Kim Bass is an Emmy-nominated, NAACP Image Award-winning, screenplay and teleplay writer who became a member of the Writers Guild of America West in 1989 after selling sketch comedy material to the HBO news parody show, Not Necessarily The News and optioning his first screenplay.
Also, in 1989 Mr. Bass was selected as a participant in the prestigious Warner Brothers Studio Sitcom Writers’ Workshop. During the past twenty-five years, Mr. Bass has worked as a writer for most if not all the major Hollywood studios and television networks as well as many prominent and independent film and television production companies including: Warner Brothers Studios; Twentieth Century Fox Studios; Disney Studios; Sony Pictures Studios; Paramount Studios; Dream Works Studios; New Line Cinema; Film Roman Productions; Act III Productions; Savoy Pictures; The Jackson-McHenry Company; Image Entertainment; HBO; ABC; WB; UPN; FOX Television network; Nickelodeon.
Mr. Bass has sold over two dozen screenplays. Mr. Bass has been hired to rewrite several screenplays including A Thin Line Between Love & Hate starring Martin Lawrence. Mr. Bass has consulted on or rewritten more than fifty teleplays. Mr. Bass has been nominated for an Emmy Award for “Best Writing” and has received an NAACP Image Award for writer on “Best Comedy Series” for the ground-breaking FOX network sketch comedy series, In Living Color. Mr. Bass is the creator of the Cable Ace Award-winning Nickelodeon series, Kenan & Kel, and he conceived the ABC/WB hit syndicated sitcom, Sister, Sister for which he shares a “Created By” credit. Mr. Bass was a creative consultant for two seasons on the WB network’s animated series, Men In Black—The Series.
As part of an overall writer-producer deal at Twentieth Century Fox Studios, Mr. Bass was a co-producer on the FOX network sitcom, True Colors which starred Nancy Walker and Cleavon Little.
Mr. Bass became a professional director in 1995 and has since directed six feature-length, independent motion pictures, four of which he also wrote. The released films written and directed by Mr. Bass include Junkyard Dog and Kill Speed (They were completed in 2010, premiering that same year at the American Film Market. Each film garnered worldwide distribution in 2011 and 2012.) and Day of Days (released in 2017, starring Hollywood veteran actor, Tom Skerritt.) Mr. Bass’ current film projects include Tyson’s Run (slated for theatrical distribution by Collide Media/Universal Pictures in spring 2021), HeadShop currently in post-production and Yasuke: Soul of a Samurai (a big-budget action adventure film project, written by Bass, that is in development with a Japanese co-production partner.).
Mr. Bass was commissioned to write and direct the nationally broadcasted (Black History Month) short film, Missing Miles, a tribute to the late great Jazz legend, Miles Davis. Mr. Bass directed the prestigious Key Art Award-nominated ad, 40 Year Old Virgin, for Universal Pictures.
Over the past 25 years Mr. Bass has worked with, written for or directed such Hollywood notables as; Jim Carrey (Ace Ventura Pet Detective), Whoopi Goldberg (Ghost), Gary Busey (The Buddy Holly Story), Eddie Murphy (Coming To America), Tom Arnold (True Lies), Lorenzo Lamas (Renegade), Vivica A. Fox (Independence Day), Brad Dourif (One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest), Martin Lawrence (Bad Boys), Kelly Hu (Scorpion King), Robert Patrick (Terminator), Regina King (Jerry Maguire), Damon Wayans (My Wife And Kids), Red Foxx (Sanford And Son), Arsenio Hall (Coming To America), Brandon Lee (The Crow), Jackie Chan (Rush Hour film franchise), Greg Grunberg (Heroes), Shawnee Smith (Saw film franchise), Norman Lear (Executive Producer of All In The Family), Michael J. Weithorn (Executive Producer of The King of Queens).
Kim will be judging the Drama & Comedy Spec category.
Ashley Edward Miller is a film and television writer best known for Thor and X-Men: First Class. Most recently, Ashley served as a Consulting Producer for the second season of Lore on Amazon Prime, as well as the critically acclaimed fourth season of Black Sails on Starz. He also worked as a writer-producer on Fringe and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Ashley is currently producing a new adult anime series for Netflix as well as developing a television adaptation of the classic video game, Myst.
Ashley will be judging the Sci-Fi Feature category.
Eric Haywood was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
He began his career as a music video director while still enrolled at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Filmmaking. After relocating to Atlanta, Eric went on to direct and produce videos featuring such artists as Usher, Cee-Lo Green, Outkast, New Edition, Ice-T, Tupac Shakur, and legendary Parliament-Funkadelic bassist Bootsy Collins. His video for Bay Area rapper E-40’s song “Sprinkle Me” was selected by MTV and XXL Magazine as the #10 Greatest West Coast Rap Video of All Time.
