Meet The Team

Writer, Director, Animator

DANIELA REPAS

Daniela Repas is a Bosnian born visual artist based in Portland,  Oregon. Her work depicts storytelling through multiple mediums,  from drawing and animation to installation and film. She has  shown her work nationally and internationally, from New York to  New Zealand, participating as an artist, a curator and as one of  the founding members of DripDrop collective. She is a recipient  of the prestigious Dorothy Lemelson Scholarship and an alumna of  the Pacific Northwest College of Art, where she earned an MFA in  Visual Studies. Her debut as a film director of the award winning short film Mnemonics steered her work to the  intersection of film and art. In 2019 she was a recipient of the  Princess Grace Award for film Dogs of Home and in 2020 became an IEFTA selected emerging filmmaker. In 2023 she was awarded the Oregon Media Arts Fellowship Award for her work in film and visual arts. She is currently working on her first  feature animated film Pour the Water as I Leave which she presented at Cannes Marche du Film and Annecy International Animation Festival.

Producer

JESSICA DAUGHERTY

Jessica Daugherty is an award winning producer and director of documentary and experimental film, podcasts, multi-media live performance, and co-founder of the production studio, Shrine13, in Portland, OR, US. She is a Board Member of the Documentary Producers Alliance, member of WIF, and alumni of IEFTA and Rotterdam Lab. Her films have participated at Cannes, Movies that Matter, Annecy and broadcast on Showtime, Arte!, PBS and more. As a member of Al Límite Collective and The Living Theatre, she facilitates refugee support programs including the Heal Into Action initiative in border communities in Greece and Mexico.

Executive Producer

HOLLY ANDERSON LEVOW

As an attorney and businesswoman, Holly Anderson Levow started her career in Silicon Valley high-technology start-up companies performing contract law, business development, human resources, and marketing. Shifting priorities led her to the entertainment industry where she has spent the last nearly 10 years utilizing the visible platform to create films in a socially responsible, intentional and equitable way, through her two production companies, Equitas Entertainment Partners and Catalyst Studios.  Her focus is on providing opportunities, investment and support for women and non-binary talent to share their perspectives in storytelling to accurately reflect our community. In addition, Holly co-founded Foundation, a women’s retail boutique in Portland, Oregon, donating 100% of profits back into community nonprofit organizations and is an active Partner with Social Venture Partners Portland, an engaged venture philanthropy organization focused on strengthening local, culturally specific nonprofits serving our most vulnerable youth. 

Holly also serves on the advisory boards of The Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship at Santa Clara University and Five One Labs, a start-up incubator that helps refugees and conflict-affected entrepreneurs launch and grow their businesses in the Middle East and Colombia. Holly holds a BS in Mathematics, and a JD/MBA with an emphasis on High Technology and Intellectual Property Law from Santa Clara University.

Director of Animation

JOHN SUMMERSON

John Summerson is an award-winning animation director and storyteller. He specializes in creative nonfiction in animation, and happily conflates visual media like stop motion, digital, and hand-drawn 2D animation, video, and sequential art, with inventive reportage practices from creative nonfiction writing, to create a unique friction between fabricated images and fact.

His accolades include the Grand Prize at the LG Art of the Pixel competition, the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Educator’s Forum Scholarship, and the Princess Grace Undergraduate Film Scholarship. His work has been exhibited internationally, most recently in Budapest, Madrid, Berlin, and London, and in Times Square in New York City. John holds a Master’s Degree in Documentary Animation from the Royal College of Art in London, UK, and earned his BFA in Animated Arts from Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, Oregon.

Lead Dancer

KYLIE SHEA LEWALLEN

Kylie Shea Lewallen is an American classical ballerina based in Los Angeles. After working for 4 years as a principal dancer with Spectrum Dance theatre, she relocated to Los Angeles where she began working in film and television. On the hit American sitcom It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, she danced with Rob McElhenney in a five-minute-long contemporary dance work in the episode Mac Finds His Pride for the thirteenth season. She has been featured in the American television series Glee and in Bruno Mars' music video Gorilla as a dancer. She has also performed live with Mars, Ariana Grande, and Adam Lambert. In May 2018 she starred in a music video titled Remind Me to Forget by Kygo and Miguel. In June 2016 she founded #PointeChronicles, a ballet improvisation project on social media platforms. In February 2018 she spoke out about the importance of body positivity in the dance industry. She is the author of the children's book Save Your Tears For the Stage. She also is the creator and designer behind F\'Lingerie, a line of lingerie.

