Join us for the free, one-hour Zoom webinar, as we explore Directing the Micro-Budget Motion Picture.
About our presenters:
Connie M. Florez
Connie M. Florez is the founder/CEO of Hula Girl Productions LLC since 2001. As an indigenous filmmaker Connie’s projects have included international award winning narratives, documentaries and television projects. Recent films include Waikiki and 38 Minutes (release 2020). Creating the Honolulu Symphony Productions and executive producing feature music and film such as Princess Kaiulani and Hiromi in Love. Distribution releases through Lionsgate, Roadside Attractions, Music Gate, Warner Music Group,
Amazon Prime, Netflix, Shoreline Entertainment and National Education K-12 & Universities Internationally. Connie is a recipient of the Women in Film/General Motors Alliance Award, and is a graduate of the Creative Lab Hawai’i, Weekend Ideation Porgrams in Financing, and Indigenous Storytellers.
Josh Kim
Josh Kim is a Korean-American filmmaker whose debut feature, How to Win at Checkers (Every Time), premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2015. The Thai-language film won over 21 jury and audience awards and became the country’s official entry to the Academy Awards and Golden Globes for Best Foreign Language Film. Previously, Josh worked as a producer with John Woo on the Korean remake of A Better Tomorrow and has since directed videos for Apple, Google, NPR and the Wall Street Journal. He is currently developing the Chinese-language adaptation of the Hugo Award-winning story, Folding Beijing, and will be directing HBO’s first TV series in Thailand. He is a graduate of the Creative Lab Hawai’i – Writers Immersive, where he workshopped his award-winning screenplay How to Win at Checkers (Every Time).
Brian Kohne
Hawaii’s Brian Kohne is an award-winning music producer (Barefoot Natives, Willie K) and indie writer/director/producer (Get A Job, Kuleana – Maui). A graduate of San Jose State with degrees in Art and Radio/TV/Film, he returned in ’05 from Silicon Valley having excelled as a national director of sales and marketing, in corporate video production, sports broadcasting, and as senior user interface architect for an interactive television corporation. Kohne is principal of Hawaii Cinema Inc., and leads the Academy for Creative Media Maui as program coordinator for University of Hawaii Maui College. Kohne is a graduate of the Creative Lab Hawai’i – Writers Immersive.
Shih-Ching Tsou Shih-Ching Tsou is a New York-based film producer, director, and multiple Independent Spirit Award and Gotham Independent Film Award nominee.
She co-wrote, co-directed, and produced Take Out with Sean Baker, then produced Baker’s films Starlet and Tangerine that premiered at the top film festivals worldwide. Most recently, she produced The Florida Project, which premiered in the 2017 Directors Fortnight at The Cannes Film Festival and released by A24. Later the film was chosen by both the National Board of Review and the American Film Institute as one of the top 10 films of the year. Tsou was also a finalist of the prestigious Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise. She is currently working on her directorial debut: Left-Handed Girl, a family drama set in a night market in Taipei, Taiwan.