DIRECTOR / PRODUCER
Lajwanti (Laj) P. Waghray was selected to join Milwaukee Film’s Focus Finders 2023-2025 cohort, a storytelling accelerator to nurture emerging filmmakers in Milwaukee. In 2022, Waghray received a grant from Milwaukee Film’s Brico Forward Fund and accepted Marquette’s 2022-23 Emerging Filmmaker Fellowship, helping her continue the work on a film about an 83-year-old formerly incarcerated Milwaukee man. From 2020 to 2021, Waghray was a resident artist at ARTservancy, creating films centered on nature conservation. In 2020, she produced a 2-minute film, Together, Alone, documenting one doctor’s experience during the height of the pandemic for A-Doc.
Also in process is "Searching for Sparrows," a feature-length documentary that addresses the disappearance of bird habitats caused by rapid urbanization in Hyderabad, India. She pitched this film at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival and was a DVID fellow at Kartemquin Films in 2014.
In 2018, she directed a 75-minute non-linear narrative film, On Hands, which draws attention to an essential way of experiencing the world—by using our hands. In 2012, she directed and produced Sleepovers, a coming-of-age film that highlights four suburban Milwaukee girls during three sleepovers over the course of 10 years. Her earlier works include Janet Fitch’s three-part series Guns, Grief, and Grace in America (co-director, 2009) and Ramon Rivera-Moret’s On Calloway Street (co-producer, 2008).
In addition to her film work, she co-founded Didi, which aims to end violence against women, and the Bitchitra Collective, a group of female-identifying filmmakers from the Indian diaspora. She also served on the board of the Lynden Sculpture Garden, developing programs to attract diverse members to the garden.
CONSULTING PRODUCER / CINEMATOGRAPHER
Dinesh Das Sabu is an independent documentary filmmaker and media artist. His feature and short work has appeared on PBS, HBO, and at numerous festivals worldwide. Dinesh co-produced his feature directorial debut, Unbroken Glass, with Chicago's Kartemquin Films. Unbroken Glass was screened at numerous film festivals and community-based events. Among its many distinctions, Dinesh won "Best Director" at the 2017 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, and the film was broadcast nationally on PBS’ America ReFramed in 2017. In 2014 Dinesh was a fellow in Firelight Media's Documentary Lab. He graduated from the University of Chicago in 2006 and earned his MFA in Documentary Film and Video from Stanford in 2019. He teaches at Marquette University in Milwaukee, WI.
CO-PRODUCER / IMPACT PRODUCTION COORDINATOR
Conor McIntyre is working on Arthur Byas, a documentary feature following an addiction counselor in Milwaukee as he reflects on his past with incarceration, and freelancing as co-director on Hippo, a short experimental film that explores the idea of simulation in our modern world.He graduated from Marquette University with a bachelor’s degree in digital media, where he made several films and tried his hand at multiple genres, like animating a 60-second short about an escaped alien, which won Best Picture at Marquette University’s Film Festival. Yet, his true passion lay in creating socially conscious documentaries, such as his capstone film Redline, which explored segregation in Milwaukee by following a bus line and its riders.
EDITOR
KEEGAN DUFTY is a Chicago-based editor who recently graduated from DePaul University’s film school. Keegan carries with him a lifelong appreciation for the art of storytelling. He is drawn to documentary filmmaking for its aspirations to show commonality and beauty in the world around us, evoke empathy, and call for social change.
IMPACT PRODUCER
Breanna Taylor is a Milwaukee-based interdisciplinary artist and executive assistant for Black Arts MKE. She's passionate about dance, film, content creation, and writing, specializing in impact work and production. Breanna is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and New York University with a B.A. in Afro-American Studies with an arts emphasis and a Masters in Performance Studies. In 2020, she co-designed Langston League's HBO ‘Lovecraft Country’ Unofficial Syllabus as well as the 2021 Companion Guide for Nia DaCosta’s ‘Candyman,’ which was in collaboration with Jordan Peele's MonkeyPaw Productions and NBCUniversal.
She also co-wrote the curriculum for the Emmy Award-Winning Documentary ‘When Claude Got Shot.’ Breanna's recent work includes co-writing a reparations toolkit and discussion guide for Colorfarm's documentary, ‘The Big Payback,’ and the discussion guide for Netflix's ‘African Queens: Njinga.’ To stay true to her love for horror, she wrote the curriculum for ‘The Angry Black Girl and her Monster,’ which was screened during the 2023 Milwaukee Film Festival. Most recently, Breanna served as the associate producer and curriculum coordinator for the short film documentary, 'Black Strings' directed by Milwaukee filmmaker Marquise Mays. She has previously served as the film co-facilitator for the Black Lens' youth program, 'Souls of Young Folks.’ She is part of the 3rd cohort for Milwaukee Film's ‘Focus Finder Accelerated Film Program,’ where she is working on a script for a horror short lm.
MARKETING ADVISOR
Saniya W Tyagi is a product manager with a deep marketing vein, with experience across fintech, startup, and media sectors. She currently works at Capital One, creating engaging experiences for new and existing customers. Previously, Saniya led global marketing strategy efforts at The Walt Disney Studios, with campaign work spanning Marvel, Disney Animation, and Disney Live Action films. In addition to working with Red Crane Films, Saniya consults for Career Contessa, a platform catalyzing career growth for women across industries. She holds a Wharton MBA and is a Babson College alum, graduating both with a focus in marketing & business strategy. In her spare time, she enjoys teaching dance classes via her brand 'Dance with Saniya'.