Billy Shebar is an Emmy-nominated filmmaker whose feature documentary Monk in Pieces was an official selection and Teddy Award nominee at the 2025
IDA Member Spotlight
With over three decades of learned experience from Disney, Oscars, Fox Sports, GSN, and the NFL in the areas of programming and production, Erik’s skillset is rich and vast. The depth of his industry experience, accompanied with an extensive education from CSU Fullerton, UC Santa Barbara, UCLA, Emory University, and Berklee College of Music, makes him a powerful force of creativity.
This month, we have the great opportunity to highlight three rising stars and Northwestern University Documentary Media program graduate students
Biljana Tutorov is a writer, director, and producer of feature and documentary films, video works, and performances focused on women-driven stories
Aaron Bear is an award-winning filmmaker whose work is defined by a rare combination of deeply empathetic storytelling and a relentless commitment to amplifying marginalized voices. His most recent documentary, Yes I Am: The Ric Weiland Story (2021), won the prestigious 2024 GLAAD Media Award, cementing his place as one of today’s most impactful and visionary documentarians. Known for his ability to capture the raw, unfiltered essence of his subjects, Aaron’s films go beyond surface-level narratives, delving into the humanity and complexity that often go unseen. Aaron’s career is marked by influential partnerships and creative leadership with having directed the 2016 groundbreaking Trans documentary Finding Kim and producing the upcoming 2025 short documentary Shelly's Leg - about the legacy of legendary and Seattle's very first gay bar.
Reed Martin is a documentary filmmaker from Carlsbad, California. While completing his BFA in Film & TV Production at USC, he directed A Hand to Hold, an award-winning documentary short aired on PBS SoCal.
Berry Hahn is a French-Malagasy sales agent, independent consultant, and international liaison. Previously, she was a film programmer and documentary
Asako Fujioka is an independent consultant and producer with a focus on strengthening the creative documentary genre in Asia. She has worked with the
Bircan is a documentary filmmaker working between Scotland and Turkey. After a period in journalism, she found her true passion in creative
Advik Beni is a South African filmmaker and curator currently based in Los Angeles. Through a practice steeped in South African traditions of orality, their work aims to create imagined spaces for marginalized people to express grief and trauma.