Brian Ash
Bronx raised and Yeshiva educated, Brian Ash is a producer and writer specializing in adult animation, comic books and feature films. Brian’s TV credits include Adult Swim’s “The Boondocks”, “Black Dynamite”, “The Jellies” and “Lazor Wulf”. He is the co-creator of the “Alef Blessed” collectible card game.
Marina Michelson
Marina Michelson is a writer, director, and actor originally from Tel Aviv, born to Soviet émigrés from the Republics of Georgia and Moldova. Her work explores identity and power through the everyday lives of women, as well as the rhythms of the contemporary immigrant experience. She holds a BFA in Theater from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and her short films have been recognized on the film festival circuit, including “Stagiaire,” which premiered at the 2021 Maryland Film Festival and “Biophilia,” which garnered the Outstanding Achievement Award for Best Screenplay at the 2018 Brooklyn Film Festival. She is currently in development on her first feature film, a coming-of-age refusenik story set in 1970s Soviet Union, with which she was a Top 50 Nicholl Fellowship semi-finalist, a Humanitas New Voices Fellowship semi-finalist, a 2024 fellow with NYU’s Production Lab Development Studio, and a 2025 recipient of NYU’s Production Lab Financing Slate.
Danielle Dardashti
Danielle Dardashti returns to her roots with this project – revisiting her family’s story and getting back to broadcasting. She’s a former TV/radio reporter and Emmy-winning documentary writer/producer. Danielle now leads storytelling workshops and advises companies on story strategy. She’s a Moth StorySLAM champ and co-founder of Storyboom, a live storytelling show. Danielle and her husband are co-authors of the Jewish Family Fun Book series.
Yael Levy
Yael Levy is an author, illustrator, and screenwriter who loves creating Jewish-themed projects for kids. A Literary Associate for Olswanger Literary Agency, Yael currently writes graphic novels, and scripts for animated TV shows. She enjoys reading, hiking, and her husband’s perfect potato kugel.
Vi “SnappyDragon”
V (she/her) of the YouTube channel SnappyDragon, is a dressmaker, public historian, and videographer who explores the social realities of the past and present through fashion history. Her videos use everything from sewing techniques to TikTok trends and popular media to break down historical misconceptions and discuss topics such as representation, Jewish history, and disability justice.
Alex Mann
Alex Mann is a writer-director and the founder of Space Oddity, a next-gen content studio backed by Snap Inc. Mann has written feature films for several A-list production companies, including Platinum Dunes and Thunder Road Films. Mann’s short films have accumulated over a billion views and been featured by CNN, The Los Angeles Times and New York Magazine. He’s directed branded content for Netflix, TikTok, Amazon, Verizon and Honda. Outside of filmmaking, Mann is a contributing writer for VICE and The New Yorker. Mann is represented by Paradigm Talent Agency and The Gotham Group.
Sophie Greenbaum
Sophie Greenbaum is a songwriter, Torah educator and the mother of two young kids. She has written songs for the likes of Britney Spears, Kesha, and many other pop artists. She currently studies full-time in the Beit Midrash program of Maharat.
Sam Butin
Sam Butin is a storyteller working in games and XR. His past work includes the historical video game 1979 Revolution: Black Friday (BAFTA, SXSW, The Game Awards Nominee, Facebook Game of the Year), HERO (Sundance Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival Storyscapes Winner) and Fire Escape: An Interactive Narrative Series (NYFF, Tribeca, VIFF). He has developed original stories for partners including Google, Verizon, & The Brown Institute.
He is the founder of On The March, an independent game studio that opens windows for players to peer into untold history.
Robert Axelrod
Robert Axelrod is a gay Jewish writer based in Los Angeles, originally hailing from Michigan, whose work focuses on exploring the intersectionality of identity and culture. He is a past participant of the Warner Bros. Discovery Access Writers Program, Humanitas New Voices fellowship, CineStory TV fellowship, and is a previous winner of the ScreenCraft Stage Play Competition as well as The A-List, an annual competition honoring the best work by assistants in the entertainment industry.
Dan Goldman
Screenwriter, illustrator and narrative designer, Dan Goldman tells stories across comics, animation and video games. His graphic novel Chasing Echoes recounts a road trip of Holocaust survivors’ descendants across Poland to find their family’s land seized by Nazis during WWII. He is currently based in Brooklyn.