JUDGES 2022

2021 JUDGES

  • Willy Hartland – is an animator, award-winning filmmaker and teaches animation at Parsons School of Design and CUNY.
  • Elizabeth Seidman – is a Producer at Warner Bros. Animation, currently working on Little Ellen.
  • Yvette Kaplan – was co-director of Beavis and Butthead Do America, Head of Story on Ice-Age, and is an adjunct in writing for animation at Cal State Long Beach.
  • Walter Santucci – is an animation filmmaker and Cal State Long Beach faculty member.
  • Robyn von Arx – award-winning actor, director, and producer.
  • Ron Myrick – is a showrunner and supervising director.
  • Tracy Hall – independent writer/producer of children’s entertainment.
  • Cheryl Davis – Founder of LA based production company Red Toolbox Productions, and the chat show “Everything Entertainment.”
  • Jerry L. Brice – was an animator at Disney Features, long-time teacher at the Art Institute in San Diego and currently animation producer for Al Roker Entertainment.
  • Kim Yaged – award-winning writer with a background in theater, television and film. Her one-woman production Hypocrites & Strippers was nominated for a Best Actress Artsie.
  • Polina Grinberg – NY based animator and artist. A graduate of SAIC and Calarts, teaching animation and film in both the US and abroad.  Currently working on a hand drawn animated short.
  • Otis Brayboy – s an episodic director and showrunner.
  • Sara Mossman – writer and producer.
  • Bill Weber – graphic designer and theatre reviewer for Discover Hollywood magazine.
  • Phil Condit – independent film producer/director.
  • David Harper – poet/writer whose works have appeared in Altered Reality Magazine, Flash Fiction Magazine, The Haven, Mystery Tribune and Front Porch Review, among others.
  • Aptil Zhang – concept/visual development and background design artist at Rough Draft Studios, currently working on Futurama and independent animation 
  • Chenglin Xie – award-winning filmmaker and director, currently represented by The Gotham Group and working at Netflix Feature Animation.
  • Paul Harrod – animation director, production designer, and art director with a special emphasis on stop motion.
  • Leslie Ezeh – associate director at ASIFA-Hollywood, a nonprofit member organization that champions animation and its creators. President of Legends Animated, a nonprofit for independent animation.
  • Rita Street – award-winning animation executive producer, creator and writer. Credits include Disney EMEA comedy, “Space Chickens in Space” and feature film and TV series, “100% Wolf.” Founder of the international non-profit, Women in Animation.
  • Marlene Sharpe – head of IP Strategy and Acquisitions for Rainshine Ent. And Executive Producer of their forthcoming animated feature trilogy Young Captain Nemo.
  • Adam Sartain – actor and voice actor, projects incl. English dubs for Japanese Films, animation pilots, and narration for the One Minute History channel (YouTube).  Hosts Inside Animation podcast – Instagram (@sooperadam).
  • Giulia Governo – Internationally renowned cinematographer.
  • Delton Davis – creator of the series Dunner the Drummer, is the founder and director of Kids Drumming, creating multi-cultural content for children.
  • Amy Amani-Goddard – American screenwriter specializing in lighthearted stories with supernatural elements.
  • Katrina Nahikian – creative development & production leader creating, developing & delivering innovative TV  for FoxTV, Saatchi & Saatchi, Lionsgate, Oxygen, Omelet, and Zambezi / FIN Studios.
  • Lily Patel – Los Angeles based actor/writer and animation scholar.
  • Trish McCall – Writer, Producer and Actress. From New York City – now relocated to Los Angeles. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0564690
  • Kyle Bond – Artist Manager at Disney Television Animation.
  • Koushoik Chattopadhyay – Film and TV actor who specializes in creating comedic characters.
  • Joseph Palladino – Academic Advisor, UCSB Film and Media Studies Department.
  • Jared Nigro – animation writer and producer with a background in improv and sketch comedy from The Groundlings and Upright Citizens Brigade.