The Next Generation Indie Film Awards team includes Academy Award and Emmy Winning filmmakers and actors, and film industry leaders from around the globe.
Team
Andrew Jenkins
Founder, CEO and Executive Director
Andrew's Bio
Andrew is a progressive, dynamic leader with board and executive experience in film, as well as the technology and education sectors. Great stories are at the root of Andrew’s work. A proven change agent, he has a successful track record for driving organizational growth, and empowering diverse teams to thrive.
Andrew has nearly two decades of experience in the international film industry, including work on films from independent shorts to Hollywood blockbusters. An award-winning actor, he trained with William Esper at the Esper Studio in New York City. Andrew has appeared on stage, as well as in numerous film and television roles, working with Oscar Winners and Nominees. An award-winning film producer and production company board member, Andrew has experience overseeing the financing, production and acquisition of a feature film – including having an independent film he produced, co-wrote and starred in acquired at the Cannes Film Market, and released around the globe, selling to numerous channels including Amazon Prime, iTunes and Google Play.
Catherine Goulet
Founder, Chair and Director
Catherine's Bio
Catherine brings over 25 years of executive management, entrepreneurial, publishing and awards experience to her role. Catherine founded and is Chair of the Next Generation Indie Book Awards, the largest international awards program for independent book publishing in the world, with an awards ceremony held at a landmark location in the US each year. The awards have been reported in hundreds of media outlets, with the 2020 awards including a tribute by Catherine to Kobe Bryant – creator of two books named as finalists in the Next Generation Indie Book Awards.
Co-founder of FabJob, which was named “the #1 place to get published online” by Writer’s Digest magazine, Catherine has co-authored three FabJob career guides, including Dream Careers, which ranked #1 in career and business books at Amazon.com. Through her writing and publishing efforts and as a leader in the publishing industry, Catherine has helped hundreds of thousands of people with their career and business goals. As an expert on dream careers, she has been featured in Oprah’s newsletter and in numerous popular women’s magazines including Woman’s Day and Woman’s World. Catherine has a lifelong love of film and is a proud member of film organizations including: Sundance Institute, Film Independent, and Vancouver International Film Festival.
In 2023, Catherine founded Next Generation Short Story Awards, a not-for-profit international awards program for authors of short stories.
Therese ‘Tag’ Goulet
Founder and Director
Tag's Bio
Tag’s passion is helping creative people achieve their dreams. With producer credits on more than 50 indie films, including several from Santa Monica College’s award-winning Film Production Program, she has helped fund more than 100 films with hundreds of cast and crew members. She is also a member of Film Independent’s Arts Circle.
Tag began film producing after a storied career in book publishing. She edited the official gift book for the 1988 Winter Olympics, produced a CD distributed in 65 countries, and cofounded FabJob, a publisher with millions of dollars in sales, named “the #1 place to get published online” by Writer’s Digest.
Her intro to filmmaking came in 2004 with Columbia Pictures’ feature film Bewitched when she created books for Nicole Kidman to browse and Will Ferrell to trip over in a bookstore scene. Head non-fiction judge and emcee of Next Generation Indie Book Awards, the world’s largest awards program for indie authors and publishers, Tag’s work has been featured in media from Oprah’s newsletter to Fast Company and The Wall Street Journal. An indigenous person, she is a member of Canada’s Métis Nation.
Calum Worthy
Founder and Gala Host
Calum's Bio
Calum Worthy began his acting career at the age of nine and made his film debut in the BBC award-winning mini-series I Was A Rat. Worthy’s most acclaimed roles include Hulu’s The Act, Netflix’s American Vandal, Eminem’s Bodied, and Disney Channel’s Austin & Ally.
Worthy is a vocal activist for the environmental movement and is currently working with Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project and Bono’s One organization. He has millions of followers across his social media platforms which he dedicates to educating and empowering his fan base on the climate crisis and gender inequality in developing countries.
Mike Harris
Chief Financial Officer
Mike's Bio
Mike Harris, Chief Financial Officer of Next Generation Indie Film Awards Foundation, is a respected and accomplished financial leader with over 25 years of senior financial experience and business leadership. As a Chartered Professional Accountant and Harvard Business School Executive Education graduate, Mike’s proven track record ranges from being a financial executive and officer of a multi-billion dollar global public company to his experience with private start-ups. He has specialized financial knowledge of the publishing, entertainment, e-commerce, international energy, oil and gas, and extractive businesses. Mike is also currently the CFO of FabJob Inc., the CEO of Crossbow Financial Inc., a boutique financial advisory firm, and serves as a director on numerous corporate boards including the Next Generation Indie Book Awards.
Aina Dumlao
Director of Programming
Aina's Bio
Aina is an Asian-American actress and filmmaker, based in Los Angeles. Acting projects include leading roles in the 2021 limited series The Unusual Suspects (by Academy Award Nominee, Aquarius Films), the Slamdance feature film Sanzaru, as well as guest-star recurring roles on MacGyver (CBS) and Ballers (HBO).
Along with her two partners in a production company she co-founded (Undercurrent), Aina wrote, co-directed and starred in the award-winning and Oscar-qualified short film, Diwa (Amazon Prime). Diwa is a hard, realistic look at the plight of undocumented immigrants who fall victim to crimes of exploitation and the obstacles they face – all told through the eyes of one Asian woman.
As a writer/director, Aina is passionate about crafting diverse, heartfelt stories, in both comedy and drama, that speak to the human condition.
