Finalist Judge Announcements
Mike Vanderhei
Manager – Rain Management Group
Mike Vanderhei is originally from Chicago where his pursuit of a career in sports journalism ended his senior year of college when he landed in the original scripted department at AMC Networks working on their multiple Emmy winning series including Breaking Bad and Mad Men. After AMC, Mike moved into the representation side of the business where he assisted at multiple management companies before landing at Protocol Entertainment with industry veteran John Ufland where Vanderhei started to build his list of young, diverse writers primarily in television. Some of Mike’s clients include Kevin Lau (Lovecraft Country, The Nevers) who is currently in a multi-year overall deal at HBO, former AMC head Jeremy Elice (Tut, Breaking Bad), Megan Metzger (The Princess Switch), Matthew White (Doctor Death, Happy!), radio host Kerri Kasem & Genevieve Wong (Access Hollywood), Iden Baghdadchi (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), Christina Pina (Charmed), Hernando Bansuelo (A Reunion, Hollywood), and Aiah Samba (The Blacklist).
When Mike is out of the office you can find him volunteering at local animal rescues, playing in West Hollywood’s dodgeball league, and cheering on his beloved Chicago Cubs.
Mike will be judging the finalist round of the Narrative Short Film Competition.
Matthew Dartnell
Manager – Writ-Large
Matt Dartnell is a California-bred literary manager with a deep love for film, television, podcasts, and the unique voices and strange perspectives that generate these stories. His specialty is helping creatives navigate the ups and downs of Hollywood while developing great material for a variety of mediums. When not at the office, you can find him watching genre films, eating burgers, or hanging out with his dog.
Matthew will be judging the finalist round of the Narrative Student Short Film Competition.
ANDREW VEEDER
Scripted Creative Executive – Stage 13
Andrew is a Creative Executive at Stage 13, developing and producing scripted content with an emphasis on fresh stories from diverse perspectives of emerging talent, including the Emmy-nominated Special on Netflix. The product of a naval father and artist mother, he moved around a lot as a kid but was always drawn to the arts and storytelling. After graduating from the University of Wisconsin – Madison, Andrew vowed to never live in winter ever again and moved to Los Angeles that autumn. Since then, he has worked for photographers, agents, directors, executives, line producers, writing producers, and monsters; and he has worked as a director, DJ, editor, producer, and writer. When he’s not reading or watching all of the things, Andrew can be found digging for vinyl records around the world and playing them, eating tacos, sipping tea, standing in the back of dark live music venues, and walking the earth.
Andrew will be judging the finalist round of the Scripted and Produced Digital Series categories.
COURTNEY SALADINO
Vice President, Television – FilmNation Entertainment
Courtney Saladino Gurney is the Vice President, Television at FilmNation Entertainment, a leading producer, financier, and distributor of independent film, television, theater, and audio that is a destination for many of the world’s most renowned storytellers. Saladino Gurney sources and develops material for the company’s television slate. Previous to joining FilmNation, she served as the Director of Original Programming for Marvel Television where she oversaw Marvel’s Helstrom, Marvel’s Jessica Jones and Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger, and ran Film & Television Development at Junction Entertainment for director Jon Turteltaub. Courtney began her career working at Jerry Bruckheimer Film & Television.
Courtney will be judging the finalist round of the Drama Pilot category within the Script Competition.
WINSOR YUAN
Vice President, Film & TV – A Stern Talking To Productions
Winsor Yuan was born in Taipei, Taiwan and his family moved to Brandon, Mississippi the following year. He graduated from the University of Mississippi with a BBA and a BA in English in 2009 and an MBA in 2010. He graduated with an MFA in Producing from Chapman in 2012. After school, he worked as an Agent Trainee at UTA in the MP Lit Department until 2015. He then moved to work with Writer/Producer/Director Jared Stern and his company A Stern Talking To, where he is currently VP, Film & TV.
Winsor will be judging the finalist round of the Comedy Pilot category within the Script Competition.
Script Competition Semifinalists Judge Announcements
Erin Larson
Creative Executive – Robert Cort Productions
Sonia Gambaro
Vice President of Development – 3Pas Studios
Sam Blumenfeld
Coordinator, Production & Operations, Head of Comedy – Maven Pictures
Scott Stoops
Literary Manager – Good Fear Film + Management, Represents the writers of Crawl
John Zaozirny
President – Bellevue Productions
Jeff Portony
Literary Manager – Bellevue Productions
Zack Zucker
Junior Manager – Bellevue Productions, Producer on The Novice
Matt Dy
Manager – Lit Entertainment Group
Noreen O’Toole
Associate Producer – Westworld
Lindy Goldstein
President – Lindy Goldstein Productions
Alexandra Boylan
Founder – Mustard Seed Entertainment, Writer and Producer – Home Sweet Home, At your own risk, Catching Faith 1 & 2, Wish For Christmas, Switched, The Inheritance
Lee Stobby
Literary Manager, Producer, and Founder – Lee Stobby Entertainment, Executive Producer – Wildling, Co-producer – Making the Rules
Elizabeth Cutbirth
Coordinator, Development – Cartoon Network
Cami Delavigne
Co-writer – Blue Valentine, Writer of TV episodes – AMC, ABC, Amazon, NBC, and Showtime, Adapting The Last Dasy of California for Adam McKay’s Hyperobject Industries
Meta Valentic
Executive Vice President of Creative Affairs – Entertainment Media Management
Casey Minella
Film Coordinator – Circle of Confusion, Work includes – Work In Progress, The Walking Dead, FTWD, Dirk Gently, Rim of the World, Mayhem, Tone-Deaf, Mr. Right, American Ultra, Air
Angelina Chen
Literary Manager – Energy Entertainment
Briggs Hatton
Researcher – Grandma’s House Entertainment, which produces Gigi Does It, Let’s Get Physical, and The Misery Index
Conrad Sun
Manager – Meridian Artists
Glenn Cockburn
Manager and Founder – Meridian Artists
Samantha Shear
Vice President of Film and TV – Zoic Studios
Scott Carr
Manager and Founder – Management SGC, clients include Jonathan Perera (Miss Sloane), Joe Miale (Revolt), Jonathan Stokes (Murder In The White House), Kevin Margo (Construct), Christopher Alender (Untitled J.J. Abrams Project), Kirk Moore (13 Reasons Why, Jack Ryan), Matt Chester (Madam Secretary), Alex Eslam (Vicious Dogs), J.J. Winlove (June Again)
Stephan Dubreuil
Co-Founder, Manager, and Producer – Woolf+Lapin
Joyce San Pedro
Executive Producer – TV series Tropa, Co-Producer – Trope Zero, Associate Producer – Wilde Salome
Samantha Kern
Executive Producer – Manson Family Vacation, Co-Producer – G.B.F.
Ray Utarnachitt
Co-Executive Producer – DC’s Legends of Tomorrow
Jay Wade Edwards
Writer, Director, and Editor – Stomp! Shout! Scream!, The Hat Trick Trilogy, Kino-Edwards web series, and The Monster Trilogy
Tracy Brigden
Director, Producer, and Playwright. Was the Artistic Director of City Theatre in Pittsburgh for 16 years and prior to that worked on the artistic staffs of Manhattan Theatre Club and Hartford Stage