Actor, writer, director Jon Levenson will moderate a panel discussion with filmmakers from this year’s Festival on the creation and evolution of story-telling for films - how filmmakers create a story and bring it to life.

Jon Levenson, director, actor, writer

Jon Levenson has been a career actor in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles for many years. He was part of the original Broadway cast of Larry Kramer’s The Normal Heart. When the Navy took his brother-in-law overseas, Levenson came home to do some hardcore uncle-ing. It was during this time he fell for writing. Levenson received his first M.F.A. from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and his second in Screenwriting at the University of California, Riverside. He is a proud SAG-AFTRA and AEA member. Levenson's greatest passions are his 3 nephews, his niece, and his supermutt, Winnie Cooper. He lives with his husband, Steve, in the ridiculously special coastal town of Cambria, CA.

Dale Griffiths Stamos, director, Entwined

Dale Griffiths Stamos is a writer and director who has written and co-produced or produced 6 short films, three of which she also directed. Her films have been official selections at multiple film festivals including Palm Springs ShortFest, Dances with Films, Newport Beach, Sedona, Breckenridge, and San Luis Obispo. A working playwright as well, her full-length and short plays have been produced throughout the country

Mark Kiefer, director, By the Book

Mark Kiefer is an award-winning writer and filmmaker based in Boston. His short films have screened at the Palm Springs International Comedy Festival, Woods Hole Film Festival, Nantucket Film Festival, Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival, New York City Independent Film Festival, Lone Star Film Festival, Memphis Comedy Festival, Houston Comedy Film Festival, Baltimore Comedy Festival, Atlanta Comedy Film Festival, Austin Short Comedy Film Festival, Austin’s Battle of the Sketches, and the New York Film Loft’s Love Actually International Storytellers Showcase, among others. He was a producer of the indie sitcom pilot M.V. Blues (mvblues.com), a buddy comedy set and shot on Martha’s Vineyard in 2011. He has written three feature length screenplays, including a period drama set in 1930s Germany, a thriller set in modern day New York, and a buddy comedy about Native American heritage set on Nantucket. He is a graduate of Wesleyan University in Connecticut

Abbey Sowick, co-director, Undercurrent

Abbey grew up in a small, suburban town outside of Richmond, Virginia and has always had big dreams. She is a world traveler and has spent most of her life involved in the performing arts. Being consistently fascinated by the human condition, it is her passion to share those experiences through storytelling.

Robert Perez, co-director, Undercurrent

Robert Perez is an actor, screenwriter, & director who grew up in the San Fernando Valley. He co-directed the short film “Undercurrent” with directing/writing partner Abbey Sowick. He first began to learn about the filmmaking process when he was in high school & has been in love ever since.