Take a look at the 2022 Jurors for the Film and Script Competitions, below!
SCRIPT COMPETITIONS – FINALIST ROUND
Devon Greggory
Drama & Comedy Spec
Born the youngest of nine, in the heart of Dixie, Devon Greggory grew up escaping the harsh reality of the projects through film and television. Years later, this Alabama native would pack his bags and run away to pursue his dream of filmmaking. Homeless, hungry and living on the streets of LA, he failed. But in failure, he found resilience. Devon would refocus, obtain his JD from Emory University School of Law and join Jones Day, one of the world’s foremost law firms, as a star associate. But, after a season of legal practice, Devon left the comfort of law to again chase that dream; this time by earning his MFA in Production from the University of Southern California where he would hone his craft, winning the Jeffrey Jones Writing Award and becoming a finalist for both the Sundance Filmmaker’s Lab and Screenwriter’s Lab.
As a director, over 35 film festivals have recognized his work, including 12 finalist and 4 “best of” selections. Devon has also helmed several commercials, an award-winning music video and a critically lauded stand-up comedy feature. But, it was as a writer where Devon truly found his passion… he’s penned two produced features (Sacred and Hair Show), written several pilots including, Black Wall Street, an event series about the Tulsa Race Riots, for HBO Max; Marlowe, a music-driven PI drama executive produced by Aaron Kaplan for The CW; and a reboot of the iconic series, The Game, which Devon executive produces for Paramount+.
His credits also include stints on WGN’s critically acclaimed drama, Underground; CBS’s franchise spin-off, CSI: Cyber; and BET’s ground-breaking hit, Being Mary Jane… and he was the creative force behind BET’s Soul Train-inspired period drama, American Soul, as Co-Creator, Showrunner and Executive Producer.
In success, Devon founded The Inphiniti Company, a full-service production house where he serves as President and CEO. Through Inphiniti, Devon is focused on creating content that touches the heart, inspires the soul, challenges the mind and compels you to action. Currently in a multi-year overall deal with CBS TV Studios, Devon, through Inphiniti, will be writing, directing and producing content for CBS, Paramount+, The CW and various ViacomCBS-owned platforms. Grateful for his success, Devon refuses to celebrate until his entire dream is reality. As he puts it, “The only success that interests me is fulfilling my God-given destiny, caring for my family, and becoming a better man. If film and TV is the conduit through which this is accomplished then so be it; if not, no matter, it’ll all be accomplished.”
Devon is repped by CAA, manager Steve Simons of The Shuman Company and attorney John Meigs of Hansen, Jacobson, Teller, & Hoberman. He serves as an adjunct professor at his alma mater, USC. And, he currently resides in Los Angeles with his beautiful wife and two amazing sons.
Sarah Beckett
Drama & Comedy Spec
Sarah Beckett began her career in Canada writing and producing documentaries and true crime television. She moved to LA in 2015 to focus on fiction TV writing and is a proud Austin Film Festival winner for a One-Hour Spec script (2016). She has written for RESIDENT ALIEN on Syfy/Peacock; 61st STREET for AMC, and the upcoming crime drama HAPPY FACE for Paramount+. Sarah is currently a Co-Producer on RESIDENT ALIEN Season 3. She now lives in Joshua Tree, CA with her family, where she happily works on Zoom from a trailer in her front yard.
Brian Siegele
Fiction Podcast
Brian Siegele is a Colorado and Los Angeles-based film, television, and audio creator. A graduate of the USC School of Cinematic Arts, he is a former Austin Film Festival Screenplay Winner (2013) and Podcast Finalist (2019). Though he began his career writing tentpole features, he has since pivoted to generating high-concept IP for the podcast ecosystem. His first audio series BLACK BOX starred Joel McHale and Kelsey Grammer and being set up for television, and he is now at work on several new series.
Jameel Saleem
Comedy Pilot
Jameel began his professional writing career with the 2012 nationwide release of his indie film, EXIT STRATEGY. After producing three indie feature films and a web series, Jameel set his sights on television. He wrote and produced a pilot for NBC Playground and soon after staffed on his first network show, ABC’S MANHATTAN LOVE STORY in 2014. Since then, he’s worked on multiple TV projects and films. He currently serves as a Co-Executive Producer and Writer on BOB’S BURGERS, Writer and Producer for Netflix’s DISENCHANTMENT and Writer for SOUTH PARK DIGITAL – and has several TV and film projects in development, including an animated film with his mentors South Park’s Matt Stone and Trey Parker.
