GRIEF
THE SHORT FILM
The Team
Who We Are
Stephanie Adele
Executive Producer
Stephanie Adele is a filmmaker from Raleigh, NC. She has been preparing for a career in entertainment since around the age of 6 when she picked up her first camera. Always the kid borrowing a family member’s camera or disposable 35mm, snapping away at anything catching her eye in any moment. She had no idea then that she had a natural eye and that later turned into a photography career after working in Technology for nearly 10 years. Stephanie’s curiosity and ambition left her open to new experiences and learning new skillsets, which took her to music videos. She secured work with independent and major recording artists such as Fantasia and Missy Elliott; with some projects landing feature articles on People.com and Rolling Stone. In addition to Producing Fantasia’s music video, “Bad Girl,” Stephanie was able to secure a brand deal with Apple/BeatsbyDre.
Stephanie’s exposure & network grew more with each set, and she received a call for an independent feature film in which she Produced and wore several other hats (i.e., Assistant Director, Art Director, etc.) As most do in the indie space. This is where she realized film production is her happy space. With her innate attention to detail, organizational skills, combined with creativity it all lead to film to beautifully merge those pieces together.
Stephanie has now Produced web series and several short films; including multiple film festival award winning short “She Had To Ask,” which is now available on ALLBLK. She has also secured Production Coordinator roles in films and television for major networks as NBC Universal, Lifetime, and BET.
Leslie M. Hardy, MSW, LCSW, LCAS
Set Therapist
A consummate mental health and human
behavior professional, and an Amazon Best Selling author.
Having served as a licensed psychotherapist for over twenty-five years, Ms. Hardy is passionate about helping others to grow, heal and reveal their authenticity and share their unique gifts in the world. She educates, equips and empowers
people to shift mindsets, create transformational change, and live and love better, starting with themselves. Her life of
personal experiences and decades of professional training have enlightened her success as a clinically informed life
strategist, speaker, author, and entrepreneur.
Preetam Nayak
Production Coordinator
Bachelor's degree in Television, Radio, and Broadcasting from Brooklyn College. She’s worked on productions for media companies including Starz, Viacom, Netflix and ABC.
After working as a video editor for Spectrum News 1, she shifted gears and began working as a producer for Spectrum News in Greensboro, North Carolina. During that time she obtained her master’s degree in creative producing from The University of North Carolina, School of the Arts in 2019. While there she produced the graduate award-winning sci-fi web series, “C.A.I.N.” and was selected by the university to attend the Sundance Film Festival.
Post-graduation she’s worked as a script judge for the Austin Film Festival, a screener for the Atlanta Film Festival and Cucalorus Film Festival, and has volunteered for Sundance. Most recently Preetam was the producer for “The Mourner'' which was an official selection of the 2022 Riverrun Festival. In 2021 she produced “The Dream”, starring Michael Tourek of Ozark, in addition to 1st AD’ing for "The Perfect Date" web series. During the pandemic, Preetam interned remotely for Los Angeles-based literary management and production company, Epicenter, while producing morning newscasts for ABC45 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Trained by a pedigree of top-notch filmmakers and content providers, Preetam is avidly working on telling her own stories. Drawing inspiration from her life experiences as a first-generation Indian-American woman.
Bridget "Ms. Bee" Height-Williams
Set Counselor
A mentor & life coach, production assistant whose passion is to work with actors, athletes, models, etc. in understanding the culture while focusing on the following challenges: Motivation, Confidence, Spirituality, Personal Growth & Life Balance. Known for being “on-set” ready to provide support for the actors, directors, producers, models & crew. Her life mottos are:
“Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood.”
“It is what it is. Start there.”
“Life is simple. It just ain’t easy.”