Anushka Rajesh
Operations Manager
Anushka's Bio
Born and raised in Mumbai, India, Anushka is a curious and motivated individual who has experience working in the technology, media, and not-for-profit sectors. She has completed her MBA in Vancouver, Canada and has worked as a podcast show Host, Content Writer, Peer Leader, Panelist, Mentor, Mental Health Ambassador and an Engagement Leader. She is a seasonal employee of the Vancouver Pride Society and has volunteered in schools and centers for the differently-abled. She has a travel blog and is fluent in four languages.
Jason Lee
Production Assistant
Jason's Bio
Jason is a screenwriter whose work has placed in multiple competitions including PAGE, ScreenCraft, and the Austin Film Festival. Originally hailing from Houston, he earned his Master’s Degree in Screenwriting at California State University, Northridge in 2022, where his thesis screenplay was nominated for the university’s Distinguished Thesis Award. He participated in the inaugural Next Generation Indie Film Awards Gala and is delighted to return.
Kristina Sherry
Production Assistant
Kristina's Bio
Born and raised in Northern Virginia, Kristina moved to Los Angeles in 2010 to attend law school and never left. She considers L.A. one of her greatest loves and has worked as an attorney here for the past 9 years. On the side, she enjoys running and training for marathons, swimming in the ocean, teaching yoga, attending church activities, and writing (including most recently taking her first screenwriting course). Kristina’s love and appreciation for indie films is on par with her love for L.A., and she feels fortunate to celebrate and bolster the best of indie filmmaking through her work with NGIFA.
Katie Canty
Awards Coordinator
Katie's Bio
Katie Canty received her Master’s Degree in Screenwriting at California State University, Northridge in 2020. She wrote, produced and acted in a short film in 2014 that won multiple awards and secured an international distribution deal. Katie was a prize-winning finalist in Scriptapalooza’s Best Comedy Spec Script and also a semi-finalist in the Rhode Island International Film Festival for Best Original Comedy Pilot. Katie enjoys spending time with friends and family and, of course, writing.
Judges
Salvador Carrasco
Advisor and Judge
Salvador's Bio
Salvador Carrasco is a Mexican film director based in Santa Monica, California. He is the writer and director of the highly acclaimed and influential feature film The Other Conquest about the Spanish colonization of Mexico. Carrasco has won numerous film and academic awards, and is currently developing new film projects through his production company, Salvastian Pictures, including film adaptations of stories by preeminent writers Juan Gabriel Vásquez and Stephen Graham Jones. Carrasco is a tenured film professor at Santa Monica College, where he is the Head of the Film Production Program, featured in Variety magazine. Carrasco was recently a guest film director at the CinemadaMare Film Festival in Italy, along with directors Margarethe von Trotta, Paolo Sorrentino, and Krzysztof Zanussi.
A. Laura James
Judge
A. Laura's Bio
A. Laura James (she/her) is an award-winning filmmaker and television director. Laura began her career as an actor and transitioned into directing after working as an on-set acting coach for television and film. Her background in theater, improv and sketch comedy along with years of experience working closely with studios, executives, producers, writers and directors have given her the ability to create and shape a story, invent a rich visual language and tone for each project and the tools to realize that vision.
Drawing on her extensive experience as an actor, writer, producer and director, in both film and television, comedy and drama, Laura has a unique and expansive love of the creative process and respect for the craft, which she shares with the next generation through teaching directing at USC’s Graduate School of Cinematic Arts and the American Film Institute (AFI).
Laura has participated in the CBS Director Program, the Disney Channel Multicamera 360 Program and the inaugural DGA Director Development Initiative. Laura is also involved in a leadership capacity for the Women’s Steering Committee at the Director’s Guild of America (DGA).
Andrew Carlberg
Judge
Andrew's Bio
Named by Variety (alongside Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Mindy Kaling, Ryan Coogler, Beau Willimon, and Olivia Wilde) as one of “Hollywoodʼs New Leaders,” Carlberg is an Academy Award-winning film, television, new media, Broadway and Los Angeles stage producer. Andrew’s extensive credits include, but aren’t limited to, ABC’s Castle, DirecTV’s Full Circle, Broadway’s Romeo and Juliet and Side Show, Celebration Theatre’s Ovation Award-winning productions of The Boy from Oz, The Color Purple: The Musical, and Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, the worldwide hit improv-based show The Blind Date Project, the Neil LaBute penned feature films Some Girl(s) and Dirty Weekend, actress Jennifer Morrison’s feature directorial debut Sun Dogs (Netflix 2018), and the 2018 and 2021 Official Sundance Selection The Blazing World (short and feature).
Notably, Carlberg was the producer of Skin, which won the 2019 Academy Award for Live Action Short Film.
Recent credits include the romantic comedy Sister of the Groom (starring Alicia Silverstone and Tom Everett Scott, and released by Saban Films in December 2020), the feature film adaptation of his short film The Blazing World, which premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, as well as the HBOMax drama The Fallout, which premiered at the 2021 SXSW Film Festival and won the Grand Jury and Audience Award. Carlberg also executive produced the short films Anna (which premiered in competition at the 72nd Cannes Film Festival) and Feeling Through (alongside Academy Award-winner Marlee Matlin), which was nominated at the 93rd Academy Awards.
Carlberg has sold projects to HBO, Netflix, CBS, DirecTV, and more – and has an ambitious slate of film, television, and theater projects in development. Andrew is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with Shakespeare studies at Oxford University, a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Producers Guild of America, an alum of Film Independent’s Fast Track Producing Fellowship and New York’s Independent Filmmaker Project, and an event producer for the I Have a Dream Foundation – Los Angeles and the National Breast Cancer Coalition.
