PSWIFT Filmmakers Brunch
Meet the Panelists
Sheri Davani Shahrzad Davani has a distinctive career spanning over 15 years as an assistant director and producer to a long list of first and second time directors in the independent film world. This is not to take away from her tireless work to help put together movies as producer on many successfully packaged independent films. It is not uncommon for directors to request Shahrzad to be their longtime first assistant director, she has an incredible ability to teach and guide novice and emerging filmmakers to great success in the editing room with their films. She cares a great deal about how the art of story telling can unfold in front of the camera. She is gifted technically on all aspects of filmmaking from camera, production, and editing. Highlights of Shahrzad’s 40 film titles are: Ana Lily Amirpour’s A Girl Who Walks Home Alone at Night, James Gunn’s Super , Lee Toland Krieger’s Celeste and Jesse Forever & The Vicious Kind, Shira Piven’s Welcome to Me, Liza Johnson’s Hateship Loveship, Jeff Baena’s Little Hours and most recently Janicza Bravo’s Zola. |
Brittany Ann started her career on the other side of the camera- with over 25 years as a dancer and model. She developed a deep understanding of the creative process from both sides, and for this reason thrives in a collaborative environment. While working in a wide spectrum of media- in film, television, commercial, digital content, music video, stills, and stage, she has had the pleasure to dress many notable characters. Celebrity talent includes: James Caan, Mira Sorvino, Dave Bautista, Michael Madsen, Danny Trejo, William Fichtner, Vivica A. Fox, Jason Biggs, Chad Lowe, Vince VanPatten, Eileen Davidson, Dee Wallace, Donna Mills, Dean McDermott, Martin Kove, John O’Hurley, Willie Garson, Mischa Barton, NFL stars Rob Gronkowski and Terrell Owens, and many many more. Originally from Philadelphia, Brittany Ann is an alumna of Drexel University’s Westphal College of Media Arts & Design, with a B.S. in Fashion Design, and minors in Art History and French. |
Danielle Bisutti is a Los Angeles born and raised BAFTA Award nominated actress, writer, producer, director and singer-songwriter. The Actress: Norse Goddess “Freya” in Sony PlayStation’s God of War, which has won unanimous “Game of the Year” awards including 5 BAFTA Awards including “Best Game” in 2019. “Ms. Grey”in Lifetime’s Nanny Killer, DanaGallagher in Shonda Rhimes’ For the People and recurring as “Hexela” in BUYtv’s Dwight in Shining Armor for Paramount. The Writer, Producer and Director: Her company Perfect Timing Productions current projects include: Mood Swings an TV comedy series for Pureflixpremiering 2019,TV pilots: Still Single, Imbiland, and feature films projects: The Fort, The Reboundand short film Little May which won the Fade In Awards Grand Jury Prize and is currently in post production. The Singer-Songwriter: Danielle’s songs have been placed in films: Venice Underground, April Moon, In the Presence of, Shadowheart, and theme song Heaven for indie feature City of... Danielle sings and plays piano, guitar and ukulele with her band Midnight Velvet, interweaving jazz and blues standards in their smooth, inventive way and reinterpret songs from the Great American Songbook to modern day rock-pop classics a la the vintage style of Postmodern Jukebox.
Stefan Colson grew up in the Coachella Valley. He’s now LA-based director of photography who reliably delivers beautiful images and has worked on several films, short films and documentaries. Some of his latest films include the BB King documentary “On The Road, the newly released feature film “7 Days to Vegas” and the upcoming feature “Little May”. He’s also an editor and has a degree in Music. He’s worked on several local projects including commercials and the award winning music video “Azhia.”
Kristoffer Polaha is probably best-known for starring in the critically-acclaimed CW series “Life Unexpected”. Most recently, he recurred on the cable series “Get Shorty” with Ray Romano and Chris O’Dowd and the limited series “ Condor” opposite William Hurt and Max Irons. Prior to that, Polaha costarred with Rainn Wilson in the Fox series “Backstrom,” as well as a number of TV series over the past ten years, including “North Shore,” “Miss Guided,” “Made in Jersey,” “Ringer” and “Valentine,” in addition to a multi-season recurring role on the acclaimed series “Mad Men” and numerous guest stars on both cable and network series. Kris is also well known for his many starring roles in the Hallmark Hall of Fame series of television movies. Polaha received his first great attention for his portrayal of John F. Kennedy, Jr. in the TV movie “America’s Prince: The John F. Kennedy Jr. Story” opposite Portia de Rossi. He has appeared in numerous independent features, including Where Hope Grows, Back in the Day, Devil’s Knot and Petty Crimes. He was most recently seen in Tim Tebow’s film, “Run the Race”. Next up for Polaha is a featured role opposite Gal Gadot in “Wonder Woman 1984” for Warner Brothers. Polaha was born in Reno, Nevada, and he is married to actress Julianne Morris. They have three sons. |
Danielle Bisutti 
Stefan Colson 
Kristopher Polaha
Ashley Fenton
Production Design, Art Department "Star Wars Episode VII"
Ashley Fenton is a production designer and art director based in Los Angeles. After art directing Lake Bell's breakout debut 'In a World...', she spent several months in New York doing the same for Noah Baumbach's 'Mistress America.’ Upon returning to Los Angeles, she began to work extensively on commercials and television shows but is excited to showcase to her true passion — making indie features. Collaborating frequently with her twin sister, the past few years have been a steady stream of exciting projects including ‘Beatriz at Dinner' with director Miguel Arteta, additional photography on 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' and co-designing Lake Bell’s follow up feature 'I Do Until I Don’t.'
Megan Fenton
Production Design, "In a World" "Adam Ruins Everything”
Megan Fenton, ADG 800, is a California native who made her way to Los Angeles after studying production design at The Academy of Art in San Francisco. She began her career working on music videos but quickly developed a love for television and feature film work. After Production Designing several award winning projects like “In a World” directed by Lake Bell and the TV show “Adam Ruins Everything”. Megan joined the art team on “Modern Family” for their final two seasons as Asst Art Director, and even found time between seasons to complete several feature films, co-Designing with her twin sister Ashley Fenton