Festival Jury 2008
FEATURES JURY
Alison Dickey produced the feature film PIGGIE, written and directed by Indie Memphis co-juror Alison Bagnall Standefer; SKIPPED PARTS, based on the novel by Tim Sandlin; and HOW TO MAKE THE CRUELEST MONTH, written and directed by Kim Koenig, and an official selection of the 1998 Sundance Film Festival. Alison worked for many years producing music videos and commercials, traveling the country with directors including Matthew Rolston and Herb Ritts. Prior to producing, Alison worked with Sean Penn, developing film projects for his production company at Orion Pictures and Columbia Pictures. Alison has served on the juries for the AFI Film Festival and IFP/Los Angeles among others. In addition to participating in numerous panels, in the fall of 2004, Alison tought the IFP Producer's Lab in Los Angeles. She served on the nominating committees for Film Independent's 2007 and 2008 Spirit Awards.
Amy Dotson is the Producer & Managing Director of Programming for IFP, a 30-year old not-for-profit membership and advocacy organization that supports and serves the independent film community by connecting creative talent and the film industry. She produces and oversees programs such as the Narrative Independent Filmmaker Labs, the annual Independent Filmmaker Conference, and the Emerging Narrative Program at the IFP Market. Amy previously held the positions of Associate Programmer/Special Programs Producer for SILVERDOCS: AFI/Discovery Channel Documentary Festival, The AFI Silver’s Latin American Film Festival and The AFI Silver’s The European Union Film Showcase in Washington, DC. Prior to her experience as a programmer, Amy worked with producer Fred Berner, as well as at Curious Pictures and Miramax Films, where her responsibilities included a wide variety of production, development, administrative and business affairs duties. In her spare time, Amy is producing her first feature documentary with director Brad Beesley (FEARLESS FREAKS, SUMMERCAMP!) on the women of the Oklahoma State Prison Rodeo.
Elvis Mitchell currently serves as host of The Treatment for National Public Radio’s Los Angeles affiliate KCRW, which has been broadcast nationally since 1996. He is also entertainment critic for NPR’s Weekend Edition with Scott Simon, a position he has held since that shows debut in 1985, and hosts INDEPENDENT FOCUS for the Independent Film Channel and, most recently, TCM PRESENTS ELVIS MITCHELL: UNDER THE INFLUENCE for Turner Classic Movies. Elvis was film critic for the New York Times for four years, beginning in January 2000. Prior to that, he served as film critic for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram for two years, where he won the 1999 American Association of Sunday and Feature Editor’s Excellence in Feature Writing Award for criticism. Other positions as film critic include the Detroit Free Press, LA Weekly and California magazine. He has also served as editor-at-large for Spin magazine and has written for Interview, Esquire and the New York Times Sunday Magazine. In 1993, he was nominated for a Writer’s Guild of America Award for his contributions to “The AFI Achievement Award Tribute to Sidney Poitier.” A graduate of Wayne State University in Detroit, Elvis is a visiting lecturer on African and African-American studies and visual and environmental studies at Harvard University. He has twice served on the dramatic jury for the Sundance Film Festival, where he premiered his film THE BLACK LIST: VOLUME ONE in January.
DOCUMENTARIES JURY
donnie l. betts has over 20 years of experience in theatre, film, radio and video. He studied at Yale School of Drama, and is a founding member of two theatre companies in Denver: City State Ensemble and the Denver Black Arts Company. He has performed on Broadway in “The Gospel at Colonus”. On film, donnie’s work as an actor has included roles in John Sayles' HONEYDRIPPER (Indie Memphis 2007) and SWITCHBACK – both starring Danny Glover. donnie was also part of the production teams who created the television pilots for "In Living Color" and "Dream On," and also spent one season working with Carol Burnett on "Carol and Company." donnie directed, co-produced, co-wrote, and acted in the documentary film DEARFIELD: THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED, a film about an African-American town in Colorado, which won numerous festival awards, including the "Silver Award" at the Black Filmworks Festival of Film and Video in Oakland, California. DEARFIELD also aired on PBS and was later nominated for an Emmy.
His most recent film, MUSIC IS MY LIFE, POLITICS MY MISTRESS: THE STORY OF OSCAR BROWN JR., is a documentary about the great singer, playwright, actor and composer Oscar Brown Jr. The film is currently being screened around the world, and has won ten film festival awards to date.
Peter Gilbert produced and was the Director of Photography of he Oscar-nominated documentary HOOP DREAMS, which won the Audience Award at the 1994 Sundance Film Festival and received awards from the Producer's Guild of America, the Independent Spirit Awards, the National Arts Club and the National Society of Film Critics, to name just a few. In addition to directing numerous commercials and music videos, Peter produced and was Director of Photography for PREFONTAINE and STEVIE, and directed the Emmy-nomindated WITH ALL DELIBERATE SPEED. He co-directed AT THE DEATH HOUSE DOOR, his latest collaboration with HOOP DREAMS director Steve James. Peter Gilbert is one of the filmmakers behind HOOP DREAMS, serving as a producer and director of photography. He has had a distinguished career in producing, directing, and photographing documentaries, feature films, commercials, and music videos. In 2004, he premiered the Emmy nominated WITH ALL DELIBERATE SPEED, the first work in the series “Discovery Docs,” which he co-founded with the Discovery Network. He also executive produced the Sundance Festival Grand Jury and Audience award winning film, THE GODS TIRED OF US (2005); executive produced the award-winning DEADLINE (2004), broadcast in prime-time on NBC; and produced and directed A TIME FOR DANCING (2003). Peter’s earlier work includes ALL THE RAGE; the Emmy Award–winning documentary VIETNAM: LONG TIME COMING, for which he also won the Directors Guild of America Award for Best Directing; PREFONTAINE, as cinematographer and producer; STEVIE, as co-cinematographer and co-producer; and MARRIED IN AMERICA, as principal photographer. His cinematography work also includes AMERICAN DREAM. He is a director with Workhorse Media in Los Angeles, Maysles Films and a member of Kartemquin Films in Chicago.