Daryl Bennett
Judge
Daryl's Bio
Daryl Bennett is based in Vancouver, British Columbia and has been composing award winning scores for film and television for over 30 years. Credits include: BISPING (featuring Michael Bisping, Vin Diesel, and Mickey Rourke, The Connected Universe (narrated by Sir Patrick Stewart), Lost Solace, The Exhibition (Emmy Award Winner, Canadian Screen Award Winner), Nash: The Documentary, Outer Limits, Higher Ground, and First Wave, among many others. He has won five Leo awards and been nominated for a Gemini, a Canadian Screen Award, a Genie, and two Grammys. Bennett has served on the Leo Awards Jury for over 10 years.
Bennett’s career includes experience as a film composer, film editor, and sound designer. He has worked on numerous feature films, television productions, documentaries, web productions, commercials, and corporate videos.
As a drummer, cellist, and recording artist, Bennett’s success has enabled him to work with a wide range of artists and producers such as Ray Charles, David Foster, Andrae Crouch, Mary Millben, Celine Dion, Kenny Rogers, Kenny G, Kenny Loggins, Emmy/Grammy nominated engineer/mixer Jorge Vivo, Sony Pictures producer Tim Davis, Franke Previte (Dirty Dancing), Powder Blues, and many more. He has also enjoyed numerous collaborations as a music producer and songwriter earning a Grammy nomination for Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album with Andrae Crouch.
In the span of his career, he has produced hundreds of hours of broadcast audio mixes and sound tracks.
David DeSantos
Judge
David's Bio
David DeSantos was born into the film industry having both sides of his family in the post-production world. His Grandmother was the first woman editor on Gunsmoke, and after she “retired” ran the Cameo Stock Film Library with David’s Mother and Grandfather. Cameo “owned” all the stock footage from Sony, Columbia / Tri Star, NBC, Morgan Creek, and many other studios. David went the other route having graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. He is a current member of LA’s Antaeus Theatre and has been a company member at the Tony Award-winning Oregon Shakespeare Festival. He has performed at Berkeley Rep, Arena Stage, South Coast Rep, and numerous other regional theatres. On the TV / Film side he has recurring roles on Animal Kingdom, SWAT, The Rookie, Roswell: New Mexico and others. He also wrote and produced the short film Closure starring himself and Brooklyn 99 and Encanto’s Stephanie Beatriz; which opened the Ashland, Cleveland, and Napa Valley Film Festivals.
Jill Boniske
Judge
Jill's Bio
Asheville, NC-based Jill Boniske is a reviewer at Chickflix.net (recognized by Lifehacker and O, The Oprah Magazine), which offers fun, informative, easy-to-digest thoughts on movies—from a female perspective. As “Arty Chick,” Jill usually covers documentaries, foreign flicks, and Indies. She’s a member of the Southeast Film Critics Assoc., the North Carolina Film Critics Assoc., and the Online Assoc. of Female Film Critics
Her film career began after a stint at NYU film school, when she moved into production and development to work on features ranging from cult classic The Toxic Avenger to director Sidney Lumet’s Power. An industry insider, Jill also wrote the screen adaptation of Clyde Edgerton’s Raney, directed a science documentary, served as associate producer on a Colombian feature, and shared the screen with Kevin Bacon—so, if you meet her, you’ll be 2 degrees!
Her credits also include stints as a TV writer/producer for a number of nonfiction series in the US and China. In fact, she directed the first reality show on Chinese television. Currently, she is patiently waiting to get back to completing The Secret of B, a documentary about a secret Hong Kong adoption that has an American filmmaker searching for clues to his origins and may just turn into a fictional screenplay.
Kathryn Boyd-Batstone
Judge
Kathryn's Bio
Kathryn Boyd-Batstone is an award-winning Director and Cinematographer of narrative and documentary films in the Los Angeles area.
Most recently she was the 2021 DGA Student Film Gold Winner, Women’s Category, and Caucus Foundation 2nd Place Gold Circle Winner for her film For Rosa which premiered on HBO MAX May 2021. She also is a 2019 ASC Student Heritage Award Finalist for a documentary she lensed called God Bless the Cook.
She is a USC School of Cinematic Arts MFA graduate with a master’s degree in cinematography and directing. A former Video Producer at We Are Mitú and with years of dual immersion Spanish bilingual education, she is dedicated to helping tell stories that challenge stereotypes, push for change.
Her work as a photojournalist has been published in CNN, The San Francisco Chronicle, National Public Radio, The Washington Post, USA Today. Kathryn studied photojournalism at the University of Oregon and was a News21 Fellow.
Kim Estes
Judge
Kim's Bio
Kim Estes is an Emmy Award winning actor born and raised in Los Angeles. He attended college at CSU, Cal Maritime Academy in Vallejo, CA and did post-graduate work at the University of California, Marshall School of Business.
In 2017, Kim received the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Actor in a Short form Comedy or Drama Series for his work in “Dicks”. His television credits include, “How to Get Away With Murder”, “Brooklyn 99”, “Pretty Little Liars”, “Criminal Minds”, “NCIS”, “Dexter” and “The Closer” among many others.
