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Opening Night Film – Brewmance
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM | Narrative Shorts 2
1:30 PM – 2:45 PM | Homecoming – Documentary Feature
3:00 PM – 4:00 PM | Documentary Shorts 2
4:30 PM – 5:30 PM | Student Shorts 1
6:15 PM – 8:50 PM | Helen Hunt, As Good As It Gets / Q&A – Special Screenings
10:00 AM – 11:45 AM | Cherry Juice – Narrative Feature
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM | Local Shorts 1
1:30 PM – 3:00 PM | Silent Beauty – Documentary Feature
3:30 PM – 5:00 PM | Local Shorts 2
5:30 PM – 6:30 PM | Giselou – Documentary Feature
6:45 PM – 9:20 PM | Helen Hunt, As Good As It Gets / Q&A – Special Screenings
10:00 AM – 11:30 AM | Pokut – Narrative Feature
12:00 PM – 1:40 PM | The Sound of Night – Narrative Feature
2:00 PM – 3:30 PM | Preemptive Listening – Documentary Feature
4:00 PM – 5:30 PM | THE LOVE ROOM – Documentary Feature
6:00 PM – 7:00 PM | International Shorts 1 – Narrative Shorts
7:15 PM – 9:35 PM | Helen Hunt, As Good As It Gets / Q&A – Special Screenings
10:00 AM – 11:30 AM | Narrative Shorts 1
12:00 PM – 1:15 PM | On the Edge of Freedom – Narrative Feature
2:00 PM – 3:15 PM | Documentary Shorts 1
3:30 PM – 5:15 PM | Toprak – Narrative Feature
5:30 PM – 7:00 PM | Removal of the Eye – Narrative Feature
7:15 PM – 9:35 PM | Helen Hunt, As Good As It Gets / Q&A – Special Screenings
2:00 PM – 3:00 PM | Conversation with Helen Hunt – Panels & Workshop
10:00 AM – 11:00 AM | Animated Shorts 1
11:30 AM – 12:30 PM | Zozobra: 100 Years of Fire and Redemption – Documentary Feature
1:00 PM – 3:00 PM | High School Student Shorts
3:15 PM – 5:00 PM | Local Student Shorts
5:30 PM – 6:30 PM | Horror Shorts – Narrative Shorts
7:00 PM – 9:15 PM | Somewhere in Montana – Narrative Feature
10:00 AM – 12:00 PM | Water Lilies – Narrative Feature
12:30 PM – 2:30 PM | Gloria – Narrative Feature
3:00 PM – 4:15 PM | Student Shorts 2
5:00 PM – 6:35 PM | The Weird Kidz – Narrative Feature
7:00 PM – 9:00 PM | The Young Messiah w/ Director Cyrus Nowrasteh / Q&A – Special Screenings
10:00 AM – 11:00 AM | Documentary Shorts 3
11:30 AM – 1:00 PM | Woolly – Documentary Feature
1:30 PM – 3:30 PM | American Hemp Farmer – Documentary Feature
4:00 PM – 5:30 PM | Local Shorts 3
7:15 PM – 9:15 PM | The Young Messiah w/ Director Cyrus Nowrasteh / Q&A – Special Screenings
10:30 AM – 11:30 AM | Foley Workshop – Panels & Workshop
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM | Screenwriting Panel w/ Ed Stone, Don Foster, and Bill True – Panels & Workshops
1:30 PM – 2:30 PM | Independent Filmmaking Panel w/ Cyrus Nowrasteh – Panels & Workshop
3:00 PM – 4:00 PM | Stunt Workshop – Panels & Workshop
4:30 PM – 5:15 PM | TWO OF A KIND – Local Short
5:30 PM – 6:30 PM | Local Shorts 4
4:00 PM – 6:00 PM | Filmmaker Social
10:00 AM – 11:15 AM | Narrative Shorts 3
11:30 AM – 1:15 PM | THE UNEXPECTEDES – Narrative Feature
1:30 PM – 3:30 PM | 3 – Narrative Feature
4:00 PM – 6:00 PM | 48 Hour Film Challenge Films
10:00 AM – 11:00 AM | Femme Frontera Selections
11:15 AM – 12:30 PM | International Shorts 2 – Narrative Shorts
12:45 PM – 2:00 PM | Music Videos
2:30 PM – 3:30 PM | Local Shorts 5
4:00 PM – 6:00 PM | 48 Hour Film Challenge Films
10:00 AM – 11:00 AM | Animated Shorts 2
11:30 AM – 1:15 PM | LGBTQIA+ Films – Narrative Shorts
1:30 PM – 3:45 PM | Ugly Little Monkeys – Documentary Feature
4:00 PM – 6:00 PM | 48 Hour Film Challenge Films
10:00 AM – 12:15 PM | Coalora Falls – Narrative Feature
1:30 PM – 3:15 PM | Hidden Flora – Narrative Feature
3:45 PM – 5:30 PM | Las Cruces Public School Film Fest Showcase
