We are elated to announce, in partnership with our friends at Shondaland, that the winner of the 2024 Women Directing Mentorship competition is writer/director Shelby Blake Bartelstein.
The Women Directing Mentorship, which first launched in 2018 in partnership with Shondaland — the prolific storytelling company founded by Shonda Rhimes and long known for inspiring inclusion in front of and behind the camera — offers a unique opportunity for a rising female director to shadow an already established episodic director on a Shondaland produced series. Highlighting past winners, Jennifer Morris recently completed her shadow on Station 19 (ABC), and Tamika Miller has directed two episodes of the ABC production since winning in 2020.
“Shondaland continues to be a storytelling company that is deeply rooted in uplifting diverse perspectives and telling stories that reflect the world we live in. It is incredibly exciting to award this year’s mentorship to Shelby Bartlestein, a talented multi-hyphenate and pertinent voice who we can’t wait to bolster as she embarks on her journey.”
Tom Verica, Shondaland’s Head of Creative Production
AND THE WINNER IS…
SHELBY BLAKE BARTELSTEIN
SHELBY BLAKE BARTELSTEIN is a filmmaker based in Los Angeles after living in New York City for the last decade. Originally from the North Shore of Chicago, her love for deep dish pizza, The Cubs, and John Hughes remain sincerely intact. After establishing herself as a sought-after commercial director, Shelby made her narrative debut with “Pretty People,” which she penned, directed + starred in. It premiered at The Tribeca Film Festival, where Shelby was selected as one of the five Episodic “Emerging Creators” for Tribeca N.O.W. (in partnership with HBO). Pretty People is currently in development as a feature film, which will be Shelby’s feature directorial debut (Producer: Ben Shields-Catlin). Shelby’s other current projects include an original Live-Action Musical Feature for Disney+, an original comedy series with Chernin Entertainment, as well as developing a feature film with Escape Artists (Todd Black, Jordan Edelstein). Shelby is a proud member of the WGA.
“What an honor! Thank you to Shondaland and Seriesfest for believing in my potential and empowering me to take the next step towards my dream— Shondaland is the ultimate powerhouse for storytelling that reflects our amazing, complicated world. I couldn’t be more humbled for this incredible opportunity to learn from the best in the business“
ABOUT SHONDALAND
Shondaland is the global media company founded by award-winning writer and producer Shonda Rhimes. The company fearlessly entertains through storytelling with content for film, streaming, audio, digital and editorial as well as brand partnerships, merchandise and experiences. Shondaland has an exclusive partnership with Netflix where it produces streaming content for the media company, including record-breaking series “Bridgerton” and its spinoff series “Queen Charlotte,” ’’Inventing Anna,” “Dance Dreams: Hot Chocolate Nutcracker,” and the upcoming drama “The Residence” and documentary “Black Barbie”. In 2017, Shondaland launched the editorial website Shondaland.com followed by the creation of Shondaland Audio in 2019. Shondaland was launched in 2005 with the groundbreaking series “Grey’s Anatomy.
THE FINALISTS
In addition to announcing the winner, nine semi-finalists were selected for recognition by a panel including both SeriesFest and Shondaland team members. Those semi-finalists are Adriana González-Vega, Caralene Robinson, Dhwani Shah, Jhanvi Motla, Margaux Susi, Marissa Díaz, Miida Chu, Tamika Lamison, Tara Motamedi.
Adriana González-Vega is a queer filmmaker born and raised in Puerto Rico. In 2012, she received a BFA in Film from Syracuse University, where she had the opportunity to study at FAMU in the Czech Republic. In 2015, she received her Master’s in Film Directing from American Film Institute Conservatory and was awarded the Time Warner Fellowship.
Her films OCEANFRONT and JUNITO have won multiple awards and have been recognized internationally. JUNITO won Best International Short Film at the Festival Internacional de Cine LGBT de Madrid, as well as Best Director at the Puerto Rico Queer FilmFest. Presently, JUNITO is being used as a vehicle to initiate and encourage discussions between members from the LGBTQ+ community and their allies. In addition to being a filmmaker, González-Vega has been an educator. As part of the Youth Cinema Project, she helped navigate middle school and high school students in underserved communities through the process of filmmaking. Currently, she is working on the Post Production Team of HBO’s Winning Time Season 2.
Caralene Robinson is a director with a focus on stories featuring women and the underrepresented. Digital series “King Ester”, starring Rowin Amone, Janet Hubert and Angelica Ross was nominated for four 2020 Daytime Emmys. Pandemic inspired short film “Reopening” won the 2021 Richard and Ellen Sandor Best Short at the Black Harvest Film Festival. Digital series “The Table” won 2023 Best Indie Episodic at the Essence Film Festival. Workplace digital series “Ms/Manage”, screened at American Black Film Festival, Pan African Film Festival, Newfest, and more. Caralene’s additional directing projects include an episode of BRIC TV series “Sauce”, “The Hotline” a BETHer short on the subject of domestic violence starring Keri Hilson and Raheem Devaughn, the State of the City Address video for Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka, and short films “The Bill” and “Disordher”. She’s also produced and directed brand campaigns for clients such as AARP, Dove, Compass, and Shea Moisture.
Caralene is a 2023 Ryan Murphy Half Initiative Director and 2022 Blackhouse Fellow. Her professional experience includes roles at Viacom and Global Citizen. Caralene is a graduate of Howard University and NYU.
Dhwani Shah is a South-Asian New-York based writer-director, originally from Mumbai, and has been working in the world of narrative fiction for the past decade. With a strong foundation in advertising and commercial content, Dhwani believes in crafting femme narratives that are every bit as bold, surprising and entertaining as the vibrant diverse mosaic of women worldwide.