Linda Yvette Chávez
Comedy Pilot
Linda Yvette Chávez is the co-creator, co-showrunner, director, and executive producer of Netflix’s hit series GENTEFIED, a TV series produced by America Ferrera and MACRO. GENTEFIED’s first season was a Peabody Award nominee and a three-time Imagen Foundation award nominee, including Best Comedy Series. While producing GENTEFIED, Linda adapted I AM NOT YOUR PERFECT MEXICAN DAUGHTER, a New York Times bestseller by Erika L. Sanchez, into a feature film for Anonymous Content (The Revenant, Spotlight) and MACRO (Judas and the Black Messiah, Mudbound). The film will be America Ferrera’s feature directorial debut. Chávez also penned Eva Longoria’s feature directorial debut FLAMIN’ HOT for Searchlight Pictures. Glamour Magazine named Linda one of the top Latinas changing the game for representation in television. Variety highlighted her as a part of their Comedy Impact Report alongside comedy heavy hitters such as Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, and Tiffany Haddish. She and Gentefied co-creator Marvin Lemus graced the cover of the WGA’s 2020 Summer Issue of Written By Magazine. Linda recently inked a multi-year overall deal with 20th Television where she’s developing new series for Disney’s many platforms.
Tripper Clancy
Comedy Pilot
Tripper is a screenwriter who dabbles in tv and film, comedy and drama. He’s written projects with varying degrees of difficulty for every major studio as well as a couple of studios abroad. His credits include STUBER for 20th Century Fox, I AM NOT OKAY WITH THIS for Netflix, and DIE HART for Roku. He’s currently in prep on DIE HARTER. A graduate of Wake Forest undergrad and The University of Texas grad school, Tripper lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Maggie, and their daughters, Olive and Ruby, but finds excuses to get back to Austin whenever possible.
Kelly Edwards
Drama Pilot
Author The Executive Chair; Writer; Recovering Development Executive. Former executive and current producer, tv writer, and book author Kelly Edwards has developed shows like Living Single, Girlfriends, The Parkers, Clueless, Two Guys and a Girl, as well as a tv drama series, a Hallmark movie, and award-winning shorts for HBO.
For seven years, she served as the head of Talent Development for HBO, launching the careers of emerging artists before herself becoming a Sundance Episodic Lab fellow, releasing her Amazon bestselling book The Executive Chair: A Writer’s Guide To TV Series Development, and staffing on Our Kind of People.
Edwards holds a B.A. in Theater from Vassar and an MFA in Writing for TV and Film from Emerson College. She has been a member of the Annenberg Inclusion Board, the ATAS Diversity Committee, the United Negro College Fund Leadership Council, and a NALIP trustee. She has also served as President of her non-profit, Colour Entertainment, which has provided mentorship and leadership opportunities to creative executives for over twenty years.
VJ Boyd
Drama Pilot
VJ Boyd most recently worked on the upcoming JUSTIFIED spinoff, CITY PRIMEVAL, for FX/Hulu. He previously wrote for SWAT and JUSTIFIED and co-created LINCOLN RHYME: HUNT FOR THE BONE COLLECTOR. He is also the co-author of the IDW comic book series NIGHT MOVES.
Marc Bernardin
Sci-Fi Feature
Marc Bernardin is a WGA Award-winning television writer-producer who has worked on Star Trek: Picard, The Continental, Carnival Row, Treadstone, Castle Rock, Critical Role: The Legend of Vox Machina, Masters of the Universe: Revelations, and Alphas. In an earlier life, he was a journalist for the Los Angeles Times, The Hollywood Reporter, Playboy, and Entertainment Weekly. In comics, he’s an Inkpot-winning writer of Adora and the Distance, Peter Parker: The Amazing Shutterbug, Genius, The Highwaymen, and Monster Attack Network. And he cohosts the Fatman Beyond pop-culture podcast with Kevin Smith.
