Our Team
Shiloh Strong
Founder
Shiloh Strong is a filmmaker, writer, and photographer who has worked in the entertainment industry for over 30 years. His career spans directing award-winning short films, writing and selling screenplays and pilots to studios like Amazon and Lionsgate, and acting in both television and film. He is a proud member of the DGA, WGA, and SAG-AFTRA.
In 2009, Shiloh lost his home in a wildfire. That experience stayed with him—not just the physical loss, but the creative paralysis that followed. Years later, after watching fires tear through Southern California again, he realized that what artists often need most isn’t just housing or insurance—it’s the chance to create again.
That realization led to Ashes to Films, a nonprofit film fund and festival designed to help filmmakers and creatives turn disaster into opportunity. Shiloh’s mission is to make sure no artist feels alone in the aftermath of crisis, and to help spark a creative renaissance in Los Angeles and beyond.
Alyssa Dudek
Senior Director of Program and Festival
Alyssa Dudek is the Senior Director of Programs and Festival for Ashes to Films. As a member of the founding executive leadership team, Alyssa is instrumental in building the program and festival infrastructure, co-leads development efforts, and helps oversee operations of the program and the upcoming inaugural Ashes to Films Festival.
Dudek brings years of experience in social impact and advocacy. As a nonprofit professional, she has worked in the fields of mental health, domestic violence, food insecurity and nutrition, and the arts. Alyssa has also worked in local and national politics, focusing on advocacy efforts around major policy and voting issues and assisting with multimillion dollar-fundraisers.
In her most recent role leading programming at the national arts nonprofit The Creative Coalition, Alyssa produced events at the Sundance, Cannes, Tribeca, and Toronto International Film Festivals, during the White House Correspondents' Dinner weekend in Washington, D.C., and at both national political conventions in Milwaukee and Chicago in 2024. She also routinely organized and prepared cohorts of leading executives and celebrities to advocate for public funding for and public access to the arts during meetings on Capitol Hill and at The White House.
Dudek graduated Cum Laude with Honors from the University of Oklahoma and has called Los Angeles home since 2014.