ILAYDA CETINKAYA

An award-winning producer based in Los Angeles. Her solo-produced 35mm trans short film, SKIN, won the Gold Medal at the 2023 Student Academy Awards, screened at over 50 festivals worldwide, and earned her the Best Producer award at both the 2024 Reale Film Festival and the 2023 LA Cinematography Awards.

 

Her recent short film, Re-Entry, received the Alfred P. Sloan Production Grant ($25,000)  and won the Amazon MGM Award ($5,000 prize) in 2024. She was an associate producer for the TV pilot One for the Team, directed by Emmy-nominated writer, director, actress Rain Valdez. Her short film Corpse Fishing, backed by Lena Waithe's Hillman Grad, premiered at the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival and qualified for Best Live Action Short Film at the 2025 Oscars.

 

In 2025, she completed two short films and is currently packaging feature films including OMA, a feature film selected for SEEFest 2025's Accelerator program. She is also in pre-production on Esta Noche, a proof-of-concept short.

Committed to supporting the independent film ecosystem, she serves as a Shorts Programmer and Asian Vision Award Jury at Asian World Film Festival since 2024, and Director of Shorts Programming & Outreach Coordinator at SEEFest.

 

Originally from Istanbul, Ilayda moved to the U.S. in 2014 to pursue a career in film, attending Idyllwild Arts Academy before earning a BFA in Film Production from Chapman University in 2020. She later completed her MFA at the AFI Conservatory's Producing Fellowship.