Jhanvi Motla is a Los Angeles based filmmaker from Mumbai. She is a graduate of the AFI Conservatory. Her films have shown at New York Film Festival, AFI Fest, and on platforms such as Netflix and HBO Max. She is an alumnus of Film Independent’s Project Involve, as well as Hillman Grad, Rickshaw Film and Women in Film’s Mentorship programs. In Fall ‘21, she produced “At The Gates”, in association with Beacon Pictures starring Noah Wyle and Miranda Otto. Her scripts have placed as a semifinalist for the 1497 Features Lab and the WIF x Blcklst Feature Residency. In 2022 Jhanvi became one of five womxn to be selected for NALIP’s Womxn of Color Incubator, sponsored by Netflix, where she wrote and directed “Mirage”. In Fall ‘23, Jhanvi was one of three mentees selected for the 1497 Features Lab where she workshopped her script under the guidance of Mira Nair.
Margaux Susi is a Cuban-Jewish director and actor from Miami. This means she loves salsa dancing and her mother asks her once a week when she’ll be given a grandchild. Margaux’s most drawn to slightly irreverent comedies that are character driven. If it’s messy, absurd, and punches you in the gut with some truth, Margaux’s your girl.
Her short film guts, starring Kate Burton and Angela Giarratana, World Premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. Her last film, The Sperm Bank, World Premiered at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival. Margaux’s other films have played at Hollyshorts, Austin Film Fest, RiverRun, DeadCenter, among others.
Marissa Díaz is a Tejana writer, director, and producer. Most recently, Marissa was named a McDonald’s Spotlight Dorado finalist, and received a $75,000 grant to write and direct FANCY FLOREZ’S SUMMER STAYCATION. Before that, Marissa wrote and produced the feature documentary, ORGASM INC: THE STORY OF ONETASTE (Netflix.) She worked on hit series GIRLS (HBO), produced queer teen series GENERATION (HBOMax), and wrote WELCOME TO THE BLUMHOUSE LIVE (Amazon Studios). Previously, she worked at Lena Dunham’s Good Thing Going, Fox Searchlight, MGM Studios, Bravo TV, Martin Scorsese’s Sikelia Productions, and The Weinstein Company. Marissa’s half-hour comedy COCHINAS was selected for The Black List + Netflix’s Latinx List, an industry-curated list that highlights 10 exemplary film and television screenplays from talented Latinx storytellers. Her work has been supported by a number of industry fellowships including Film Independent’s Episodic Lab and their CNN Original Series Docuseries Intensive, Shondaland and SeriesFest Women Directing Mentorship, the Sundance Episodic Lab, Dan Lin’s Rideback Rise, and the Producers Guild of America’s Create Lab. Marissa holds a BFA in Film & TV Production from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, and an MFA from the Peter Stark Producing Program at the University of Southern California, where she was awarded the Stark Special Production Grant for writing and directing.
Miida Chu is a writer-director of trans experience in parallel universes. Her work often uses imaginative thought experiments to challenge assumptions about body and soul. Her short film EUREKA won the prestigious Golden Reel Award at the 38th Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, qualifying the film for consideration for the 2023 Academy Award. She was a finalist in the Warner Brothers 100 Short Film Initiative. Her feature script SOUND OF MY DREAMS was a quarterfinalist in the Academy Nicholl Fellowships. Her feature script OBLIVION was a semifinalist at the 2021 Outfest Screenwriting Lab. Miida holds a BA with high honors in philosophy from New York University and an MFA in directing from the American Film Institute. She was accepted to UCLA’s PhD program in philosophy, but we’re glad she didn’t fall into that parallel universe.
Tamika Lamison is a Virginia native who attended The American University & Howard University with a BA in Performing Arts & Theatre and continued her studies in film at the NY Film Academy and AFI. She worked at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences helping to research & develop the Academy Gold program and currently works as the Exec. Director of the CDDP- Commercial Directors Diversity Program- a diversity and inclusion program she created for the Directors Guild of America and the Assoc. of Independent Commercial Producers. Her first screenplay, JAR BY THE DOOR, was a Sundance Finalist and won several awards including the Gordon Parks Indie Film Award. She won several other fellowships and awards in writing and directing including the ABC/Walt Disney Fellowship in Screenwriting, Guy Hanks and Marvin Miller Fellowship, the CBS Director’s Initiative and AFI’s Directing Workshop for Women Fellowship in which she wrote, directed and produced the multi-award-winning short film, HOPE. Tamika has produced several other films including the award winning, THE MALE GROUPIE which aired on HBO and SPIN, which she also directed.
Tara Motamedi is a first-generation American director whose journey into filmmaking is a tapestry woven by threads of resilience, determination, and the pursuit of equality. Named Tara Maria, by Iranian parents who loved “Gone with the Wind” and “West Side Story”, she was born in Los Angeles and raised in Tehran. Growing up under a repressive dictatorship, but illuminated by the progressive values of her Kurdish and Turkish family, Tara learned to navigate high-stakes conflicts, push boundaries, and challenge gender roles, which led to her arrest at the age of sixteen for refusing to wear hijab.
ABOUT SERIESFEST
SeriesFest, a non-profit organization, champions and empowers artists at the forefront of episodic storytelling by providing year-round opportunities for creators and industry professionals to connect, collaborate, and share stories, which inspire and impact global audiences. Each June, SeriesFest culminates in a highly-curated and celebrated Denver-based festival and marketplace. Dedicated to showcasing innovative episodic content, the annual festival includes in-competition independent pilot screenings, panels, workshops, live reads, parties, and network television premieres. SeriesFest: Season Nine will take place from May 5–10, 2023 in Denver. Submissions are now open for all competitions.
Feeling inspired? Check out our competitions currently accepting submissions, including our Script Writing Competition with Wondaland Pictures, here.
