Ava Leigh Stewart ; director, writer, producer, and artist.

Ava Leigh Stewart is a director, writer, producer, and artist. She cut her teeth at CNN, climbing the ranks of news production, until 2005. She founded Art West Film, a full service production company that specializes in film, television, and new media. She is also the founder of the Southeastern International Film Festival, which promotes an independent film distribution to the Southeastern United States. Stewart launched her film career after earning a film degree in London, England. She garnished attention after directing, producing, and writing an award winning short film called “Keepers of the Gate”. She directed her first feature film entitled, South of Southern, which was alos adapted as a television series. Her first documentary entitled, Paradise Garden, debuted at the Savannah Film Festival and has won many awards ranging from Best Documentary at the Orlando Film Festival to 2nd Place at the Durango Film Festival. She was the producer of State of Control, which focused on the humanitarian crisis in Tibet, and was released in 2016.  In addition to her own projects, she has also directed television shows, commercials, web series, and music videos. Stewart is the author of ten books, as well as writer for film, websites, and magazines.  She has also taught University classes in Film History, Production, and Screenwriting, and does educational lectures and workshops. Currently she is finishing a new action adventure novel and film to be completed at the end of the year, in addition to a number of ongoing film projects. She has published six additional books of poetry. Holy Suppression, a poem from her book Beyond Fear, was featured as part of the documentary film, Bloodline. Waxing Eloquent is under consideration by the National Poetry Series. http://avaleighstewart.com