September 2024 in Arezzo
Nic Altobelli
Nic Altobelli is an independent filmmaker based in Canada. She has produced projects in Toronto, Vancouver and Los Angeles. She is a proud CMPA member and an alumni of the Canadian Film Centre Producers Lab. Nic's Production Company naltobel productions has a current slate of elevated genre films and series. Their films have screened at international film festivals including TIFF, Hollyshorts, Raindance London, Tallgrass Film Festival, Whistler Film Festival, Reelworld, Sun Valley Film Festival, Fantasia, Blood in the Snow, Vancouver Asian Film Festival, Vancouver Horror Show and International Film Festival of South Asia. Their work has been seen around the world and their impact on audiences continues to grow.
Serena Dykeman
Serena Dykman is a writer-director, raised between Paris, Brussels, London and New York. She self-describes as a “culture clasher”. Through her work, Serena brings people from different worlds in an unusual set of circumstances, bridging cultural gaps and challenging stereotypes with humor and levity, subtly showing that we have more that connects us than divides us. Serena just wrapped production on three projects, and will be working on her feature script BABKA at the residency. www.DyamantPictures.com
Kristina Mileska
Kristina Mileska is a North Macedonian-Canadian filmmaker based in Toronto. Kristina’s work is light on dialogue with a greater emphasis on visual storytelling. She weaves whimsy and levity into stories that focus on themes of grief, memory, disillusionment and loss of innocence. Her short film, The Bear and the Beekeeper has been licensed by Canadian broadcaster SuperChannel and has collected many accolades including the Oscar-qualifying award for Best Short Film at the Edmonton International Film Festival. Her short film Afloat (2018) premiered at TIFF Kids. Kristina holds a BFA in Film Production from York University where her thesis film Asteroid (2015) was awarded the National Screen Institute’s Fearless Filmmaker Award and broadcast internationally on Air Canada flights. She’s an alumn of the Reykjavik International Film Festival Talent Lab 2022 and the Vancouver International Film Festival Catalyst Program 2019. Currently, Kristina is in post-production for her latest short and developing her debut feature.
James Fitzmaurice
Jim Fitzmaurice is an alumnus of a 2022 Nostos retreat, where he was advised by retreat members to turn his feature screenplay into a young-adult fantasy novel. That novel, which also counts as literary or four-quadrant, is now available on Amazon. The hope is that the novel will help the screenplay find a home, and an author chat at a book festival in Iowa City is in the works. Jim, an Iowa alum, taught Shakespeare at Northern Arizona University for many years before retiring to the UK. He is currently emeritus from NAU, an honorary research fellow at the University of Sheffield, and a regular at Shooters in the Pub, a monthly filmmakers' networking event in Sheffield.
Taylor Smith
Taylor is a production assistant accountant for film and TV, and she's a writer! Taylor is from a small town near Philadelphia and always had a story in her head. She started taking writing more seriously during her senior year of high school when her mother wisely put her in a weekend creative writing class. When she moved to Chicago for college, she continued her writing journey while taking film production classes. Quickly after college, she was thrown into the production accounting world for some popular and beloved shows like HBO's Lovecraft Country and The Chi, Lucas Films Skeleton Crew, and Apple TV's Servant, and she has a little cameo. Taylor is currently in Los Angeles and working on a new Hulu show, she survived the strike, and is enjoying the beach weather and writing when she can!
Curtis Matzke
Curtis Matzke is a director, screenwriter, and producer based in Chicago, IL. Curtis has contributed to numerous short films, documentaries, and micro-budget features. His work has been recognized at dozens of film festivals, including Athens International, Cinequest, NewFilmmakers Los Angeles, and Chicago International. His work explores a variety of genres and themes that tackle loss, regret, the passage of time, and much more. His latest short film, SINK, premiered at the Oscar-qualifying Chicago International Film Festival and has screened at a dozen festivals since. His pilot, TIN CAN, advanced to the second round of the Sundance Episodic Lab. Three other feature screenplays have advanced in the Austin Film Festival and won several awards, including Best Screenplay at the Woods Hole and Anchorage International Film Festivals. Curtis recently joined a select group of international filmmakers in the Canary Islands, where they were mentored by legendary director Werner Herzog on new short projects. Curtis is currently in production on a new documentary feature he is co-directing, which recently attached Anarchists United and filmmaker Lilly Wachowski (THE MATRIX) as executive producers. He has completed writing residencies and labs at the Vermont Studio Center, Stowe Story Labs, Chateau Orquevaux, Chicago International Film Festival, and Reykjavik International Film Festival. In 2024, Curtis organized and moderated a panel at the SXSW Film Festival about artist residencies and retreats for filmmakers. Curtis holds a B.A. in Media Arts and Technology and an M.A. in Telecommunication, Information Studies, and Media from Michigan State University with a concentration in Television, Cinema, & Radio, a minor in Film Studies, and a Specialization in Design.
Christine Perez Soler
Christine Perez Soler is a Film & TV Marketing Producer based in Amsterdam. Originally from New York, she began her career on HBO's Creative Services team where she worked on marketing campaigns for top tier series including "Game of Thrones,” “Big Little Lies,” and "Westworld". In 2018, her Spanish-American roots and love for diverse storytelling prompted her to move abroad and pursue an MBA in International Marketing Strategy. Since graduating in 2020, she has lived in Spain, Germany, and the Netherlands consulting for small media startups and most recently collaborating with Netflix on 360° campaigns, including: “Stranger Things,” “Bridgerton,” “Ferry de Series" and more.
Emma Commander Moley
Emma Commander Moley is an International Filmmaker and Writer based in LA. She started her career in journalism, producing international news and culture stories for the Emmy Award-winning series “VICE” on HBO. Since 2018, she has worked on international productions, partnering with award-winning directors to craft the creative vision for feature films and series for Concordia Studio and A24. Her work includes “Home,” an international architecture series for A24 and Apple TV+; “Waffles + Mochi,” a food and travel series by the Obamas’ Higher Ground Productions; “Diagnosis” on Netflix, a medical mystery series by Lightbox Entertainment, Scott Rudin Productions and The New York Times, and many more.