2023 Jury Judges
Bruce Locke
Judge
Born in Portland, OR, a former nationally ranked tennis player, Congressional aide and US Naval Academy and Pitzer College alumnus, Bruce holds degrees in Mathematics and Economics. He began a career in acting right out of college. Notable among his film credits are THE SHADOW, BLACK RAIN and ROBOCOP 3, which Bruce portrayed Robocop’s nemesis, Otomo. Among his three TV Pilots as a series regular, most recognize him from MORTAL KOMBAT CONQUEST (MKC). In MKC, Bruce portrayed the sorcerer, Shang Tsung. In other TV roles of note, Bruce portrayed the controversial FBI sniper in the Emmy nominated CBS mini- series based on the real life Ruby Ridge incident. He also guest starred on other award winning series, NYPD BLUE and MURDER SHE WROTE. Other guest star roles of note include appearances on Huff, The Agency, ARLI$$, Cold Case, Hawaii Five-O, NCIS LA, NCIS. Most recently, Bruce portrayed General Yamori in Season 4 of Amazon’s The Man in the High Castle, Ren Kido in Season 2 of Impulse, and General Tsengjun in Space Force on Netflix. Voice work: video games, animation, TV commercials, Film narration, Documentary narration, Voice replacement In Film, Voice Dubbing into English.
Douglas J. Eboch
Judge
Douglas J. Eboch is a screenwriter best known for writing the original screenplay for SWEET HOME ALABAMA, starring Reese Witherspoon, which set a box office record for a September opening. With his sister, Kris Bock, he co-wrote the prequel novels FELONY MELANIE IN PAGEANT PANDEMONIUM and FELONY MELANIE IN THE BIG SMASHUP about the teenage adventures of the characters from the movie. He also wrote the original novel TOTALLY RAD WORMHOLE. He has written videogames (NIGHTMARE COVE), plays (SLEEPOVER AT THE STABLES, MAGI ROAD TRIP), and has had short stories published in such magazines as “The Colored Lens” and “Science Fictionery.” Doug is the author of the non-fiction books, THE THREE STAGES OF SCREENWRITING and co-author, with producer Ken Aguado, of THE HOLLYWOOD PITCHING BIBLE.
George Larkin
Judge
George Larkin is a Professor and Chair of Filmmaking at Woodbury University. He's a graduate of Yale University, has an M.A of Shakespearean Studies from the University of Birmingham (England), and has Ph.D. in Film & Media Studies at the University of California-Berkeley. Routledge Research published his book, Post-Production: the Invisible Revolution of Filmmaking, in 2018.
He was the head of development and post-production supervisor on two of David O. Russell's films (Spanking the Monkey & Flirting With Disaster) as well as Manny & Lo, The Last Good Time, and Wigstock: the Movie. They starred Patricia Arquette, Josh Brolin, Scarlett Johansson, Téa Leoni, Adrian Pasdar, David O. Russell, and Ben Stiller among others. The films premiered at the Sundance, Berlin, Cannes, and Avignon Film Festivals and were distributed by Miramax, New Line, Sony Classics, and Samuel Goldwyn.
Sara Elizabeth Timmins
Judge
Sara Elizabeth Timmins established Life Out Loud Films in 2008 to create quality, inspiring impact films that champion women. Her films have been seen in theatres, HBO, The Hallmark Channel, Starz, Showtime and internationally. She has worked with Oscar & Emmy winning talent like Jane Seymour, Ellen Burstyn, Chris Cooper, Josh Lucas and Mackenzie Foy and writers like NY Times Best Selling Author David Baldacci. Every film has featured award winning talent and secured international distribution. She field produced the Emmy nominated HBO docu series McMillions for Mark Wahlberg’s company which premiered at Sundance 2020 and is in development on several feature films and series. She is also a film consultant/coach, founding NO FILM SCHOOL. NO TRUST FUND. NO PROBLEM. in 2020 to create community, education, inspiration and motivation for indie filmmakers and has produced national campaigns for companies like Meyer Natural Foods & Laura's Lean. Sara Elizabeth believes she has a responsibility through film to spark conversations, that inspire action, that ignites change. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Xavier University.
