CREW
Selena Do: Producer
Selena Do is a queer, Vietnamese American artist and producer from Riverside, CA. She has earned her BA from the University of California, San Diego in Communication and Film studies and was a Pacific Arts Movement Inaugural Creative Leaders Fellow in 2021.
She has assistant produced Zeinabu Irene Davis’ short film PANDEMIC BREAD (BlackStar 2023, LAAF 2023, SDAFF 2023, and many other festivals.). Currently, she is associate producer for Ann Kaneko’s 45/45 and LAND, LABOR, AND LOGISTICS documentaries, producer for Moriah Hayes’ DEAR ALASKA documentary and Emory Chao Johnson’s upcoming documentary short currently in development. Anti-racism, decolonization, diversity, queerness, and disability justice are core values which inform her work.
In addition to her filmmaking career, she has worked with the San Diego Asian Film Festival for the past five years as a Programmer, Production Coordinator, and Guest Services Manager. Selena was a research associate for MACRO Lab at UCSD looking at the financialization and media consolidation of Hollywood. She is also a multi-medium artist, concentrated in fiber art, and passionate reader.
Romeo: Graphic Designer & Animator
Romeo Campos is a descendant of the Pechanga Band of Indians (Payómkawichum) and Gabrielino (Tongva) based in San Diego, CA. Romeo is currently employed with the San Diego Indigenous women-led nonprofit 'ataaxum Pomkwaan as a Photographer, Videographer, Web Developer, Graphic Designer, and Youth Organizer. Their employment involves being active in the Native American & Indigenous communities and reservations through hosting events, leading workshops and interacting with local youth. Outside of the job, they run a personal media production business known as OPT-OUT Studios and are involved in creative cultural projects. Romeo is community-oriented and contributes to any project a strong feeling of intention.
Shoghi Hayes: Composer
An accomplished and innovative composer, Shoghi Hayes has written and premiered scores for numerous award-winning films in the United States and Australia. His music is known for its beautiful simplicity which elicits attention to drama and storytelling. Mark Snow, composer of X-Files, describes Shoghi’s music as "remarkably successful" and "an amazing example of how something so remarkably simple . . . works so well and holds your attention." Shoghi’s innate sense of musical storytelling is described as "profoundly effective" by Sean Callery, composer of 24 and Bones, and "refreshing!" by Michael Levine, composer of Cold Case.
In 2016, Shoghi's score for the film Private Eye won the Best Sound Score award in the 72 Hour Mind2Movie film competition sponsored by Rochester Movie Makers (now the Rochester Association for Film Arts and Sciences). He was also selected as a featured artist for his composition, "In Hendersight," at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Film and Music Festival in Austin, Texas. His music is heard on award-winning short films such as Homesick (2015), On the Wall (2016), The Struggle of Malcolm Young (2016), and Roam (2016) as part of the Rochester Fringe Festival. His most recent works can be heard in various commercials and advertisements by the University of Rochester and the Rochester Institute of Technology.
Shoghi received his Bachelor of Music in Jazz and Contemporary Media at the Eastman School of Music. During his years as a student, his progressive jazz/orchestral composition, "Discovery of Twelve", sparked multiple collaborative performances across the Jazz and Strings departments at Eastman. His piece was later selected to be recorded and featured on the historic album, Jazz at Eastman 2014, which became the first of Eastman’s annual Jazz at Eastman record series. In 2016, Shoghi was selected as one of 20 orchestral film composers from around the globe to participate in the prestigious NYU/ASCAP Foundation Film Scoring Workshop, where he studied and worked with renowned composers such as Sean Callery, Mark Snow, Ira Newborn, Michael Levine, John Kaefer, and Mike Patterson.
Zeinabu Davis: Executive Producer
Zeinabu irene Davis is an independent filmmaker and full Professor of Communication at the University of California, San Diego. She is comfortable working in documentary, narrative, and experimental genres. Her work is passionately concerned with the depiction of women of African heritage. Her most recent feature documentary on the filmmakers of the LA Rebellion film movement, Spirits of Rebellion: Black Cinema from Los Angeles (2016), won 7 awards, including the African Movie Academy Award for Best Diasporic Documentary and Best Feature Documentary & Audience Award from the BlackStar Film Festival. Her films are distributed by Cinema Guild, Women Make Movies and Third World Newsreel. She frequently writes articles on Black cinema, which have been published in Cineaste and Shadow & Act.
Josh Orris: Director of Photography
My name is Josh Orris, and I’m proud to be the Director of Photography for Dear Alaska. I’m originally from Dallas, Texas but grew up mainly in Los Angeles, where I was introduced to filmmaking in high school. Ever since then, my love for movies and creating video content has flourished and led me to creating short films myself and producing video material for small businesses and independent clients. During this project, it has truly been an indescribable privilege to get the opportunity to photograph such a beautiful and vibrant land, and be welcomed in by such warm-hearted members of the Tlingit community. As this is the first time I’ve worked on such a long project, I’m hopeful in taking the experience with me to help continue uplifting communities through film.
David Tuman: Camera Operator
David grew up in Venezuela, moving to the United States in middle school. He is of Kariña descent, although his name Cuarime was granted by the Piapoco people. He got his start in photography shooting news and sports for a daily newspaper in college. His news assignments ranged from local stories on street art to presidential election night coverage as a White House press pool photographer. He's always been primarily drawn to photographing people and their stories, so over the last decade he's focused on portraits and weddings - which are also practical to schedule around his career in mechanical engineering designing hardware.
Immaculee Zarate: Co-editor, Sound Design
Immaculee Zarate is a Communication major at UCSD. She is interested in nearly all aspects of media production, but since beginning her studies at UCSD, she has gained a newfound passion for editing and working with sound design. She's incredibly grateful for the opportunity to work on Dear Alaska, and believes that the film's message will resonate with many who may be searching for themselves.
Isabella Quezada: Website Designer
Isabella is the enthusiastic designer for the Dear Alaska website. She is a Communication Major, Film Studies/Theatre Minor at UCSD who has a passion for filmmaking. She specializes in production and editing, and enjoys all kinds of art (including web/graphic design). Dear Alaska was such a blessing for her, giving her a space to pursue what she loves. She has enjoyed every minute of working on the project and helping share such an impactful story. (Special thanks to Moriah and Professor Zee for the wonderful opportunity).
