ANNOUNCING THE 2023 FESTIVAL JURIES
Each year, the Nashville Film Festival selections are judged by different panels from their respective categories. Generally, jury members come from various backgrounds in the film and entertainment world, both academic and professional. They work throughout the festival discerning which of each category’s selections truly are the best of the best, putting in many hours of work along the way. Without them, the festival would not be the same.
As we near the festival, we are thrilled to announce our lineup of distinguished jury members for each category. As always, we are incredibly grateful for the time they will be putting aside to consider each selection and anxiously await their decisions.
LONG FORM
Narrative Feature
Beth Barrett
Stu Pollard 
Sean Charles Beth BarrettBeth has been with SIFF since 2003, and is responsible for managing the artistic vision of SIFF, including all aspects of programming for the Seattle International Film Festival, SIFF Cinema’s 5 year-round screens, and the SIFF Education team. She secured SIFF’s status as an Academy Award® qualifying festival for short film in 2008. Beth currently serves on the City of Seattle Film Commission. In addition to her daily work in programming, Beth has served on juries and panels in Palm Springs, Park City, Cleveland, Calgary, Vancouver BC and Berlin, Germany.
Stu Pollard Filmmaker Stu Pollard has produced 9 films in his home state of Kentucky, including the survival thriller RUST CREEK, which spent multiple weeks in Netflix’s top 10 in 2020. He has produced more movies outside the Bluegrass as well, including the uproarious wedding rom com PLUS ONE starring Jack Quaid & Maya Erskine and docu-drama FREELAND, starring Krisha Fairchild. Stu has also directed two features: romantic comedy NICE GUYS SLEEP ALONE and suspense drama KEEP YOUR DISTANCE, both set against a vibrant Kentucky backdrop. His current development slate includes WE’RE HAUNTED, a horror comedy about dysfunctional roommates confronting an evil spirit; THE MAN WHO KNEW BELLE STARR, a riveting Western-infused revenge drama; and ALAS, BABYLON, a post-apocalyptic survival parable based on the classic novel by Pat Frank. Also an entrepreneur, Stu has spearheaded a number of other creative endeavors including the event planning app REUNACY, nostalgic web series THE EIGHTIES EMPORIUM, whiskey lifestyle brand BOURBONALITY, content creation collective SMALL BATCH CONTENT, and philanthropic nonprofit organization TRUNACY. In addition to teaching at Film Independent and USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, Stu recently founded LunacyU, an online educational platform dedicated to teaching the next generation of independent filmmakers. He holds a degree in business from Georgetown and an MFA in film from USC, is a member of the DGA and PGA, and serves on the boards of the Louisville Film Society, the Horse Farm Workers’ Educational Assistance Fund and GU’s Alumni Board of Regents.
Sean CharlesSean Charles is a Scripted Development & Production Manager at ALLBLK/WE tv an AMC Networks property. He is responsible for producing and developing all original content for the streaming service, in addition to assisting in acquisitions and scheduling. Sean most recently worked in Corporate Communications as a Production Coordinator working on all cross branding and marketing assets, across internal and external communications from Sundance Film Festival to Offsite meetings. He also formed and led the inaugural Black employee resource group, Vested Interest in Black Employees (V.I.B.E) from 2018 through 2021, as Co-Chair. He received his B.A in Media Communications from Queens College, CUNY and holds an M.B.A from Mercy College.
Documentary Feature
Sarah Childress
Armando Zamudio
Jace FreemanSarah ChildressDr. Sarah Childress is the Education and Engagement Manager for the Nashville Film Festival. She has taught film courses at Vanderbilt University, Bowdoin College, Belmont University, and San Francisco State University, and she helped establish the International Lens film series at Vanderbilt. Sarah produced a film, Música Campesina, which screened at internationally renowned film festivals and her short film Blue Dragon Mussel Wagon exhibited at the Boston Center for the Arts and the Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin. She has also introduced films and moderated discussions at the Belcourt Theatre, Frist Art Museum, Tennessee Performing Arts Center, and the Nashville Film Festival.
