Our 2026 Jury for "Best Of Fest" Oscar Qualifying Award
Andrew Carlberg
Named by Variety (alongside Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Mindy Kaling, Ryan Coogler, Beau Willimon, and Olivia Wilde) as one of “Hollywoodʼs New Leaders,” Carlberg is an Academy Award and Emmy Award winning film, television, new media, Broadway and Los Angeles stage producer. Andrew’s extensive credits include, but aren’t limited to, ABC’s Castle, DirecTV’s Full Circle, Broadway’s Romeo and Juliet and Side Show, Celebration Theatre's Ovation Award winning productions of The Boy from Oz, The Color Purple: The Musical, and Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, the worldwide hit improv-based show The Blind Date Project, the Neil LaBute penned feature films Some Girl(s) and Dirty Weekend, actress Jennifer Morrison’s feature directorial debut Sun Dogs (Netflix 2018), and the 2018 and 2021 Official Sundance Selection The Blazing World (short and feature). Notably, Carlberg was the producer of Skin, which won the 2019 Academy Award for Live Action Short Film.
Asher Grodman
Asher Grodman is an actor and award-winning filmmaker who has worked across all mediums and currently stars as Trevor on the CBS hit comedy Ghosts. He wrote and directed "It Was Written"; the viral Jacksonville Jaguars 2023 Schedule Release film, a mockumentary about the NFL being scripted. The film took home awards at Tribeca Film Festival, Cannes Lions and the Webbys. His short film The Train starring Academy Award Winner Eli Wallach, was featured in over 25 festivals and won numerous honors including recognitions for Best Film at the Cleveland International Film Festival and the Sedona International Film Festival.
Other recent television appearances include Succession (HBO), Chicago Med (NBC), House of Cards(Netflix), Elementary (CBS) and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit(NBC). He’s worked extensively in independent film and theater across the country including the title role of Amadeus at South Coast Rep.
Bonnie Discepolo
Bonnie Discepolo is an award-winning filmmaker and actor whose work blends emotional depth with genre-defying storytelling. Discepolo’s most recent outing “Neo Dome” won the audience award at SXSW, Series Fest and the Nashville Film festival. It also took home jury prizes at Nashville and WoodsHole Film festivals.
An alumna of Boston University’s School of Theatre Arts, The Moscow Art Theatre School, and the Atlantic Acting School, Bonnie’s theatrical training infuses her filmmaking with a distinctive emotional resonance. Her acting credits include Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and Shazam: Fury of the Gods.
Carlson Young
Carlson Young is a director, writer, and actor based in Los Angeles, originally hailing from Fort Worth, Texas. After co-starring in two seasons of Scream: The TV Series, Young wrote, directed, and starred in her feature debut, a psychological horror THE BLAZING WORLD, which premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival. Most recently, she directed her second feature, Amazon’s rom-com UPGRADED starring Camila Mendes, Marisa Tomei and Archie Reneaux. She recently completed production on the feature film TRUST, starring Sophie Turner.
John Trefry
John Trefry is a writer/producer with extensive narrative and documentary credits, whose work has competed at over a hundred festivals around the world including SXSW, Tribeca and Raindance. John has a unique skillset as both an award-winning creative and successful entrepreneur, with a proven track record of distributing content to global audiences with partners like HBO.
John's credits include SOULS OF TOTALITY starring Tatiana Maslany (She-Hulk), HOW TO BE ALONE starring Joe Keery (Stranger Things) and Maika Monroe (It Follows) and 5150 starring Jovan Adepo (Watchmen) and executive produced by David Oyelowo (Selma).
Our 2026 Jury for “Best Animation”
Andreas Deja
Born in Poland and raised in Germany, Andreas Deja fell in love with animation after seeing “The Jungle Book” as a boy, and wrote to Disney at just 10 years old asking for a job. In 1980, that early passion came to fruition when he was hired, and it was the start of a celebrated 30-year career at Walt Disney Animation Studios, where he brought some of the studio’s most iconic characters to life, including Gaston, Jafar, Scar, Hercules, and Lilo, earning him recognition as an official Disney Legend in 2015. A lifelong champion of hand-drawn animation, Deja has become one of the medium’s foremost historians, authoring and co-authoring books including The Nine Old Men, Walt Disney’s The Jungle Book: Making a Masterpiece, and Mickey Mouse: From Walt to the World, and curating exhibitions for the Walt Disney Family Museum.
