Richard Lagravenese is a film & television writer/director/producer. Writer: Behind The Candelabra (Emmy, BAFTA Nominations), The Fisher King (Academy Award®, BAFTA and WGA award nominations), Unbroken, Water for Elephants, The Bridges of Madison County, A Little Princess, The Horse Whisperer, The Mirror Has Two Faces, The Ref. Writer/Director: The Last Five Years, Beautiful Creatures, Freedom Writers (Humanitas Prize), P.S. I Love You, Living Out Loud. Television Series: The Divide. He co-produced and co-directed (with the late Ted Demme) the Emmy® nominated documentary about ‘70’s filmmaking A Decade Under the Influence (National Board of Review’s William Everson Film History Award).
Richard will be judging the finalist round of the Drama Feature category.
Script Competition Semifinalists Judge Announcements
Beth Bruckner O’Brien
Senior Vice President, Development & Production – Solstice Studios
Solstice Studios is a new independent domestic distributor planning to wide-release 3-5 commercial films/year. Beth previously worked at Millennium Films, GreeneStreet Films, and A Bigger Boat, developing 35 films, most notably the Olympus Has Fallen series, The Expendables series, Saw 6, Saw 3D, Homefront, and House at the End of the Street.
Evan J. Cholfin
Head of Development and Production – Stories International
Credits include: Shinobi, Golden Axe, Streets of Rage, Super Monkey Ball, The Irishman, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Night Of, and Moneyball.
Aaron Cruze
Producer – Cruze & Company
Aaron has set up a multitude of projects as well as produced Operator (SXSW 2016 – Martin Starr, Mae Whitman) and Executive Produced The Blackout in post.
Sandra Daley-Sharif
Producer and Founder – Harlem9
Producing Artistic Director – Liberation Theatre Company
Actor, Writer, Dramaturge (Script Doctor), Producer. OBIE Award-Winning Producer of 48Hours in…™Harlem; Josephine Abady Award Recipient; Member of The Dramatists Guild, SAG/AFTRA, and AEA
Andrea Dimity
Literary Manager/Producer and President – Pannon Entertainment Inc.
Rebecca Ewing
Entertainment Consultant – Script Insider
John K.D. Graham
Mustard Seed Entertainment
Growing up in the vast deserts of New Mexico imbued director John K.D. Graham with a sense of desolate beauty and a keen eye for imagery. From an early age, he showed a love for storytelling and creating detailed worlds. John attended the Savannah College of Art and design, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude with a BFA in Film and Television. John has traveled the world as a Director of Photography with DreamJobbing, road-tripped across the U.S.A. with CBS, and worked major blockbusters such as The Avengers and True Grit as a lighting technician. John currently lives in Los Angeles, his feature films Home Sweet Home, Catching Faith 1 & 2, and Wish For Christmas are available in the USA and worldwide. His recent film Switched, starring Denise Richards and John Schneider, is set to release mid-2020.
Grace Ledding
Literary Manager – Agile Entertainment
Ross Saxon
Head of Development – Braven Films
Magic Magic, Disobedience
Daniel Seco
Literary Manager – Schemers Entertainment
Schemers Entertainment is a full-service literary management and production company based in Los Angeles. A former sports journalist covering U.S. Soccer, MLB, and the NBA, Seco began his Hollywood career in 2013 at Resolution. He joined CAA in 2014 where he worked in the motion picture literary department before venturing into literary management on the feature side at Writ Large in 2015 as a coordinator/junior manager. A series of consulting jobs including a stop at Netflix in its Original Film department gave way to Seco teaming up with Gavin Dorman at Schemers Entertainment as a literary manager in 2018. Seco is a proud graduate of the University of Maryland and the University of Florida as well as a cancer survivor.
Chad Snopek
Manager, Producer – Chad Snopek Management