Nicole Perlman
Sci-Fi Feature
Nicole Perlman is best known for her work on the Marvel Studios’ blockbusters, Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain Marvel and on Legendary Studios’ Detective Pikachu. Nicole is a Cinereach and Film Independent Directing Fellow, and has twice been awarded the Tribeca Film Festival’s Sloan Foundation Grant for Science in Film, along with the Hugo Award, and the Ray Bradbury award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation. Nicole is currently developing a supernatural horror series for Apple+ TV and is casting her first feature to direct.
Oren Uziel
Comedy Feature
Oren Uziel’s writing credits include THE LOST CITY, 22 JUMP STREET, MORTAL KOMBAT, THE CLOVERFIELD PARADOX, ESCAPE ROOM: TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS, FREAKS OF NATURE and SHIMMER LAKE, which he wrote and directed. He’s currently working on a number of projects, including the sequel to SPENSER: CONFIDENTIAL, starring Mark Wahlberg, and CLUE! starring Ryan Reynolds. Oren is also finally dipping his toe into TV with an adaptation of the 1946 film noir, THE STRANGE LOVE OF MARTHA IVERS.
Stephanie Allain
Comedy Feature
Stephanie Allain’s Homegrown Pictures is a film and television production company dedicated to creating content by and about women and people of color with authentic stories, depictions and representation. Allain, who made history in 2020 when she became the first Black woman to produce the Academy Awards (for which she was Emmy-nominated), has produced Hustle & Flow, Something New, Peeples, Beyond The Lights, Dear White People, French Dirty, Burning Sands, Juanita and Really Love. Her films have been nominated for numerous awards with wins from Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, Film Independent Spirit Awards, NAACP and others. In television she executive produced four seasons of Justin Simien’s Netflix series, Dear White People, and is currently in production on her first documentary Untitled Billy Preston. Her first book, I’M IN CHARGE! was acquired in an auction by Candlewick Press. The picture book, slated to be published in Spring 2024, models for children how they can take charge of their bodies, voices and choices. Gabrielle Ebron is Director of Development for film and TV. Evadne Eddins serves as Creative Executive.
Alexandra Boylan
Short Category
Alexandra Boylan an award winning filmmaker was born and raised in Georgetown, Massachusetts, where she first began her exploration into acting, which led her to relocate to Los Angeles. Where she built a solid resume of independent films, short subjects, and music videos. Utilizing the skills obtained on dozens of movie sets and harnessing the passion that fuels her, she formed her own production company “The Boylan Sisters”. “Catching Faith” had a two year run on Netflix and was on the shelves of Wal-Mart, and is currently streaming on Hulu and Amazon Prime. The sequel Catching Faith 2 released in 2019. Her film “Wish For Christmas” sold to Pure Flix Entertainment and Universal Studios Home Entertainment.
Her script “Switched” was awarded the winner of the Kiaros Pro MovieGuide award for best screenplay, and the movie released in 2020 receiving rave reviews. Alexandra’s most recent film “The Greatest Inheritance” just released through Vertical Entertainment and she is in post-production on her new teen girl film “Identity Crisis.” She also produced the films “Home Sweet Home” and “At Your Own Risk.” Alexandra is the author of “Create Your Own Career in Hollywood: Advice from a struggling actress who became a successful producer” available in Kindle and Print on Amazon.
She is an active member of Woman in Film Los Angeles. Where she served on the WIF PSA Board. Alexandra is the Outreach Coordinator for Ms In The Biz, and co-collaborator of the book “Thriving in Hollywood.”
Faraday Okoro
Short Category
Faraday Okoro is a New York City based Nigerian American filmmaker. In 2017, he received a $1 million grant from AT&T to direct his debut feature Nigerian Prince(2018), which was Executive Produced by Spike Lee and distributed by Vertical Entertainment. He was included in MovieMaker Magazine’s inaugural 25 Screenwriters to Watch. In 2020 and 2022, Faraday participated in the HBO Access Directing Program and Blue Monday Productions’ Breakthrough Artist Program, respectively. He attended Howard University and NYU Graduate Film School.
Scott Beck & Bryan Woods
Horror Feature
Filmmakers Scott Beck & Bryan Woods burst onto the Hollywood scene with Paramount Pictures’ A Quiet Place, based on their original screenplay. The critically acclaimed box-office smash stars Emily Blunt alongside John Krasinski, who also directed. Certified Fresh with a score of 96% on Rotten Tomatoes, the film earned over $340M at the worldwide box-office and was #1 at the domestic box-office for 2 weeks. Beck & Woods serve as Executive Producers on the film in addition to co-writing the screenplay with Krasinski.
