Laura Emel Yilmaz is a filmmaker and animation director currently based in Los Angeles, California. Her short films have screened in numerous domestic and international film festivals, including the Ann Arbor Film Festival and Boston International Film Festival, where her short film Lev was awarded best short animation of 2009. She holds a BA from Harvard University and an MFA from the University of Southern California, where she was an Annenberg Fellow in Animation & Digital Arts.