Lili Bordan
Judge
Lili Bordan is a Hungarian/ American stage and screen actress located in New York City. She graduated from Sarah Lawrence College with concentrations in theatre, history, and philosophy. Lili began her career with a guest starring role on Law and Order: SVU, and went on to act in over 60 studio and independent film and TV productions around the world including FBI: International (ABC), Inventing Anna (Netflix), Book Club (Paramount) and Silent Witness (BBC). She wrote, produced and directed her first short film “One Night Only” while pregnant with her first daughter. Curtiz, a feature film out of Hungary that she acted in and helped produce, won Best Foreign Film at Burbank International Film Festival in 2019 and was consequently bought by NETFLIX for world-wide streaming. Her latest projects include short film “You and Me,” which she starred in and co-produced alongside acclaimed Moldovan filmmaker Natalia Shaufert, and the role of Queen Elizabeth of Prussia in Hungarian feature film, Hadik.
Joe Camareno
Judge
Joe Camareno is an American entertainment professional who hails from Los Angeles. He's a multi-award-winning producer, writer, director and co-owner of Brodiaea Pictures, Inc. He directed the feature film, Tin Holiday , which has garnered multiple nominations and wins including Best Director, Best Comedy, and Best Story all across the globe. He was nominated for a 2019 Imagen Award in the Best Actor category for Tin Holiday. Most recently, he was the producer and director for Linked by Love, a digital single-camera series starring Michelle N. Carter (Mass, The Rookie: Feds, The Goldbergs) and Shirley Jordan (Abbot Elementary, Most Wanted Santa, S.W.A.T.). The limited series is currently enjoying a successful run on the streamers. Prior to that, he was the series director for highly regarded and nominated digital series, Sister President, as well as the educational digital series Fixing Paco, starring Paul Rodriguez. Joe was also the series director and producer for the 2010 Imagen Award-winning web series Ylse.
Alex Hajdu
Judge
Coming from a highly successful 4 season run as Production Designer on the hit NETFLIX show "Lucifer", Alex Hajdu moved on to design the permanent sets and pilot for the highly anticipated "CSI VEGAS". His other credits include "Magnum PI" in Hawaii and three seasons of "Survivor's Remorse" shot in Atlanta. Spending 20 years as an Art Director prior to moving up as Production Designer, he combines his practical knowledge with his unique approach to design. His combined credits include "The Walking Dead" pilot & season one; the "Agents of Shield" pilot; and the ABC series "Off The Map". Alex was nominated for the ADG Excellence in Design Award for "Mob City" as Art Director, then Production Designer for the AMC series. Among his other television credits as Art Director are the series "Secrets and Lies", "Training Day", "Battle Creek", "Private Practice", "In Case of Emergency", "Night Stalker", "Medical Investigation" and the pilot for "My Name Is Earl". His feature experience includes being art director on Oliver Stone's 'W', starring Josh Brolin, and Academy Award nominee Frank Darabont's "The Mist", starring Thomas Jane and Marcia Gay Harden. "Law Abiding Citizen" marks his first major feature film as Production Designer.
Artisha Mann-Cooper
Judge
Artisha Mann-Cooper is an Emmy Nominated producer with over a decade of experience as an Producer/Line Producer. She has worked on I Can I Will I Did (Selenis Leyvas & Ben Faist), Bikini Moon (Condola Rashad) directed by oscar nominated director Milcho Mancheskvi , Cinequest Audience Award winning film Slapface( Mike Manning, Dan Hedaya), A24's Inspection (Gabrielle Union, Bokeem Woodbine, Jeremy Pope), Tripped Up (Vanessa Williams, Leah Lewis), A Southern Haunting (Imani Hakim, Layla Deleon Hayes) and Daytime Emmy Winning TV series The Bay.
Additionally, Artisha has worked for Wayfarer Studio overseeing Justin Baldoni’s Six Feet Apart Experiment with mentors Cathy Yan (Birds of Prey), Brad Silberling (Casper), Nzingha Stewart (Tall Girl), Bilal Fallah & Adil El Arbi (Bad Boys 3) & Jim Byrkit and an Advisory Board member with Director Nina Decosta (Candyman, Captain Marvel 2) for Pano (formerly New York City Women Filmmakers).