Landon Liboiron
Judge
Landon's Bio
Landon Liboiron is a Canadian actor and filmmaker. He is best known for his lead roles in the Netflix original series HEMLOCK GROVE and FRONTIER. He has also recently worked in such independent feature films as COME TRUE and the forthcoming HANDS THAT BIND. In 2019, Landon wrote and directed his first short film, THEO, which premiered at Hollyshorts Film Festival, and in 2020 he and collaborator Bill Skarsgard co-wrote and directed the short film SOUL OF A MAN together, which Indie Wire exclusively premiered online in February 2022.
Leah Gibson
Judge
Leah's Bio
Leah Gibson grew up in Victoria, BC, Canada. She has worked on over fifty professional productions over the past 15 years, spanning from TV series, mini-series, indie films and studio features – most notably, Marvel’s Jessica Jones, Summit Entertainment’s Twilight Saga: Eclipse, Warner Brother’s Watchmen, DC Comics’ Batwoman, and recently, Paramount+ Joe Pickett, based on CJ Box’s renown book series. Leah’s interests in psychology, metaphysics and extrasensory perception have guided her on a path of continuous learning, discovery and devotion to the healing arts, and she is impassioned to share the teachings and insights of emotional healing and manifestation that have influenced her creative career and enriched her life, through her online platform, podcast series and kundalini yoga teachings.
Linda Carter
Judge
Linda's Bio
Maria Skeels
Judge
Maria's Bio
Maria Skeels is a Los Angeles-based casting director and talent producer in unscripted television. She has worked on over 70 television shows and development projects, and is a member of the Television Academy. As a proud graduate of the University of Kansas, she serves on the Professional Advisory Board for KU’s Department of Film and Media Studies and created an organization called Hollywood Hawks, connecting current students with alumni who work in film and television.
Matt Kniaz
Judge
Matt's Bio
Matt moved to Los Angeles in late 2010 where he began working at ICM and CAA in the talent, music crossover & comedy departments. In 2015 he transitioned to talent management, moving to top management firm, Industry Entertainment. Actors/Icons he has worked with include, Christopher Walken, Jamie Foxx, Michael Keaton, and Samuel L. Jackson.
Matt is a graduate of Suffolk University Law School (J.D), Tufts University (B.A), and Deerfield Academy.
Michelle Ouellet
Judge
Michelle's Bio
Michelle Ouellet is an award-winning Canadian director who has completed three features, two short form series, numerous short films and many music videos. Michelle’s third feature film PRODIGALS premiered at The Whistler Film Festival as part of The Borsos Competition and she was honoured with the inaugural WFF Talent-to-Watch Award. Michelle has also found success directing in the digital sphere as the sole director of the critically-acclaimed sci-fi mash-up THE TRUE HEROINES, which was subsequently picked up by Hulu+, chosen as a USA Today TV Critic’s Pick and earned Michelle a nomination for a Canadian Screen Award and a Leo Award. Up next: Michelle is directing her fourth feature US IN 9 MONTHS which has been supported by The Harold Greenberg Fund and Telefilm Canada and is in development with Sienna Films on an hour long TV series. After a decade in beautiful Vancouver, Michelle recently moved home to Toronto with her partner Nick and dog Kricket.
Ravi Kapoor
Judge
Ravi's Bio
Ravi is a writer, director, and actor who was born and raised in Liverpool. He trained at the East 15 School of Acting in London and has worked extensively in both the UK and America. He directed and co-wrote the feature MISS INDIA AMERICA which played at many festivals and then sold to Netflix worldwide and is now available on most streaming channels. His second feature FOUR SAMOSAS, a quirky heist comedy set in LA’s “Little India” will be hitting the festival circuit in June. His short films played and won awards at various festivals in the US. He has appeared in numerous TV shows and movies including FLIGHT, BOOKCLUB, THE STARLING, 24, SHARP OBJECTS, NCIS, ELEMENTARY, THE BRINK, and many more. He was also a series regular on the shows GIDEON’S CROSSING and CROSSING JORDAN for which he also directed.
Russ Mortensen
Judge
Russ' Bio
An entrepreneur from an early age, Russ loved the creative side of business and earned a Business degree from Simon Fraser University. Specializing in advertising, he quickly found that he didn’t have enough access to the creative forces in that industry, and soon found himself working for Carole Tarlington, a veteran talent agent and one of the first in Vancouver. Carole soon realized that her true passion lay in teaching acting, and sold the company to Russ in 1996. He loves working with artists, and takes great pride in the many careers he’s had a hand in shaping.
Charlie David
Alumni Judge
Charlie's Bio
Charlie David has hundreds of hours of television to his credit, predominantly exploring the LGBTQ+ experience. He has been selected as the Canadian Filmmaker in Focus by the Kashish Film Festival in Mumbai, India, an invited guest of the Canadian embassy in South Africa to share his documentary on HIV+ youth, executive produced Beyond Gay: The Politics of Pride, a global look at pride celebrations, and winner of multiple awards including, the HBO Best Doc award at the Miami International LGBT Film Festival.
Charlie is the President and a producer at Border2Border Entertainment which produces and promotes a unique brand of award-winning, critically acclaimed film, television, and digital projects. Border2Border Entertainment is dedicated to making each production experience enjoyable for artists, business and broadcast partners, co-workers, and ultimately the audience. The company produces content for diverse, underserved audiences made by people with lived experience – women, LGBTQ+ and people with disabilities as key participants.
Border2Border Entertainment pursues a digital-first strategy (TVOD, SVOD, AVOD) in the distribution of its assets which include web series, narrative and documentary feature films, scripted, documentary, and lifestyle TV series as well as audiobooks, voice recordings, and branded video.
