Patty Newton – Producer/Director

Award-winning filmmaker Patty Newton works in fiction and documentary. Pursuit her short comedy which she wrote, directed and edited just finished three years on the domestic and international festival circuit. Newton is in final post-production stages on her first feature documentary Alchemy: Portrait of a Wood Fire Kiln. She also teaches film/video production to college & university students, girl scouts (and anybody who’ll listen) in Texas.  

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Kyle Smith – Writer

Kyle grew up in the middle of Texas in a town with a population less than a Taylor Swift concert. As a kid, he built a set and wrote sketches for “You Can’t Do That on Television,” which he and his friends would act out. After a career in journalism he went on to graduate with a Michener fellowship from the University of Texas at Austin with an MFA in screenwriting. For the past three years, he has taught screenwriting at UT-Arlington and KD Conservatory in Dallas. His work has placed at Austin Film Festival, including as top-three finalist spot for his Mad Men spec screenplay, “Test Market.” He has worked for Oscar-nominated filmmaker Richard Linklater and as a juror for 24FPS International Short Film Festival and Abilene Christian University’s annual FilmFest. He enjoys strong coffee, long road trips, short stories, and hanging with his dogs.     

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Bill Schwarz – Consultant/Director of Photography

In his 30-year career in the industry, Bill Schwarz has worked in various capacities behind the camera. His work has screened at film festivals, including Sundance, and he has participated in festival panels as well as taught film seminars. His work as a Director of Photography includes numerous commercials, music videos, and feature films. A working professional based in Dallas, he embraces the traditions of filmmaking honed over 100 years of history while fully embracing the evolving methods of high-end digital acquisition.

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