THE CREW.

SAM BANGS (she/her)

CO-CREATOR + WRITER

Sam Bangs is a graduate of the University of Miami’s acting conservatory and film studies program. An actor and mom by trade, you may have caught her in a Kroger commercial, Dean Devlin's Bad Samaritan, or coaching the local youth sports team. She is foraying into the world of writing and producing for the opportunity to showcase stories that have largely gone untold, especially those from the LGBTQIA+ community, and the global majority. The long term goal is the creation of more industry job opportunities in Oregon for womxn and non-binary individuals, both behind and on camera.

www.sambangs.com | Instagram

BRITTANY VILLELA (she/her)

CO-CREATOR + WRITER

Brittany Villela is a lighter by day, writer by night since her early stage manager years. She’s started at Portland Community College where she became a typographer and graphic design for their local literacy journals. Then transferred to and graduated from Portland State University with a Bachelor of Science in Film. She has written and produced several projects, such as Fencesitters, Whistle, Cultivar, and recent grant recipient Undercard. She’s currently working on Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio as an additional gaffer.

www.brittanyvillela.com | Instagram

TARA JOHNSON-MEDINGER (she/her)

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER + DIRECTOR

Tara Johnson-Medinger is a film director, producer and champion of gender equality in the entertainment industry. Producer of the award-winning  documentary The Winding Stream and feature films City Baby, and Mother of Color, her feature film directorial debut My Summer as a Goth released in 2020. An advocate for women in film, Johnson-Medinger honors groundbreaking female and non-binary filmmakers as Executive Director of the international Power of Women in Film Festival (POW Film Fest), while developing the next generation of media makers through the youth education forum she founded, POWGirls.  

Johnson-Medinger is a member of the Producer's Guild of America, served on the founding board of directors of the Women in Film Portland and was awarded the 2013 Service & Inspiration Award by the Oregon Media Production Association. Before moving to Portland, she was a manager of affiliate promotion at the FOX Broadcasting Company in Los Angeles. She lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband and their two busy teenagers.

MIA ROSE (they/them)

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR + PRODUCER

Mia Rose is a Portland-based creative with a background in photography, assistant directing, and sustainable styling through their vintage garment and prop rental company, Recollection. In their years working in photo and video production, they’ve worked on several commercial campaigns for Portland businesses, narrative shorts and series, and their own personal projects collaborating with local designers and fellow artists.

They are attracted to any project that is created out of passion and a curiosity to explore the human experience, and This is Fine fits the bill perfectly — especially when the characters' journeys through gender, sexuality, and family dynamics feel so familiar.

RICKY KING (they/them)

WRITER

Ricky King is a writer, editor, and plant dad born and raised in Portland, Oregon. (Yes, Black Portlanders do exist!)

They studied at the Dodge College of Film and Media Arts and graduated magna cum laude in 2021 with a BFA in Broadcast Journalism and Documentary. They are now working in the Pacific Northwest as a freelance editor, videographer, PA, and all around production guy. Story is at the heart of all their work across pre-production, production, and post.

They have a soft spot for underdogs and “unusual” heroes, writing from the perspective of a multiracial black nonbinary person raised in the whitest major city in America. Their feature screenplay, Moving On, was a semifinalist selection in The Screen Lab’s 2021 Free Screenplay Contest.

They are currently based in Portland and excited to tell the untold stories of their eclectic hometown, and This Is Fine is the perfect avenue for that passion.

LILY HENNINGS (she/her)

WRITER + ASSISTANT PRODUCER

Lily Hennings made her way to Portland 3 years ago after outgrowing her small hometown in Washington, and being inspired by the weekend trips she would take to the city. As she grew up in a non-traditional home with a single parent, she learned the values of adaptability and perseverance in the face of adversity, which has in turn made her resourceful in both her adulthood and creative pursuits. 

As an autistic biracial and queer individual, she has a strong ambition to represent marginalized and underserved communities through the medium of film, as well as in her fantasy-inspired illustrations. Lily recently completed her Bachelor of Science degree in Film at Portland State University in March 2022, and has been spending her free time working on local independent films in both the Art and Camera departments. Recently, she has had the opportunity to work in collaboration for production companies such as A24, TEDx and TLC, as well as contribute to the pre-production of other short films. 

When she's not watching films or working on her projects, Lily can be found crafting, traveling, and playing video games. 

MORGAN MILLOGO (she/her)

WRITER

Morgan Millogo is an indie writer/director/producer who most recently created an award winning web series, "Tabs & Clea".

A former Upsate Women in Film and TV board member, Morgan has dedicated her career to supporting and uplifting women and LGBTQIA+ storytellers and stories.

JULIE NHEM (she/her)

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY

Julie Nhem grew up in Bend, Oregon and has been traveling far from home and taking pictures ever since childhood. She's been across the world with her camera and still loves to travel and shoot stills - now with her two children in tow!

Julie studied Film Production at Portland State University where she met one of the show's creators, Brittany Villela as well as writer Lily Hennings.

Julie has spent the last four years working in the camera department on a variety of film and commercial sets and is excited to join the creative team on the 'This is Fine' series pilot!

JOYCE FITZPATRICK (she/her)

CONSULTING PRODUCER

Joyce Fitzpatrick is a Producer/Writer/Director who has over twenty years experience in television production and film on tv series and specials for ABC, NBC, CW, UPN, E! Entertainment, Black Entertainment Television (BET) and PBS. She has also produced, written and directed over 60 on-air promos including the PBS Bill Moyers special “Moyers on Addiction”, “Close to Home in LA” and three award-winning feature documentaries: “The Color of Medicine: The Story of Homer G. Phillips Hospital,” “Sunshine, Noodles and Me” and “Discovering Mary.” Her most recent works include a narrative feature “Hidden Orchard Mysteries” and several award-winning live-action and animated shorts.

BRIAN SHACKELFORD (he/him)

EDITOR

Brian Schackelford is a graduate of Loyola Marymount University’s School of Film and Television in California and the founder of Tunnel Vizion Films, Inc. In 2004 Brian co-wrote, directed, shot, and edited his first comedy feature film following a dysfunctional grade school basketball team, “The Bad News Ballers.” Next he produced, wrote, directed, shot, and edited his second comedy feature film, the stoner cult classic, “Gettin Da Munchies.” A huge fan of animation Brian wrote and directed the animated short “Porn Editor” which aired on HBO, Showtime, and Cinemax. Brian was later hired by the American Black Film Festival to be a judge for Kevin Hart’s Laugh Out Loud comedy script writing competition.

Brian's works include the award winning PBS feature documentary “Sunshine, Noodles and Me”; “A Night at the Hungate” about the U.S. House of Representative William Hungate’s influence in desegregation, busing and the Watergate scandal; the award winning documentary “The Color of Medicine: the Story of Homer G. Phillips Hospital,” about the rise and fall of the first all black premiere hospital in the world; and the family film favorite “Hidden Orchard Mysteries: The Case of the AirB&B Robbery.”