ILAYDA CETINKAYA

Ilayda Cetinkaya is a Turkish producer and writer based in Los Angeles. 

 

Her solo-produced 35mm short SKIN won the Gold Medal at the 2023 Student Academy Awards. It qualified for the Academy Awards in Best Live Action Short Film and earned her multiple Best Producer awards.

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In early 2026, she line produced Lionsgate’s horror feature Megan Is Missing: Evil Never Dies for writer-director Michael Goi. Her other producing credits include Re-Entry, recipient of the Alfred P. Sloan Production Grant and winner of the SCAD International Film Festival Amazon MGM Audience Award, and The Day Before, a sci-fi short written and directed by Alexandra Grey, with Zackary Drucker and executive producer Lilly Wachowski. She also produced Corpse Fishing, backed by Lena Waithe’s Hillman Grad, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival.​​

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She is developing several feature projects as a producer while also expanding her work as a writer. Alongside producing, she has served as Director of Programming for SEEFest 2026, as well as a programmer and jury member for the Asian World Film Festival, with additional festival jury experience. She is also a member of the European Film Academy.

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She earned her BFA in Film Production from Chapman University and her MFA from the AFI Conservatory’s Producing Fellowship.