In 2023, he made his directorial debut with the independent hand-drawn short Mushka, now streaming across major VOD platforms. He’s currently at work on an art book celebrating legendary animator Milt Kahl, developing a new feature-length documentary, and continuing to champion the legacy of hand-drawn animation and Disney artistry. Follow Andreas on Instagram @officialandreasdeja and his blog https://andreasdeja.blogspot.com/
John Pomeroy
I love to create and animate. I’ve been doing it for a long time and with a lot of different people. In 1973, I began working at the Walt Disney Company as a background artist, and after only a short year I was grateful to earn the role of full animator to work on Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too—a beloved classic that went on to earn an Academy Award Nomination. During my time at Disney, I met fellow animators Don Bluth and Gary Goldman. We hit it off almost immediately and set to work on an independent short film entitled, Banjo the Woodpile Cat. That labor of love paved the way for me, Bluth, Goldman, and several other Disney animators to form Don Bluth Productions—which, later, became Bluth Group. Together, we went on to produce The Secret of NIMH (1982), as well as the animation for the laserdisc video games Space Ace and Dragon’s Lair - which was most recently highlighted in Netflix’s Stranger Things.
In 1986, I worked as the directing animator and producer on An American Tail and, shortly thereafter, The Land Before Time, before I moved back to America in 1989 to form a new U.S. wing of Bluth Group, which eventually became Sullivan Bluth Studios. When Sullivan Bluth Studios closed in 1995, I returned to Disney to work as the supervising animator on Pocahontas, where I also designed and led a crew of fourteen animators to create the character of John Smith.
I was also a supervising animator for Fantasia 2000, and an animator for Treasure Planet, Curious George and The Simpsons Movie. I was the lead character designer for Milo Thatch on Atlantis: The Lost Empire.
Outside of illustration and animation, I’m a storyboard artist, I love to sculpt, and I’ve created busts that animated film artists use to visualize 3-D character models. I’m also a painter of historical events and a builder of historic weapons that are actually used as props in Hollywood movies. Additionally, I’m an oil painter, portrait artist by commission, lecturer, and college professor.
I love to create and tell stories. How can I help you tell your story? You can follow my work at https://www.johnpomeroy.com
David Chai
David Chai, avid burrito and pizza enthusiast, has worked on a variety of projects ranging from educational software, animation for television and video, commercial advertising, to independent films. To date, his independent films have screened in over 300 film festivals internationally, including Annecy, Cinequest, Ottawa International Animation Festival, and Sundance; featured in Spike and Mike’s Festival of Animation; and nominated twice for “Best Short Subject” at the Annie Awards.
Our Judges for 2025
Andrew Carlberg
Named by Variety (alongside Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Mindy Kaling, Ryan Coogler, Beau Willimon, and Olivia Wilde) as one of “Hollywoodʼs New Leaders,” Carlberg is an Academy Award and Emmy Award winning film, television, new media, Broadway and Los Angeles stage producer. Andrew’s extensive credits include, but aren’t limited to, ABC’s Castle, DirecTV’s Full Circle, Broadway’s Romeo and Juliet and Side Show, Celebration Theatre's Ovation Award winning productions of The Boy from Oz, The Color Purple: The Musical, and Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, the worldwide hit improv-based show The Blind Date Project, the Neil LaBute penned feature films Some Girl(s) and Dirty Weekend, actress Jennifer Morrison’s feature directorial debut Sun Dogs (Netflix 2018), and the 2018 and 2021 Official Sundance Selection The Blazing World (short and feature). Notably, Carlberg was the producer of Skin, which won the 2019 Academy Award for Live Action Short Film.
Bonnie Discepolo
Bonnie Discepolo is an award-winning filmmaker and actor whose work blends emotional depth with genre-defying storytelling. Discepolo’s most recent outing “Neo Dome” won the audience award at SXSW, Series Fest and the Nashville Film festival. It also took home jury prizes at Nashville and WoodsHole Film festivals.
An alumna of Boston University’s School of Theatre Arts, The Moscow Art Theatre School, and the Atlantic Acting School, Bonnie’s theatrical training infuses her filmmaking with a distinctive emotional resonance. Her acting credits include Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and Shazam: Fury of the Gods.
Carlson Young
Carlson Young is a director, writer, and actor based in Los Angeles, originally hailing from Fort Worth, Texas. After co-starring in two seasons of Scream: The TV Series, Young wrote, directed, and starred in her feature debut, a psychological horror THE BLAZING WORLD, which premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival. Most recently, she directed her second feature, Amazon’s rom-com UPGRADED starring Camila Mendes, Marisa Tomei and Archie Reneaux. She recently completed production on the feature film TRUST, starring Sophie Turner.
John Trefry
John Trefry is a writer/producer with extensive narrative and documentary credits, whose work has competed at over a hundred festivals around the world including SXSW, Tribeca and Raindance. John has a unique skillset as both an award-winning creative and successful entrepreneur, with a proven track record of distributing content to global audiences with partners like HBO.
John's credits include SOULS OF TOTALITY starring Tatiana Maslany (She-Hulk), HOW TO BE ALONE starring Joe Keery (Stranger Things) and Maika Monroe (It Follows) and 5150 starring Jovan Adepo (Watchmen) and executive produced by David Oyelowo (Selma).
