Vail Film Festival

The Vail Film Festival is excited to present the Filmmaking: Personal Stories panel discussion, featuring director/producer Miranda Bailey (Being Frank), director/producer Kerry David (Breaking Their Silence), writer/director Rachel Wortell (Romance Analyst),  and writer/director Haroula Rose (Once Upon a River). Moderated by Vail Daily's Tricia Swenson. There will be an audience Q&A after the panel.
Saturday August 17, 12pm at Colorado Snowsports Museum at the Vail Transportation Center.
Free and open to the public.

PANELISTS


Miranda Bailey - Director, Producer, Actor
Miranda Miranda Bailey first wrote, directed and starred in the play MEMORIES FROM AN ATTIC when she was at the Vail Mountain high school. Miranda's first cinematic directorial debut was GREENLIT, a comedic documentary looking at the inherent hypocrisies surrounding Hollywood when trying to "green" a film set which debuted at SXSW in 2010. IFC International and Virgil Films picked it up for distribution. Since then, she directed the award-winning narrative short ANOTHER HAPPY ANNIVERSARY which, after a successful festival run, premiered on Shorts TV and has hosted on Jill Soloway's website "Wifey TV" promoting female filmmakers. Miranda also shot and directed The Behind the Scenes of James Gunn's SUPER and an episode of the web TV series FIRSTS. Miranda's second documentary feature, THE PATHOLOGICAL OPTIMIST, is an intimate portrait of the controversial and discredited Dr. Andrew Wakefield. The documentary premiered on April 20, 2017 at the Manhattan Film Festival as the opening night film and won Best Documentary Feature. It played at the 2017 Downtown LA Film Festival and Bailey won Best Director - Documentary Feature. The film opened in theaters September 2017.
Over the last 14 years, Miranda Bailey has produced over 20 films including the Oscar nominated THE SQUID AND THE WHALE, James Gunn's SUPER and the Gotham Award Award-winning THE DIARY OF A TEENAGE GIRL. Miranda has been nominated twice for the Best First Feature Spirit Award - once in 2017 for Swiss Army Man and once in 2016 for The Diary of a Teenage Girl which she won. Miranda is also the founder of TheCherryPicks.com, a new media platform bringing you unique and nuanced perspectives on film with reviews, ratings, and high-quality original content, all through a female lens. Most recently, Miranda directed the feature comedy BEING FRANK starring Jim Gaffigan, Logan Miller, Anna Gunn, Samantha Mathis, and Alex Karpovsky. BEING FRANK will screen as an Official Selection of the 2019 Vail Film Festival.



Kerry David - Director, Producer, Writer
Kerry David has been working in the film and television industry for more than 20 years. She began her career at Paramount Pictures, followed by 3 years as Executive Assistant to Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman on their various projects. In 2001 she started her own production company. Kerry’s film credits include the award-winning DVD Deposing the Usual Suspects, the Agent Cody Banks franchise, Perfect Romance for Lifetime Television, as well as the critically-acclaimed, award-winning feature documentary My Date with Drew, followed by the feature film Like Dandelion Dust, based on the New York Times bestselling book and adapted for the screen by Oscar nominee Stephen J. Rivele (A Star is Born, Ali, Nixon). Kerry then produced her third documentary Making Miles – The Miles Davis Story for Oscar-nominated screenwriter Christopher Wilkinson (Bohemian Rhapsody, Ali, Nixon), followed by her fourth documentary, Seeking Happily Ever After, one of only 25 films accepted into the Sundance Film Lab.
In addition to her award-winning film work, Kerry has also been a guest speaker, panelist, and moderator at schools such as University of Southern California, University of California at Los Angeles, Pepperdine University, and the New York Film Academy. She is a voting member of the British Academy of Film & Television Arts (BAFTA). After completing Bill Coors: The Will to Live, Kerry produced and directed "Breaking their Silence: Women on the Frontline of the Poaching War" which will screen as an Official Selection of the 2019 Vail Film Festival.



Haroula Rose - Writer/Director
Haroula Rose is a filmmaker and musician who has just completed her feature debut as writer/director, ONCE UPON A RIVER. She also recently completed a new short film, AS THEY SLEPT. She wrote and directed the pilot entitled LOST & FOUND, which had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in April 2017 then went on to win the Audience Award at Bentonville Film Festival. It was positively mentioned by the New York Times, and named one of the top things to see at Tribeca by Filmmaker Magazine. Rose’s work has been supported by a Fulbright Fellowship in Madrid, Spain, Nantucket Screenwriters Colony, WarnerMedia, Warner Brothers Directors Workshop, and Tribeca All Access. She received her BA and MA from the University of Chicago and attended USC's MFA program. Rose’s other award winning short films and music videos include WEDDING DRESS, NO LOVE SONG, and BABY CRAZY.
As a singer-songwriter her music can be heard in many films, series, theater productions and commercials. She has toured internationally and released LPs, EPs, remixes, and compositions through Thirty Tigers and Little Bliss Records. She has also produced films such as FRUITVALE STATION, PERMANENT, THE FEAR OF THIRTEEN, HEAVEN ADORES YOU, and more. ONCE UPON A RIVER will screen as an Official Selection of the 2019 Vail Film Festival.



Rachel Wortell - Writer, Director
Rachel Wortell is a filmmaker based in New York. She is a member of Film Fatales, Alliance of Women Directors, New York Women in Film & Television, Women in Media, and Film Powered. Her first feature film, "A Sibling Mystery," which she co-wrote, co-directed, and co-produced, is a comedy about a brother and sister who become consumed with investigating a mysterious woman they suspect has stolen their winning lottery ticket, endangering their summer party plans. "A Sibling Mystery" had it’s World Premiere at the 2017 Vail Film Festival. Her film has gone on to screen at numerous festivals including the Mill Valley Film Festival and the Portland Film Festival. "A Sibling Mystery" is available to watch on iTunes and Amazon.
Rachel produced the feature "Treasure Trouble," currently in post-production. Her second feature as writer, director is "Romance Analyst" screening as an Official Selection of the 2019 Vail Film Festival.



Tricia Swenson - MODERATOR
Swenson’s story-telling has spanned the globe. For over two decades she has interviewed professional athletes, artists, actors, musicians, chefs and many more on national and international TV and internet broadcasts. She now works for the Vail Daily creating digital content.