SHORTS JURY
Skizz Cyzyk is the Founder / Festival Director of MicroCineFest, the Programming Manager for the Maryland Film Festival, and Advisory Board Member / projectionist / occassional juror for the Slamdance Film Festival, ten-year technical supervisor / projectionist for the Atlanta Film Festival, and has served on the juries of many other festivals. Since 1983, Skizz has made more than 50 short films & videos, many of which have won awards and been shown at festivals around the world. He also writes for music and film magazines, is on the Board of Directors for Maryland Lawyers for the Arts, and has been playing drums and ukulele in various bands for longer than he has been making films.
Dan Krovich is currently festival director at the Atlanta Film Festival. He spent his academic career in science, receiving a B.S. in chemistry from the College of William and Mary and a Ph.D. in pharmacology and molecular sciences from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. His passion for film led him to pursue a career in that arena leading to the position of programming administrator at The Maryland Film Festival where he served for six years. During his time there, he also worked on several film productions including SWIMMERS and SYRIANA. Additionally, he has served as a reader for the Maryland Filmmaker's Fellowship in conjunction with the Sundance Institute, and has been on the programming committee for the underground film festival MicroCineFest.
Kent Osborne wrote and starred in the 2000 Sundance Film Festival feature DROPPING OUT, directed by his brother Mark. He has starred in numerous shorts, including HERD, QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS, THE PIPE, as well as Joe Swanberg’s 2007 feature HANNAH TAKES THE STAIRS. Kent has worked as a writer / storyboard director for “Camp Lazlo,” “The Misadventures of Flapjack” and “SpongeBob Squarepants” -- which earned him three Emmy nominations. He is also the author of the graphic novel The Day is Today.
HOMETOWNERS
Matt Parker was born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee where his love of film began with his weekly Sunday trip to the movies with his Dad. Matt is a producer with the newly formed The Group Entertainment. He was an associate producer on LOGGERHEADS (Indie Memphis 2005) and producer on FIND LOVE and JUST LIKE THE SON. He also produced the multi award winning short FACECHASERS and the independent television pilot, “Nicky’s Game” starring Burt Young (ROCKY). In the past year, he co-produced THE WAR BOYS and PETER AND VANDY, and was an associate producer on FLOW and FAMILIAR STRANGERS. Matt is also partnered with producer Gill Holland in sonaBLAST! Records (Mark Geary, Kelley McRae, The Old Ceremony, Ben Sollee), which saw its first two releases (Mark Geary’s “Ghosts” and “3 1/3 Grand Street”) go Gold in Ireland.
Alison Bagnall Standefer, co-writer of BUFFALO 66, grew up in rural Connecticut where she counted her sheep as some of her best friends. After college, Alison moved to Rome, where she worked in the trenches of American and Italian movies, directed two short films, and found herself in the company of the local film glitterati, as well as the lower echelon of Roman society -- loan sharks, petty criminals and small-time prize fighters. Back in the US, she attended the directors program at the American Film Institute, collaborated with Vincent Gallo, and directed a feature film -- PIGGIE -- produced by her Indie Memphis co-juror, Alison Dickey, and featuring Dean Wareham of Luna and actor John C. Reilly. Currently, Alison lives in Philadelphia where she is working on her next feature project, collaboration with actor Greta Gerwig (BAGHEAD, HANNAH TAKES THE STAIRS).
MUSIC VIDEO
Benjamin Kasulke is an award winning Director and Director of Photography based in Seattle where he has been fortunate enough to lens music videos for a wide spectrum of local and international recording artists. Ben has collaborated on music videos for Psychic TV, Atmosphere, The Lights, Andrew Bird, Harvey Danger, The Girls, and The Dead Science among others. Kasulke shot the in studio documentation of Einsterzuende Neubaten's "Jewels" album in 2007. Kasulke also shot and directed the live performance documentary of Built To Spill's 2007 tour of Germany and The Netherlands. His work has been seen on the festival circuit, MTV, MTV Europe, Spin.com, and Neubaten.org. He is currently serving as Director of Photography on Marie Losier's upcoming Psychic TV documentary "The Ballad Of Genesis P-Orridge and Lady Jaye".
Lynn Shelton spent dozen of years acting for the stage, and a decade more learning the ins and outs of cinema as an experimental and documentary filmmaker (The Clouds That Touch Us Out of Clear Skies, The Fruits of Our Labors) and as an editor (Outpatient, Hedda Gabler, Measure). Lynn wrote and directed her first feature-length film upon invitation from The Film Company, a nonprofit film studio. The result, WE GO WAY BACK, premiered at the Slamdance Film Festival in 2006 where it picked up the Grand Jury Award for Best Narrative Feature. Her sophomore feature, MY EFFORTLESS BRILLIANCE, premiered in the SXSW Narrative Feature competition in 2008 and won the Special Jury Prize for Excellence in Direction at the Atlanta Film Festival. Shelton has directed music videos for Laura Veirs, The Lonely H, The Lights and Harvey Danger.
Ted Speaker, man of mystery and wearer of many hats, composed the music for Lynn Shelton's MY EFFORTLESS BRILLIANCE and contributed compositions for Chance Shirley's INTERPLANETARY. Ted has produced, directed, and edited numerous music videos ranging in genre from ambient to hip-hop, as well as writing and directing several short films. He currently resides in Birmingham, Alabama, spending most of his time in a small room with no windows and too many computers.