Armando ZamudioArmando Zamudio (he/him) is a first-generation Mexican-American with parents from Guanajuato, Mexico. He is a filmmaker and film lover from Chicago, IL, and studied film at Columbia College Chicago. Upon graduating, he joined Cinema/Chicago, where he began his journey in the film festival circuit. He joined Sundance and, soon after, many more film festivals across the country. He got to travel to Salt Lake City, Seattle, New York City, and finally Los Angeles, where he’s resided and now excited to be part of IDA (the International Documentary Association), helping documentaries have a platform. Over the years he has grown and built a strong bond with filmmakers and the film community through screenings and public programming. He hopes to continue to build stronger bonds with you and documentarians like himself.
Jace FreemanJace Freeman is a filmmaker that has made several features with The Moving Picture Boys including Saint Cloud Hill which had its television broadcast premiere on PBS, as well as Baracoa nominated for the Glashütte Original Documentary Award at the 2019 Berlin International Film Festival. Carthage House of Beauty produced with Allison Inman and Sean Clark won the Best Tennessee Short at the 2021 Nashville Film Festival and had its broadcast premiere on Nashville Public Television. Freeman recently served as Director of Photography for HBOMax’s upcoming docuseries Justice, USA.
Music Documentary Feature
Marshall Shaffer
Irene Soriano
Greta Hagen-RichardsonMarshall ShafferMarshall Shaffer is a New York based freelance journalist whose writing appears regularly on Decider, Slant, Slashfilm, and The Playlist. He’s been writing about film since 2009 and has done so in a professional capacity since 2015. Whether it’s streaming recommendations, interviewing the director behind a new release, or scouting the next indie gem at a film festival, he’s always searching for what a movie means within a larger cultural context — or trying to find the next great voice who expands our idea of what culture can be.
Irene SorianoIrene Soriano is a writer, film programmer, and independent arts producer living in Los Angeles. Irene joined the Sundance Film Festival in 2022 as a Shorts Film Programmer and co-curated the 2022 & 2023 editions of the Outfest Fusion QTBIPOC Film Festival as part of her Outfest Film Programming Fellowship. She was Film Independent/Project Involve’s first Fellow to initiate a Film Programming track in 2003 and has since curated film programs for the Echo Park Film Center, Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS), and the Carlos Bulosan Book Club Presents Filipinx(a)o LGBTQIA+ Lives in the Diaspora Program. Irene has served on the International Narrative Shorts Award jury for OutfestLA and the Animation Shorts Award jury for the Palm Springs International Shortfest Film Festival. In 2022, she moderated an industry podcast about diversity, equity, and inclusion in the film programming space for DOC Leipzig with the Programmers of Colour Collective. She was a guest curator for an art and film exhibition for Outfest’s LGBTQ+ arts and virtual media OUTMUSEUM titled “The Filipinx Edition: Queer and Trans Visions from Women and Non-Binary Artists,” launched during Filipinx American History Month. Irene spends her spare time rewatching 1990s Asian arthouse films and diving further into nostalgia by listening to 1980s post-punk anthems.
Greta Hagen-RichardsonGreta Hagen-Richardson has more than a decade of experience in the industry, working in development, film programming, and as a producer. Currently, Hagen-Richardson works for the President of Features at Skydance. Prior to Skydance, she coordinated film distribution at ARRAY, Ava DuVernay’s change collective. Her producing credits include films created as a fellow in Project Involve at Film Independent, as well as Tribeca’s Widen the Screen initiative. With Tribeca and Slamdance premieres, her work has won several awards and garnered two NAACP Image Award nominations. Hagen-Richardson has long been a programmer at the New Orleans Film Festival and has contributed to many organizations including the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, and True/False Film Fest.
Graveyard Shift Feature/Shorts
Jenny Nulf
Isabella Price
Trace ThurmanJenny NulfJenny Nulf is a film programmer and critic. She currently works as a Film Booker and repertory programmer for Alamo Drafthouse, in addition to writing for the Austin Chronicle and working as the Director of Programming for the Austin Asian American Film Festival. She has had a dedicated career in film, and in addition to her current roles she has worked in documentary distribution, edited trailers, and created video essays. She believes the films people engage with should not always be mainstream, and loves finding audiences for under-the-radar, diverse, and thought provoking cinema.