Eric then turned his focus to writing and moved to Los Angeles, where he landed work as a writer on such shows as ABC’s Private Practice and Showtime’s Soul Food: The Series. Along the way, he has periodically returned to his filmmaking roots, writing and directing three short films (Nick of Time, Intersection, and Staring at the Sun), each of which screened at various film festivals around the country. Eric went on to write the Hallmark Channel original movie Relative Stranger, starring Eriq LaSalle (E.R.) and directed by Charles Burnett (Killer of Sheep). After premiering in 2009, the film garnered three NAACP Image Award nominations and a Best Supporting Actress Emmy nomination for Cicely Tyson.
Eric also wrote and directed the independent feature film Four of Hearts before joining the writing staff of the hit Fox drama Empire. He went on to serve as a co-executive producer for Starz’s Power and ABC’s For Life. He is currently a co-executive producer for NBC’s supernatural drama Manifest.
Eric will be judging the Drama Pilot category.
Caitlin Friedman, SVP & General Manager, Scholastic Entertainment, Inc. (SEI), the media division of Scholastic Inc., is an expert in children’s media with extensive experience in television, feature film, publishing, and digital content for children, families and young adults. She is responsible for developing animated and live-action TV series and feature films based on Scholastic’s extensive library (current and backlist) of books, and building global brands with broadcasters and studios across all platforms.
Friedman oversees key properties such as Clifford The Big Red Dog®, Goosebumps® and The Magic School Bus®. She is executive producer of the upcoming live-action Clifford the Big Red Dog feature film and co-executive producer of the highly-anticipated new Clifford the Big Red Dog series, set to premiere in the U.S. on Amazon Prime Video and PBS KIDS in fall 2019 and internationally beginning January 2020. She is also the executive producer of the upcoming animated series, Owl Diaries and the associate producer of the reboot of The Magic School Bus, the animated series that launched on Netflix in 2017. In addition, Friedman is working closely with a range of leading production, broadcast and studio partners on a number of upcoming SEI projects, including Fly Guy, Puppy Place, a live-action Magic School Bus feature film, and Stillwater based on the Jon J Muth Zen series and more.
Recently promoted from VP & General Manager of SEI, Friedman has held positions of increasing responsibility at Scholastic since joining the corporation in 2014, providing her with a unique, 360-degree perspective of the children’s entertainment industry. Her previous positions at Scholastic have included VP, Film/TV Development & Brand Strategy, VP, Trade Marketing and VP Marketing & Brand Management for Scholastic Media, where she oversaw digital and consumer product extensions for Goosebumps, Clifford The Big Red Dog, I SPY™, The Magic School Bus, WordGirl®, and Astroblast™. Prior to joining the company, she was Director of Marketing for Sterling Publishing, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Barnes & Noble and as well as the Editorial Director for their craft imprint, Lark Books.
In addition to her corporate accomplishments, Friedman is a best-selling author and speaker about the work life of women and working mothers. She coauthored the bestseller The Girl’s Guide to Starting Your Own Business and the award-winning The Girl’s Guide to Being a Boss. The Girls Guide books have been published in more than 11 countries. She also is author of the children’s book, How Do You Feed a Hungry Giant?, and co-author of Family Inc., a self-help book for busy families.
Perpetually in demand as a speaker and source for professionals navigating their careers, Friedman has been featured in national media outlets such as Time, Newsweek and Shape, and appeared multiple times on NBC’s Today show.
Caitlin will be judging the Scholastic Entertainment Fellowship for Kids and Family Content category.
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Jef Kaminsky is the VP of Creative Development & TV Production, Scholastic Entertainment, Inc. (SEI), the media division of Scholastic Inc. Kaminsky has developed and produced multiple award-winning television series, made-for-TV-movies, and multimedia experiences based on Scholastic’s best-selling book series for outlets such as PBS KIDS, Netflix, Amazon, and Apple. Kaminsky has over twenty-five years of expertise adapting books into beloved media experiences for children and their families.
In addition to his work as a developer and producer of internationally acclaimed media content, Kaminsky has written and illustrated more than a dozen books for publishers such as Simon & Schuster, Random House, Scholastic Inc., and Feiwel & Friends. His editorial cartoons have appeared in The Wall Street Journal. Prior to joining Scholastic Entertainment, Kaminsky worked as a kindergarten teacher, animator, and graphic designer.
Jef will be judging the Scholastic Entertainment Fellowship for Kids and Family Content category.
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Madison Pierce is the Production and Development Associate at Scholastic Entertainment (SEI), the media division of Scholastic Inc. She’s worked on animated television productions like Clifford the Big Red Dog and The Magic School Bus: Rides Again, as well as a live action series for a major streamer. Her work in the development space involves identifying compelling stories from within Scholastic’s library of books and tackling the daily operations of shaping and packaging those properties into commercial tv series and features for all ages.
Madison will be judging the Scholastic Entertainment Fellowship for Kids and Family Content category.