2024 UMFF " New Generation Filmmakers" Panel 

The Panel Speakers  

	Eligia Gonzalez,  Moderator Eligia is the media director for Maeya Culture Exchange Group and is an aspiring actress and director. Growing up Mexican-American she knew the importance of telling diverse stories that cross boundaries and therefore has been involved in over 10 years of theatre- performing in countless dance, choir, and drama productions. She has now shifted her focus to cinema where she aids multiple film festivals and productions. Possessing a B.A. in International Studies and a French minor from Cal State University Long Beach, she is always looking to collaborate with other artists who share her love of film. Currently, she is the main host for Maeya TV, a across world top 11 platforms program give coverage on international films releasing with interviews & livestreams
	Sherwood Jones, Post Production Supervisor Sherwood started making films in Super 8 at the age of 11. After winning a prize at the New River Mixed Media Gathering for his short film My Love, he moved on to study Broadcasting-Cinema at the University of North Carolina, then receive a Bachelor of Arts in Cinema & Photography at Southern Illinois University as well as a Master of Fine Arts degree at Ohio University. During this time, he won the annual student editing competition conducted by the American Cinema Editors, as well as won a Student Academy Award, Narrative Category, for his masters' thesis film, The Projectionist.He ventured into the film industry in post production, serving as editor, assistant editor, and post production supervisor on many feature films. During it all, he has maintained his own personal filmmaking activities. He has been the honor chairman of the San Diego International Kids' Film Festival since 2013.
	Alateng Bagna, Cinema photographer, post production Supervisor Alatengbagna is a famous young professional photographer, editor, colorist, and video packager. Co-founder of Inner Mongolia Light Chaser Culture Media Co., Ltd., teacher at Beijing China Film Hualong Education in western Inner Mongolia. More than ten years of experience in the industry and more than 500 project experiences. Proficient in AE, PR, PS, C4D 3D software. He has completed over 16 films and won"National Beautiful Rural Selection Award", "Eight Provinces and Regions Radio and Television Selection Award", "China Electric Power Television Selection Award", "The Most Beautiful Bataan Short Video Award"
	Yuxuan Jiang, VFX, Digital Art Yuxuan Jiang studied at Sichuan Media College, specializing in graphic design, digital art, visual effects, and virtual techniques. He participated in post-production special effects synthesis production in movies "Top Speed Interception" and "UNSTOPPABLE" and pre-production production work. He was also responsible for the special effects synthesis part. In the production of the TV series "Public Prosecution", he participated in the entire post-production special effects production and was responsible for the film and television synthesis and post-production synthesis management modules. His artworks won San Diego International Kids’ Film Festival Copper Award 2023 and multiple awards in China Creative Challenges Contest. He is also involved in screenplay writing, music composing, and short Vlog on multiple social media.
	Robert Sfarzo, Audio-Visual Artist and Writer Robert is winner of the 2022 Epic ACG Best Feature Animation for "Jimmie Sprinkles". He is an independent audio-visual artist and writer, as well as being an academic professional. As an early collaborator to the Walker Arts Center's MnArtists program, he published the web-based multimedia animation "nanite". As a contributor to the Minnesota Center for Photography, he had his first gallery showing and made his first commercial photography sale. As songwriter, singer, and musical performer, he produced two collections of original, contemporary music, "Volume One" and "Waves" in California. Robert has a Masters Degree in Computer Science from the University of Minnesota where he was an AI researcher. He is an academic professional for the University of Illinois and a professor at Cuesta College. Robert is currently working on the independent feature film "nanitia".
	Zhihao Xu, 3D artist, Animator Zhihao Xu, born on August 18, 2002, is a 3D artist, special effects artist and animator. He studied at Sichuan Media College, specializing in Digital Media Arts, and is a 3D artist, special effects artist, and animator, specialized in 3D software such as Cinema 4D, Unreal 5, Houdini, 3DsMax, Blender, etc. for art and video creation. Xu has participated in the productions of movies including UNSTOPPABLE, Hidden Love, Beating Heart, and TV series Public Prosecution, as well as Web series My Fair Lady Zhong Wuyan. He also won several awards in the China Creative Challenges Contest