Director of Photography

JOHN ROQUE

John John is a cinematographer and visual storyteller based out of Seattle, Washington. His strong background of dance and Hip-Hop based movement of over 15+ years has helped him share and tell stories visually spreading across multiple genres and mediums. With a degree in Multimedia and currently going to school for 3d animation, John John continues to strive for growth and excellence in his field while also working as a freelance cinematographer, film colorist, VFX artist, and multimedia specialist for short films, music videos, dance videos and more. With a passion for movement and composition, John John specializes in capturing motion and the beauty of expression without words. He is ecstatic to be Director Of Photography for Pour the Water as I Leave and is excited for the melding of all of his passions in such a meaningful way.

Choreography

RENA BUTLER

Rena Butler is a dance/choregraphic artist based in NYC. She trained at The Chicago Academy for the Arts, studied overseas at Taipei National University of the Arts, and received her BFA from SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Dance. A few companies she's danced for include Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Abraham.In.Motion, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company, David Dorfman Dance, Manuel Vignoulle/M-Motions, and is currently an Artistic Associate for Gibney Company in NYC. Her choreographic work includes BalletX, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Boston Dance Theater, The New Orleans Museum of Modern Art, CHTV Stories in Switzerland, a dance film for Third Coast Percussion in collaboration with Dev Hynes/Blood Orange, The Ailey/Fordham School, SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Dance, and more. Butler served on the consortium for Chicago Dancemakers Forum, and co-directed DanceLab. In 2019, Rena was the recipient of the prestigious Princess Grace Award for Choreography.

Lead Dancer

KARL WATSON

Karl Watson began dancing as a young child in Cleveland, OH. Through many wonderful teachers and the support of his family, he discovered his passion for sharing stories, emotions, and experiences through movement. Karl furthered his training at Butler University, where he graduated with a B.F.A. in Dance Performance cum laude and History Minor. He was fortunate to experience additional study with Houston Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Doug Varone & Dancers, Springboard Danse Montreal, and Countertechnique. Karl began his professional career after graduation dancing with Luna Negra Dance Theater, Visceral Dance Chicago, and now Whim W’Him. Throughout these experiences he has created and performed works by a wide range of contemporary dancemakers and artists. Karl has also performed with other project-based companies. In addition to performance, Karl is passionate about dance education and hopes to help students of any age discover and develop a love for dance, art, and community.

Screenplay

VU PHAM

Vu Pham is a Portland based writer, director, producer, and actor. He is a refugee from Vietnam whose work has been significantly influenced by personal and historical trauma, existential philosophy, and transitory life on the fringes. He has won grants from the Regional Arts and Culture Council and his films have been exhibited by the NW Film Center, the Portland Institute of Contemporary Art as well as national film festivals. His work and his story have been the subject of OPB's Oregon Art Beat along with countless Portland press. Recently he was shortlisted for the Sundance Institute's Asian American Feature Film Fellowship. As an actor he has had the honor of working with actors Harrison Ford, Jonathan Groff, and Cori Stoll.

Still photography

SIMONE FISCHER

Simone is a visual artist based out of Portland, Oregon. She is a multidisciplinary artist who specializes in photography, installation, sculpture, writing and performance. During undergrad she studied philosophy & gender studies at Portland State University, earning her Bachelor’s degree in 2013. Simone completed her MFA at Pacific Northwest College of Art and completed her MFA in 2020.In June 2021, after/time gallery presented Simone’s most recent solo exhibition “a sermon for crows” curated by Todd Molinari. Simone’s work has been shown at the Lodge Gallery (2018), Glass Gallery (2020)at Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen, Germany (2020). In 2019 she attended the Caldera Arts Artist-in-Residence program in Sisters, OR. She published ANTITOURS Volume 1 through the after/time gallery residency in 2021.

Composer

SUAD BISHNAQ

Suad was born and raised in Amman, Jordan, to a Syrian mother and a Bosnian-Palestinian father. She studied music at the Higher Institute of Music in Damascus, Syria, and later earned a scholarship to study music composition at McGill University, where she earned a bachelor's in music composition. Suad is a member of the Screen Composers Guild of Canada and the Alliance for Women Film Composers. In 2018 she was selected as one of six composers from across Canada to participate in the Slaight Music Residency at the Canadian Film Centre.Suad won a Silver Medal for Outstanding Achievement in Original Score at the Global Music Awards for her piece The Road to Jenin. That same piece is nominated for a Hollywood Music in Media Awards in the world music category. She was nominated for the 2019 Hollywood Music in Media Awards for Best Original Score.