Meet the Creators

WRITER/DIRECTOR

Douglas E. Spaltro

Douglas Spaltro is a screenwriter/director from Portland, Maine and a retired United States Air Force veteran. While living and working in the United Arab Emirates in the defense aeronautics business after his retirement, he wrote his 1st feature screenplay.
Upon returning to the United States he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Creative Writing for Entertainment and soon earned positions as a script reader for three different competitions.
His (8) feature screenplays, (4) television pilots, and (6) short films have been recognized by the Academy Nicholls, Page International, Shore Scripts, Austin Film Festival, Final Draft, American Zoetrope, Stowe Story Labs competitions, and more. He is a 2021-2022 Writers Guild Foundation Veterans Writers Project Alumni.
His directorial short film debut, APPLE, follows the last two souls on Earth, a 10-year-old boy and girl, where humankind’s fate rests with their failed communication and compromise.

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY

carlo canlas mendoza

Carlo Canlas Mendoza, a multi-awarded Filipino cinematographer completed his MFA in Cinematography at the American Film Institute in 2018 wherein he was the recipient of the Rachel Morrison scholarship. Before coming to AFI, Carlo has photographed more than a dozen independent feature films that have been exhibited in festivals in Venice, Berlin, New York, Tokyo, Busan, Estonia, Vladivostok and Karlovy Vary.
Carlo’s AFI thesis with director Hao Zheng, THE CHEF won silver at the 2019 Student Academy Awards. In 2019, he participated in the American Society of Cinematographers’ ASC Vision Mentorship program and Project Involve, Film Independent’s signature diversity program wherein he was awarded the Panavision feature film grant. He is currently on his second year at the BAFTA LA Newcomers Program.
ONLY THE MOON STANDS STILL, his 2nd short film with director Johnson Cheng recently won the Audience Choice Award at the 2021 AFI Fest. Carlo’s latest feature film shot in the Philippines with award-winning Filipino director Jun Robles Lana, BIG NIGHT! had its world premiere at the main competition of the 2021 Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival in Estonia and will soon be screened at the Lincoln Center at the New York Asian Film Festival in July 2022.
His love for storytelling, endless quest for excellence and desire to reach and inspire a wider audience brought him to Los Angeles. Carlo divides his time working both in Asia and in the US.

ASSOCIATE PRODUCER