11:00 AM – 1:00 PM | Casting Panel – Panels & Workshop
2:00 PM – 3:00 PM | Star Trek Panel w/ Michelle Hurd – Panels & Workshop
10:30 AM | Best Shorts
12:30 PM | Best Director
2:45 PM | Grand Jury
10:00 AM | Best Screenplay
12:00 PM | Audience Choice
2:00 PM – 3:30 PM | Brief Tender Light – Documentary Feature
10:30 AM | Best Documentary Feature
12:30 PM | Best Cinematography
2:00 PM – 3:00 PM | Prop Making Workshop – Panels & Workshops
Lara Dale is a New Mexico native, trained in classical music and ballet, who fell in love with choreography and began creating ballet and modern works at the University of New Mexico before moving to NYC to pursue a career as a dancer and choreographer. Life is what happens when you are busy making other plans. Through a series of career twists and turns, she ended up in the East Village working as Administrative Assistant for the late great Howard Guttenplan, Director of the legendary Millennium Film Workshop, back in the days of Super 8 and 16MM. She got to see early works by Todd Haynes, Susan Seidelman, Spike Lee, Jim Jarmusch, and others, and was deeply inspired by their hard work, innovation, and independent success. She went on to pursue theater and the arts for many years, and has resided on both coasts and in Europe. She is now happily back in her home state of New Mexico. While searching for a job in the flourishing NM film market, she came across a Craigslist ad asking for someone with a trained dance background to become a Foley Assistant. The precise timing of classical music and the rigorous physical movements of ballet and modern became the perfect background for mastering the art of Foley, which she learned from the Academy Award-winning Foley Artist Ellen Heuer, who was ET’s footsteps among many other amazing credits. In partnership for many years with Wildfire Studios in Los Angeles, she built an extensive Hollywood resume of both major features and important independent projects. She opened Footvox Studio in 2013 to better serve the vibrant New Mexico film community. Her credits include Santa’s Cousin, Twilight: Eclipse, The Mechanic, Mildred Pierce, Drunktown’s Finest, Rosemary’s Baby – NBC, Black or White, and Expendables 1 and 3.
Don Foster is a proud graduate of NMSU. He has written for television for over 30 years. He is known for Roseanne, Mike & Molly, Two And A Half Men, and The Big Bang Theory. Don resides in Los Angeles.
Bill True’s debut feature, Runaway, was hailed by critics as “Brilliant” and “Hitchcockian” as it premiered to universal accolades at Tribeca and Toronto. It went on to screen worldwide at Avignon, Woodstock, Vail, Palm Springs, and other top festivals. Bill took the top prize at the Austin Film Festival for his work on Runaway, which was subsequently released by eOne Films. As a screenwriter, Bill has developed feature and television projects with The Film Collective, NBA Entertainment, Warner Horizon Television, Veritas Entertainment, More/Medavoy Productions, eOne Television, and more. He was honored as a Bush Artists Fellowship for writing grant recipient and was selected to participate in the acclaimed Yale Writers Workshop. In addition to his work in Hollywood, Bill is Head of Dramatic Writing at the esteemed Scottsdale School of Film+Theatre. From 2015 to 2024, Bill also served as Department Chair for SSFT. Under Bill’s leadership, SSFT was named one of industry-leading entertainment publication Variety’s “Top Film Schools in North America” in 2023 and 2024, and was also named one of MovieMaker Magazine’s “30 Best Film Schools in the US and Canada in 2024.”
