT 5U, two Lectrosonics LT/LR with Cos11d lavs, Røde NTG 3, and Røde Wireless Go II transmitters and receiver with Countryman B3 lavs. I own a Comtek transmitter and three receivers, two Denecke JB-1 Timecode boxes and Denecke TS-C timecode slate. I also have a relationship with Cinespace’s Second City Sound to rent from as well as other local rental houses if needed to rent.
Given my drive to learn, I want to make your project better by having such dedication to doing better. With my quick technical knowledge, I will be able to accomplish any task given to me.

Justin Senkbile is a writer and filmmaker living in Chicago. A former film critic for the Omaha Reader and NET Radio, his feature script THE IDEALIST was a 2019 ScreenCraft Fellowship quarterfinalist and a participant in the 2022 Stowe Story Labs. His film THE REGULARS won the best actress award at the 2016 White Light City Film Festival.
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2382945/
Asif Ahmed is a Writer, Cinematographer (Director of Photography), Director, Editor, & Producer- A True Filmmaker! Asif has worked in the industry for 20+ years attending film school, worked at Technicolor studying under DP’s and colorists and worked at all the major studios.
His professional credits includes award winning feature films, shorts, commercials, television and Asif has also produced content for countless brands and was also an in-house director/producer for AT&T.
He has raised financing for films and has shot projects on 6 continents in more than 2 dozen countries.
IATSE Local 476 Set Lighting Technician; Co-Founder at Red Band Entertainment; Phoenix born, Chicago based. Looking to expand my resume and experience collaborating with local talent to make something great! Aiming for the silver screen.
I’m a Chicago based producer and founder of Chicago Film Scene. If you have any questions please ask. mbruds@gmail.com

Mishu currently writes, directs, and produces films of various lengths in Chicago; where the past winters have been so cold the only imaginable reason he has stayed must be undefeatable self-loathing.
He has previously lived in New York (Brooklyn and Binghamton), New Orleans, and Whitewater Wisconsin—where you can go to find cheese hats, Miller High Life, and rock bottom.
Prior to filmmaking, he had spent the past decade desperately seeking validation in a profoundly unsuccessful career in theater and comedy. His theater experience—which can only be described as the opposite of lucrative—lead him to writing and performing in an original comedy special ‘Trapped in the Netflix’, devising the “diluted social satire” play ‘Good Morning Gitmo’, and directing the interactive theatrical experience ‘Out to Get You’; which the Chicago Reader chronicled as “the sort of unwieldy mess only true ambition could create.”
Mishu is grateful to have taken a step away from theater and live performance to focus on filmmaking. Since the transition, he has written and shot six short films. He is now raising funds to shoot a feature film for a brilliant screenplay he has penned.
He is forever thankful to his partner Audrey, his family, and the casts, crews, and audiences who generously share their time.


I am an independent filmmaker, screenwriter, poet, photographer, and musician. I am a native Chicagoan, currently living and working in the Ravenswood neighborhood.
I started making movies when I was 7. As a teen I dove into theater, poetry, piano, and photography. Then filmmaking re-emerged as my primary art form because I realized that it’s the creative culmination of all these fields.
I am a fiercely contemplative and introverted person, and it is ultimately reflected in my films: I’m interested in exploring solitude, romanticism, identity development, love & loss, and all of their intersections. I’m inspired by films that are unafraid to slowly gaze, to move at a human pace, and to draw the viewer into a kind of transcendent co-creation.
I’m grateful that in the last 10 years I’ve amassed a body of work that reflects my evolution as a human. It has helped me see myself. In the next ten years I hope to further blur the line between art and life, and to by extension create a space where others can, through narrative and character, witness their own humanity and growth. I hope that my work is as much of a balm to them as it is to me.
Hello! I am a current student at DePaul University, graduating in June 2023, and looking for opportunities during my last few quarters and post-grad.
I am a very organized, creative, and detail-oriented person and I pride my self on my out-of-the-box thinking and flexibility. My concentration is in Producing, but I have some experience in Directing, Writing, Editing, and Acting as well.
Email me if you are interested in collaborating and I can show you some of the projects I’ve worked on.
-Emma

My name is Rodescu Hopkins II. I am 32 years old and finishing my last year in film school. I’ve been a freelance photographer for years and want to expand and explore the art form of cinema.



I am a young, new Writer/Director hoping to positively impact the industry’s future. I am eager to take up any position on set and am constantly working to meet new people.