Paula Landry
Judge
Paula Landry, MBA is an author and award-winning writer/producer who works in film, television and media entrepreneurship. Her clients include brands, creatives and companies big and small. Her films have debuted at Sundance, Chelsea Film Festival, Raindance NYC, CineVegas, winning awards from the Best Actors Film Fest, Austin Comedy, Columbia Pictures Screen Gems, Time Warner Showtime Audience Award, and WorldFest Houston Film Festival; her writing has won the Lugnut Award, 2nd Round at Austin Film Festival, and a semi-finalist at Made in NY Writer’s Room. Ms. Landry is a member of Disney’s Creative Talent Development & Inclusion program. Recent film projects include Irish crime thriller LAST PINT based on the largest bank heist in Ireland, a docu-series about trends in the lives of neurodiverse people, developing Warren Adler’s play (War of the Roses) DEAD IN THE WATER for the screen. As a creator, her purpose is to reduce loneliness by connecting with people through stories & ideas, link artists with entrepreneurial tools, and clients with increased revenue and visibility. She is the author of Applying Entrepreneurship to the Arts, Scheduling and Budgeting Your Film: A Panic- Free Guide, 2nd ed. and co-author with Stephen Greenwald of The Business of Film, A Practical Guide, 3rd ed. She generates budgets and business plans for clients in filmmaking.
Stay in touch at paulalandry.com, @aflickchickNYC on IG and on LinkedIn! Paula serves as Vice President for the non-profit filmmaking organization PANO Network, a safe, inclusive, and encouraging community for women, non-binary & GNC creators and their supporters. Join to hire, find work and build your network of filmmakers, level up your career with including grants, discounts, mentorship and much more.
Mark Daugherty
Judge
Mark is a working actor and an entrepreneur who has appeared in numerous films, television shows, advertisements, and voice-overs. Mark's first foray into Hollywood was working in casting and talent management. In 2016 Mark and his husband opened The Actor's Collective in North Hollywood - a studio specializing in self-tapes, headshots, career counseling, and audition coaching. To date, The Actor's Collective has filmed over 20,000 audition tapes and their clients can be seen in virtually every aspect of the entertainment industry including film, tv, voiceover, commercials and Broadway productions. Last pilot season alone, their studio yielded two series regulars.
As a coach, Mark's clients have recently booked shows like Grey's Anatomy, Reasonable Doubt, 9-1-1, NCIS, Young and the Restless, Station 19 countless feature films and one of his youngest clients is currently nominated for a Young Artists Academy award.
You can catch Mark recurring in the upcoming Netflix series Obliterated, Amazon's Outer Range and an upcoming animated Netflix feature film. You can also hear Mark voicing multiple video games, Korean dramas and can also see Mark (and his husband) in a few commercials broadcasting in the next year.
Mark is a mentor, keynote speaker, and acting coach and he has traveled nationwide teaching, developing, and training talent of all ages. Mark is thrilled and delighted to be asked to be a part of the Burbank Film Festival.
Lauren Grey
Judge
Lauren Grey is a Casting Director with over twenty years of experience working in film and television.
Her most recent shows include the Bryan Cranston-led YOUR HONOR (Showtime), TELL ME LIES (Hulu), SWAGGER (Apple+), THE MYSTERIOUS BENEDICT SOCIETY (Disney+) and the critically acclaimed comedy THIS FOOL (Hulu).
She has had the pleasure of collaborating with a wide variety of gifted filmmakers and showrunners over the years, including Sam Raimi, Gus Van Sant, Lena Waithe, James Bobin, Thomas Schlamme and Terrence Malick.
She is currently casting a reboot of the cult classic CRUEL INTENTIONS for Amazon.
Michael Markowitz
Judge
Michael Markowitz is an Emmy-nominated TV and film writer. A graduate of Northwestern University and Chicago's Second City Training Center, he was a writer and producer on TV shows including Duckman and Becker. His screenplay for Horrible Bosses earned him an American Comedy Award nomination. Michael has developed TV, film and interactive projects with Sony, Lionsgate, Universal, Bad Robot, and EA, among others.