Film - Festivals, Panels, & Accolades
Westflix Film Festival for California Teens since 2004, Executive Director - Hosted by Beanie Feldstein, Jordan Peele, Mindy Kaling, Kingsley Ben-Adir, David Fincher, and Kyle MacLachlan during my tenure - TCL Chinese Theater, Million Dollar Theater, Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, Paramount Theater - Hollywood, CA | 2020 - Present
Westflix Day-After Filmmaker Workshops for California Teens, Program Director - Workshops led by Spike Jonze, Olivia Wilde, Alex O’Flinn, Jay Chandrasekhar, Patricia Riggen and many others - Studio City, CA | 2020 - Present
Southern California Film Educators’ Network member, host of the 2027 annual professional development day | 2024 - Present
Honors Senior Seminar: Video Art, Curriculum Designer and Instructor - Harvard-Westlake School | 2024 - Present
Authored year-long honors capstone curriculum; received UC "a-g" honors designation (July 2024). Six units: Performance Art for the Camera, Artist Research Presentation, Video Installation for the Gallery, Television Pilot Writers’ Room, Personal Artist Talk, and Senior Thesis Film. Culminates in a public Senior Film Screening (audience up to 300) and a two-week gallery exhibition of student video installations
Panel Moderator for Thelma panel with Director, Music Composer, Costume Designer, and Actor - Laemlee Theater, North Hollywood, CA | 2024
Distinguished Teacher of 5 National Young Arts Winners with Distinction in the Category of Film, 3 Presidential Scholars of the Arts | 2023, 2024, 2026
Open Mind Film Festival, founding consultant - James Bridges Theater UCLA, Westwood, CA | 2021 - Present
Grants, Fellowships, & Residencies
Professional Development Grants Recipient: Martha’s Vineyard 24th Annual Film Festival, All-American High School Film Festival in NYC where 4 of my students’ films were screened/awarded, YoungArts Educators Week in Miami, funded by Harvard-Westlake School | Winter 2023, Fall 2025, Summer 2026
Professional Betterment Grant Recipient: Italian Neorealism in Rome, Italy, funded by Harvard-Westlake School | 4 weeks, Summer 2025
Japan Faculty Fellowship, selected fellow and documentarian (documentary later viewed at JAPAN HOUSE: LA) exploring Japanese film, art, and culture - Hiroshima, Kyoto, Nagano, and Tokyo, Japan | 2 weeks, Summer 2023
Curriculum Development Grants for courses: Video Art 2, Student Leadership for Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity (SLIDE), funded by Harvard-Westlake School | Summer 2021, Summer 2023
WZFR Filmmaker in Residence - Somerset, WI | 2 weeks, Summer 201
Graduate Mini-Grant Recipient for research travel to NYC, funded by University of Minnesota Department of Art | 2016
Artist in Residence / Grant Recipient funded by University of Minnesota’s German and European Studies Program, German Academic Exchange Service, and Department of Art - Milchhof Studios, Berlin, Germany | 6 weeks, Summer 2016
Academic Community Leadership
Community Time Leadership Committee, inaugural and continuing member - Harvard-Westlake School | 2025-Present
Sustainability Cooperative, Faculty/Staff Green Team, founding member - Harvard-Westlake School | 2025-Present
Wellness and Belonging Council, Visual Arts Faculty representative - Harvard-Westlake School | 2025-Present
Brown Bag Lunch and Learns, Organizer and Presenter, Topics: Fierce Conversations, How Much Me Can I Be?, People of Color Conference Report-Back, Combatting Antisemitism, American Boy Documentary, Passing by Nella Larsen, American South Faculty Fellowship, Students of Color: Beyond our Race Identifier, Joy as a Practice, Japan Faculty Fellowship Report-Back, Autism Awareness and Acceptance, Environmental Justice is Social Justice, Women of Color Affinity Group Spotlight, Immigrant Stories Through Student Artwork - Harvard-Westlake School | 2020-2026
