2006 ABC-DGA DIRECTING FELLOWS

Michael Kang
A graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Michael holds a BFA in Dramatic Writing. His feature film directorial debut, The Motel,was produced by indie veteran director Miguel Arteta (Chuck & Buck, The Good Girl) and premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2005.  The Motel is the recipient of the Best Narrative Feature Award from the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival 2005 and was also awarded the 2003 Sundance/NHK International Filmmaker’s Award.  In addition, Michael was a fellow at the Sundance Filmmakers Lab in 2002.  In 2004, Michael worked as second unit director for Wayne Wang on his film Because of Winn-Dixie (where he got to direct a live bear). 

Dennis Lee
After graduating from the University of Chicago, Dennis joined Teach for America, a non-profit organization that places recent college graduates in rural and urban school districts experiencing chronic teacher shortages.  During his years in the classroom, Dennis taught kindergarten and 1st grade before co-founding an art-based charter school for at-risk middle school students in Houston.  In the fall of 1999, he moved to New York to attend Columbia University’s MFA film program.  Recently graduated, Dennis has written several feature scripts and directed a number of short films, and is slated to direct New Line Cinema’s feature film Slay the Bully. 

Gabriela Tagliavini
Gabriela Tagliavini was named Best Director at three film festivals, including the New York Independent Film Festival, for her feature directorial debut, The Woman Every Man Wants, aka Perfect Lover.   Gabriela’s second feature, Ladies Night, distributed by Disney/Buena Vista, was the #1 movie at the box office in Mexico in 2004.  Tagliavini’s television film, the VH1/Maverick feature 30 Days Until I'm Famous, premiered on VH1 and was executive produced by Madonna.  The writer-director is armed with a bachelor’s in film directing from the Escuela Superior de Cinematografía in Argentina and a master’s in screenwriting from AFI.  In addition to directing several short films, commercials and television pilots, Tagliavini is also a renowned author and has two novels published.