JAI JAMISON
CALVIN “JAI” JAMISON, JR. is writer/director from Richmond, Virginia. He was most recently an Executive Story Editor on The CW’s Superman & Lois, where he also directed episode 311 “Complications.” In 2016, his film TRI, an action sports drama about Triathlons, led to his selection for the Shoot Magazine New Director’s Showcase. His most recent short film, Slave Cry, was The Commonwealth Award Winner at the 2019 Virginia Film Festival and screened in the 2021 Pan African Film Festival. He’s also written comic books for DC Comics and Boom Studios, including Creed: The Next Round in collaboration with LaToya Morgan, Michael B Jordan, and Outlier Society.
Jai graduated from Hampton University and received his master’s in film from American University, before working in various capacities on a number of productions in Virginia including Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln, Turn on AMC, and the Apple+ show Swagger.
In miscellaneous facts, Jai served on the Board of Tourism for Virginia from 2018 to 2022. He was a Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Fellow.
Helen’s in Richmond has the best pancakes in the world (but he challenges anyone to prove otherwise.)
Jai is the nickname his mother came up with to differentiate him from his father and prevent confusion in the household. It is pronounced “Jay.”
CAPELLA FAHOOME
CAPELLA FAHOOME is committed to the relational experience of filmmaking. She has produced independent films for twenty years, with a concentration on enhancing collaborative environments through relationships built on trust and respectful engagement. Capella’s experience and education confirms that optimizing these elements of production not only increases creativity and individual well-being, but the overall success of the final project.
Her films include Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey, a feature length documentary about the 80s band, Journey, and their new lead singer, Arnel Pineda, whom the band members discovered on YouTube. Don’t’ Stop Believin’ premiered at Tribeca Film Festival and was also featured at the San Francisco International Film Festival and the Silver Docs Film Festival. It won audience awards at Traverse City Film Festival,Palm Springs International Film Festival, and New Hampshire Film Festivals and made an international premiere at the Dubai International Film Festival. The film was selected to take part in the American Film Showcase, a joint program of the Department of State’s Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs and University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts. The film was released in theaters and broadcasted on POV/Independent Lens Indies Showcase on PBS. It also played on NetFlix and Amazon Prime and is currently in development for a scripted feature.
A Bunch of Amateurs (2022), supported by IFP, Catapult Film Fund, and BFI, recently premiered at Sheffield DocFest winning the Audience Award. I’M FINE (Thanks for Asking) is a feature narrative that premiered winning Special Jury Recognition at SXSW 2021 and the Audience Award at the Florida International Film Festival, and is currently broadcasting domestically on BETher.
Balloon Man (2020) documents the life of the first African-American master hot air balloon pilot; the film featured at International Du Film Panafricain De Cannes, WorldFest Houston, and won Film of the Year at the Rhode Island Black Film Festival.
Capella produced Voices of the Sea (2018), an intimate portrait of family life in a small fishing village on the southern coast of Cuba; the film was featured at the True/False Film Festival, the San Francisco Doc Festival, NYC Human Rights Watch Film Festival, and was broadcasted on POV/PBS. In 2017 Capella Executive Produced Motherland, earning a Sundance Special Jury Award for Commanding Vision; it was nominated for a Spirit Award and selected for the 47th Berlinale Forum.
Capella’s current films include NOTOWN, supported by POV and Good Pitch, Traces of Home, selected for 2020 HULU/Kartemquin Accelerator.
Capella grew up in Detroit and attended Detroit Public Schools; she graduated from the University of Michigan with a B.A. in Psychology and received her Master of Applied Positive Psychology and Master of Philosophy in Organizational Dynamics from the University of Pennsylvania.
