Creative Conversations

Conversation with screenwriters and editors focusing on the importance of executing a narrative short from pre-production to post.

Nijla Mumin
Writer/ Director
Sweet Potato Pie Productions

Nijla Mu'min is a writer and filmmaker from the East Bay Area. Her work is informed by poetry, photography, music, fiction, and dance. In 2014, she was selected for the Sundance Institute Screenwriters Intensive, and she was the winner of the Grand Jury Prize for Best Screenplay at the Urbanworld Film Festival, for her script Noor, which also garnered recognition from The Black List Muslim List and the Islamic Scholarship Fund.

Her debut feature film, Jinn, premiered at the 2018 SXSW Film Festival, where she won a Special Jury Award for Screenwriting. Jinn, a New York Times Critic’s pick, was released in 2018 by Orion/MGM. That year, she also directed an episode of "Queen Sugar." In 2019, she received the MPAC Media Award for Courage and Conscience and was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. That same year, she directed an episode of HBO’s “Insecure” and she wrote for the Starz show “Blindspotting.”

In 2020, she wrote and directed an episode of the Apple series, "Swagger.” She also wrote and directed a short film for Netflix, entitled Black Prom. In 2021, she directed an episode of “Wu-Tang: An American Saga” for Hulu. In 2022, she directed episodes of "All Rise" for OWN, "Swagger" for Apple, and "East New York" for CBS. She is a dual-degree graduate of CalArts MFA Film Directing and Creative Writing Programs, and a graduate of UC Berkeley.

Marco Rosas
Editor

Marco Rosas is a Mexican-American editor born and raised in the Chicagoland area. He graduated with a B.A. in Film from Columbia College Chicago. With 10+ years in post production,

Marco’s editorial experience ranges from commercials, music videos, VR, social media, short and feature length films, and T.V series. He currently works in the world of film and scripted television in Hollywood. Some of his recent credits include HBO’s Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty and Burnout, a short film produced by Jamie Lee Curtis.

Outside of work, Marco finds pleasure in watching football, movies, playing DND, being physically active, getting lost in movie scores, and savoring the vast world of tea.

Click here to see the complete schedule of conversations.

Click here to download the Creative Conversations Flyer.

This is a free event. Priority for in-person training programs and financial stipends, including opportunities for paid internship placements, is given to active participants, ages 18- 24, in Creative Conversations, as well as young people who are low income, foster youth, homeless, and/or justice involved.

Presented by Venice Art’s Center for Creative Workforce Equity.

Supported, in part, by: