Darren Dean

Darren Dean is an award-winning writer-director-producer who, along with frequent collaborator Sean Baker, was nominated for the John Cassavetes Independent Spirit Award in 2009 for co-writing and producing indie darling PRINCE OF BROADWAY. 
His follow-up as producer, 2011's celebrated international co-production KINYARWANDA yielded the World Audience Award at Sundance, as well as earning him an NAACP Image Award nomination. He reunited with Director Baker in 2014 to produce the groundbreaking film, TANGERINE, which was nominated for a GLAAD Media Award and landed 4 Independent Spirit Awards nominations in 2016, including Best Picture. He's also produced music videos and shorts, including Suha Araj's Award-Winning PIONEER HIGH. His most recent producing effort, H.O.M.E.  will arrive on the festival circuit in 2016. Dean's body of work has been recognized with a 2016 nomination for the Piaget Producer's Award at the Independent Spirit Awards. Currently, he continues to develop several projects for both the big and small screen, including Will Eisner's legendary graphic novel A Contract with God. Dean is also an educator at New York Film Academy.

Ingrid Matias

Ingrid is a New York-based multilingual Producer working in Production Management at the Apollo Theater Foundation, Inc.  Since 2003, she has worked on the physical production of live events, theatrical productions, and television tapings such as Dream Girls the musical (2009), Elvis Costello’s Spectacle (Sundance Channel), the Apollo Theater’s Annual Spring Benefit Gala, and Showtime at the Apollo (Tristar Pictures).

Before joining the Apollo Theater Foundation, she interned at companies such as, Cowboy Pictures, Castle Hill Productions, the French Film Office/Unifrance, and the Southern Screen Commission in the .  She is the current Vice President of the NY chapter of the National Association of Latin Independent Producers (NALIP) and a member of the National Academy of Television Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT).  Ingrid produced her first short The Inspiragenesis, directed by fellow NALIP member William D. Caballero in July 2009 and is excited to be working with another NALIP member Director/ Writer Daniel Maldonado on her first feature film H.O.M.E.Ingrid received her B.A. in French from Columbia University and M.A. in Media Studies from the University of Sussex. A world traveler, she has visited 78 cities on five continents and speaks four languages: English, Spanish, French and Italian. 

Ingrid Matias is known for her work on H.O.M.E. (2016), Negrita and Mixing Nia (1998).

Vanessa Verduga

Vanessa is an Actor, Writer, Singer, Director, Producer and Attorney who combines all skill sets to work solely on projects that she loves.  The projects that appeal most to her are those that speak in favor of the underdog and shed light on issues affecting them.

 A graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and Seton Hall University School of Law, Vanessa is one of the Producers of H.O.M.E. She is also the Executive Producer for the seriocomedy web series Justice Woman, which she created and wrote, and is finalizing the screenplay for the comedy feature film The Implications of Cohabitation, which will go into pre-production in 2013. Vanessa got into filmmaking as a result of acting and writing.  Having appeared in numerous stage productions throughout New York City, Vanessa decided to give film acting a chance and discovered that she loved it just as much as theater.  Her appeal for filmmaking evolved when she co-wrote the award-winning short film Danny First, based on the story of her relationship with her brother Tony, who is autistic. It was then that she realized the power of filmmaking.  As an actor, Vanessa is a firm believer that she is a vessel holding emotions for the audience to experience and she strives to never deprive her audience of any experience. Thus, filmmaking was a no brainer for her since she saw it as an opportunity to move and inspire a much wider audience. Having traveled and lived abroad, Vanessa brings a culturally rich perspective to her projects, a perspective she can easily translate into English, Spanish, Italian and/or French, all languages she speaks.  Described by her peers as “a compassionate fighter with captivating strength and sassy humor”, Vanessa aspires to awaken our inner warriors through the art of filmmaking.