When Jillian Carney Howell was seven years old, Santa Claus brought her a Barbie video camera and her love of filmmaking was sparked. After graduating from UNCW's Film Program, the Putnam County, West Virginia native relocated to Los Angeles in 2017 to begin working for the Walt Disney Company, where she has been a part of the production team for 'Frozen 2,' 'Raya and the Last Dragon,' 'Strange World,' 'Wish,' and several theme park attractions and traditional hand drawn shorts. As a filmmaker, her passion lies deeply in sharing Appalachian stories through an empathetic, optimistic, and collaborative lens, most recently through documentary-work. Her short documentary 'ZANE,' on her childhood best friend has won some local awards and played in New York and Florida. She is currently in production for what (she thinks?!) will be her first feature film, a documentary on the small town of Thurmond, WV where the population is 4. Since 2020, she has been running the social media project 'Shine On, WV,' to demystify West Virginians working in the arts and entertainment fields and uplift previously uncelebrated voices. She is excitedly looking to rebuild and expand that project in 2025.