My Guest Speaker Eddie Lingo Jr is an Indie Screenwriter, Director & Producer originally from South Florida, now residing in Utah. Growing up he aspired to be an animator / illustrator. Using almost every aspect of comic books, television, gaming and film to fuel his artistic way, he never considered applying his creativity to writing. Eventually a debate about a feature film ended with the words “Why don’t you stop talking about it and do it yourself?” At that moment it all became clear and in what seemed like the most natural transition, Eddie began writing. He taught himself the screenwriting process and loved it. But writing soon proved it wasn’t enough to satisfy Eddie’s creative drive. Without attending film school, Eddie surrounded himself with people in the industry. He made connections as well as great friendships that provided him the knowledge to become the Indie Director & Producer he is today. After collaborating on a series of projects Eddie finally created his own short film titled “Hypocrite” in 2019. While taking his short film on a festival run, Eddie became inspired to create a platform for low budget filmmakers to compete and showcase their work. Under his direction, the illume Short Film Festival was born.