Stan Miskiewicz is an artistic powerhouse packed with the efficiency, skills, and targeted focus required to accomplish all set milestones in the projects he undertakes. A visual artist for 35+ years, he is able to translate concepts into visuals and is considered the Iron Monk of media production. He possesses extensive knowledge with a formidable range of high-end production experience and has a sense of style and acuity needed in the modern digital media production industry.
Stan started out his career as an editorial photographer in Chicago which quickly propelled him into the field of visual effects. A self-starter, he went on to start his own San Francisco based company, Black Point Studios in 2004, quickly becoming one of the industries go to boutique studios and has worked in several companies distinguishing himself as a superb Art Director, visionary artist, and Producer who gets things done with his hands-on approach, tenacity as well as uncompromising ethics and integrity. His talents have taken him from the U.S. to Europe where he worked on feature films, and help built and run production studios. In 2015, he founded CineAir, a full-service company that focuses on transforming the industry through premium quality camera work and his forward-thinking artistic vision always shows in his work.
Being both a director and artist, combined with the additional technical background, has given Stan a unique perspective in the arena of filmmaking. With a deep understanding of film and camera moves, color correction, editing, compositing, and visual effects, he is able to communicate and comprehend the requirements when working with Producers and Directors, effectively capturing the best possible visuals for the projects.
Stan is a licensed drone operator and was one of the first to receive the FAA 107 remote pilot license and the 107.29 daylight (night) waiver.
For quality work that is on the leading edge of technology, contact Stan today!
Brief Bio:
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8 years as a professional drone operator and cinematographer.
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20 years as a studio executive and Art Director
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Feature Film VFX artist having IMDb Film Credits
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Owner of Black Point Studios in SF a production, animation, and vfx studio
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Editorial photographer in Europe and the U.S. for AP, UPI, DPA, Berliner Morgan Post, Speigel Magazine, Detroit Free Press, Crain Chicago Business, and others.
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Fashion, Automotive, and Product Photographer

Hey! I’m Johnny. I’ve been producing videos since 2013. It all started with a DSLR in the Smoky Mountains. Since then I’ve grown to work with big name’s like Google, Pinterest, Nike and many others. My focus is always on story, so if you’ve got one to tell, you’ve come to the right place. Let’s make something together!
My experience is largely in the commercial space, but I’m looking to expand into documentary and narrative. I’m open to any and all camera op, assistant camera, and editing opportunities.
You can contact me by email, or call me at (773) 332-2232. See you on set!

Born on Chicago’s Southside, Chris has co-written and produced sketch shows at Steppenwolf, Second City and ETA theaters. In 2019, he and his writing partner Joe Walters were finalists in the “Your Script Produced!” screenwriting contest, and were mentioned in the 2019 November issue of Variety. Chris is committed to keep growing as a writer and content creator in the industry.



Recent graduate of DePaul University’s Film and TV program. I have 4 years of experience as a Production Designer, Production Assistant, Props Master, Set Dresser, Covid Compliance Monitor and Assistant, Wardrobe Assistant, Producer and Line Producer, Boom Op, and Casting Assistant. I have acting experience from theater and background work. I’ve also been a Social Media Manager and I’m currently an Event Organizer and Host for K-Pop events in Chicago.
I strive to help tell the stories of POC, LGBTQ+ folks and support crews with the same vision.
I have extensive experience in customer service communications, professional organization and being a right-hand (wo)man! As a motivated crew member, I have worked in many different roles and I am ready to learn and adapt to even more. I’m passionate about this industry and I want to contribute my hard work and dedication to unique projects. I have a positive attitude, a drive to succeed and I see my hard work through to the end of any challenge.
I have written, directed and starred in many of my own videos, short films, sketches and even music videos. I’ve spent years performing stand up comedy and improv around Chicago and am currently in a production at The Otherworld Theatre.





writing student at the School of the art institute here in Chicago, former freelance editor. looking to make my footing in the film industry here in the city.

I am a Chicago freelance filmmaker who graduated from Columbia College Chicago with a degree in directing.
I have worked on large and small projects in mediums like features, TV, commericals, shorts and corporate production.
Most of my gigs are Sound Mixing, PAing or Videography. I do however have skills in a lot of areas such as lighting, art department, ADing, producing, camera assisting, etc. I love to learn everything I can about production and with that I am able to pick up things quickly.



Just looking to meet people and help with any projects! Email me at smetzger357@gmail.com

