Connan Bell ( Director / Writer)
Connan Bell was born in Louisville Kentucky, where he discovered very early on his love and latent talent for the arts. Over the rest of his life, he practiced and honed his skills for both character design, world building, and storytelling, skills that would define him in both his personal and professional paths. For ten years of his pre-college education, he vigorously pursued theater related activities, starring in no fewer than 16 different plays in 8 years. He went on to attend Harding university in 2008, where he attained his Bachelor’s Degree in English with a Minor in Art. During that time, he started up his own YouTube channel, which he has used to further train himself in the ways of visual storytelling, film criticism, and sketch comedy, which he continues to maintain to this day.
In late 2016, he made the fateful decision to pursue what he believes he was always subconsciously trying to create in his own way: a career in filmmaking. Inspired by the work ethic of his peers on YouTube, Connan decided it was time to more fully educate himself on arguably the most important storytelling medium in the modern age: cinema. This led him to attend Full Sail University and earn his MFA in Film Production. During that time, he wrote the screenplay The Edge that would eventually become his class’s thesis production, which he also went on to direct himself. Having overcome Hurricane Irma during production, the film now awaits its film festival run, and Connan is anxious to begin his next project. He will never run out of ideas, it seems, as his mind is always cooking up something new, and his passionate heart drives him forward to create.
Jimmese Hill ( Producer)
Jimmese Hill is an editor and producer, born in Boston, Massachusetts raised in Baltimore, Maryland. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Mass Communications with a focus in Video Production from Frostburg State University and recently earned her MFA in Film Productions from Full Sail University.
Jimmese’s love for film started at a young age. Television and movies have always been an escape for her. In 2015, she worked as an Assignment Editor for Telly Award winning news station ABC 2 News - WMAR. Since then, she has made it a goal to continue in the world of editing and be able to tell stories visually.
Since starting this journey, Jimmese has written, produced, and directed several projects ranging from music videos, public service announcements, short films, web-series, and documentaries. Her documentary, ‘The Africa I Know’ won the 2015 Silicon Valley African Film Festival Award for Emerging Directors and was also featured in the Huffington Post. Her short film 'Love By 30', which she wrote, produced, and edited, is currently on its film festival run and has recently been selected in the Legacy of Black Women Film Festival.
During her time at Full Sail, Jimmese has won course directors awards for Directing Talent and Experimental Filmmaking. She produced and edited her cohort’s thesis film, 'The Edge', a superhero thriller about a speedster superheroine. In this position, she ran a successful crowdfunding campaign, hired and supervised a cast and crew of 45 people, and came in on time and under budget.
Jimmese currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia pursuing her lifelong dream of being an editor and editing for a successful television show.
Andrea Solorzano ( Assistant Director )
Andrea Solorzano is a director and assistant director from Farmingdale, New York. Andrea’s love for movies motivated her to earn her M.F.A in Film Production. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Professional Communications at Farmingdale State College in New York, and earned her Film Production Master of Fine Arts degree at Full Sail University in Orlando,Florida.
Andrea directed three short films while she attended Full Sail: The Phone, a drama, Euphoria, a comedy and the one she is most proud of Love by 30, a dramedy. She has also worked on various student thesis films, Lemonade Stand which was accepted in the Tampa Bay Underground Festival, Looking for Me a family film, and Slicker a horror film which she served as a Second AD.
Andrea was also the Assistant Director on her thesis film, The Edge a super hero thriller when hurricane Irma set the production back one full week. She made sure to stay in constant communication with talent to make sure they were still available and updated on the changes. Under tight time constraints and shot changes, she was quick to keep things organized such as updating call sheets, shooting schedules and crew. She managed a crew of 55 with a budget of $5,362 and under the given circumstances was able to successfully lead the production, which came in on time and under budget.
Andrea lives in New York and is pursuing a career as an Assistant Director for television.
Xingyu Li ( Director of Photography)
Xingyu Li is a Director, Cinematographer, Editor, and Colorist. He was born and raised in Northwestern China and earned his Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Film Production from Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida; Master of Education (M.Ed) from Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts , as well as his Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Mass Communication Media Production from Franklin Pierce University in Rindge, New Hampshire. He believes in continuously improving and innovating. “Stay Hungary, Stay Foolish.” is the creed he follows.
Xingyu Li has always been passionate about expressing ideas through images. In 2017, he directed, shot and edited 10 short films in genres ranging from horror, Sci-Fi, comedy, documentary to romantic stories. The shooting schedule of his thesis film a superheroine thriller The Edge was postponed because of the hurricane Irma. As the Director of Photography, he recreated the camera and lighting plots in a limited time to solve the problems which the hurricane brought to the team. He worked closely with the director, his gaffer, and the production designer to make it come in on time and under budget. The Soul which is a short drama he directed, shot and edited has been selected by 6 film festivals from America, Europe, Asia, and won a runner-up award so far.
Xingyu Li, a man who is full of curiosity and passion, plans to go back to Beijing, China in 2018 to pursue his career in the film industry.
Amaobi Ajawara ( Sound Mixer)
Amaobi Ajawara is an all-out sound warrior and filmmaker. Amaobi was born in California as a first-generation Nigerian-American. He earned his Masters of Fine Arts in Film Production from Full Sail University in 2017. Amaobi also received his Bachelor’s degree in Film and Media from the University of California, Irvine in 2014.
From 2013-2017, Amaobi has collaborated on over thirty-seven films. He enjoys being a CameraOperator, but is most comfortable working in the sound department. Since 2013, he has excelled as a Boom Operator and a Foley Artist. In 2017, Amaobi delved into the world of sound mixing in the film “5K.” Amaobi has also worked as a Grip, Art Pa, 2 nd AC, Director, and Producer.
Siobhan Nowak ( Production Designer)
Siobhan Nowak is a filmmaker who specializes in Production Design. She is from Bradenton, Florida and has served 5 years as an Information Systems Technician in the United States Navy. She advanced to the rank of Second Class Petty Officer and her enlistment specialty of computer networks and radio transitions took her around the world.
After her enlistment she worked as a cable service technician for Bright House Networks specializing in wireless networking. It was after three years that she decided to realize her dream and pursue a career in filmmaking.
Siobhan attended Full Sail University for a Bachelor’s of Science in Film and later a Master of Fine Arts in Film Production. During her time at Full Sail she found passion and work in the Art Department on seven short films. She performed work as make-up artist, wardrobe, set construction and Production Designer. Under mentorship of the Production Design instructor Frank Geremia, she learned Vector Works and has since used it for set design as a Production Designer four of those short films. In her free time she interns in the FI4 class’ production office and assists her fellow underclassmen in learning the Art Department. Her desired niche in the world of filmmaking is in Stop-Motion animation.
Francisco De Llano ( Assistant Producer )
Francisco De Llano was basically born on a TV set. Thanks to the legacy and passion of his family in the Mexican entertainment industry Francisco decided to continue this path. Francisco finished his high school at Missouri Military Academy and right after graduating he moved to Orlando to earn a bachelor’s degree in entertainment business at Full Sail University. After graduating he started the master’s degree in Film Production MFA.