Border2Border Entertainment is a certified supplier and member of the Canadian Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television, the Canadian Media Producers Association, and a signatory producer with ACTRA.
Didier Konings
Alumni Judge
Didier's Bio
Didier Konings was born and raised in the Netherlands. From a young age, Didier always dreamed of becoming a filmmaker. After diving into concept art and matte painting, he graduated from the Netherlands Film Academy with the short film “The Space Between Us” (2015) for which he did the production design, concept art, and visual effects. The film was nominated for the DIORAPHTE AWARD in the Netherlands Film Festival 2015. It also won the prizes for the BEST SHORT FILM and BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM at the Australia Sci-Fi Film Festival in 2015. His portfolio was so visually compelling that he was offered a job at Aaron Sims Creative in Los Angeles, where Didier delivered iconic concept design work and memorable visual effects for many projects. His concept art was used in The Conjuring 2 (2016), Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017), Wonder Woman (2017), Rampage (2018), A Wrinkle in Time (2018), Call of The Wild (2020), Mouse Guard (2020), The Tomorrow War (2021), and the bizarre Upside Down world for the hit TV series Stranger Things.
Now working independently for his clients such as Luma Pictures, Didier has created concept art for various highly anticipated AAA film projects. As Lead Artist at Nightroad Studios, he has directed and designed the quarantine short film, “Seized”, wrote and directed the music video for “In My Breath” by Grammy-nominated artist MA/SA, and directed and designed the widely acclaimed short film “Uncario”, which has gathered awards and nominations from film festivals across the world. “Uncario” has also caught interest from multiple larger studios in hopes of expanding into a feature film.
In the next year, Didier is looking forward to beginning production on his next directing endeavor, a film based on a dutch folk-tale, “Witte Wieven” which will be filmed on location in the Netherlands.
Hannah Buchdahl
Alumni Judge
Hannah's Bio
Hannah Buchdahl is a storyteller at heart. She spent the bulk of her early career as a writer and producer in broadcast news and entertainment, tackling subjects from politics and war, to health, humor and celebrity (and everything in between). In recent years, she’s applied her storytelling and communication skills to the evolving world of content strategy. Hannah is also the co-founder of the movie review site chickflix.net, a labor of love that’s been around for more than a decade. Chickflix serves up quick, easy-to-digest reviews on all sorts of movies – documentaries, blockbusters, indies. Hannah tends to view movies through a “mainstream” lens (thus, her alter-ego “Mainstream Chick”), but she’ll champion just about any genre, as long as it has good characters, good acting, and a decent plot. Or at least one of the above. Since 2015, she’s co-hosted a weekly podcast called “The Cinema Clash” that airs weekends on radiostpete.com (Sunshine 96.7 FM) and is available On Demand on iTunes and elsewhere. Hannah lives in North Bethesda, Maryland and is a proud member of the Washington DC Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA) and the Online Association of Female Film Critics (OAFFC).
Olena Astakhova
Alumni Judge
Olena's Bio
Olena is a Ukrainian born in Kyiv. In 2014, she has witnessed and took part in the Revolution of Dignity in Ukraine that inspired her to fight for people’s rights and truth through journalism. For 4 years she worked as a reporter in the biggest newspapers in Ukraine, investigating politics, crimes, and economics. Later on, she continued working as a journalist in Germany and Poland.
While volunteering in Poland she has created several video projects supporting migrants and showing their perspective on being a migrant in a foreign country. She created over 30 videos in the frames of project “Get involved in multiculturalism” (financed by the European Union) with over 400 people participating.
In 2019, she applied for a grant by Erasmus+ and received funding for the film “Poza własne granice” (https://fundacjaukraina.eu/poza-wlasne-granice/), showing an emotional story about the fate of migrants in Wrocław who face challenges that change themselves and the life of the local community. The full-length film was entirely directed, shot, and edited by Olena and her colleague Ola Dziula. “Poza własne granice” was also shown in cinemas in Poland. Now Olena works as a social media manager and gives workshops on effective methods of sharing content online. She also holds classes on how to recognize propaganda and how to counter it.
Patty West
Alumni Judge
Patty's Bio
Patty West is a Producer and Educator based in Los Angeles.
From 2009 – 2019, she led filmmaking programs at the American Film Institute; first as Program Director for the AFI Directing Workshop for Women, then as Director of the graduate thesis program which swept the Domestic Narrative Student Academy Awards in 2019. In December of 2019, she moved into online education and now serves as the Digital Course Director for the Sundance Institute.
As a Producer, her first feature film SOME GIRL(S) (2013) was written by acclaimed playwright Neil LaBute, directed by Daisy von Scherler Mayer, and starring: Adam Brody, Kristen Bell, Zoe Kazan, Mía Maestro, Jennifer Morrison and Emily Watson. She then went on to serve as an Executive Producer on ADDICTED TO FRESNO (2015), written by Karey Dornetto, directed by Jamie Babbit, and starring: Natasha Lyonne, Judy Greer and Aubrey Plaza. In 2017, she served as an Executive Producer on THEY, which was an Official Selection of the Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for a Queer Palm and Camera d’Or.
West is a Chicago native and holds a B.S. from Northwestern University, an M.F.A. from the AFI Conservatory and an Executive M.B.A. from Quantic School of Business & Technology. She is a member of the Producer’s Council of the Producers Guild of America.