Ed Stone graduated from New Mexico State University. After years of writing screenplays that no one would read much less buy, Ed and some friends decided to make their own film. The result was HAPPY, TEXAS, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was acquired by Miramax Films in what was at the time the largest purchase in Sundance history. (Ed was able to quit his waiter job.) What followed is what some historians would call a career… other historians would call it a run of just stupid, blind, luck, and many historians have simply refused to call Ed at all. Ed has rewritten or contributed material to – STUART LITTLE, STUART LITTLE 2, SCOOBY DOO, SCOOBY DOO 2, HAUNTED MANSION, THE LOONEY TOONS MOVIE, RACING STRIPES, and a comedy porn film a friend made. (Ed has not seen this film but please don’t tell his friend.) GRIFFIN & PHOENIX which Ed Directed and Produced was well received by the 10’s of people who saw it. Ed’s animated script, with Nate Hopper, PAWS OF FURY: THE LEGEND OF HANK, starring Michael Cera, Samuel L. Jackson, Ricky Gervais and Mel Brooks – was released by Paramount in July of 2022.
Betsy Giffen Nowrasteh was born and raised in Northeastern Ohio and earned her B.A. in Creative Writing from Miami University. When she was twenty two she moved to Los Angeles where she worked as a production artist and copywriter for movie advertising. After marrying Cyrus and having two sons, Alex and Mark, she began screenwriting. Her first produced screenplay, UNDER PRESSURE, is a dark suburban drama about a mother protecting her children that stars Charlie Sheen and Mare Winningham. It aired on HBO in 1997. Following that she forayed into production design on NORMA JEAN, JACK & ME, an indie film that played festivals and on HDTV in 1999-2000. Betsy and Cyrus have co-written a number of screenplays including NIGHTWALKER, based on the novel by Thomas Tessier, and BAD CLIENT, an adaptation of Richard Dooling’s satirical novel, BRAINSTORM. With Cyrus as co-writer and director, Betsy pursued the rights to the non-fiction book THE STONING OF SORAYA M. by Freidoune Sahebjam. Believing it to be a powerful and dramatic account of a barbaric practice, Betsy and Cyrus wrote the script together and brought it to the screen in 2009 with producers Steve McEveety and John Shepherd of MPower Pictures. Betsy and Cyrus recently completed an adaptation of Anne Rice’s novel CHRIST THE LORD — OUT OF EGYPT for producers Chris Columbus and Michael Barnathan of 1492 and CJ Entertainment. The film was released as THE YOUNG MESSIAH in 2016. She co-wrote the upcoming film Sarah’s Oil with Cyrus for Amazon/MGM.
Cyrus Nowrasteh is an extremely accomplished filmmaker. He has worked on numerous television series and made-for-TV movies including The Day Reagan Was Shot, Falcon Crest, Into the West, and the controversial docudrama The Path to 9/11. He also directed the theatrical features The Stoning of Soraya M. (2009), The Young Messiah (2016), and Infidel (2020). His film Sarah’s Oil will be released by Amazon/MGM this December. He was born in Boulder, Colorado, and grew up in Madison, Wisconsin. He is of Iranian descent and graduated from Madison West High School in 1974 and was a city boys high school tennis champion. He attended New Mexico State University on an athletic scholarship and later transferred to the University of Southern California to attend the School of Cinematic Arts. He is the recipient of the 2025 las Cruces International Film Festival Outstanding Achievement in Directing.
T. Ryan Mooney is driven by a passion for action sports with a DIY work ethic. His mission is to bring the excitement of action adventure to the screen and transport the audience with top-tier stuntwork, striving to create heart-pumping spectacles and make the impossible feel believable through dynamic action sequences. His life’s work revolves around crafting films that awe and inspire. As an experienced stuntman and stunt actor, he has been part of over a 100 different productions since 2005, and the star of numerous national commercials. As a Stunt Coordinator, he excels at creating, executing, and providing a blueprint for filming and editing action sequences, on time and on budget with a safety-first mandate. He is known for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, The Accountant, and The Hunger Games: Mocking Jay Part 2.
