Elizabeth Baudouin (Producer), Natalie Shirinian (Producer), Alex Hedison (Director), Meggan Lennon (Producer)
The Team
An EGG PICTURES, NOT ALL FILMS, TOUGH LOVER Production
Natalie Shirinian
Producer | She/Her
Natalie Shirinian is a distinguished director, actor, writer, and producer, acclaimed for her intimate and dramatic storytelling across narrative, documentary, and conceptual genres. Co founding the production company Not All Films with her wife, Elizabeth Baudouin, the duo collaboratively crafted compelling works such as "Interior Motives" (2017), "Parev Mama" (2020), and Baudouin's debut, "Breakup Text" (2023), where Shirinian takes on a starring role and serves as executive producer. Beyond the silver screen, Shirinian and Baudouin have been the face of influential campaigns, solidifying their status as a dynamic power pairing in the industry, including ones for The Coveteur, Matches Fashion, Garance Doré, David Yurman, and Alejandra Alonso Rojas.
Most recently they produced the short documentary film ALOK, featuring Alok Vaid Menon, directed by Alex Hedison, and executive produced by Academy Award winner Jodie Foster, premiering at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.
Producer | She/Her
As a writer and producer and actress, Meggan believes in the power of storytelling and civic engagement to bring about change in the world. Her love of filmmaking blossomed while working with the legendary team at Merchant Ivory Films. Recently, Meggan produced Ann, the true story of a 15-year-old girl that shook Ireland to its core. Meggan has enjoyed collaborating with Director Mike Cahill on several projects, including Another Earth, and has produced Carry Me, One Life (Showtime) and By The People: The Election of Barack Obama (HBO). Meggan has always been interested in the personal stories that make up our collective history.
She volunteers with Scenarios USA, a non-profit that fosters self-expression in teens in underserved communities through filmmaking. Currently, Meggan is a Producer on, ALOK a short documentary about trans-activist and poet, Alok Vaid-Menon, directed by Alex Hedison and Executive Produced by Academy Award Winner, Jodie Foster.
Meggan Lennon
Alex Hedison
Director | She/They
Alex Hedison is an internationally acclaimed photographer, artist and creative activist. Born in Los Angeles, CA, Hedison’s photographic work has been exhibited in galleries across Europe, the US, and Asia, and is in collections worldwide including the Grunwald Collection at the Hammer Museum.
A critical voice in both the artistic and LGBTQ+ community, Hedison has been featured in The New Yorker and Art Forum, among others. ALOK is the first film she has screened publicly and it premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, has screened internationally including Telluride, Mill Valley, and Woodstock Film Festivals. ALOK most recently won best short documentary film at the Sarasota Film Festival and the audience award at the Newfest Film Festival.
Elizabeth Baudouin
Producer, Music Supervisor | She/Her
Elizabeth Baudouin is a writer/producer/director. She is known for stories that capture the human experience through emotional depth, nuanced complexity, subtle humor, and cultural totems. Her writings are published in Vogue, HuffPost, BlackBook, and many more.
Her debut short film, Breakup Text (2023) was an official selection by multiple Academy Award qualifying festivals including a world premiere at Provincetown International Film Festival and NY Premiere at Woodstock Film Festival. Her short film was also selected by SCAD Savannah Film Festival to screen as part of their inaugural LGBTQ+ Film Competition presented by Amazon Studios. Elizabeth and her wife, Director/Actress/Writer/Producer, Natalie Shirinian, have produced multiple award-winning short films through their production company, Not All Films. This includes the multiple award-winning documentary film, Interior Motives, the first-ever documentary exploring the interconnectedness of fashion and interior design.
Executive Producer
Jodie Foster
Executive Producer | She/Her
In a career spanning over 55 years, Jodie Foster is considered to be one of the most critically acclaimed actresses of her generation. Her roles in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Taxi Driver, Nell, Contact, Panic Room, The Brave One have all won her international attention. Foster’s stunning performances in The Accused and The Silence of the Lambs earned her two Academy Awards ® for Best Actress. Behind the camera, Foster made her motion picture directorial debut in 1991 with Little Man Tate, in which she also starred. She went on to direct Home for the Holidays, The Beaver, Money Monster and episodes of Orange is the New Black, House of Cards, Black Mirror, and Tales From The Loop. Through her company Egg Pictures, Foster has produced many critically acclaimed films including, Nell, Home for the Holidays, The Baby Dance, Waking the Dead, The Baby Dance, The Brave One, and La Haine. She currently stars in the Netflix film Nyad and the HBO limited series True Detective. She serves as executive producer on the short documentary ALOK, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.
