Carylanna Taylor

Carylanna Taylor is a producer and anthropologist. Originally from southwestern Pennsylvania, she spent the first twenty years of her career teaching and researching in Latin America and the U.S. Her research on environmental conservation received recognition through Fulbright, National Science Foundation, and Environmental Protection Agency grants. Soon after earning a doctorate in applied cultural anthropology (University of South Florida, 2011), Carylanna co-founded First Encounter Productions to tell engaging stories about science and cultural diversity that resonate with broad audiences. Prior to AFI, she produced the feature documentary PAINTING THE WAY TO THE MOON (2015) and produced and co-wrote three shorts and the narrative feature ANYA (2019). At AFI, she has produced six narrative shorts, interned with Bona Fide Productions, ImageMovers, and the Population, and developed a feature inspired by her anthropological research in Honduras on migration and conservation.