Born to a family of filmmakers in Iceland, Baldvin has always had a strong interest in cinema. He has worked on Icelandic television and film productions since 2002 in various positions, ranging from stage manager and television host to assistant director and producer. In the past few years, his focus has been on producing and directing his own short films as well as writing and developing feature length stories. Alongside his work in film and television, Baldvin earned a BA degree in Philosophy and Classics from the University of Iceland, where he graduated first class with distinction in 2006. He is currently pursuing a MFA degree in filmmaking at Columbia University in New York, where he was awarded the Hollywood Foreign Press Association Fellowship in 2008. Baldvin wrote and directed his first short film Perfect in 2007. It went on to become an official selection at the Reykjavík Shorts and Docs Film Festival the following year. That same year, he followed up with Ties, which was awarded 3rd prize at the ReykjavíkInternational Short Film Festival and subsequently broadcast on national television in Iceland. Baldvin also wrote and produced the short film Conlang, a film unique for its quirky and interesting subject matter (‘conlang’ is short for ‘constructed language’) which won Best Narrative Short at the Sidewalk Moving Image Film Festival 2010.

Mira El Koussa is a young upcoming writer and producer for both TV and film. Born and raised in Lebanon during a period of intermittent turmoil and regional conflict, she developed a special interest for stories told through television and film. She went on in 2004 to earn a BA in Communication Arts (Radio/TV/Film), graduating with honors from the Lebanese-Amercian University. Thereafter, from 2005 till 2009, she took part in various TV projects spanning the entire MENA region, with roles ranging from story producer on reality shows, including Alwadi for LBC, Extreme Makeover for Dubai TV, and Album for MBC. She then directed a 30-minute pilot episode of Power of Ten for MBC. El Koussa’s first short film, the documentary Essential but Temporary?!, won 3rd prize at the 2002 Docudays Film Festival in Beirut. Ever since, she has written, directed, and produced two short films: Head or Tail?! and 9/13 and directed the short film Street Coins in Brazil. She also wrote and produced the short film Yara with the Long Blond Braid. She just finished the short film Jumping Jack as a producer and is currently in pre-production of Motherland to be shot in Armenia this summer. Since 2010, she started writing script coverage for the Sundance Film Lab and the Doha Film Institute. El Koussa is currently writing her second feature film, When It Ends, while simultaneously pursuing her MFA at Columbia University’s Graduate Film Division where she was prized with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association Fellowship as well as nominated as 1 of 3 female directors for the New York Women in Film and Television scholarship.