Aubrey Shea - Writer & Director
Bio
Acceptance is Aubrey’s second project as writer & director. Aubrey (they/she) grew up in central Florida, performing in professional theater by the age of 10. They are best known for their role as series regular character “Layla Grant” in ABC’s Nashville. Since then they have been in several independent films including the upcoming Ctrl Alt Del directed by Kit Williamson (Creator of the Emmy-Nom LGBTQ+ series Eastsiders). They also lead Kit’s newest television series Unconventional as Margot, queer bipolar sibling to Noah (played by Kit), in a story exploring queer family and childhood trauma. Unconventional premiered at Outfest in 2022 and can be anticipated for a 2024 release. Aubrey’s writing & directorial debut Decadeless follows a teenager late to bloom having a night of firsts, and premiered at the Portland Oregon Women’s Film Festival for women, trans, & nonbinary creators in 2019. Decadeless was also shot by Acceptance cinematographer Gus Bendinelli, bio below.
Gus Bendinelli - Cinematographer
Bio
Gus Bendinelli is a director of photography based in Los Angeles. His music video work has gained hundreds of millions of views and features artists like Kanye West, Ariana Grande, Drake, Finneas, Doja Cat, Michael Kiwanuka, and Hozier. He has shot major commercial campaigns for companies like Facebook, Nissan, MGM, Nike, AAA, and Google, and was shortlisted for a best cinematography Clio for his work on a campaign with Unimatic. His narrative work has played at festivals around the world—his most recent feature film “Big Boys” won Best Narrative Feature at Outfest 2023. Gus is a member of the ICG Local 600 and is represented by CAA.