For A Quiet Place, Beck & Woods were nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the 2019 Critics’ Choice Awards and the Writers Guild of America Awards. They won Best Film Screenplay at the Saturn Awards. The film won Best Horror Film Release at the Saturn Awards and the Critics’ Choice Award for Best Sci-Fi or Horror Movie. Variety went on to name Beck & Woods to their annual 10 Screenwriters to Watch list.
Next up for Beck & Woods is Sony Pictures’ sci-fi thriller 65 with Academy Award® nominee Adam Driver starring along with Ariana Greenblatt and Chloe Coleman, which is dated for a wide theatrical release on April 28, 2023. The film is an original screenplay written by the duo, which they also serve as directors and producers under their Beck/Woods banner. The project is a reunion for them and Sam Raimi who is also a producer of 65.
Also on deck for the duo is The Boogeyman, based on Stephen King’s iconic short story of the same name. They wrote the screenplay and serve as Executive Producers on the film, which is in post-production for 20th Century Studios and Hulu with Rob Savage directing. The short story, first published in 1973 and later released in King’s 1978 collection Night Shift, followed a man who’s recently lost all his children to a creature lurking in the closet. King himself gave his endorsement of A Quiet Place, tweeting that the film “is an extraordinary piece of work.”
Other credits for the filmmakers include 2019’s acclaimed thriller Haunt, which they wrote and directed for producer Eli Roth, Sierra/Affinity, Broken Road Productions, and Nickel City Pictures. The film had its World Premiere as the Opening Night film at the Popcorn Frights Film Festival then its international premiere at FrightFest in London. Momentum Pictures released Haunt in theaters on Friday, September 13, 2019. The film was the #1 most watched movie premiere on Shudder.
Beck & Woods are members of the Directors Guild of America and the Writers Guild of America.
Christine “Kit” Boylan
Playwriting
Christine “Kit” Boylan is a television writer-producer, director and playwright. She was awarded the TV drama spec award at the 2004 Austin Film Festival and has since written on the television shows LEVERAGE, OFF THE MAP, CASTLE, ONCE UPON A TIME and CONSTANTINE. As co-executive producer, Christine worked on Marvel’s PUNISHER and CLOAK AND DAGGER.
After university, Christine received a Fulbright Grant to study James Joyce’s Ulysses in Munich, Germany and that same year, her one-act play “Every Third Thought” premiered at the Samuel French Off-Off-Broadway Short Play Festival. She has since directed, written and even acted in LA theatre, co-founding BESPOKE PLAYS, a monthly staged reading series in NY and LA – https://www.bespokeplays.com/home . She has also written comic books for DC, Marvel, Boom, Tokyopop and NBC.
Christine has written and directed two short films, including COME FLY WITH ME, which premiered at the 2014 Austin Film Festival. Her second short film, HOSS, was completed in 2015 as part of the American Film Institute’s esteemed Directing Workshop for Women and has played in over a dozen film festivals.
Deniese Davis
Digital Series
Deniese Davis is a three-time Emmy nominated Producer and the Founder and CEO of Reform Media Group, a media company focused on changing how marginalized stories are told. She began her career producing music videos, short films and digital content including Issa Rae’s award-winning web series The Mis-Adventures of Awkward Black Girl. Recent producing credits include: Co-Executive Producer on the HBO Emmy-nominated comedy series INSECURE, Producer on HBO’s Emmy-nominated A BLACK LADY SKETCH SHOW, and Executive Producer on the forthcoming HBO Max comedy series RAP SH!T. She is also Co-Founder of ColorCreative, a management company for women and minority creators. An alum of CUNY Brooklyn College and The American Film Institute, Deniese sits on the board of Black Public Media and is a founding member of AFI’s Alumni Council for the Lawrence Herbert Alumni Center (LHAC).
