Meet 2023 The Film Jury Panel & Master of Ceremonies

Film Jury: Oscar-nominated Writer/Director Billy Ray

Billy Ray wrote the Oscar-nominated screenplay for Captain Phillips, for which he won the WGA award. He also wrote, directed, and executive-produced Showtime’s “The Comey Rule,” which had the biggest debut of any limited series in that network’s history. Ray’s films as writer, co-writer, or writer-director include “The Hunger Games,” “Richard Jewell,” “Shattered Glass,” and “Breach.” He serves on the boards of Common Defense and Big Sunday, and is currently hosting the Podcast “StrikeTalk” for Deadline.Com. He believes in democracy, justice, and the Dodgers.

KNOWN FOR

Film Jury: Emerging Cinematic Luminary Ellie Foumbi

Ellie is an actor, writer, and director from Cameroon. She got her MFA from Columbia University’s School of the Arts in Directing. Ellie’s projects have been supported by the Venice Biennale College-Cinema, SFFILM Kenneth Rainin Foundation, IFP’s No Borders Project Forum, Film Independent Screenwriting Lab, and Tribeca Film Institute’s Untold Stories. Her debut film, OUR FATHER THE DEVIL (2021) premiered at the Venice Film Festival and went on to win 27 prizes at international film festivals and was nominated for Best Feature at the Independent Spirit Awards.

Film Jury: Renowned Cultural Trailblazers
Kathleen Brennan & Tom Waits

In a career that spans over four decades, singer-songwriter Tom Waits has adventurously delved into recording, literature, film and theater, as both actor and composer. His music, recognized for its distinctive orchestrations and arrangements, has ranged from country, blues, cabaret, waltz and field hollers to gospel, polkas and marches. He has recorded over 20 albums including Bad As Me and appeared in well over 20 films including, Ironweed, Dracula, Down By Law, Short Cuts, Book of Eli and The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, working with such maverick directors like Jim Jarmusch, Terry Giliam, Francis Ford Coppola, Hughes Brothers, Hector Barbenco and Robert Altman. Waits and his long-time collaborator and wife, Kathleen Brennan, were named number four in a list of the “100 Best Living Songwriters” published by America’s Paste magazine. Paste said “In literature only a handful of writers have pulled off the near impossible. In music, it happens on every Tom Waits recording”. Tom and Kathleen were also awarded the PEN Award of Literary Excellence for their songwriting.

Film Jury: Local Independent Filmmaker and award-winning screenwriter John Harden

John Harden is an award-winning screenwriter and director of film and video. His short film La vie d’un chien (The Life of a Dog) screened at top-tier festivals around the world, including exhibition at NY MOMA as part of the New Directors/New Films series. His screenplay The Sensitivity Program (co-authored with Skot Christopherson) won Best Feature Screenplay (Science Fiction Category) in the Austin Film Festival competition. In 2020 John was chosen as one of “25 Screenwriters to Watch” by the International Screenwriters Association. As part of their Development Slate, he’s currently pitching a series concept to producers, while continuing to helm independent projects. His work in film is complemented by a background in visual arts and communications: graphic design, illustration, journalism, and marketing. A life-long resident of the S.F. Bay Area, John is married and currently resides in Santa Rosa. Learn more and see John’s work at johnfilms.com.

Master of Ceremonies: Jason Constantine Bonduris

Jason is a graduate of the California Institute of Performing Arts (Cal Arts), the Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts (PCPA), and the Midsummer in Oxford program at the British American Drama Academy (BADA) in England.