Shunji IWAI

Film Director | JAPAN

Born in 1963 and ever since 1988, Shunji Iwai has been an avid creator in film and video industry, his works including TV dramas, music videos and CFs. His unique and outstanding visual image has become known as “Iwai Aesthetic”, attracting much attention. He is multi-talented and has many faces, among them are a film director, novel writer and composer.
He has written and directed many films, including “Fireworks, Should We See It from the Side or the Bottom?” (1995), “Love Letter” (1995), “Swallowtail Butterfly” (1996), “April Story” (1998), “All About Lily Chou-Chou” (2001), “Hana and Alice” (2004), “Vampire” (2012), etc.
In 2012, he wrote the lyrics for “Flowers will bloom,” a recovery support song for the Great East Japan Earthquake.
In 2015, his first feature animation film “The Case of Hana & Alice” was released, and in 2016, he released a feature film “A Bride for Rip Van Winkle.”
In 2017, his novel “The Kids Headed for the Side of the Fireworks” was published by Kadokawa Bunko. The same year in August, an animation film based on his same-titled TV drama, “Fireworks, Should We See It from the Side or the Bottom?” (directed by Akiyuki Shinbo), was released.
In November 2018, his first Chinese film ”Last Letter（你好, 之華）”, which was based on his own novel “Last Letter,” was released throughout China. Then he filmed a Japanese version “Last Letter” (starring: Takako Matsu, Suzu Hirose, Ryunosuke Kamiki, Masaharu Fukuyama) and released it in January 2020. The same year in July 2020, “The 12 day tale of the monster that died in 8” (starring: Takumi Saito, NON) which he shot remotely during the quarantine period. In September, the Chinese version ”Last Letter（你好，之華）” was released also in Japan. In December, his short film “Yume de Aetemo” (8 episodes in total) was distributed on [VISION], a video content distribution system provided by LINE NEWS.
For the first time in about three years, his latest new full-length novel “Late Summer by ZERO” (published by Bungeishunju) was released in June, 2021.

Mary Lou Belli

Director | USA

Two time Emmy award-winning MARY LOU BELLI has been directing television for over 30 years including NCIS New Orleans, Black Lightning, Bull, Legacies, Station 19, Pitch, Monk, Famous In Love, Devious Maids, The Quad, American Woman, and Hart of Dixie as well as Disney’s The Secret of Sulphur Springs, Ms. Pat, Wizards of Waverly Place, Sister, Sister, Girlfriends, and The Game. Her short film, Straight Eye for the Gay Guy won “Best Mini-short” at the California Independent Film Fest where she also premiered I Heard Something, a thriller that went on to play fests internationally. She has done ground-breaking work on web-series. Her award-winning short, America, played its 14th fest on its 4 continent at The Hague and won best short.
Mary Lou served two terms as the Co-chair of the Women’s Steering Committee at the DGA where she also has served on the Western Director’s Council, presently she is on Leadership Council PAC and as an alternate to the National Board. She is an Honorary Board member of the Alliance of Women Directors and Advisory Board member of Women in Media and a long time member of Women In Film.
She is the co-author of four books: “The NEW Sitcom Career Book,” "Acting for Young Actors," and “Directors Tell the Story” which she co- wrote with fellow DGA member Bethany Rooney. Her 4th book, "Acting for the Screen" was published by Focal Press summer 2019.

Steve Spencer Baker

Writer, Artist Manager, Producer | UK & Japan

Steve has managed recording artists for over 40 years, during which time he was awarded many gold and platinum awards. He was the co-founder and Managing Director of Tomato, the multi-award-winning, London, UK, based creative collective from 1991 to 2004. During his time with Tomato he instigated and ran a series of creative workshops that came to Sapporo initially in 2001. He was also an advisor to the creative city initiative of Sapporo City.
He has published two books, in Japanese, about creativity in business; Harnessing Creativity 1.0 & 2.0 and authored (as S. Spencer Baker) three science-fiction novels; Slabscape: Reset, Slabscape: Dammit and Slabscape: Reboot.
He is CEO of Nero Schwarz Music Limited, an independent music publishing company and record label based in Liverpool, UK, and he is a regular on the judging panel for the Fastnet Film Festival.