FILM COMPETITIONS
Chuck Hayward
DIGITAL SERIES CATEGORY JUROR
Emmy® nominated screenwriter and producer Chuck Hayward has spent the last twenty years building an impressive career. He has amassed an enviable list of credits in television and film, working with some of the most well-respected names in entertainment. Upcoming, Hayward was brought on as a Co-Executive Producer to both the Emmy® award winning comedy “Ted Lasso” for the show’s highly anticipated third season, and to second season of Hulu’s “Life And Beth.” Most recently, Hayward has garnered nominations from the WGA, Critics Choice, and the PGA respectively for his work on “WandaVision.” In 2021, he received two (2) Emmy nominations for his acclaimed work on “WandaVision,” which is unanimously hailed as a critical achievement for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The genre-bending series shines a heartfelt spotlight on two of the MCU’s most intriguing characters as it weaves together a mysterious and mesmerizing story. The original live-action series debuted exclusively on Disney+ in January 2021. Additonally, Hayward is the screenwriter and an executive producer of the remake of the iconic 90’s cult classic DON’T TELL MOM THE BABYSITTER’S DEAD, which begins production in 2022. His previously produced feature projects were the highly rated the Netflix comedy feature STEP SISTERS, and the indie film FAT CAMP. Other notable credits include Netflix’s critically acclaimed series “Dear White People,” ABC’s “Mixed-Ish,” and Showtime’s “Flatbush Misdemeanors.” While working on this wide variety of shows, Hayward honed his skills as a producer as well as a writer. Prior to this, he was staffed on several beloved, yet short-lived sitcoms, including “Bent” and “One Big Happy” on NBC, “Cooper Barrett’s Guide to Surviving Life” on FOX, and Nickelodeon’s “Wendall & Vinnie.” In the earlier part of his career, Hayward was accepted into multiple programs for up and coming writers, including but limited, to 20th Centry Fox Television’s FOX Writers Intensive, the WGA’s Feature Writer Access Project as well as the WGA’s TV Writer Access Project. A distinguished alumni of Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, Hayward began his career as a producer’s assistant at Spirit Dance Entertainment and State Street Pictures, then transitioned to working as a production assistant on beloved television series such as “Everybody Hates Chris” and “Entourage.” When he’s not working, Hayward donates his time and resources to local charities such as “My Friend’s Place, and “Kids In The Spotlight.” Additionally he lends his voice and vast industry knowledge while serving as a juror and consultant for the annually held Nashville Film Festival and the Austin Film Festival. Hayward credits his career success to supportive mentors, friends, and family with a focus on “paying it forward” for up-and-coming creatives. He resides in Los Angeles, where he enjoys anything related to the beach, in addition to “cobbling together some semblance of a social life.”
Amy Talkington
DIGITAL SERIES CATEGORY JUROR
Amy Talkington is an award-winning writer, director and producer living in Los Angeles. In the feature arena, Amy most recently wrote “Valley Girl” (MGM’s musical remake of the 80s cult film) and has written numerous other studio features that are in various phases of development, including “Undercover” at Lionsgate with Steve Pink directing. In the television arena, Amy was a Co-Executive Producer and writer on Hulu’s hit series “Little Fires Everywhere” (starring Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington) for which she was nominated for both an Emmy and a Writers Guild Award. Amy currently has several series in development including pilots at FX, 20th Television, ABC Signature and Film Nation. Previously, Amy wrote and directed the independent feature film “The Night of the White Pants” as well as five short films which won multiple awards and played festivals all over the world, including Sundance and The Austin Film Festival. For more info, check out www.amytalkington.com.
Roy Lee
DARK MATTERS FEATURE CATEGORY JUROR
Roy Lee is a film and television producer and founder of Vertigo Entertainment. Lee has an undergraduate degree from GWU and attended law school at American University. His first producer credit was for THE RING (2002), and from there he went on to produce many of the iconic American horror films of the past two decades including THE GRUDGE, THE STRANGERS, and IT. Lee also produced the beloved children’s animated films THE LEGO MOVIE, and HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON. Currently, Roy is producing a diverse slate of popular video game adaptations, acclaimed-director-driven thrillers, television series at many of the major streaming services, and more horror films.