Taylor Braun
Alumni Judge
Taylor's Bio
Taylor Braun is currently the Film Festival Specialist at Chapman University in Orange, California. Prior to taking this role he was the Senior Programming Coordinator at the Newport Beach Film Festival. He has experience in various programming and production roles at numerous festivals including the San Diego International Film Festival, Santa Barbara International Film Festival, Milwaukee Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Los Angeles Film Festival, and the Marche du Film at the Cannes Film Festival.
Margaret Wu
Alumni Judge
Margaret's Bio
Margaret Wu has over 30 years of experience in the cultural business in the U.S. and Asia. She is currently a Board Member of NewFilmmakers L.A. and the CEO/Founders of three companies: China Arts & Sciences Commission, based in Beijing, is dedicated to film education targeted at different consumer segments; Xin Dai Cultural Development Company, based in Shanghai, is dedicated to discovering Chinese emerging filmmakers and connect them to Hollywood; 3 Dots Entertainment, based in Los Angeles, is dedicated to combining the power of good storytelling with real impact and awareness on Chinese culture. Prior to becoming an entrepreneur and cultural advocate, Margaret was an advertising executive based in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Taiwan working at world’s top agencies (Ogilvy, DDB, FCB) on blue chip clients including Johnson & Johnson Health and Beauty (Asia-Pacific Account Director), Unilever Food and Personal Care (Asia-Pacific Account Director) , Pepsi Group (including Gatorade and Tropicana), L’Oreal Group, Shanghai General Motors, De Beers, etc. She was named by R3, a leading global marketing consulting company, as one of the top ten most professional advertising professionals in Asia in 2009.
As a Chinese-American born in Taiwan, she has worked and lived in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan and is married to an African-American with a happy interracial family. In normal times, she splits her time between L.A. and China.
Jijo
Alumni Judge
Jijo's Bio
Jijo is an Emmy winning Producer and Executive Producer of over 30 feature films and 16 time Telly Award Winner, plus Webby, Horizon Interactive, Promax, Dot.Comm, and OMNI award winner. He has worked in the entertainment industry for over two decades.
Reed directed and produced the adventure docuseries “GENERATIONS”, during which he became one of the very few men in the entire world to dive the actual wreckage of TITANIC at 2.5 miles below sea level. His “ground-breaking cinematic” footage of Titanic is unprecedented and recognized worldwide.
Reed was Visual Effects Supervisor for THE AVENGERS S.T.A.T.I.O.N 3D interactive exhibit, the innovative and revolutionary experience which is currently a main attraction in Times Square, NY and Las Vegas.
Jijo Executive Produced the feature film, AMERICAN DREAMER, starring Jim Gaffigan and the Fall 2019 Dale Earnhardt/ Mike Waltrip Documentary “BLINK OF AN EYE.” Jijo also was Executive Producer of the feature film, SHINE, in 2018, distributed by Disney and Netflix.
Jijo was Executive Producer of the 2013 OBAMA PRESIDENTIAL INAUGURATION Concert in Washington DC featuring WILL.I.AM and JOHN LEGEND. Additionally, he has produced screen media for live music concert tours, including EMINEM’s MTV Awards performance and GUN & ROSES.
In 2004, Jijo created the hit VH1 show “CELEBRITY REHAB” which has won numerous awards and has helped people all over the world overcome addiction.
Throughout the 1990’s, he worked as post supervisor on the audio/visual ad campaigns of studio films such as Martin Scorsese’s CASINO, Jim Cameron’s TRUE LIES, STAR TREK, DIE HARD, LETHAL WEAPON 4, THE UNFORGIVEN, and many others.
Jijo Reed is a third generation Los Angeles native (grandson of Alan Reed, voice of FRED FLINSTONE and nephew of FRED ASTAIR’S choreographer Hermes Pan.)
Jessie Anthony
Alumni Judge
Jessie's Bio
Writer/Director/Producer Jessie Anthony is a proud Haudenosaunee woman from the
Onondaga Nation, Beaver clan, born and raised on the Six Nations of the Grand River
Territory in Ontario Canada. Jessie is a graduate of the Indigenous Independent
Filmmaking Program and Bachelor of Motion Picture Arts Degree from Capilano
University. Jessie is a Telefilm Talent to Watch winner for her first feature film titled
“Brother, I Cry” which won the 2020 BC Emerging Filmmakers Award at the Vancouver
International Film Festival, the Audience Choice Award from the 2020 imagiNative Film
Festival and picked up Best Screenplay from the Vancouver International Women in
Film Festival 2021. Jessie is the producer of the first ever Indigenous Queer sapphic
love story series titled QUERENCIA which won the imagineNATIVE Pitch Competition,
gaining a broadcast deal with APTN/The Bell Fund. Querencia is also a 2021 recipient
of the Telefilm Talent to Watch program and recently released on APTN Lumi as APTN
Lumi’s first original series and will have its U.S premiere with RevryTV.
Jessie has produced shorts funded by Telus Optik and BravoFact as well as many
music videos. She was the first Assistant Director on The Edge of the Knife, co-directed
by Helen Haig-Brown and Haida Artist, Gwaai Edenshaw. Jessie was a finalist at the
MPPIA short film award competition, where she received an honourable mention. She
directed the documentary Through My Needle, which follows a Mohawk designer and
her family; exploring culture and clan through the beading and design of indigenous
regalia. Jessie worked on the Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce (NBC Universal), River of
Silence (Telefilm), Going For Broke (Telus/Red Castle Films), Man in the High Castle (Amazon) and La Quinceanera (Lucha Gore -Time Warner) and many more.