Isabella PriceIsabella Price is a local artist and activist who has made Seattle her home since 2015. She has made her lifelong love of film her career as a speaker on media at conventions around the country, as a programmer for organizations like the Northwest Film Forum, as an educator for SIFF and Blanket Fort Films, and served multiple years on the board for Women in Film Seattle. She hopes to continue spreading her passion and enthusiasm for movies as the Film Programs Manager at Langston.
Trace ThurmanTrace has been a film critic at the horror website Bloody Disgusting for nearly 10 years, with additional bylines at sites like Consequence of Sound and IGN. He is also the co-host of Bloody Disgusting’s Horror Queers podcast, which analyzes horror films through a queer lens. Previously based out of Austin, TX, where he would cover the SXSW and Fantastic Fest film festivals, he now calls Denver, CO his home.
Tennessee Feature
Rachel Morgan
Jonathan Waters
Nichole LimRachel MorganRachel Morgan is the Creative Director for the Sidewalk Film Festival and Sidewalk Film Center & Cinema, as well as an instructor of Media Production at Lawson State College and the University Of Montevallo. She was a co-instructor in the Documenting Justice documentary film program at the University of Alabama for 13 years and is a former contributor to Film Threat. She received a BFA from The Savannah College of Art and Design in Film Production and a MA in Film Critical Studies from the University of Alabama where her focus of study was Children and Adolescence in Cinematic Horror. She recently served as the programming lead for the 2021 Sundance Film Festival Satellite Screen in Birmingham, AL. She is also a Programmer for the Atlanta Film Festival. She co-hosts the cinema-centric podcast, SideTalks, in which she is usually right and her co-host, Corey Craft, is always wrong.
Jonathan WatersJonathan Waters is an educator and a filmmaker who has experience with a variety of filmmaking modes, including fiction, non-fiction, and other hybrid forms. He is the Associate Chair of the Department of Cinema & Media Arts at Vanderbilt University, as well as Assistant Dean of Undergraduate Education, and he is also the curator of the renowned Vanderbilt film series, International Lens. He has technical experience in the fields of cinematography, editing, screenwriting, and directing, with a strong appreciation of films that challenge viewers to fully engage and become active participants compelled to ponder and reflect upon the work long after it leaves the screen. As such, Jonathan is dedicated to promoting film as a distinctive art form, and not solely as an entertainment medium, and he is committed to stimulating interest in uniquely innovative filmmaking from around the world.
Nichole LimWith over 15 years in the industry Nichole pursues creativity on every level as a Director, Producer, Writer and 798 Makeup Artist. Located in Nashville, Tennessee she specializes in narrative, music video, editorial and stage. She is fueled by her love of the unique and strange minds of people, and makes it her goal to provide a peaceful, joy-filled environment where those around her can create and do work they’re proud of. She believes in working hard and having fun while doing it.
New Directors Feature
Nicole Riegel
Felipe Dieppa
Gill HollandNicole RiegelNicole Riegel is a filmmaker born and raised in Ohio. She studied Film History, Theory & Criticism at Wright State University and received her graduate studies M.F.A. at UCLA Film School. In 2020, her feature film Holler premiered at SXSW Film Festival and world premiered at the Deauville Film Festival in France. Holler went on to screen at the Toronto Film Festival, San Francisco Film Festival, Atlanta, Nashville, Netherlands and Estonia, among others. In the summer of 2021, IFC Films released Holler in theatres nationwide. Holler received rave reviews and won Variety’s 10 Directors to Watch Award, National Board of Review Award and was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature. Holler has been featured in The New York Times, Vanity Fair, Los Angeles Times, Cineaste and BUST Magazine. Nicole has used Holler to help inspire students from Appalachia through collaborations with Wexner Center for the Arts and Appalshop. She recently completed her second feature film, Dandelion, which is in post-production and will be distributed by IFC Films in 2023.
