American-born Brandt Andersen is an author, producer, director, and human rights activist. His first feature-length film was “The Strangers’ Case”. In 2020 Andersen wrote and directed the live-action feature short Refugee starring; Omar Sy and Jason Beghe. The film opened at the Cairo International Film Festival, was short-listed for an Academy Award, and won Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Drama Short at the French Riviera Film Festival. He has produced films such as Everest, starring Jake Gyllenhaal; Lone Survivor starring Mark Wahlberg; 2 Guns starring Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg; Martin Scorsese's Silence, starring Adam Driver, and American Made, starring Tom Cruise.
Throughout his life, Brandt has supported humanitarian efforts, specifically assisting refugees. In October 2019, he traveled with CanDo, a grassroots Charity, to a hospital and refugee camp in North East Syria. He later went on to raise funding to support technologies designed to reduce the impact of school bombings in the area. In 2017, Brandt took a group of filmmakers to the Azraq refugee camp in Jordan to teach filmmaking to Syrian Refugee teenagers, an initiative that later turned into a full-fledged film school. Prior to that, he traveled and supported humanitarian projects with Latter-Day Saints Charities in Africa, Greece, Turkey, Haiti, and Italy.
Dina is an Egyptian-born, skilled senior executive and specialist in humanitarian affairs and disaster response. For over 22 years, Dina has developed and implemented relief, transition, and development initiatives in some of the most challenging settings globally. Dina has successfully led emergency response teams in places like Indonesia, Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, and Liberia at the height of their respective civil wars, in the chaos following Haiti's earthquake, and in West Africa at the height of the largest-ever Ebola virus disease outbreak.
In the realm of humanitarian affairs, Dina has advised US and UK government officials, government agencies, think tanks, universities, NGOs, and foundations. She has also provided training and guidance to US and UK civil-military units, and on numerous occasions, she has represented the US NGO community at UN Geneva Conventions. In 2022, Dina began diversifying her skills into film production and script development.
Razan was born and raised in Damascus, Syria, and has more than 12 years of expertise in the delivery of operations and programs for the UN, Non - governmental organizations, and briskly emerging start-up INGOs and foundations. As a consequence of this experience, Razan has a successful track record of establishing lasting friendships and expanding partnerships.
Her strategic responsibilities include establishing and overseeing humanitarian activities and programs that seek to raise awareness of the stories of marginalized communities.
Razan has been a member of the "Between Women Filmmakers Caravan" since 2017. Consequently, she has developed a passion for empowering and assisting women all around the world.
Wei Prior is a British, Chinese, and Egyptian art director and founder of ChaChaanTeng, a creative practice based in London. He specializes in expressive yet considered aesthetics that challenge conventional design practices. Wei has worked with a range of clients from Nike, Paul Smith, and H&M.
Joe Brown joined the REEL board in 2022 and serves as the charity's treasurer. Originally from Utah, Joe is passionate about making a difference and supporting initiatives that raise creative voices.
Ryan Busse is an American film and television producer based in Los Angeles, CA. In 2018, Busse founded the film/tv production company, STORY Collective with his friend and former colleague Stephen Meinen with the aim of telling thought-provoking stories that shift culture with commercial appeal.
Prior to starting STORY Collective, Busse spent five years working with Allison Shearmur at her eponymous production company Allison Shearmur Productions (ASP). At ASP, he was involved in the development and production of companies such as THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN, SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY, ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY, POWER RANGERS, A TALE OF LOVE AND DARKNESS, NERVE, and Disney’s CINDERELLA, amongst others.
Busse began his work in entertainment in the talent department at WME, where he worked for several years, the last of which spent as the talent coordinator. He is a graduate of San Diego State University.