Arlan Hamilton
Executive Producer | She/Her
Arlan Hamilton, founder of Backstage Capital, is a serial entrepreneur, author, and speaker. She launched Backstage in 2015 to invest in founders who are people of color, women, and/or LGBTQ+, raising $30M+ to fund over 200 startups. Her most recent book, Your First Million, shows how anyone can use new tools and platforms to launch their million-dollar idea. The first non-celebrity Black woman on Fast Company’s cover, Arlan also co-created scholarships for Black students, pilots, and inventors with her mother, Mrs. Earline Butler-Sims.
Ryan Harrington
Executive Producer | He/Him
Ryan Harrington is a film and television industry veteran of nearly 20 years. Previously, he worked as Vice President, Documentary Films at National Geographic/Disney+ and Vice President, Artists Programs at Tribeca Film Institute. Now he is the Senior Advisory of Artist Programs and Special Projects at Jacob Burns Film Center, as well as an independent producer and strategist. He has dedicated his career to nurturing and empowering filmmakers from around the globe as a producer, creative executive, and through his various roles in the non-profit funding world.
Holly Levow
Executive Producer | She/Her
As an attorney and businesswoman, Holly Anderson Levow started her career in Silicon Valley high- technology start-up companies, but has since shifted her priorities towards creating social impact. Holly is currently working in the entertainment industry, where she has spent the last decade utilizing the visible platform to create films in a socially responsible, intentional, and equitable way through her two production companies, Equitas Entertainment Partners and Catalyst Studios. Her focus is on providing opportunities, investment,t and support for women and non-binary talent to share their perspectives in storytelling to accurately reflect our community.
Directors Statement
In 2020, I encountered Alok, a brilliant visionary, during a time of transformative reflection and cultural reckoning. I was tracking their work on social media which quickly revealed them to be a leader in a paradigm shift. This shift resonated with me deeply, prompting me to explore the areas in my own life where I had chosen self-abandonment over self-advocacy, judgment over curiosity, and fear over love.
I eventually met Alok through a friend and was taken with them immediately. They invited me into their world and I invited them into mine. I began to film Alok as they performed in the US, South Africa, and Namibia. Suddenly, my solitary craft as a fine art photographer was reshaped into collaborative artistry. I delved into their universe, encountering a collective of artists, activists, and thinkers whose narratives unveil a transformation from detachment to alignment, mirroring their profound friendship with Alok.
Alok’s multidimensional influence- which spans academia, art, poetry, queer theory, and comedy inspired the making of my first short documentary, ALOK. My aim with this film is to present a world of possibility that they demonstrate while asking the questions: How do we wake up? How do we mirror compassion for ourselves to compassion for those around us? How can we move beyond the binaries and embrace the simultaneity of everything existing and changing at once?
The visionary subject of this short film presents an answer to these questions and in spite of the intense resistance they face, champions love above all. ALOK is a freedom project, an all inclusive invitation to transcend the limitations of traditional binary/non-binary paradigms in order for us all to live our most authentic lives.
- Alex Hedison, Director, ALOK
Credits
A Film by
ALEX HEDISON
Produced By
ALEX HEDISON
NATALIE SHIRINIAN
ELIZABETH BAUDOUIN
MEGGAN LENNON
Executive Produced By
JODIE FOSTER
HOLLY LEVOW
ARLAN HAMILTON
RYAN HARRINGTON
Featuring
ALOK VAID-MENON
Director of Photography
DYLAN BELL
KRISTY TULLY
CHARLOTTE STORM VAN’S GRAVESANDE
Editor
ACHIM MENDOZA
DYLAN BELL
Composers
CRAIG WEDREN
SIMÓN WILSON
Music Supervisor
ELIZABETH BAUDOUIN