Felipe DieppaFelipe began his career as a child actor, originating the voice of “Diego” on Dora the Explorer, as well as staring soap operas, commercials and in major motion pictures, including alongside Steve Carell and Juliette Binoche in DAN IN REAL LIFE. He most recently executive produced the latest work directed by Charlie Kaufman (ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND, I’M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS) and shot by Chayse Irvin (BLONDE, BLACK KkKLANSMAN), a short film called JACKALS & FIREFLIES. As a filmmaker, he has produced or executive produced over a dozen feature films and shorts, premiering in festivals such as Sundance, SXSW, the Los Angeles Film Festival and Tribeca, not to mention countless commercials over the years. Felipe has been fortune enough to have been a Film Independent Producing Fellow and winner of the Alfred P. Sloan Grant, and is an ecstatic founding board member of 502 Film, a Kentucky-based non-profit dedicated to providing job training to aspiring crew members, and nurturing the film industry in the State.
Gill HollandSpirit Award nominee for Producer of the Year, Gill Holland has worked on over 120 films, including producing MGM’s “HURRICANE STREETS”, the first film ever to win three prizes at Sundance. Other Sundance faves include FLOW: For Love of Water, SPRING FORWARD, LOGGERHEADS, IT FELT LIKE LOVE and LOOK AND SEE: A Portrait of Wendell Berry. He worked on SXSW-winners MAIDENTRIP and MOST BEAUTIFUL ISLAND, and HBO’s Emmy-nominated DEAR JESSE. Other notables include Spirit Award winner SWEETLAND, AN HONEST LIAR, THE UNKNOWN COUNTRY and Sean Baker’s Fox sit-com GREG THE BUNNY. He also runs sonaBLAST! Records, a music label and publisher on its 150th release with musical acts including Ben Sollee, GRLwood and Jack Harlow. He is deeply involved in Louisville, KY’s civic, political, and cultural life and opened the Harlan Country Beer Company last fall.
SHORT FORM
Narrative Shorts
Neha Aziz
Michela Altobelli
Ali AlsalehNeha AzizNeha Aziz is a Pakistani-born writer, film programmer, and podcaster living in Austin, TX. She produced COME & TAKE IT, a documentary short about the #CocksNotGlocks and Gun Free UT movements with acclaimed filmmakers PJ Raval and Ellen Spiro, which has gone on to win numerous accolades. From 2017 – 2020, Neha worked at SXSW as a member of the Communications team. She currently works as a Film Programmer and Community Programs Director for the Austin Asian American Film Festival, Features Programmer for the Cleveland International Film Festival, and a Programming and Media consultant for rePRO. In 2021, she was named an iHeartRadio NextUP fellow for their inaugural podcast program; her show, PARTITION (limited series) debuted in August 2022 and has been featured on Apple Podcasts, NPR, The Austin Chronicle, The RepresentASIAN Project, Asian Founded, and more. Neha is one of the recipients of the 2023 WAVE Grant which offers $5,000 and one year of mentorship to first time female/non-binary directors of Color. SO, THAT HAPPENED will mark her directorial debut.
Michela AltobelliMichela Altobelli, from Vallecorsa, Italy, is the deputy artistic director of the Dieciminuti Film Festival, an international festival that features short movies lasting not more than ten minutes. She is also the director of the Giffoni School Experience (Ceccano Hub), a program of the Giffoni Film Festival that brings film education and practical knowledge into local schools throughout Italy. Additionally, she is the coordinator of special projects for IndieGesta, an NGO that facilitates youth exchanges, training courses, masterclasses, events, and has been a facilitator for more than fifty Erasmus+ educational programs in a variety of European countries. Most recently, she played a crucial role in developing and organizing IndieGesta’s photographic exhibition Malkovich, Malkovich, Malkovich, featuring the photography of Sandro Miller. Michela is passionate about the dissemination of short film as an important medium of artistic expression, especially for the purpose of fostering new cultural experiences and facilitating the creative process in children in the areas of art, photography, music and film. Her teaching, centered around media arts, pays close attention to social media and the digital tools that condition communication in contemporary society. Michela graduated with an M.A. in Cinema, Television, and Digital Production from Università di Roma Tre and a B.A. in Literature, Music, and Show Business from Università di Roma la Sapienza. She recently moved to Nashville and looks forward to this new chapter of her life, hoping to find out if Fellini’s aesthetic can meet Lynch’s works.
