Meet the team
Regina Ainsworth
Director, Producer
Born of the theatre as an actress, dancer, writer and director, Regina has successfully transitioned her love of movement and character driven storytelling to filmmaking. Her passion for amplifying authentic experiences that can inspire positive social change is what drives her activism in both her leadership and cinematic worlds.
Ainsworth spent a year amongst West End productions in London, and upon returning stateside, began directing regional theatre. With an eye toward directing episodic television, she landed a job at Warner Bros. Television. WBTV was her film school, as she worked with and observed over 120 productions, including Arrow, The Leftovers, Blindspot, Pretty Little Liars, and Westworld. It was after auditing the Television Director’s Workshop (a program she helped launch) that she made the transition into directing full time.
Regina is an award-winning filmmaker, whose work has resonated internationally. Selected credits include the independent pilot The Project, a supernatural horror short Perchance to Dream, two episodes of indie series Linked by Love and sci-fi indie darling Recombined (based on the YA SciFi Tankborn Trilogy novels). Tankborn’s pilot, which she co-wrote with author Karen Sandler, was a Second Rounder in the Austin Film Festival, a Semifinalist in Filmmatic TV Pilot Awards, and is in the top 12% of projects on Coverfly. Regina is now in post production with her most personal piece yet, Unveiled, a magical realism proof of concept, exploring final moments of love and the tough transition from this world to whatever is next. When not directing live action you can find her on a sound stage directing voice actors for Netflix and Disney+. Ainsworth is also currently attached to direct feature films Overlooked, a modern Hitchcockian style thriller, and LORA, a supernatural ghost story.
As a two-time DGA Latino Committee Co-Chair, and Co-Founder of los directores, a Guild-level collective of Latino directors and director’s team members, Regina is dedicated to making the invisible visible, via equitable employment. In addition to her activism, she is also a member of the Chicana Directors Initiative, NALIP, and Women of Color Unite.
Tim Dougherty
Cast: Zack
Tim Dougherty played Truman Capote in Danny Strong’s film Rebel in the Rye which premiered at Sundance. He starred in the award winning shorts Straight Eye For the Gay Guy and America. He often appears with NYC’s Improvolution, a Groundlings-based theatre. He appeared on Late Night with Seth Meyers as well as multiple gigs with Jimmy Kimmel and Saturday Night Live. His other TV and movie credits include NCIS New Orleans, True Lies, the Amazon pilot Half Empty, Drake and Josh, Blue Collar TV, Wizards of Waverly Place and Santa Claus 3. He is repped by Stewart Talent.
Megan McKenzie
Cast: Alice
Writer, Producer
Megan McKenzie is an LA based writer, performer, and filmmaker who writes stories about quirky characters navigating the space between who they are and who the world tells them they should be. Her scripts have placed in multiple screenwriting contests including Final Draft Big Break and BlueCat.
Megan studied acting at The American Academy of Dramatic Arts and majored in Narrative Studies at The University of Southern California where her focus was screenwriting and filmmaking. She has written, produced, and performed in many shorts and web series, which have screened at festivals around the country.
As a filmmaker, she owns a small production company where she produces and directs award-winning, short, branded documentaries that amplify the voices of everyday world changers.
Mary Lou Belli
Executive Producer
Mary Lou Belli is a two time Emmy award-winner and has been directing and/or producing television for over 30 years including NCIS New Orleans, True Lies, Black Lightning, Bull, Legacies, Station 19, Sweet Magnolias, Pitch, Monk, Famous In Love, Devious Maids, The Quad, American Woman, and Hart of Dixie as well as Disney’s The Secret of Sulphur Springs, Ms. Pat, Wizards of Waverly Place, Sister, Sister, Girlfriends, and The Game. Her short film, Straight Eye for the Gay Guy won “Best Mini-short” at the California Independent Film Fest where she also premiered I Heard Something, a thriller that went on to play fests internationally. She has done ground-breaking work on web-series. Her award-winning short, America, played its 14th fest on its 4th continent at The Hague and won best micro short. She also served as an EP in Japan on a short called Just One Look. She was recently nominated for a Primetime Emmy for Comedy Directing as well an another Emmy in the Children’s Programming category.
Mary Lou served two terms as the Co-chair of the Women’s Steering Committee at the DGA where she also has served on the Western Director’s Council, presently she is on Leadership Council PAC and as an alternate to the National Board. She is an Honorary Board member of the Alliance of Women Directors and Advisory Board member of Women in Media. Mary Lou also serves on the Advisory Circle of Film Fatales is and a long time member of Women In Film as well as the Peer Group Executive Committee of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences where she presently serves as one of the Governors.
She has served as a jury member at the Sapporo Short Festival, Newport Beach Film Fest, Regina International Film Festival and many others.