When Jessie isn’t working within film you can find her on her Facebook live feeds
helping indigenous communities with healing and spiritual guidance.
Screening Committee
Aleita Northey
Screener
Aleita's Bio
Aleita Northey is an actor, writer and producer from Vancouver, BC. She is a graduate of Simon Fraser University and New York’s prestigious Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre. On stage, Aleita premiered the role of Wynn in Forget About Tomorrow. She is a co-founder of production company Veneration Entertainment, for which she co-wrote Cups, a short film premiering at Flickers’ Rhode Island later this year. She starred in the CBC digital series This Blows, which she co-created with Bruce McCulloch and her brother, Cole Northey. Selected film and television appearances include: Masters of Horror (SHO), Tallboyz (CBC), Fire Country (CBS) and A Million Little Things (ABC).
Eric Bizzarri
Screener
Eric's Bio
Eric Bizzarri is an award winning Canadian film director, writer and programmer based in Toronto, with a passion for exhibiting traumatic events through the experiences of young, male protagonists and characters in his films. Primarily interested in the nuances of human relationships, Eric’s work investigates toxic masculinity, male-male abuse, friendships and intimacy.
Eric’s short films ‘The Shallow End’, ‘Cold Hands’ and ‘Pressure Play’ have been distributed by Amazon Prime (US, UK, Germany), Revry, Think Shorts and Super Channel. His latest work, ‘I Wanna Make a Movie, or I Wanna Die Trying’ is receiving an acquisition from CBC’s Canadian Reflections.
Eric is the Co-Founder and Artistic Director of the Future of Film Showcase, a film festival based in Toronto fostering the future of emerging filmmakers. Eric is a graduate of York University with a Bachelor’s Degree of Fine Arts in Film Production with Honors.
Fabian Jaray
Screener
Fabian's Bio
Fabian Jaray is a Suisse actor and screenwriter. He graduated his acting school in 2019 and has worked in multiple TV series and films both Suisse and Germany ever since. His biggest achievement is a role in an upcoming Disney+ series.
Fabian sets focus on positiv and encouraging content and believes, that the world of art needs the brave artist which are bold enough to search for truth outside of the common field.
Grace Conley
Screener
Grace's Bio
Grace Conley is a 21-year-old filmmaker from Philadelphia, PA. She has made over 20 short films with a focus on writing, directing, and acting. She is currently a junior studying film at New York University. Grace has received a number of accolades for her work, she was named one of Film Independent’s Future Filmmakers in the 2020 program, she was awarded an honorable mention recipient from YoungArts 2021 as well as First Place Narrative Short at the FilmNow film festival two years in a row. Her work has screened at the Museum of the Moving Image, on the beach at the Key West Film Festival, and in the Philadelphia Film Center. Grace is dedicated to making films that unite people, push boundaries, and that need to be told.
Jodi Fung
Screener
Jodi's Bio
Jodi is an Asian American actress who calls herself a creativist. She loves binging on content in many forms – from books to media.
As a broadcast journalism major at San Jose State, she won multiple producing and story awards, while being a tortured intern having to pull AP at 3 am and punch out copy for the morning news show at the ABC affiliate. After getting her BA in Journalism with a minor in Radio, Television, Film she landed a junior reporting position at KNTV. Not loving the newsroom conditions of the day she enrolled at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco and decided to sink her teeth into the more fictional side of things. As things go, eventually Jodi transitioned to Los Angeles.
Jodi was a key part of the success of the original Mammoth Film Festival and for three years screened every single submission from that festival. This did light a spark for her to found the FILManthropy Festival in Los Angeles. The proceeds went to the winning filmmakers’ charity of choice. She has since consulted supported and participated in other film festivals in various ways because it’s all a part of being a creativist – it’s an addiction, and she can’t stop.
Maja Osterman
Screener
Pedro's Bio
Maja Osterman is a producer and entertainment lawyer, currently working as Senior Director of Legal & Business Affairs at Blue Ant Media Group and co-founder of Veneration Entertainment. She has provided production legal services on 200+ hours of film and television in Canada, USA, UK and Australia, including Academy Award winner “The Favourite”, “How to Build a Girl”, Netflix’s “In Darkness” and eOne’s “Breathe”.
Pedro Ludwig Marcial
Screener
Pedro's Bio
Pedro Ludwig Marcial is a Brazilian screenwriter and filmmaker. He graduated from PUC-Rio’s film program in 2010 and has since worked in multiple film and TV production companies in both Rio de Janeiro and Los Angeles. He believes that film has the power to teach empathy and intends to work towards that ethos in every single audiovisual project he works on.
Since the pandemic, he has focused on screenwriting. He was recently a finalist in one of Brazil’s top screenwriting competitions where he participated in multiple pitch rounds for several of his projects.
Sage Kitchen
Screener
Sage's Bio
Sage is a film, television and theatre actress. She is a co-founder of a Vancouver based production company, Veneration Entertainment. Selected credits include: Fortunate Son (CBC), A Teacher (FX/Hulu), The Big Cigar (Apple), Chucky (Syfy), Meet Me at Christmas (Hallmark) and Winter In Vail (Hallmark).