Ali AlsalehAn immigrant refugee from Baghdad, Iraq, Ali Alsaleh has spent the better part of his life finding truth in storytelling. This turned into numerous creative avenues, including architecture, screenwriting, acting, graphic design, furniture design, and any other creative pursuit he can get his hands on. He co-founded Typecast Pictures, a Nashville production company focused on highlighting the voices of the underrepresented through film/tv. He is co-producer of the Nashville48 Film Project.
Documentary Shorts
Kalyna Kutny
Alex Schmider
Joyy NorrisKalyna KutnyKalyna’s love for all things entertainment has taken her through the industries of fashion, travel, television and film; and has based her in the exciting worlds of New York, The Cayman Islands, Los Angeles and Nashville. After spending over a decade in NYC working with Cayman Islands Department of Tourism and HIT Entertainment, her desire to make amazing entertainment drove her to LA where she spent six years working for HBO Films, where she was instrumental in such hit films as LIBERACE, TOO BIG TO FAIL, GAME CHANGE, to name a few. That experience led to her work for Blossom Films, helmed by Academy Award winning actor Nicole Kidman. She now oversees all publishing and audio projects for NBA champion Stephen Curry based out of Los Angeles. Her passion for films has also led to being a current Board member of the Justice Film Festival.
Alex SchmiderAlex Schmider is an acclaimed film producer and the Director of Transgender Representation at GLAAD, the nation’s leading LGBTQ media advocacy organization. In his work, he advises media and entertainment industry leaders, and consults with production companies, editorial teams, brands, and corporations on LGBTQ and, specifically, transgender inclusion, characters, and storylines. His producing credits include CHANGING THE GAME (Tribeca 2019, Hulu), DISCLOSURE (Sundance 2020, Netflix), FRAMING AGNES (Sundance 2022, Kino Lorber), STAY ON BOARD: THE LEO BAKER STORY (Netflix 2022) and CHASING CHASING AMY (Tribeca 2023). His work has been recognized by the Television Academy, the Peabody Awards, and the Critics’ Choice Awards. He is an active member of the Producers Guild of America, the Documentary Producers Alliance, and the Television Academy, and is a former Forbes 30 Under 30 list maker. He remains on the list, but is gleefully no longer under 30.
Joyy NorrisJoyy Norris (she/her) is a native Chicago writer, creator, creative consultant, and arts programmer. She is the Cultural Arts Coordinator for the City of Evanston. Before joining the City of Evanston, she worked as a Co-Producer and Artist Facilitator with Soham Dance Space, Operations and Programs Manager with Sisters in Cinema, Programming Associate with Chicago International Film Festival, Interim Theatre and Performing Arts Program Manager with the University of Chicago’s Arts and Public Life Initiative, and Operations Manager for the Rebuild Foundation. She serves on the Advisory Board for Chicago Made Shorts and is a Committee Member with the Chicago International Film Festival Black Perspectives Committee. She received an B.A. in Cinema Studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an M.F.A in Documentary Media from Northwestern University.
Animated Shorts
Tony Bancroft
John Kelley
Pamela RibonTony BancroftWith over 35 years experience in the animation industry, it’s safe to say Tony Bancroft loves animation. At Disney he animated on most of the films of the ‘90s from Beauty and The Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King to Emperors’ New Grove and co- directed Mulan. Bancroft has worked at Sony (Stuart Little 2), Warner Brothers (Space Jam: A New Legacy) and many independent animation studios as animator, director or producer. He spends his off-hours co-hosting the #1 animation podcast with his twin brother, Tom, called The Bancroft Brothers Animation Podcast.