Annual LGBTQIA+ Safe Space Training, Organizer and Presenter - Harvard-Westlake School | 2020-2025
Diversity Council, Visual Arts Faculty representative - Harvard-Westlake School | 2019-2025
Interdisciplinary Teaching Cohort, member - Harvard-Westlake School | 2024-2025
Southern California Diversity Recruiting Fair, volunteer livestream tech, projectionist, photographer, and helper - Studio City, CA | 2021-2026
Art Exhibitions & Performances
Much Ado About Nothing, role of Seacol - Rugby Theater, Studio City, CA | 2023
Time Over Space, Special TV Microwave Computer, Faculty Exhibitions, sculptures, screen printed textiles, video, film, and performance - Feldman-Horn Gallery, Studio City, CA | 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023
More Fun W/U, hosted and curated by Hen House Long Beach, Ecca Echo performance - Zoom | 2020
MultiCult Virtual Ritual, hosted and curated by Lyra Hill, Power PowerPoint performance - Zoom | 2020
Sound Pedro 2020 schizophonia, sound art piece as part of larger ear-oriented multi-sensory festival - Soundpedro.org / San Pedro, CA | 2020
FLOWERS BODY, performance in conversation with artworks by Sarah Julig, Elizabeth Maldari, and Nancy Wong - Elephant Space, Los Angeles, CA | 2020
Invited Visiting Artist at Idyllwild Arts Academy; Performance as part of Luna Eclipse: Ritual Engagement - Idyllwild, CA | 2019
High Voltage, Ecca Echo performance - Electric Lodge, Venice, CA | 2019
LA Performance Practice presents CASUAL, humanity handshake performance with Maya Gurantz - The Vortex, Los Angeles, CA | 2019
Made Out of WHAT Presents The Universal Sea, performance collaboration with Sarah Julig and Harriet Robertson - Chinatown, Los Angeles, CA | 2019
Sy/stem, conceived and composed by PostCommodity and Guillermo Galindo - 18th Street Arts, Santa Monica, CA | 2019
Noon to Midnight Fluxus Festival, vocal performer in crowd out, composed by David Lang - Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles, CA | 2019
MultiCult #8 Body and Power, hosted and curated by Lyra Hill - Lyric Hyperion Theater, Los Angeles, CA | 2019
Ritual For Mass Suicide, conceived by Maya Gurantz - Pieter Performance Space, Los Angeles, CA | 2019
Fusebox Festival, video and performance in The Spinning Beach Ball of Death - Museum of Human Achievement, Austin, TX | 2019
Little Deaths #6 Alter, Alter Ego - The Mortuary, Los Angeles, CA | 2019
TheShayShayShow Presents The Bay Fray Show, two-person drag/comedy/musical variety show - The Glory, London | 2018
Altered Esthetics Film Festival, Featured Video Artist - Strike Theater, Minneapolis, MN | 2018
UHN-URTH, UMN 2018 MFA Thesis Exhibition - Katherine E. Nash Gallery, Minneapolis, MN | 2018
Politics of Weeds, Collaborative Exhibition with Diane Willow, Marcus Young, and Bo Zheng - Katherine E. Nash Gallery, Minneapolis, MN | 2018
MN Artists Presents: Marcus Young, 4 hour re-staging of Emma Sulkowicz’s Mattress Performance (Carry That Weight) - Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN | 2017
Fresh Works, Multi-Media Performance We Do with Jasmine Peck - Quarter Gallery, Minneapolis, MN | 2017
Jerome Emerging Printmakers Exhibition, Collaborated with Jeremy Lundquist & Alex Adkinson on sonic performance Confidence to Sing - Highpoint Center for Printmaking, Minneapolis, MN | 2017
Eaux Claires Music Festival, Performer in commissioned durational piece by VNESSWOLFCHILD, Worms - Eau Claire, WI | 2017
Invited Visiting Artist at University of Wisconsin Marathon County; Solo Exhibition, A Square of Fresh Air - Wausau, WI | 2016
Nature-Based Therapeutics Conference: Speak! commissioned performance Speak Volume - UMN Landscape Arboretum, Chaska, MN | 2016
Froth Forth and Float On, commissioned performance - Weisman Art Museum, Minneapolis, MN | 2016
Cellular Cinema #4 & #10, monthly expanded cinema event - Bryant Lake Bowl Theater, Minneapolis, MN | 2016