Seli M. Rose
Screener
Seli's Bio
Seli M. Rose is a multi-talented writer, actress, and producer. She holds a BA in Drama and Performance Studies from LSU and completed a Shakespeare course at The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. In LA, she concluded Studio 4’s Producing and Acting Program, producing and acting in “My Pearl,” directed by her twin sister Selma Marset. The film premiered at UCLA’s James Bridges Theater and was selected for The Chandler International Film Festival and the Canadian Diversity Film Festival.
Rose performed in Germany’s stage play “Carmen,” portraying the fiery gypsy Carmen. In LA, she studied with prestigious coaches at Playhouse West, The Imagined Life, Howard Fine, and Margie Haber. She produced the documentary series “Life Line Booth,” distributed by Pivot TV, and co-produced and acted in the award-winning horror film “Borderline,” screened at the Fantasy Film Festival in Paris. She also co-produced the acclaimed short film “Diwa,” honored at prestigious US film festivals.
Seli appeared in TV shows like “You’re the Worst,” “Days of Our Lives,” and “CSI: Miami.” She gained fame as Princess Jasmine in Buzzfeed’s “If Disney Princesses Were Real,” viewed 26 million times on YouTube. She also appeared in national commercials for Southwest Airlines and Chevrolet. In London, she starred in the UK’s TV series “Casino Casino” and won Best Actress at the Open World Toronto Film Festival.
As an avid traveler who has visited 16 countries and 50 cities, Seli believes her journeys have enriched her as a content creator. She finds fulfillment in storytelling and is currently focused on co-writing and producing feature films for a global audience alongside her twin sister, with whom she collaborates closely.
Selma Rose
Screener
Selma's Bio
Selma Rose is a German-Turkish director, writer, producer, and graduate of UK’s Thames Valley University BA in Film Studies, Filmmaking, and the London Film Academy (LFA) for Directing. LFA has nurtured and produced hundreds of filmmakers who have gone on to make their own independent projects and work on some of the biggest productions, such as: Chernobyl, The Irishman, Game of Thrones, Green Book, Justice League, Alien Covenant to name but a few. Furthermore, she attended the London Script Consultancy focusing on Story, Technique and Scene Analysis as well as completing the Raindance Directors’ Foundation course.
She has directed and written three short films in the UK and My Pearl as part of Studio 4’s Producing and Directing program which was showcased at UCLA, James Bridges Theater, and officially selected to screen at the Canadian Diversity Film Festival and Chandler International Film Festival.
Apart from Film work, Selma directed stage plays presented at Ela Resort’s Amphitheatre in Antalya, Turkey, titles including The Fountain, Superman, Titanic, and Turkey’s famed hero Nasreddin Hoca, as well as has directed the German play Der Bürgermeister as part of her College thesis project in her hometown Hamburg, Germany.
Photography is one of her biggest passions, therefore Rose additionally worked as a studio photographer personalizing concepts when directing and capturing people from all walks of life. She has a pipeline of Feature Film projects, a TV Pilot, with disparate genres and commercial viability that she has co-written with her twin sister Seli M. Rose and focuses on taking them to the next level.
Shellye Broughton
Screener
Shellye's Bio
Shellye Broughton has a long and storied career as an actress in film, television, and movies. She lives in Los Angeles and also spends time in Europe, where she lived and worked in the film industry for almost 15 years. She is primarily a film fanatic who likes to discover little-known gems. Art is complex and all art gifts you with a piece of a passionate soul.
Shawn Cotter
Alumni Screener
Shawn's Bio
Shawn Cotter is an experimental handmade filmmaker whose Super 8mm films have shown internationally. Shawn currently lives in Malden, MA with his four cats. He currently serves as the Executive Director for Wicked Queer: Boston’s LGBTQ+ Film Festival, an all volunteer organization which he has been involved with for 10 years. He loves film festivals and is interested in creating or being a part of as many of them as he can.
Vanessa Vann
Alumni Screener
Vanessa's Bio
Vanessa Vann is an award-winning filmmaker and historian who resides in Northern California. She attended the University of California, Santa Barbara, where she obtained a B.A. in Film Studies and a minor in History. Vanessa then went on to earn an M.A. in American Studies from California State University, Fullerton and a certificate of completion at the Oral History Summer Institute at the University of California, Berkley. Vanessa has worked for over 15 years in film, video and media production for companies including: NBC/Universal, TLC/Discovery and ITV Studios. Some of her most memorable experiences were assisting on a Japanese Internment Camp documentary for StoryFiles and instructing middle school students on video production. As a biracial, female filmmaker, Vanessa brings a unique perspective to all her projects. Vanessa strongly believes that issues of cultural identity, politics and history are best told through the storytelling medium of film and thus the importance of cinema as an art form.
Eloane Venkatapen
Alumni Screener
Eloane's Bio
Born in a Spanish/Caribbean family and raised in France, Eloane Venkatapen is a filmmaker inspired by French Cinema and European art. She is especially drawn to the beauty of cultural diversity and languages. Since graduating from the Film Production Program at UBC, Eloane aspires to tell stories about societal, cultural and environmental issues with particular interest in gender studies and multiculturalism.
Matthew Broughton
Alumni Screener
Matthew's Bio
Matthew Broughton is a Canadian film director, writer, and programmer based in Vancouver, BC. He graduated from the Film Production program at Vancouver Film School in 2016, with honours. Since then, he has written and directed short films in multiple genres that delve into the human condition, with many more currently in development. His passion and dedication to film turned into film festival programming and film journalism. He is always on the lookout for new cinematic voices to discover and promote across communities. He’s a certified film fanatic who is driven to share and create stories that impact audiences around the world.