John KelleyJohn C Kelley (b. 1981, Arkansas) is an animator and artist living and working in Knoxville, TN. His award-winning animated shorts GUSTER, and A Family That Steals Dogs both received Vimeo Staff Picks and have screened in festivals including the Ottawa International Animation Festival, the Slamdance Film Festival, Atlanta Film Festival, GLAS Animation Festival, GIRAF, London International Animation Festival, and the Raindance Film Festival, where AFTSD was nominated for Best Animation Short. Kelley has written original music for films by Gray Picture, St. Louis, and has released music on King Electric Records in Austin, TX. He has been an artist-in-residence at Cow House Studios in Ireland, the Hambidge Center for Creative Arts & Sci- ences in Georgia, and is a professor of Time-Based Arts at the University of Tennessee.
Pamela RibonPamela Ribon is an the Academy Award®-nominated screenwriter (MY YEAR OF DICKS, MOANA, RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET, NIMONA), performer, comic book writer (MY BOYFRIEND IS A BEAR, SLAM!), and best-selling novelist. She co-hosts the podcast Listen To Sassy, a weekly deep-dive through every issue of the beloved 90’s teen magazine SASSY.
The Edge Shorts
Sara De La Haya
Brett Reiter
Chloe LizotteSara De La HayaSara De La Haya has always been on the move. Born in Florida, then briefly stationed with her family in Alaska, she spent most of her life enjoying the magic of Louisiana. The arts have always felt like home. She is an actor, writer, producer, photographer, and consultant. She has worked on numerous short films, feature films, and television series. Her performing credits include AMC’s “Mayfair Witches,” NBC’s “Killing It,” and Sundance feature film “Beast Beast.” Sara continues to focus on creating opportunity and equity in the arts through her personal and professional endeavors.
Brett ReiterBrett Reiter is an Emmy-nominated film producer, festival programmer with Cleveland International Film Festival and Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, and serves as Festival Director of Cinema Columbus Film Festival. Brett’s most notable film credit is Poser, which premiered at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival and garnered a theatrical run in 2022 through Oscilloscope Laboratories. Poser also won the Nashville Film Festival Best Narrative Feature award in 2021 and Brett is very excited to return to serve on the jury of a festival he holds very dear.
Chloe LizotteChloe Lizotte is the managing editor of MUBI’s online publication Notebook. Her writing on film, new media, and comedy has been featured in Revrse Shot, Vulture, Cinema Scope, Film Comment, the Los Angeles Review of Books, and Screen Slate, among other outlets. She writes Reverse Shot’s Event Horizon column, surveying nontraditional media across the online landscape—and beyond. Previously, she was a contributing editor at Le Cinéma Club. She lives in Brooklyn.
Tennessee Shorts
David Chisholm
Jonathan Becker
Rebekah IliffDavid ChisholmDavid grew up in Memphis, but has been in Austin for the last twelve years. He’s done programming work for the Austin Film Society and the Alamo Drafthouse, and currently programs for RiverRun International Film Festival in Winston-Salem, NC. When he’s not watching movies, he’s reading comics with his two kids, cooking with his partner Stephanie, walking his dog, or attempting to write critical essays on the X-Men. If you would like to keep up with all the terrible film watching decisions that he makes, you can also find him on Letterboxd at https://letterboxd.com/iamhrothgar/.
Jonathan BeckerJonathan Becker is a director and writer born and raised in Nashville. His work has screened in various festivals, universities, and public spaces across the country. As a co-founder of Yelloh Media, a boutique video production and design agency, he leverages his storytelling prowess to assist Fortune 500 companies and growing brands in crafting compelling narratives.
Rebekah IliffRebekah Iliff is an award-winning humor writer, producer, and entrepreneur based in Tennessee. Her work has been featured in publications ranging from Fast Company and Forbes to Weekly Humorist and the Erma Bombeck Blog. She released her first book and short film, Champagne for One: A Celebration of Solitude in February 2022 and has collected 14 short film awards and several major book recognitions including “humor book of the year” by Foreword Reviews. Rebekah is also a regular contributor to Porch + Prairie magazine and works closely with some of today’s leading brands on story development and content creation. She is the owner of Free Dreaming Farm, her personal sanctuary where she writes, develops, and produces both client commissioned work and her own creative projects.
