Ann Cameron Troy
Director/Producer/Screenwriter Actor/Lyricist/Editor/Singer/Set Designer
Ann Cameron Troy is an American director, screenwriter, actor, lyricist and singer. This multi-hyphenate artist has written and directed her debut feature film, Hears My Voice. She describes her filmmaking style as a panoramic view of life, having studied people long before she turned on a camera. Her directorial style is very collaborative; she’s open to any ideas others bring to the table.
Ann did not start her film career path in college. Instead, she received a Bachelor of Science from Purdue University with a double major in business and marketing. Soon after graduating, Ann lost her mother to cancer. Through the grieving process and soul-searching, Ann rediscovered her first love: acting. She quickly filled her acting resumé. She worked on and starred in four feature films. The director of the first feature she starred in asked her to read for a part that she would be playing opposite Tom Skerritt. In another, Ann found herself on set everyday gaining experience and learning from the legend, Faye Dunaway.
A few years later, at a party
hosted by one of Ann's
artist friends, she was
introduced to a filmmaker who was interested in casting her in a lead role for his upcoming film. While starring in this film, Ann was asked to assist him in directing the less-seasoned actors. During this experience, Ann found her gate. She knew at that moment that she was going to be a director and filmmaker.
Ann began studying the art of screenwriting with her husband, Steven Troy. Through a lot of hard work and rewrites, they wrote many scripts. Hears My Voice is Ann’s debut feature. The family element is a tremendous gift to Ann. She has always enjoyed spending time with others and sharing in creative responsibilities, especially with her family members. When the other members of the cast were on set, they became part of the family as well.
Another one of Ann’s great loves and responsibilities is teaching, and that includes teaching on the film set. he believes that teaching the next generation is crucial to the future of film, and that’s one of the reasons
Working with 18 school-aged extras
Ann has a laugh with Roger Conatser
she and her family made this film. Ann states: “My daughters needed to learn every job on set so they could be great filmmakers on their own in the future. I want them to pass on these skill-sets and gifts to their children and so on.”
Hears My Voice was completely created, from script to post-production, by Ann, her husband, Steven, and their two daughters, Ava and Ilyana, a total of four people. Ann cherishes the time the family spent to get this project from inception to fruition. Many people have asked the family how they made a feature film. The family’s reaction is always the same: “We didn’t know we couldn’t!”
Connect with Ann
Ilyana Cameron Troy
Lead Actor/Screenwriter/Singer
Songwriter/Set Designer/Editor
Ilyana Cameron Troy is a multi-hyphenate artist of film, singing, editing, screenwriting, songwriting and production design. Her knack for storytelling was evident at the age of 6 when she began storyboarding her stories in school. In hand-drawn, short animation-style images, Ilyana learned the art of storytelling. She wrote her first script at 9 years old for the short film, ‘Lost and Found’. With script in hand, she and her sister, Ava, filmed it with an iPhone 6. Ilyana’s debut as a writer/director was also her first time in front of the camera and is the only actor in the film (other than Buddy, the family dog).
Ilyana’s gift of music is inherited from her parents. Being able to sing harmony at age 9, she and her dad, Steven, would sing together around the
house and in their studio. At 12 years old, she recorded her first song in the family’s audio studio as a present to her mom. Ilyana’s singing skills are showcased in Hears My Voice, the family’s feature film, as she sings throughout the film and on the title track, which she co-wrote.
Ilyana is also a talented designer, which can be seen in the production sets she helped create with her mom, Ann. They worked together on color palettes, set design and wardrobe, creating one design layer at a time to ensure each element, however small, would work
Trying not to laugh
during a serious scene
together in the end to convey the theme and set the tone and mood for the film. Her screenwriting talents were honed when she helped with the script for Hears My Voice.
Once filming was wrapped, Ilyana and Ann began editing and then moved on to work closely with Steven on 5.1 sound for the film, including ADR work and all of the foley work that was needed to finish the film.
She's such a poser
Hanging with her sister, Ava, being her 2nd AC
Now at 17, and a senior in high school, she has a feature film to her name with multiple credits. Her homeschooling allows her to study while on set, and she still carries a 4.0 GPA. After her graduation in May of 2024, she and her family are planning to move to Los Angeles to continue to make film and further their film career.
Connect with Ilyana
Ava Leigh Troy
Cinematographer/Screenwriter
Actor/Singer/Songwriter
Ava Leigh Troy was born on January 24, 1998 and was raised by her mom, Ann Cameron Troy. Ava was first introduced to film by her mom when they watched The Sound of Music together. It was Ava’s favorite movie, along with My Fair Lady, Mary Poppins and Fly Away Home. Unbeknownst to either one of them, those four movies had either been nominated or won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography. Ava was viewing movies that would influence her to become the cinematographer she is today.
