Utah Filmmaker Showcase: Womxn’s History Month

Erika Cohn is a Peabody, Emmy and DGA Award-winning filmmaker who Variety recognized as one of 2017’s top documentary filmmakers to watch and was featured in DOC NYC’s 2019 “40 Under 40.” Most recently, Erika directed/produced the New York Times Critic’s Pick and Peabody and Emmy Award nominated BELLY OF THE BEAST, featuring the 2021 Oscar shortlisted original song, “See What You’ve Done” by Mary J. Blige. This powerful exposé of human rights abuses in women’s prisons opened in theatres and was broadcast on PBS’ Independent Lens series last fall. Her current releases also include The New York Times Op-Docs short film, WHAT YOU’LL REMEMBER, a beautiful portrait of a family who reframes their experience of homelessness, now playing in theatres and major film festivals. Previously, Erika directed/produced THE JUDGE, a Peabody Award-winning and Emmy-nominated film about the first woman judge appointed to the Middle East’s Shari’a courts, which premiered at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival and was broadcast on PBS’ 2018 Independent Lens series. She co-directed/produced, IN FOOTBALL WE TRUST, an Emmy award-winning, feature documentary about young Pacific Islander men pursuing their dreams of playing professional football, which premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival and was broadcast on PBS’ 2016 Independent Lens series.

Erika grew up attending the Sundance Film Festival as a native Utahn, where she first began her career. She studied at Chapman University (California) and Hebrew University (Jerusalem) and has degrees in Film Production, Middle East Studies, and Acting Performance. In 2013, Erika founded Idle Wild Films, Inc., which has released 3 feature documentaries, 2 short films, and produced numerous branded content and commercial spots, including Gatorade’s “Win from Within” series, for which she received a 2016 Webby award nomination. In her spare time, Erika is an avid documentary photographer, music editor and performing artist. Erika is currently in development with her fiction feature debut and is represented by APA. Erika is represented by APA.

Skye Emerson is a passionate storyteller dedicated to exploring diverse narratives through the art of screenwriting. Recognized as one of the Top 25 Screenwriters to Watch in 2020 by the International Screenwriters Association, Skye has garnered numerous writing accolades, including the 2019 Fresh Voices Grand Prize and the Grand Prize in ISA’s Emerging Screenwriters Competition in 2018. A Sundance Institute Screenwriters Intensive Program Fellow, Skye received the Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Commissioning Grant at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival.

In June 2024, Skye completed production on Little Genes, a short film she wrote and co-directed with Amy Redford. Her independent feature, Under the Influencer, was showcased at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival as part of the Queer Screen Goes to Cannes initiative. Skye is currently collaborating with Mischief Productions to bring her mid-80s family feature Salt & Honey to production in 2025.

Skye holds an MFA in Screenwriting from UCLA, where she received the UCLA TFT Sloan Foundation Grant and the Carl David Memorial Screenwriting Fellowship for positive portrayals of the LGBTQ+ community in film.