Ricki Maslar, CSA is a successful casting director and producer with over thirty years experience in the entertainment industry. She has held a variety of positions as an agent, casting director, teacher, and producer. As a casting director Maslar has had the opportunity to work on studio and independent features with credits that include Beautiful Voice, Tell Me Your Name, The Bronx Bull, Painted Lady, The Competition, Christmas in the Heartland, The Line and Dahmer. She is the Casting Director for Ascension Media. Her actor-friendly philosophy has earned her high praise from actors and colleagues alike, yet Maslar says she is simply living and working by the ‘golden rule.’ She has been honored by the TMA. She was nominated 4 times for the Feature Film Casting Director of the Year. Maslar has had the privilege of casting well over 150 films. When Maslar is not casting or producing, she is mentoring up and coming talent through her classes. Teaching has always been a passion for Maslar who has been doing so for over twenty years in Canada and North America. Her class presentation offers actors valuable insight about the entertainment industry – yet another extension of her commitment to the education of actors. She is a respected entertainment executive, a member of CSA (Casting Society Of America) and the P.G.A. (Producers Guild of America), dedicated mother, and she looks forward to making films that change lives and make a difference in the world – if only for a moment.
Betsy Hume is an actress and casting associate with Ricki Maslar casting. She is known for Initiation, Along Came The Devil, The 2nd, Christmas In The Heartland, Love On Repeat and Bad Twin among many other movies.
Victoria Cadwallader, CSA is a New Mexico based casting director who heads up the Location Casting Department for Midthunder Casting. Cadwallader is an NMSU alumni and has her Bachelor’s degree in Digital Film-making. She began her casting journey in 2016 and has a strong passion for film as a whole. Victoria’s location casting work in episodic television includes Better Call Saul (AMC), The Night Shift (NBC), The Brave (NBC), Walker: Independence (CW), The Curse (A24/Showtime), Ransom Canyon (Netflix), and American Primeval (Netflix). Her feature film location casting work includes Eddington (A24), Americana (Bron), How to Blow Up a Pipeline (Neon), Maggie Moore(s), Love Lies Bleeding (A24) and OPUS (A24) among many others.
Tina Presley started her entertainment career as a runway and print model in her Hometown of Port Huron MI. She moved to New Mexico and transitioned from modeling to spokesmodel for big brand companies, which led her to a career in Acting and film festival production working on multiple projects including commercial, film and print. From there Tina found her passion as the head of public relations and film festival director for the largest Comic Book Convention in New Mexico, the ABQ Comic Con. She decided to retire from acting and turn her focus to her growing list of clients. She then merged to form Mitchell & Presley Talent Group NM and CA. After three years she decided to focus on more intimate relationships with her clients and created Presley Talent NM a boutique SAG AFTRA franchise and Artist Collective. The agency represents an elite list of clients for Film, Television and Special Appearances that have appeared in productions including: Star Wars, The Incredible Hulk, Power Rangers, Buck Rogers, The Munsters, Sons Of Anarchy, Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, Longmire, Night Shift, In Plain Sight, Criminal Minds, American Horror Story Roanoke, Bella and the Bulldogs, Scream Queens, From Dusk Til Dawn, LA to Vegas, Fright Night, Sicario, The Lone Ranger, The Revenant, Godless and many more. She resides in New Mexico where she shares her soul centered adventures with her husband, 4 children, three grandchildren and a rescued pit-bull Olivia.
Sure to be a hit with fans and filmmakers alike! Join us for a moderated conversation with writers and stars from some of your favorite Star Trek shows! Get a unique peek the behind the scenes as panelists discuss creating and writing stories for recent shows like Discovery, Prodigy, and Picard. From there, we’ll talk about how they brought them to life with actors from the shows, who’ve embodied some of the most iconic characters in the Trek universe. A Q&A and photo/autograph opportunity with the writers and actors will follow the panel conversation!