When Ava was in middle school and high school, she was involved in three school plays, playing Petunia in Alice in Wonderland, Jr., a pirate in Peter Pan, Jr., and a Wickersham Sister in Seussical. After graduating from high school, she was involved in two community plays. In A 1940’s Radio Christmas Carol, she played Esther, and in Sunset Boulevard, she was part of the ensemble. It is very rare to find a cinematographer who also enjoys being on stage in a play or musical, but Ava has the goal to becoming the first cinematographer to win a Tony Award, as well as the first female to win the Academy Award for Best Cinematography.
Ava Leigh Troy - Cinematographer
In 2017, Ava’s sister, Ilyana Cameron Troy, approached Ava with a fun project. Ilyana wanted to make a short film that she had written entitled Lost and Found.
So, together with their dog, Buddy, and a little help from their mom, Ann, they set out to make the short. Ava filmed the entire short with an iPhone 6, and Ilyana starred in it alongside Buddy. Ann made a cameo appearance. Ava did all of post-production on Lost and Found. She edited, color-corrected, scored it, and even did all of the ADR work. Upon seeing the completed film, Ann was astounded at the talent her two daughters possessed. She then encouraged Ava and Ilyana to learn with her and Steven, their dad (Ann remarried in 2004), the art of filmmaking. So, together as a family, they embarked on learning everything they could about filmmaking.
Finally taking a break
On February 9, 2020, Bong Joon-ho accepted the Academy Award for Best Director, and he quoted the legend, Mr. Martin Scorsese: “The most personal is the most creative.”
Ann turned to Steven and said, “It’s time to tell my story.” The next day, the family started on the process of making Hears My Voice, the story of Ann’s four years of silence that she was now brave enough to tell, applying all they had learned in the years leading up to 2020. Ann asked Ava to help write the script and to be the cinematographer.
Necessity is the mother of invention
Ava agreed. Ava is also featured as the interviewer, Ingrid Effe, in the film. When Ava turned on her camera, she was doing about six jobs at once, including pulling her own focus.
As far as post-production went, Ava was in charge of color-correction. She also helped with composing the score, and she was part of the songwriting process for the title track, also called Hears My Voice.
In her spare time, Ava enjoys spending time with her family, going to the public library, writing new screenplays and short stories, and taking photographs of her dog, Coco, and nature.
Connect with Ava
Steven Troy
Producer/Screenwriter/Actor
Singer/Songwriter/Composer
Steven Troy grew up in east Texas with a musical family. Both of his parents were in bands when they met. They raised Steven in a home full of instruments and singing. Driven by his own musical ambition, Steven moved to Nashville, Tennessee when he was just 17 years old. A naturally gifted performer, he quickly garnered a solid reputation with major country music artists who recognized his talent and drive. While maintaining that he always earned his living with his voice, he was also a sought-after multi-hyphenate musician, playing drums, bass guitar, electric guitar, and keyboards for well-known country music artists such as Dolly Parton. Steven also worked on many music video sets which gave him the insight to visual storytelling he would use in the years to come.
Steven’s ambition moved him into a management role for several artists. As time moved on, so did his quest for knowledge and experience. He wanted to learn how to do every job relating to a music artist. He has worked every job on tour and behind-the-scenes.
In addition to touring, Steven continued writing songs and performing in front of live audiences in venues around Nashville. During this time, at a songwriter’s night, Steven met Ann Cameron, an actor and his future wife.
Several years later, Steven was invited to a set where Ann was starring in a new feature. Feeling the energy of the cast and crew and seeing the limitless creative outlet, Steven realized that all of his life’s experiences had led him to be part of the film industry. Soon after, Ann brought up the notion to Steven that she wanted to be a filmmaker. Steven, having written songs extensively, wanted to be part of the writing process. The two of them tirelessly studied screenwriting, and, since then, have written many scripts,
one of them, Hears My Voice, is now a feature film. They completed this feature, in its entirety, including post-production.
During the past few years and through the making of their feature film, the knowledge Steven has gained is tremendous. Steven has said, “Everything I thought I knew about sound design in music was so different in film. Film encompasses talents and gifts I didn’t even know I possessed. I truly believe I will never get tired of making film; the process from script to post-production is fascinating.”
As well as being the production’s sound designer and composer, Steven is also acting in Hears My Voice in the role of Dr. Aamon Young, the antagonist.
The crew. Seriously, the entire crew.