Masha Ellsworth is a lead technical director in the characters department at Pixar Animation Studios and an indie filmmaker with a passion for storytelling.

She started her career in animation in 2007 when she became an intern on “Ratatouille” working in sets and lighting departments. Later, she transitioned into characters, working on feature films like “Up”, “Toy Story 3”, “Brave”, “Cars 2”, “Inside Out”, “ Finding Dory”, “Cars 3”, “Good Dinosaur”, “Coco”, “Incredibles 2”, “Onward”, and “Turning Red”. Masha was born and raised in Northern Ukraine and graduated from Bringham Young University in Provo, Utah with a double degree in Computer Science and Visual Art.

Thomas Sanghyun Hong is a film producer, film critic, film coordinator, and Korean and Japanese translator based in Tokyo and Seoul.He began his career in the advertising industry in 2004. As an Account Executive (AE), he was dispatched to the Presidential Committee for the Creation of a Cultural City as a private expert, in recognition of his successful projects. Building on his achievements in advertising, Thomas went on to plan numerous cultural programs and television documentaries for productions broadcast on Korean TV stations. He made his debut as a producer with his first feature documentary film, For the Islanders (2008). Later, he joined The Chosun Ilbo, Korea’s largest newspaper, where he began a more focused career in the news industry. He worked as a commentator for news shows and cultural programs, published columns on international relations in various media, and also started his journey as a film critic.Thomas has served as a program advisor and producer for many film festivals in Korea and Japan, including the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFAN) in Korea and the Takasaki Film Festival in Japan. He remains an advisor to the festival director of the Jeonju International Film Festival. Currently, he contributes to Hitocinema, an internet film webzine by Mainichi Shimbun, a major Japanese newspaper. Since the publication of its first issue, he has been publishing “Sang-hyun Hong’s Cinema Novatus” while continuing his series of interviews, which is his regular feature as an executive and leading figure for the Korean internet film webzine CoAR. Thomas has also served as a judge for Digicon 6 Asia, a Japanese-Asian short animation festival, and now serves as a judge for the Mainichi Film Awards, Japan’s longest-running film awards. He produced his second feature documentary, Table of the Flowers (2024), for the newly established film department of Kotobuki Homebuilder, a Japanese real estate and construction company. These days, Thomas is working on his 22nd book translation.Born in Tokyo, Thomas grew up in Hong Kong, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Korea. He holds two master’s degrees, in film studies and political and diplomatic studies, from Chung-Ang University and Hanyang University in Korea. He also studied social and international relations at the University of Tokyo in Japan.

Joanne Furio is a writer of creative nonfiction whose work has appeared in Believer, Catapult, Juked, Panoply and the Evening Street Review, among other publications. "Coveting" is based on a personal essay of the same name, part of a series of Bridge-and-Tunnel Girl stories she hopes to bring together in a collection. 

Caroline lends her voice to Jo, the main character, bringing depth and emotion to the role with her talent as a voice actor.

Vince Caro is the Senior Recording/Mixing Engineer at Pixar Animation Studios. He has worked on every Pixar Animated Feature film starting with Toy Story. Prior to his working with Pixar, he provided recording work for The Simpsons, and on many Walt Disney feature animated films such as Beauty & The Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, all the way through to Jon Favreau’s Jungle Book. His credits include many of the highest-grossing animated films of all time. He has also been on the sound team of many live-action films, serving as a scoring or soundtrack engineer & mixer. He has recorded/mixed/mastered, or otherwise worked on many multi-platinum & gold records. He owns multi-award nominations and/or wins for his recording & mixing (Cinema Audio Society/MPSE Golden Reel/Grammy & other).

Hani Farrukh is a Muslim American storyboard artist based in the Bay Area.

He has worked on multiple short films for the Pixar Co-op program. He has also worked on a Qatar Airway commercial for a freelance director, and a test storyboard for a feature film called Mustache directed by Imran J. Khan and produced by the producer of EIGHT GRADE and THE BEAR.

Hani enjoys drawing out storyboards where characters work through obstacles to achieve their goals because he wants to inspire people to over come similar challenges.

Alejandra Hernandez (Alex) is a Storyboard Artist born in the rainy heights of Bogota, Colombia. Her passion for storytelling brought her to San Francisco, where she has lived for the past 8 years. She has worked with Amazon Prime and Cineplex USA as an illustrator and has collaborated in multiple indie short films as a storyboard artist and production assistant. She has a BFA in Animation & VFX from the Academy of Art University and is pursuing a Master's in Advertising while working as an art teacher in the Bay Area. 

Elizabeth Arena is a college student aspiring to become a full-time film editor. With a background in acting, including numerous high school musical theater performances and roles in short films, Elizabeth has also directed several short films during her high school years. However, her true passion lies in post-production, where she excels.