Five Stories. One Conversation.

Laugh, Connect and Spark Conversation
Five original comedy shorts take on the everyday absurdities facing women in STEM.

For All Humankind - During a brainstorming session to imagine a helmet for moon-cave exploration, an early-career female engineer goes to extreme lengths to break into the boys’ club.

Cellular - Drowning in service work and trapped in the cutthroat world of publish or perish, a professor fights for what is rightfully hers—five uninterrupted minutes with the microscope.

ScienTITS - A mechanical engineer seeks a solution to a new problem: using a breast pump at work.

Dress Code - A curly-haired Latina scientist struggles to be herself while dressing the part for a new position at a traditional research institution. Will she go bland or go bold?

There’s Something About Her - When a candidate with an invisible disability applies for a tenure-track game-design faculty position, she must tackle the real demons who come to life in the interview room.

Q&A with Jessica McGaugh, Cat Dale, Dr. Svasti Haricharan, Gena Sbegila, Sandra Mass and Tracy Nguyen will follow the screening.

Jessica McGaugh

Jessica McGaugh is an independent filmmaker whose artistic practice explores stigma, silence, and taboo through intimate, emotionally charged storytelling. Her films are designed to disrupt silence and open conversation, often using humor to approach experiences shaped by discomfort, vulnerability, and shame. Her award-winning work ranges from comedies about menstruation to documentaries about multicultural dancers, and have screened across the globe including San Diego Film Festival, Vancouver Film Festival, Mumbai International Film Festival, Denver Film Festival, NDTV, and Rocky Mountain PBS. Jessica’s feature films Red Pearl and Three Worlds, One Stage are available through AppleTV, Amazon, Roku, Vudu, and Walmart. Jessica is a hybrid filmmaker-educator and a professor of film and television production at San Diego State University. She is the writer/director/producer of the Womanhood: The Series episode titled Cellular.

Cat Dale is a writer and filmmaker whose narrative work examines institutional trauma and gendered cultural perceptions. Her scripts include Mount Pleasant, winner of the ScreenCraft Pilot Launch, a featured script on The Black List, and a second-round selection for the Sundance Institute Episodic Lab. She also co-wrote Beasts Undiscovered, a quarterfinalist for the Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting and a project developed with Myriad Pictures and Orbital Studios. Dale is an Associate Professor at Montana State University, where she teaches film production and screenwriting. She is the writer/director/producer of the Womanhood: The Series episode titled ScienTITS. 

Dr. Haricharan received her BSc in Zoology from Stella Maris College, India in 2004, her MSc in Molecular and Human Genetics from University of Leicester, UK in 2005, and her PhD in Molecular and Cellular Biology from Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. Haricharan started her independent lab focused on roles of DNA repair proteins in promoting treatment responsiveness at Sanford Burnham Prebys, La Jolla in 2018. She is an Associate Professor of Biology at SDSU and a Full Member of the Moores Cancer Center at UCSD.

Gena Sbeglia, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Biology at San Diego State University and a member of the Center for Research in Mathematics and Science Education. Her research focuses on how cognitive, psychosocial, and classroom factors shape undergraduate biology learning—particularly students’ understanding and acceptance of evolution. Through her Biology Education Research Lab, she develops evidence-based, inclusive teaching practices and rigorous tools for assessing student learning, persistence, and equity in the biological sciences.

Sandra Maas is an Emmy Award–winning broadcast journalist, storyteller, and advocate whose career has been driven by one powerful belief: stories can inform, challenge, and inspire change. For decades, Sandra has connected with audiences across San Diego through television and radio, using her voice to shine a light on the issues and people who matter. Her commitment to storytelling extends beyond the newsroom, most notably through her advocacy for pay equity and women’s rights.

Today, as a trustee of the San Diego History Center, Sandra is helping shape the future of women’s history in San Diego. She is a driving force behind the creation of the new Center for Women’s History Gallery in Balboa Park, a groundbreaking space dedicated to preserving, celebrating, and amplifying the stories of women who helped shape our region and our world.

For Sandra, it is more than preserving history. It is about making sure women’s stories are seen, heard, valued, and never forgotten.

Tracy Nguyen: Optometrist and President of Society of Women Engineers. Driven by purpose and passion, I am committed to breaking barriers and building bridges in STEM, especially for girls and underrepresented communities. An optometrist and active leader within the Society of Women Engineers, I aim to inspire the next generation of innovators through mentorship, outreach, and inclusive leadership.

More Details coming soon.

Join Senior Editor, News and Awards at Gold Derby, Mia McNiece as she interviews two artists, that create a Dream Team, from one film and how their respective roles contributed the success of the film.

Details coming soon.

A dynamic conversation with the women shaping the future of the industry. Meet the groundbreaking women redefining cinema’s future. This panel unites producers, filmmakers, and creative leaders to share insights, challenges, and triumphs from the set to the studio. A powerful discussion on leadership, representation, and the impact of female voices in shaping storytelling.

Presented by DEADLINE

Moderated by Destiny Jackson, Deadline

Destiny Jackson joined Deadline in September 2022 after a freelance writing career that includes working at Netflix, Marvel, IGN, Backstage Magazine, Script Magazine and the Oscars’ digital magazine, A.frame, to name a few. When not stuck behind her laptop, she can be found haunting her local cinema, searching for good TV or listening to Coldplay. She is based in Los Angeles.

Emily Hamilton is currently the Vice President of Film & Television at 101 Studios. At 101 Studios, Emily has helped oversee the acquisition and development of both features and television series such as the award-winning “Yellowstone” and “George & Tammy” , as well as the Paramount+ shows “The Agency”, “Mobland”, “Lioness”, “Dutton Ranch,” and “Landman” among others. Upcoming shows include Netflix’s “The Murder of JonBenét Ramsey” staring Melissa McCarthy and Clive Owen, and Paramount+’s “Laird” staring Kenneth Branagh and Peter Sarsgaard.

Katharina Otto-Bernstein Writer, director, producer. A native of Hamburg, Germany, Katharina was raised in the UK and the USA. BA and MA from Columbia University, worked as a free-lance journalist and columnist for German Vogue. Member of the Writers Guild of America, International Documentary Association, and IFP. Founded in 1993, her production company Film Manufacturers Inc. has produced many internationally acclaimed film and television productions. Filmography: Absolute Wilson (2006); Beautopia (1998); The Need for Speed (1994); The Second Greatest Story Ever Told (1993); other non-fiction: Coming Home; When Night Falls over Moscow; The Industrialists Hall of Fame.

Laura Lewis is the CEO and Co-Founder of Rebelle Media. She founded Rebelle media in 2018 with a focus on the female audience, and in early 2026, their 20th friendship anniversary, Laura partnered with her former colleague and platonic life partner / BFF to expand Rebelle fully into the romance space. To date, Rebelle has executive produced Hulu’s hit television series Tell Me Lies and produced films including Mr. Malcolm’s List and Long Weekend.

The films included in this showcase are: Wild Hope: Project Shark, Wild Hope: The Butterfly Effect, My Wild Life, Fish for the Future, Plant Life

Join us for a Q&A immediately following the screening.