THE FILMMAKERS

Melissa Patterson (she/her) is a producer whose stories push the boundaries of family dynamics and relationships while garnering critical acclaim. Her projects dive into difficult subject matter with poignant and memorable characters.

Alexa Villarreal is a Mexican-American filmmaker. After growing up in Mexico and moving to Texas, Alexa kept her a deep appreciation for all types of stories that could make her feel at home and push her imagination to travel the world. Alexa’s mother would often send her to choose a selection of movies their family would watch together from their small VHS cassette library in her parents’ small closet.

After graduating with a dual degree from the University of Texas, she got her MFA at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts. Since then, she has been involved in several productions in almost every role, focusing on producing and editing. She currently works as a virtual event producer for BrightFocus Foundation, producing and editing several other projects outside of that.

Alexa is thrilled to keep working in editorial and production with c. Craig, Melissa, and Seat 6.

c. Craig (he/him) is a filmmaker from New Orleans’ 7th Ward neighborhood. He is a recipient of the George Lucas Family Scholarship and the Edward Small Award for writing and directing at USC in addition to being a finalist for Hillman Grad’s Rising Voices initiative. Prior to that, c. Craig graduated magna cum laude from Columbia University and was a visiting scholar studying directing at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. 

His screenplays have received distinction from The Blacklist, Sundance Screenwriters Lab, Sundance Episodic Lab, the Nicholl Fellowship, in addition to the Award in Screenwriting from Columbia. His producing work, The Cypher, premiered at Tribeca and was nominated best student short.

 c. Craig has also produced projects for Carnegie Hall and Diaspora Rising.

Why Seat 6? 

While on Morningside's campus of Columbia University, a number of courses are based out of room 511 in Dodge Hall. For four years one particular seat was a constant, number 6. Four years, countless films and perspectives…one seat. It only seemed right to take that spirit along for the ride.