Sydney Lolita Cusic (Director) is a bi-coastal director, producer, and writer born and raised on the South Side of Chicago. She is an alumna of NYU Tisch School of the Arts. As a director, her work focuses on the complexities of the black experience.

Past works have included Away From Home, a pilot presentation that follows a group of college students that tackle race, relationships, and romance at a predominantly white university, far from the communities they grew up in, and Bluebird a coming-of-age short series, where love, friendship, and sex rule the lives of South Side teens. She has produced a plethora of short films and commercial content.

Recent work includes GameGirl and Leo, both of which are now in post-production and the femme-led, queer short Let's Go Together which is currently making its festival run. She recently partnered with the non-profit Becoming A Man, to produce a series of educational videos with the brand SneakerLaw, this series will be used to encourage black and brown youth to pursue entrepreneurial endeavors. Outside of film, she recently produced and co-directed the Off-Broadway production of Wine in the Wilderness at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting in New York City.

Sydney is an active advocate for the arts, beyond the film and theatre realm. She works as the development associate, for the American Composers Orchestra, an organization dedicated to uplifting composers and redefining how we view the American classical landscape.