Our Judges for 2024
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.
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).
Best of Fest
Best of Fest
We Were Meant To
Directed by: Tari Wariebi
Best Drama
Best Drama
Infraction
Directed by: Timothy Blackwood
Best Animation
Best Animation
Mushka
Directed by: Andreas Deja
Best of World Cinema
Best of World Cinema
The Old Young Crow
Directed by: Liam LoPinto
Best Documentary
Best Documentary
Every Day After
Directed by: Elisa Gambino
Best Family Film
Best Family Film
Canary
Directed by: Pierre-Hugues Dallaire, Benoit Therriault
Best Comedy
Best Comedy
They Grow Up So Fast
Directed by: John F. Beach
Best Student Film
Best Student Film
When Beverly Met Reita
Directed by: Brianna Rebecca Schatt
Best Sci-Fi
Best Sci-Fi
Lost in the Sky
Directed by: Simon Oster
Past Festivals
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