Annie Silverstein
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE CATEGORY JUROR
Annie is an award winning filmmaker and media educator based in Austin, Texas. She directed the feature documentary March Point (PBS-Independent Lens 2008), is founder of the nationally recognized Native Lens youth program, and Co-Founder of Longhouse Media, an indigenous media arts & education non-profit organization in Seattle, Washington. Annie spent a decade teaching and collaborating on community film based projects with Native American youth on reservations across Washington State, and was awarded a Fulbright in 2007 for her film project with homeless youth in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. For her work with Native Lens/Longhouse Media Annie received the National Association for Media Literacy award in 2009 for outstanding contributions made in the field of media education. Her short works include producing/directing the documentary Noc na Tanecku (Night at the Dance) in 2011, which broadcast on PBS and screened at festivals including SXSW, Silverdocs, and the Hamptons International Film Festival. Annie’s first narrative short Spark premiered at SXSW in 2012 where it won a jury award for Best Texas Short. SKUNK is Annie’s second fiction short, and is an Official Selection of the Cannes Film Festival–Cinéfondation (2014). Annie is an alumni of the Berlinale Talents, and earned her MFA in Film at the University of Texas-Austin.
Jessica Mendez Siquerios
NARRATIVE SHORTS FEATURE CATEGORY JUROR
Jessica Mendez Siqueiros is a Chicana writer/director of mixed indigenous Sonoran and European ancestry seeking to normalize complex & authentic narratives about the Southwest Mexican-American community through film. Her short films have screened at over 75 festivals, including Palm Springs, Seattle, Cleveland, Hamptons, and the Los Angeles Latino Film Festival. They have garnered an Audience Pick from Palm Springs ShortFest, the KidsEye Grand Prize for Best Live Action Short from Flickers Rhode Island Film Festival, Best Narrative Short (Comedy) from Cinequest, among other awards. Jessica’s short film, The Last of the Chupacabras, was produced by Walt Disney Studios as part of the inaugural class of their Launchpad Shorts Incubator, and is currently streaming on Disney+. Her upcoming short film Machisma is being made through the support of XRM Media & The Sundance Institute. She was the recipient of the 2021 Latinx Fellowship from the Sundance Feature Film Program.
Orian Williams
NARRATIVE FEATURE CATEGORY JUROR
Orian Williams Born in Jackson, Mississippi, raised in Houston, Texas, and Orian graduated from Baylor University and came to fame with the Academy Award nominated film SHADOW OF THE VAMPIRE, which he produced with Nicholas Cage. Orian continued his success producing the BAFTA and Cannes-winning CONTROL, directed by Anton Corbijn, and BIG SUR, which opened at the Sundance Film Festival in 2013. Other notable films include ENGLAND IS MINE directed by Academy Award-nominated writer/director Mark Gill; CURTIZ about the making of CASABLANCA; and CREATION STORIES, which Orian produced alongside Danny Boyle. Most recently, Orian worked with Amy Adams to produce SAM & KATE starring Dustin Hoffman and Sissy Spacek, and is currently directing and producing a biopic about legendary singer Jeff Buckley starring Reeve Carney. In 2007 Orian was chosen by Variety Magazine as one of Hollywood’s top producers.
Hannah Fidell
NARRATIVE FEATURE CATEGORY JUROR
Hannah Fidell is a writer, director and producer of television and film who is best known for creating the FX show ‘A Teacher’ which was based on her movie of the same name.
Matt Lieberman
COMEDY VANGUARD FEATURE CATEGORY JUROR
In a span of about 2 years, Matt Lieberman has had seven screenplays produced by major studios. These include his Black List Free Guy script due August 13, 2021 (starring Ryan Reynolds with Shawn Levy directing), Rumble due to release February 18, 2022 (starring Will Arnett), Scoob! released on May 15, 2020 (starring Will Forte, Zac Efron and Mark Wahlberg), Playing with Fire released November 2019 (starring John Cena), and The Addams Family (which grossed over $100 million dollars domestically in 2019). In addition, he wrote The Christmas Chronicles (2019’s Netflix holiday hit from his spec script starring Kurt Russell) and its sequel which was released November 25, 2020, directed by Chris Columbus. Most recently, Lieberman set deals for two big projects. Netflix preemptively acquired Walter the Farting Dog, for Matt to adapt, based on the beloved children’s book. He also sold his high concept pitch entitled Life Hacks to Sony Pictures with Chris Hemsworth attached to star and produce. Other projects in development for Lieberman include his spec script Yumanzu for Paramount and another spec, Meebo and Me for Warner Bros., both of which he is producing alongside Adam Kolbrenner and Kenya Barris. Originally from New Jersey, Matt is a graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, daughter and French bulldog.
