Shivani Rawat is the Founder and CEO of ShivHans Pictures, a production and finance company that supports the visions of independent filmmakers while collaborating with creatives to produce dynamic and groundbreaking feature films outside the Hollywood studio model. Shivani’s recent films include David Oyelowo’s The Water Man, Tara Miele’s Wander Darkly, Aaron Sorkin’s The Trial of Chicago 7, Jay Roach’s Academy Award-nominated Trumbo, Matt Ross’ Academy Award-nominated Captain Fantastic, Bleecker Street’s Danny Collins, as well as Brad Anderson’s Beirut and Maya Forbes’ The Polka King. Her upcoming films include Jonathan Hensleigh’s The Ice Road recently acquired by Netflix. In 2019 Rawat’s ShivHans Pictures expanded into distribution, including a co-distribution deal with Bleecker Street for U.S. rights to Anthony Maras’ Hotel Mumbai, followed by Tom Shadyac’s Brian Banks, which ShivHans also produced.??Rawat is a Board Member of the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, as well as a member of the Producers Guild of America, Women in Film and Film Independent. She is a supporter of various industry-related organizations including Time’s Up, the California Innocence Project, the Horizon Award, the Motion Picture & Television Fund, and in 2019 served as a sponsor for HUMANITAS, honoring film and television writing. She recently provided seed funding for Women in Film’s Hire Her Back campaign, which supports inclusive hiring in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kia Brooks is the Deputy Director at The Gotham Film & Media Institute (The Gotham). She oversees the organization’s programming, membership and marketing. Prior to her role as deputy Director, Kia was the Director, Membership & Strategic Partnerships at the Made in NY Media Center by IFP. She oversaw the Media Center’s general operations, event programming, membership and strategic partnerships. Before joining The Gotham, she worked in publicity and special events for over five years at revered companies such as Focus Features, Tribeca Film Festival, and Oscilloscope Laboratories working on theatrical releases, awards campaigns and special events titles include Dallas Buyers Club, Anna Karenina, Moonrise Kingdom, Time is Illmatic, among others. Kia received a Bachelor’s of Arts degree in Public Communications from American University. Kia loves connecting people and building community."