Meet the Director-PRODUCER...
Ashley O’Shay is a director and DP living in Chicago. Her work focuses on illuminating marginalized voices. She specializes in immersive stories, recognizing the societal impact of observing life as is. She’s brought her unique style beyond the documentary space, collaborating with a number of national brands, including Lyft, Nike, Vox, and Dr. Martens. Most recently, she filmed an international commercial spot for Wilson Tennis, with over 1M views in digital markets. Her cinematography also appeared in Founder Girls, a 2022 Queen Collective film that premiered at Tribeca 2023. Although she has crafted many short films, Unapologetic is her first venture into the feature world. The film premiered at the 2020 BlackStar Film Festival and was shortlisted for the International Documentary Association Awards.
MEET THE PRODUCER...
Morgan Johnson is an independent filmmaker and publisher. Her documentary career was born at Northwestern University, and nurtured by Kartemquin Films' internship program. She grew to become a staff producer with Milwaukee-based 371 Productions. There she produced and co-directed the PBS/World Channel documentary There Are Jews Here, which premiered at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival in 2015 and then toured for two years before its national broadcast. She also associate produced a Virtual Reality documentary about abortion clinic harassment called Across The Line which premiered at Sundance Film Festival’s New Frontiers exhibit.
Her life and career evolved when she left 371 in 2016 and co-created The TRiiBE (thetriibe.com), a digital publication dedicated to reshaping the narrative of Black Chicago , which has earned Morgan a spot on Forbes’ 30 Under 30 Media Class of 2019 and Adweek’s Rising Brand Stars of Chicago.
meet the Editor...
Rubin Daniels is a freelance editor based in Chicago, IL. He holds a B.S. in Communications from the University of North Florida, as well as an M.S. in Cinema Production from DePaul University. Most recently, Rubin was an editor on Philly D.A., a PBS eight-part doc series, which premiered at Sundance Film Festival 2021. He has also worked with Kartemquin Films as an assistant/associate editor on City So Real, a National Geographic series directed by Steve James. Rubin also worked on the Steve James’ series, America to Me, both premiering at Sundance Film Festival. In 2015, he served as assistant editor for Standing on Common Ground: New Orleans Ten Years Later. The short won a 2016 Midwest Emmy.
MEET THE IMPACT PRODUCER…
Naeema Jamilah Torres is an award-winning, Chicago-area filmmaker originally from New York City. As a writer, director, and producer, she aims to tell stories that unpack notions of womanhood, complex ethnic identities, and legacies in the Americas through visual and audio mediums. Her work has screened at a number of fests, including New Orleans Film Festival, San Francisco Doc Fest, and St. Louis International Film Festival. After receiving a BFA in Film & Media Communication Arts, she pursued a career in home entertainment distribution working at companies such as HBO. Her passion for non-fiction storytelling led her to impact producing and outreach work, as well as crafting documentaries. In addition to creative storytelling work, Naeema advocates for BIPOC, femme-identified filmmakers of color in Chicago as part of the leadership of Mezcla Media Collective.