Music Videos
Shanna Strassberg
Liz Rogers
Justin EnglishShanna StrassbergShanna Strassberg is a consummate television and music industry professional. She currently holds the professional title of VP of Music and Talent at CMT, part of the MTV/Viacom/CBS family. Having spent the last 18 years in TV production as both Talent Booker and Producer, Shanna has successfully worked with artists/celebrities on a multitude of series, live events, music specials and red carpets. Shanna has booked over 4,500 musical guests as well as celebrities from film, television, comedy and sports, on various networks and online properties. In the past few years Shanna has worked on the Dolly Parton Telethon “Smoky Mountains Rise: A Benefit for the My People Fund”, The Loretta Lynn Birthday Celebration at Bridgestone Arena, the original Documentary on the legendary Bluebird Café “Bluebird – The Movie”, and Ken Burns “Country Music Live at the Ryman”, among other things. She has great instincts for recognizing talent and getting the best version of that person to reveal themselves on camera. Shanna also spends time creating her own video series, dreaming up documentaries, and executing terrible recipe ideas in the kitchen. Also…she won an Emmy.
Liz RogersLiz Rogers is the Founder and Creative Director at Anacrusis, where she oversees new signings, writer development, and pitching creatively for sync. Anacrusis has secured hundreds of placements for emerging artists in Nashville in dozens of shows, films, and advertising campaigns. Liz also is an independent music supervisor, working on several films and documentaries, and is a member of the Guild of Music Supervisors. Liz is the Associate Music Event Producer for the Nashville Film Festival, and an Advisor at the Entrepreneur Center. She was featured as the keynote speaker at Vanderbilt’s Entrepreneurship Conference 2022, and has spearheaded events like “The Pitch: An Evening with Music Supervisors”, and The Nashville House at SXSW, bringing awareness to the non-country community of writers and artists in Nashville. Liz was honored as one of Nashville’s “30 Under 30”, and recognized by the Nashville Business Journal on the esteemed power players list “Women In Music City.”
Justin EnglishJustin English is currently the Vice President of Music Programming across MTV branded channels globally. In addition to overseeing the programming strategy across eleven US based traditional linear and FAST music video channels, he also oversees the overall content rollout for any long or short form content on all MTV branded screens. He has spent most of his professional career watching, programming, and probably thinking too much about music videos. In his spare time, he is a dad, record collector, sneaker head, and BBQ enthusiast.
NextGen/TN Student Shorts
Ryan Saunders
Kevin Harman
Vera BianchiniRyan SaundersA graduate of DePaul University’s School of Cinematic Arts, Ryan was involved with the Chicago International Film Festival for nine years as an archivist, technical manager, programmer, and ultimately as the CineYouth Festival Director. Currently, Ryan is the Managing Director of the National Film Festival for Talented Youth (NFFTY), the world’s largest youth festival highlighting work by filmmakers 24 and younger. When he’s not programming films for festivals or his podcast, you can catch Ryan trekking through the mountains of the PNW or sitting with his cat reading a book.
Kevin HarmanKevin Harman has devoted his career to showcasing and highlighting the works of filmmakers from students starting out to late career professionals. He has strived to uplift them through his festival work at Sundance Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Palm Springs International Film Festival, and many others, to his time at Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film & Media Arts where he worked with the filmmakers of tomorrow bringing their work to Hollywood and the world, helping to support their career aspirations and bring the school it’s first Student Academy Awards. Most recently, he worked at Netflix to present the likes of Alfonso Cuaron, Noah Baumbach, Martin Scorsese and others’ newest works across premieres and film festivals and for awards considerations. Currently he acts as a project manager at a cinema engineering company working on high profile premieres and festival work across the US including the technical buildout for the Sundance Film Festival. He is thrilled to see and work with Nashville’s NextGen filmmakers through this year’s jury.
Vera BianchiniBorn in Brazil and raised in Minnesota, Vera Bianchini has worked in the film industry for over a decade – specializing in film festivals. She’s worked for regional film organizations like MSP Film, Flip The Script Fest, and the Upper Midwest Film Office. Her Festival experience includes Oscar-qualifying festivals such as Chicago International Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, Cleveland International Film Festival, and Palm Springs International Film Festival. Vera’s participated on panels for Film Festival Alliance’s FilmEx Summit and Film North. Vera’s mission is to elevate artists and provide underrepresented voices a platform to share and celebrate their work while also proving the value of film in the economic development of a community.