Moderated by writer/producer Bill True
Michelle Hurd recently starred as ‘Raffi’ opposite Patrick Stewart for three seasons on the Paramount+ series Star Trek: Picard. Receiving universal acclaim from critics and fans alike. On the feature side, she starred alongside Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell in the global smash Anyone But You. And the independent film Somewhere in Montana with Graham McTavish. On television, Michelle can soon be seen on the fifth and final season of You for Netflix. Other television credits include “Shepherd” on NBC’s hit drama Blindspot, Lethal Weapon, Ash Vs. Evil Dead, the Marvel Universe series Daredevil and Jessica Jones (“DA Samantha Reyes”), and the A&E summer series, The Glades (“Colleen Manus”). Other television credits include: Walking Dead: Dead City, Pose, Hawaii Five-0, Devious Maids, 90210, Witches of East End, How To Get Away With Murder, Bosch, Mysteries of Laura, Pretty Little Liars, Raising Hope, The Good Wife, Law & Order: SVU (“Det. Jeffries”), Gossip Girl, ER, Bones, According To Jim, Law & Order, Smith, Skin, Leap Years, Charmed, The O.C., Kevin Hill, The Practice and Another World. Film credits include On The End, The Designer, 25 Miles To Normal, Where The Wind Blows, The Plus One opposite Cedric The Entertainer, Kemba, Inheritance, Bad Hair opposite Blair Underwood and Vanessa Williams, Being Frank opposite Jim Gaffigan, Be Afraid, We Don’t Belong Here (alongside Catherine Keener and Maya Rudolph), Search Engines, Within The Dark, Girl Most Likely (with Kristen Wiig), Random Hearts, Personals, Double Parked, Wolf and King of New York. Theater credits include: The Dog in the Manger (Shakespeare Theatre Company), AMI (MCC), Getting Away with Murder (Broadway), The Violet Hour (Off-Broadway), Looking for the Pony (Off-Broadway), and 900 Oneonta (Off-Broadway).
Carlos Cisco film/television writer and TTRPG designer. He’s written episodes for East Los High and Star Trek: Discovery, as well as having a story by credit on The Black Demon. He has tabletop work that appears in Modiphius’s Star Trek Adventures, Haunted Table’s Triangle Agency, MCDM’s Arcadia, Flee Mortals, and Draw Steel, as well as Critical Role’s two new games, Candela Obscura and Daggerheart. He is a graduate of New Mexico State University’s Creative Media Institute.
Aaron J. Waltke is an Emmy-winning and Annie-nominated screenwriter, author, executive producer and showrunner in Los Angeles. His work includes Star Trek: Prodigy for CBS Studios, Guillermo Del Toro’s Trollhunters and Wizards: Tales of Arcadia, on Netflix, and the theatrical feature film Transformers One with Paramount, among others.
Bonnie is an actress, singer, & VO actor based in Los Angeles who prides herself on being a “professional nerd.” Her VO credits include cartoons, video games, & anime such as: Star Trek Prodigy on Nickelodeon/Netflix (Ship Computer, Gillian, & various other roles); Street Fighter V; Fire Emblem series; Cartoon Network’s Mighty Magiswords; Battlestar Galactica Deadlock; MegaMan 11; and many more. You also might recognize her as Paladin Bonnie from the fantasy show called “The Quest” on ABC! As a singer, Bonnie has performed all over the world and just made her West End debut in London as Holly Genaro in Die Hard the Musical this past December! She is currently cast in a new live action sci-fi series set to shoot later this year and can be heard as the voice of the Evil Queen in a new animated Snow White feature film releasing this summer! Follow her @BonnieBellG on all social media.
Kiley is a Los Angeles-based film and television writer/producer. She was a staff writer and story editor on seasons two and three of Star Trek: Picard. She has also written on an unannounced Netflix animated series and is in development on a feature for Jamie Lee Curtis’ Comet Pictures. Kiley is currently a co-producer on Paramount+’s upcoming series Starfleet Academy.
Award-winning actor, producer, activist, “Actorvist,” and humanitarian Wilson Cruz starred as Dr. Hugh Culber on the Award-winning Paramount+ series STAR TREK: DISCOVERY. He appeared on the Netflix series THIRTEEN REASONS WHY and in Hulu’s 2020 GLAAD Award- Winning original animated kids’ series THE BRAVEST KNIGHT. He is also the Executive Producer of the critically acclaimed docuseries called VISIBLE:OUT ON TELEVISION airing on Apple TV+ that investigates the importance of TV as an intimate medium that has shaped the American conscience, and how the LGBTQ movement has shaped television. Receiving the Emery S. Hetrick Award from the Hetrick- Martin Institute for Outstanding Contributions to LGBTQ Youth, for his role as Rickie Vasquez on the ABC series MY SO CALLED LIFE, Wilson became the first openly Gay actor playing an openly Gay role on series television.
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