Above the Line Mentorship Participants Narrative 2024

Azra Alkan (she/her)

Azra Alkan, a Washington-based VFX professional, filmmaker, and Unreal Engine enthusiast, brings over a decade of industry experience to her work. She’s made her mark on major films like “Spider Man: Far From Home”, “Ant man and the Wasp”, “Gran Turismo” and popular TV series such as “StrangerThings”, “TheFlash.” Beyond post-production, Azra is an on set VFX presence, enhancing music videos and TV shows. Additionally, she’s a skilled filmmaker, crafting captivating stories for film festivals. Her versatile approach and dedication to pushing creative boundaries continue to mix innovation with traditional film-making tools in the entertainment industry.

Sherri Bylenga (she/her)

Sherri Bylenga is an artist, musician and filmmaker from Spokane, WA. She began working in documentary film in 2008 with a focus on extreme sports and humanitarian issues and loves working in remote, wilderness settings from the Grand Canyon to Yellowstone. Passionate about healing the fissure between humanity and nature, ecopsychology is a strong theme of her work. Sherri is a mental health counselor and considers her 15 years of whitewater raft guiding to hold some of the most enriching and formative experiences of her life. Sherri co founded Fat Gratitude Productions in 2020 to elevate and amplify the work of artists and do-gooders in her community. Building toward producing feature length narrative films, recent work includes award-winning shorts Pillow Talk queer comedy (2021), Alright music video (2021) and Everly sci fi thriller (2022). Sherri is currently in post production for a documentary film on the arts and social justice non profit Terrain and a Spokane Artist Spotlight Series. Themes of Sherri’s work include queer perspectives, dismantling rigid gender norms, the magic of nature, levity, and the transformative potential of the human spirit. She is a writer, director, cinematographer, camera operator, visual effects artist and editor.

Champ Ensminger (he/him)

Champ is a Thai American filmmaker born in Chiang Mai, Thailand and raised in Spokane. After graduating from the University of Washington in Seattle, he moved to New York City where he worked at the video hosting site Vimeo and then as production support for the agency m ss ng p eces. His experience on commercial productions in New York included brands like Spotify, American Express, and Red Bull Music Academy. Champ returned to his maternal roots in Chiang Mai in 2013 where he spent time as a volunteer and workshop instructor at Documentary Arts Asia, a photography and film nonprofit highlighting Asia-based media artists. In 2015 his work in documentary and music video granted him the Emerging Artist Fellowship by the Jacob Burns Film Center in Westchester, New York. He returned to Seattle to continue his commercial work as a staff editor at the Seattle agency, World Famous, for 7 years, creating content for brands like T-Mobile, Microsoft, AWS, and Taco Time NW. In the early months of COVID, his documentary film produced in Chiang Mai, YAI NIN, enjoyed an award-winning festival run. Champ is currently a freelance editor for clients large and small. He also serves on position 6 of the City of Seattle’s Film Commission, representing post-production. Outside his commercial work, his personal work has spanned documentary shorts and narrative-driven music videos. He has recently taught filmmaking as a teaching artist for South End Stories, a trauma-informed and anti-racist arts education program serving students and educators throughout King County.

vee hua (they/them)

Vee Hua 華婷婷 (they/them) is a writer, filmmaker, and organizer with semi-nomadic tendencies. Much of their work unifies their metaphysical interests with their belief that art can positively transform the self and society. They are the Editor-in-Chief of REDEFINE and journalist at South Seattle Emerald. Prior to that, they were the Executive Director of the interdisciplinary community hub, Northwest Film Forum, where they played a groundbreaking role in making the space more welcoming and accessible for diverse audiences. Their latest short film, Reckless Spirits (2022), is a metaphysical, multi-lingual POC buddy comedy; the feature film version is slated for production in 2025. Vee is also in post-production on a short documentary film about Hunt’s Trading Post in Southern Utah, just outside of the Navajo and Ute Nations. In 2017, Vee released the narrative short film, Searching Skies — which touches on Syrian refugee resettlement in the United States — and co-organized The Seventh Art Stand, a national film and civil rights discussion series against Islamophobia. They have a Master’s in Tribal Resource and Environmental Stewardship under the Native American Studies Department at the University of Minnesota.

Kristine Ponten (she/her)

Kristine is a creative writer, director, and producer with a background in Special Education. She recently completed a year-long apprenticeship working for “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” where she got to learn the nuts and bolts of various production departments during an Emmy-nominated season. She has additionally worked behind the scenes of the viral YouTube channel, “Dad, how do I?” which has amassed over 4.8 million subscribers since its inception in 2020. She loves engaging with off-beat stories where kids and adults feel valued, inspired, and a little braver.