Outstanding Student Score & Song
Erin Collins
Devin Powers
Danny Lux
Christophe Beck
Allison Wright Clark
Chris WirsigErin CollinsErin Collins is the Senior Vice President of Film and TV for SESAC, where she oversees the Los Angeles-based department servicing SESAC’s composers and publishers including Christophe Beck, Jon Erhlich, Danny Lux, Gabriel Mann, Randy Newman, the Newton Brothers, and more. Collins also helped create SESAC’s composer diversity initiatives “SESAC Scores” and “Reel Change,” along with film composer Christophe Beck. Before joining SESAC in 2011, she was a producer, music supervisor, and score supervisor working with clients such as APM Music, Ubisoft, ESPN, Activision, and THQ. Collins holds a music degree from Northern Illinois University.
Devin PowersDevin Powers has been a musical force for 40 years, working as a song producer and a composer with music on over 900 television productions. Currently, his music can be heard on shows such as Lauren Lake’s Paternity Court, Naked and Afraid, and The Amazing Race, to name a few. Powers has recently turned his attention to trailer music, contributing music to campaigns for HBO’s His Dark Materials and Marvel’s Wakanda Forever. His passion for songwriting has him working with acclaimed country writers Gary Nicholson and Jeff Silbar, while also rocking the pop world with rising songwriters and producers Simon Jay and Luke Shrestha.
Danny LuxDanny Lux is one of the most prolific and successful prime-time composers currently on television. He has scored well over 1,700 episodes covering all categories from dramas to comedies to horror feature films. Credits include Grey’s Anatomy, Station 19, Manifest, the upcoming ABC show The Irrational, and many, many more. Raised in Los Angeles, Lux started his career with the famous TV composer Mike Post, remaining with him for almost a decade before launching off on his own. Since then, he has garnered multiple Emmy nominations, and has become one of the most in-demand writers in the industry.
Christophe BeckChristophe Beck is an award-winning composer for film and television. A graduate of Yale and USC’s film scoring program, he won an Emmy for his work on Buffy the Vampire Slayer before turning his attention to feature films. His body of work includes some of the highest-grossing films today, including Disney’s Frozen and Frozen 2, the Hangover series, Marvel’s Ant-Man films, and Pitch Perfect. He continues to score for television as well, most recently Wandavision and Hawkeye for Disney+. Committed to diversity in film scoring, Beck co-founded the initiative “Reel Change,” which provides funding for films scored by underrepresented composers.
Allison Wright ClarkAllison Wright Clark is a music executive, music supervisor, and producer, as well as a music licensing, publishing, and A&R expert. She worked with Hans Zimmer and his team for over seven years and with the Jonas Group for three years. Her projects span many media forms, including blockbuster films such as the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, television shows such as The Good Wife, hit video games including Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, and advertising for major brands such as Nike and Coca-Cola. Clark is an educator as well, teaching the Music Supervision for Film and TV course at UCLA Extension in Los Angeles.
Chris WirsigChris Wirsig is an award-winning composer, songwriter, producer, and founder of the acclaimed Electro Pop/Dark Wave band no:carrier and the Electronica/Chill-Out project Virtual Conformity. Chris received classical training on piano and saxophone, studied audio engineering at SAE Technology College, and has more than 20 years experience in music production. His music can be heard in games like the acclaimed Top Ten iPad game “Alien Tribe 2,” the multiple award-winning short movies “Intervention,” “20 Matches,” “Cat Dexx: Inkosi,” and “Trick Of The Old Cat,” the comedy feature film “39 And A Half,” and in numerous TV shows on ABC, E!, MTV, Oxygen, Fox Sports, Audience Network/DirecTV, and more. He has also co-written and produced songs with other artists and songwriters like Psyche, Liza Marie Sparks, Queen Chameleon, The Dust Ryde, echoekill, and many others. Apart from writing and producing music Chris also runs his own production music library Counter Communications.