Performance Moment Junior - Pinky Swear, Chicago, IL | 2016
Swap Meet: The Shipping Show - Kunstakademie, Karlsruhe, Germany | 2016
Borderlines - Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Minneapolis, MN | 2016
Don’t Say It Just Think It & REBLL PERFORMS 3 Solo Works - Pieter Performance Space, Los Angeles, CA | 2015, 2014
Comorbid Cocktailing with Ash Eliza Smith with Huy Trinh as part of Cognitive Camouflage - WSOHOIDPS (Ship in the Woods,) San Diego, CA | 2015
Laida Lertxundi, 16mm Filmmaker; Performer in her films A Room Called Heaven, We Had the Experience but Missed the Meaning | 2012-2013
Curation & Coordination
RiverPark Arts Flow Audio Tour, creator and curator of a QR playlist of nature-themed music, poetry, sound art, and storytelling for visitors to a new .75 mile public loop path near the LA River opening January 2027 - Studio City, CA | 2025-2027
Sundance Film Festival Field Trip Co-organizer and trip leader for 10 high school seniors - Park City, UT and Boulder, CO | 2026, 2027
Annual Harvard-Westlake Senior Film Screening, founder, host, curator, organizer, technical director, QLab programmer - Rugby Theater, Studio City, CA | 2023 - Present
Monthly All-Community Assemblies for 900 people, audiovisual content coordinator and rehearsal director - Harvard-Westlake School | 2025 - Present
Host of Visiting Artists workshopping with Honors Senior Seminar: Video Art students on TV Showrunning, Hollywood Writers’ Rooms, Directing Actors, and Animation: Steve Callaghan, Chris Harris, Mo Zelof, Song E. Kim - Harvard-Westlake School | 2021, 2025, 2026
HWGo! A Storytelling Adventure: Water Co-organizer and trip leader of an interdisciplinary artistic and ecological investigation with 14 high school students - LA River, Salton Sea, Wilmington Oil Fields, CA | 2019
Time Over Space, Eye Spy, The Duality of Reality, Special TV Microwave Computer, Curator of student video art installation exhibitions - Feldman-Horn Gallery, Studio City, CA | 2019
Cellular Cinema #50: Ecosexual Healing, Curator of program of experimental video/film work by LA-based non-binary/womxn makers - Minneapolis, MN | 2019
Sidewall Slideshow, Co-Curator of local film festival - Minneapolis, MN | 2018
Where Are You Now?, Co-Curator of MFA Exchange Exhibition - Art Lofts Gallery, Madison, WI | 2017
Fresh Works, Curator of MFA student work exhibition - Quarter Gallery, Minneapolis, MN | 2017
An evening of 16mm short films by Laida Lertxundi, Programmer - Walker Art Museum, Minneapolis, MN | 2016
Northern Spark Festival, Projects Coordinator, Surrender, Tunnel Vision - Minneapolis, MN | 2016, 2017
Professional Development, Workshops, & Conferences
SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design) Teacher Fly-Out, invited Educator | Forthcoming, April 2027
Adding Voices Conference: Nourishing Creative Art Ecologies: Rooting, Refusing, and Reseeding, virtual attendee - Moore College of Art & Design | 2026
SLIDE LDP (Student Leaders for Inclusion Diversity and Equity Leadership Development Program) workshop leader, 3-day workshops: “multiples selves portrait video” and “how to lead and sustain an affinity group,” Universal City, CA | 2024-2026
Global Summit on Climate Education, grant funded attendee.- Drew School, San Francisco, CA | 2025
Pollyanna Conference, on-stage panelist a conversation with Lily Zheng, facilitator, note-taker, volunteer | 2019-2025
CASEL, Social Emotional Learning Exchange attendee - Accelerate: Academic Thriving and Lifelong Learning - Chicago, IL | 2024
Performa Biennial, grant funded attendee - New York City, NYC | 2015, 2017, 2023
CSEE (Center for Spiritual and Ethical Education) Restorative Practices 3-Part Workshop | 2023
Adding Voices Conference: Steeped in Community: Telling Our Stories & Breathing in Liberation, virtual attendee - Moore College of Art & Design | 2022
