Erica A. Watson is a recent graduate of USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, with a master’s degree in Film and TV Production. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in Music from Wayne State University in her hometown of Detroit, Michigan. During her undergraduate career, she performed as a harpist for the WSU Symphony Orchestra, Wind Symphony, Harp Ensemble, Wind Ensemble, and Concert Band. At the age of nineteen, she co-founded, “Hyphenation Nation Productions”, a Detroit-based film production company that produced 10 short films and 5 episodes of the Conversations in Cannes interview series between 2007-2011. At the age of twenty, she attended the Cannes Film Festival for the first time with her directorial debut, SLAM featured in the 2009 Short Film Corner. She has attended the Cannes Film Festival for five consecutive years with films featured in the Short Film Corner and as a participant of the Marche du Film. In January of 2014, she traveled to Cannes to shoot her latest short film, Roubado, which was awarded the Panavision New Filmmaker Grant (for 35mm film). Other supporters of the film are: Kodak, The Sundance Institute, and Panavision Marseille. Roubado recently premiered at the Writers Guild of America, West.