SANCTITY

Eric is a director, producer, and designer based in Los Angeles. Before SANCTITY, Eric most recently produced THE MAGIC SHOES, an official selection of TIFF Kids, Starz Denver, and other major festivals. His directing credits include THE WEEKLY, which premiered at the Newport Beach Film Festival, and THE COST OF DYING, which won a Silver CLIO and was shortlisted for Association of Independent Commercial Producers honors. 

As a narrative designer, art director and world builder he currently collaborates with production designer Alex McDowell (MINORITY REPORT, MAN OF STEEL) at 5D Global Studio in Los Angeles. 5D uses storytelling to help explore solutions to real world problems, with work appearing at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival (THE LEVIATHAN PROJECT). He has taught film at the Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies and guest lectured at Texas Christian University.

A California native, Eric grew up in San Diego and earned a B.S. from UC Berkeley in Environmental Economics and Policy and an M.F.A. in Film Production from the USC School of Cinematic Arts.

Sahand Nikoukar is an Iranian/American filmmaker who was born in Berlin, Germany and moved to Southern California with his family at an early age. He studied Film and Theater at UC Berkeley, and received an MFA in Film and Television Production from the USC School of Cinematic Arts.

His graduate thesis film, THE MAGIC SHOES, is currently on the festival circuit and is the recipient of Best Narrative Film at the Sundial Film Festival, the Grand Festival Prize - Student Visionary at the Berkeley Video & Film Festival, a Silver Remy Winner at WorldFest - Houston, and has screened at many other international film festivals including TIFF Kids, the Starz Denver Film Festival, and Carmel International Film Festival.

 Sahand is currently an Adjunct Instructor at the University of Southern California while writing and developing his first feature film project.

Bernardo is from East Los Angeles, California. He is the youngest of three children and proud uncle to his nephew, David Contreras. Durán attended Cal State Los Angeles as an undergrad and earned a B.S. in Business Administration and later pursued an M.B.A. from the University of La Verne. It wasn’t until Durán was accepted to the USC School of Cinematic Arts’ M.F.A. Film & TV Production program that he chose to leave his first career, banking.

Bernardo has produced over 20 short films at USC; he worked under Diego Luna and Gael García Bernal’s brand, CANANA, where he worked as the In-House Producer and earned credits such as Producer for BACK HOME, a T.V. series created by Diego Luna; Producer on several branded content projects for clients such as McDonald’s, Chevy, Pepsi, and the Cesar Chavez Foundation, among others; and he earned the credit of Production Coordinator for the CANANA L.A. office on the feature film, Cesar Chavez.

Durán is now employed by Silver Pictures, owned and operated by Joel Silver (DIE HARD, LETHAL WEAPON, THE MATRIX), as the Finance Manager for the company. He’s an aspiring producer and hopes to bring both passion projects to the screen as well as films for entertainment.

Leonora is an artist with a passion for human rights and social justice. A photographer for over 20 years, Leonora continues to work in still photography and motion picture. Her cinematography credits include narrative, documentary, commercial and music video work.

She holds an MFA from USC's School of Cinematic Arts and Bachelor's Degree from Yale University, where took great interest in critical theory and the work of Cindy Sherman and her professor Gregory Crewdson. In 2011, she received the SUN Award for Cinematography.  

Lauren Meyer is an international production designer/ art director working between New York City and Los Angeles, and is among today’s emerging pioneers in the creative world.

She started her career as a sculpture artist, creating large environmental sculpture installations at The School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and The Glasgow School of Art in Scotland. Lauren went on to work as a Production Designer for feature films, television series and short films collaborating with companies such as Disney, ABC, HBO, Netflix, Hallmark, BET and talents such as Joss Whedon, Peter Farrelly and Greg Kinnear. She has done commercial work for brands including Honda, Walmart, John Freida, Wells Fargo and Reebok. Most currently, she is working on a Disney Short Film, scheduled to premiere this February. 

Brian, a proud New Hampshire native, is a filmmaker specializing in writing and editing.

Prior to receiving his M.F.A. in Film and TV Production from USC SCA this past May (2015), Brian graduated from Harvard with a degree in filmmaking. 

Despite his advanced degrees, Brian still isn't sure what a codec is. Brian is taking a shot in the dark here, but he suspects it's got something to do with power crystals. When codecs come up in conversation, Brian will laugh, excuse himself, then stand in the nearest restroom for a few minutes.

Alexis and Sam began collaborating in 2010 after attending USC's Scoring for Motion Picture & Television program.  Sharing a background in jazz, pop, and avant-garde music as well as a passion for cinematic storytelling, the two composers and multi-instrumentalists teamed up to form a studio that has since contributed scores and songs to features, short films, documentaries, art installations, and advertising campaigns.

Alexis & Sam's film work has been heard at major festivals around the world including Sundance, SXSW, Tribeca, Slamdance, Edinburgh Film Festival, Los Angeles Film Festival, AFI Fest, and the Champs Ellysees Film Festival. As collaborators with Los Angeles visual artists such as Alex Israel and Morrisa Maltz, their music has been featured in gallery exhibitions worldwide, including the Museum of Contemporary Art in Santa Barbara, Peres Projects in Berlin, and Reena Spaulings Fine Art in New York City. In the television realm, Alexis & Sam's credits include commissions by HBO's SESAME STREET and Nickelodeon's NINJA TURTLES franchise.

Alexis & Sam's studio is located in the hills of Silverlake, where they house a large collection of instruments and continue to produce songs and scores.