Allied Media Conference, Attendee and Volunteer - Detroit, MI | 2018, 2020
MNC (Monday Night Class) Performance Workshops at Pieter Space - Michelle Sui, Dorothy Dabrule & Brian Getnick - Los Angeles, CA | 2018, 2019
Odeya Nini “Free The Voice” Workshops - Minneapolis, MN & Los Angeles, CA | 2017-2019
Sonia Barrett “How do we find each other?” Social Practice Workshop - Minneapolis, MN | 2017
Hasan Elahi Surveillance Art Workshop - Minneapolis, MN | 2017
Pauline Oliveros "Deep Listening" Workshop and Performance - Minneapolis, MN | 2016
Improvisation Xchange Festival, Intensive with Andrew Morrish - Eden Studios, Berlin, Germany | 2016
Abramović Method 5-Day Workshop - Selected Participant under Marina Abramović and Kim Stanley Robinson - Arthur C. Clarke Center for Human Imagination, La Jolla, CA | 2015
Improv 101 & 201 - Upright Citizen's Brigade / Musical Improv - The Second City Hollywood, Los Angeles, CA | 2014
Super 8 & 16mm Hand Processing Workshops - Echo Park Film Center, Los Angeles, CA | 2014
Additional Notable Involvements
111 mile trek along the Cotswold Way in England - Chipping Campden to Bath, UK | Summer 2026
HW Heritage Choir and Landlights Community Choir singer - Studio City, CA | 2024-2026
Art Italia field trip chaperone - Florence, Tuscany, and Rome, Italy | Spring Break 2023
Lavender Disco (GSA Dance) chaperone - Harvard-Westlake School | 2022-2025
Podcast Host, Get It! with ShayShay and Reb - Multiple Online Streaming Platforms | 2020
Righteous Conversations Project, a collaboration between teens and Holocaust Survivors, animation TA - Studio City, CA | Summer 2019
Women’s Center for Creative Work, Community Chorus Member - Los Angeles, CA | 2018 - 2020
Improvising Ecosystems Ensemble - Various ecological research sites | 2016 - 2019
This Free Life, Tobacco-Free LGBTQ Brand Ambassador, Employee - Minneapolis, MN & Los Angeles, CA | 2017 - 2019
Why World Cooperative Arts & Music Venue, Co-Founder / Programmer - Minneapolis, MN | 2016 - 2017
Personally funded family travel to cities and natural sites in Croatia, Netherlands, Czech Republic, United States, Vietnam, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Spain, Italy, France, Japan, Portugal, England, French Polynesia | 2016-Present
Cinefamily Silent Movie Theater, Volunteer and Staff Member - Los Angeles, CA | 2014 - 2015
Underground New Play Festival, Director of Chalk by Rebecca Hicks - UCSD | 2013
NO15 Magazine, Print and Online, Arts Section Editor - San Diego, CA | 2011-2013
The Treble Singers, Female Vocal Ensemble, Founding Member / Events Coordinator - UCSD | 2010 - 2013
26 Hour Dance Marathon, Danced and Raised funds for Pediatric HIV/AIDS - UCLA | 2013, 2012, 2011
Radio Show Host, Craydio with ShayShay and Becs - KSDT | 2011-2013
Senior Orientation Leader and Orientation Leader, Sixth College - UCSD | 2010-2013
College Ambassador and Tour Guide, Office of Admissions Representative - UCSD | 2010-2013
Technical Skills
Expert / Proficient
Software: Adobe Premiere Pro, QLab, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Media Encoder, Final Cut Pro, Dragonframe, iMovie, Audacity, Garageband
Cameras: Sony FX3, Sony FX30, Sony FS5, Sony A7iii, Sony XDCam, BlackMagic 4K Pocket Cinema Camera, GoPro Hero 3, Canon C300, Canon C100, Canon R50, Canon 5D Mark iii, Canon Rebel T5i, Canon Rebel T3i, Canon 310XL (Super8mm)
Lenses:
Audio Equipment: Zoom H6 and Zoom H4N Handheld Audio Recorders, Focusrite Scarlett Solo Audio Interface, TCHelicon VoiceLive Touch 2, Mackie Mix8 8-Channel Compact Mixer, mics (lavs, etc,) booms
Video Equipment: Nanlite PavoTube II 30C RGB LED Tube Lights, matte box
Familiar / Working Knowledge
Software: Adobe Animate, Adobe After Effects, DaVinci Resolve, Adobe Audition, ProTools, Logic, Abelton
Audio/Video Equipment: DJI RS 3 Mini Camera Gimbal Stabilizer and app,