Lisa Freberg
ANIMATED SHORTS CATEGORY JUROR
Producer / Executive Producer Lisa J Freberg, is the Co-founder & Managing Partner of One Good Man Productions based in Los Angeles, CA. She is a former Dreamworks Animation executive having overseen development and production for branded content for franchises including How To Train Your Dragon, Guardians, Kung Fu Panda, Shrek Franchise, and Trolls. She produced Penguins of Madagascar Got Your 6 featuring FLOTUS Michelle Obama, Book of Dragons created and directed by veteran animation storyteller, Steve Hickner. She’s had the honor of working with legendary actors, Dustin Hoffman, Bryan Cranston, Craig Ferguson, Jim Parsons, Rihanna, Jennifer Lopez to name a few. She is the recipient of Women-In-Film Finishing Fund for her feature documentary, The Scarlet Bond. Lisa produced multiple award-winning campaigns for Nike, Budweiser, Pepsi, Coca Cola, Verizon. She was the Producer of the landmark 3D Pepsi Sobe Super Bowl Ad combining 3D live action and animation from multiple studios. She’s produced many VFX, animation & live action projects. In 2019, One Good Man Productions was tapped to lead the creative development and production of six digital series including, Adulting with Richard Sherman and pop culture phenomenon DJ, Marshmello’s Power video and multiple docs-follow series. Her One Good Man Productions team simultaneously delivered all six shows within the same year, an impressive accomplishment for an independent production company. As if that was not enough to keep her busy, on the tail end of this work, she produced producing feature film, Alex / October and Three Headed Beast both completed in 2021-22. Alex / October starring award winning actor, Brad Hunt, Tara Shayne and Ethan Cutkosky hits theaters and On Demand fall 2022 with distribution through Deskpop Entertainment spearhead by Mat Levy. Selected as one of twelve films in narrative competition at the prestigious Tribeca Film Festival 2022, the critically acclaimed, Three Headed Beast made it’s world premiere as the debut feature film of Austin filmmakers writer / director team, Fernando Andres & Tyler Rugh. Three Headed Beast continues on the film festival circuit through 2022-23. Her television creates include her work as creator & Executive Producer of GloZell Is you Okay? original lifestyle series scheduled to premiere on Crackle Plus 2023. She is currently working on the adaptation critically acclaimed award-winning novel UnBroke Horses by novelist D.B. Jackson as a limited series and developing her next feature film, VINCENT with award winning writer /director, Deran Sarafian.
Stephen Christy
DARK MATTERS FEATURE CATEGORY JUROR
Stephen Christy is the President of Development for BOOM! Studios, one of the largest comic book and graphic novel publishers in North America. He currently manages BOOM!’s film and TV development slate and supervises BOOM!’s first look feature and TV deals with Netflix. He served as Producer on the 20th Century Fox supernatural thriller The Empty Man, was an Executive Producer on the Disney+ TV series Just Beyond, and is currently Executive Producing an animated TV adaptation of Mech Cadets for Netflix and an animated TV adaptation of Hex Vet for Nickelodeon. In his previous life as Editor-in-Chief for comic book publisher Archaia Entertainment he became the first editor in the industry to win back-to-back Eisner Awards for Best Original Graphic Album two years in a row, for Jim Henson’s Tale of Sand and Return of the Dapper Men. He currently lives in Los Angeles and is a graduate of Emerson College.
Jameel Saleem
ANIMATED SHORTS CATEGORY JUROR
Jameel Saleem is an Emmy-nominated writer and producer working in film and television. He currently serves as a Co-Executive Producer and Writer on BOB’S BURGERS, Writer on Netflix’s DISENCHANTMENT, Writer for SOUTH PARK DIGITAL and has several TV and Film projects in development.
Neil Miller
TEXAS SHORTS CATEGORY JUROR
Neil Miller is the founder and publisher of Film School Rejects, an Austin-based online magazine dedicated to quality criticism and helping readers understand the filmmaking process. He is also an Executive Producer of “One Perfect Shot” on HBO Max, a docuseries about filmmaking inspired by the One Perfect Shot Twitter account, which he owns and operates. As well as the co-host of “Trial By Content,” a pop culture debate podcast on The Ringer Podcast Network, and the independent podcast “Da7e and Neil’s Pop Culture Adventure.”