Judges

DYLAN BROWN – Chair of the Jury is Supervising Animator at Pixar Animation Studios. His credits include the Academy Award winning Ratatouille. He also worked on Toy Story Animated Story Book and the Toy Story Activity CenterCD-ROM’s.  He worked as an animator on A Bug's Life and as a directing animator on Toy Story 2. Following Toy Story 2, Dylan continued as an animator on Monsters, Inc. before he became the supervising animator for Finding Nemo. Dylan joined the Ratatouille production as a supervising animator in 2003 during which he also served briefly as an animator on The Incredibles. After completion of Ratatouille in 2007, Dylan directed the Wall*E Superbowl commercial which aired in February 2008. Dylan will also be a featured presenter at the New Technologies in Animation on May 2, 10:00am at the Bristol IMAX Omnitheater.

BEN DIOGAVE BEYE was a radio broadcaster-producer for Radio Senegal and journalist for the Senegalese News Agency. His first film was Les Princes Noirs de Saint-Germain-des-Prés. It was followed in 1975 by Samba Tali (street kid) which won the Best Picture Award for short-film at the Festival International du Film de l’Ensemble Francophone (FIFIEF) in Geneva (1975) and Best Short Film at the Carthage Festival, in Tunisia. In 1980 he wrote, produced and directed Sey, Seyti (A Man And Women), his first feature: honorable mention at the Locarno International Film Festival, 1980, and Prix de la Commune at the Ougadougou’s Pan-African Film Festival, 1981. In 1987 he directed a documentary on the Senegalese Red-Cross and in 1990 he helped direct Hyenas with Djibril Diop Mamebéti. Un Amour d’Enfant, his second feature (2004) won the UNICEF Award for the Promotion of Children’s Rights, at the Festival Pan Africain du Cinéma de Ouagadougou (FESPACO 2005), as well as a Special Mention from the World Catholic Association for Communication. At the end of 2007 he wrote, produced, and directed Dakar…La Rue Publique (The Communal Street) to be released in Spring, 2008. He has published several short novellas. His first novel Latricia’s Dream will be the source for his next film. Ben Beye is a Visiting Artist teaching in the Department of Transmedia Film Program, College of Visual and Performing Arts, Syracuse University.

TOM BOWER is best known as “Marvin the Janitor” in Die Hard II (1990); the “Drunken Pilot” in Clear and Present Danger (1994); the FBI Agent who came to Ashley Judd’s aid in High Crimes (2002); as “Cecil Skells” in True Believer (1989) and Richard Nixon’s father in Oliver Stone’s Nixon (1995). He has recently completed Appaloosa (2008), directed by and starring Ed Harris, with Viggo Mortensen, Jeremy Irons and Renee Zellweger; Gospel Hill (2008), directed by Giancarlo Esposito with Samuel L. Jackson, Danny Glover, Angela Bassett and Julia Stiles; and Sessions (2008), directed by Haim Bouzaglo, with Steven Bauer and Bar Refa'eli. Tom has appeared on, Monk, The Guardian, The Practice, Law & Order, West Wing, The  X-Files, Roswell, and NYPD Blue. He is the Chief Creative Officer for New Deal Pictures and invited by Robert Redford to be a resource actor at the Sundance Institute for film and television. Tom has  served on the National Board of Directors of Screen Actors’ Guild; was the architect of Global Rule One and created the SAGIndie Outreach Program. He has appeared in over 80 theatrical productions across the United States, is a founding member of The Loretta Theatre which includes, Holly Hunter and Ed Harris. He is also a founding member of The Boston Repertory Theatre Company, served on the Board of Directors for Theatre West, The Back Alley Theatre and The Fountain Theatre. He has produced more than 25 plays, including the world premiere of John Patrick Shanley’s Italian American Reconciliation, and a production of Scar starring Ed Harris.

BILL DELAPP began writing free-lance articles and film, stage and book reviews for the The New Times (Syracuse, New York). His contributions increased when a new owner took over the paper. He joined the staff full time as film reviewer and associate editor/proofreader in June 1986. He quickly climbed The New Times editorial ladder, being named Entertainment Editor in 1988 and Managing Editor in 2000. Besides numerous writing awards from the Syracuse Press Club for his critiques, Bill has been a longtime judge and writer for the Carol North Schmuckler New Filmmakers Showcase, the annual festival of Syracuse University, College of Visual and Performing Arts, Department of Transmedia student moviemakers. His film reviews are much valued by e Syracuse filmgoers. 

SHARON GREYTAK has written, produced, and directed numerous films including the award-winning documentary Losing It exploring quality of life issues and physical disability. Her feature films include The Love Lesson, and  Hearing Voices. Earlier films include the documentary Weirded Out And Blown Away and experimental films Some Pleasure on the Level of the Source and Czechoslovakian Woman. Her work has screened at; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, The Film Society at Lincoln Center, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Laemmle Theatres Los Angeles, American Cinematheque at the Egyptian Theatre, Hollywood, AFI FilmFest; Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington DC; Pacific Film Archive, San Francisco Cinematheque, Margaret Mead Film Festival, Flaherty Film Seminar, Bela Balasz Studio, Budapest, Florence Film Festival, Italy and numerous other festivals and venues. She is the recipient of a CINE Golden Eagle and has won numerous festival awards. She was invited to participate in the American Film Institute’s Directing Workshop for Women, and has received fellowships from New York State Council on the Arts, New York Foundation for the Arts, Soros Documentary Fund, Jerome Foundation, ArtsLink/CEC International Partners (production in Siberia), Arts International, and the American Film Institute. In addition to her film work, Greytak serves on the board of the The Film-Makers’ Cooperative.

DEEDEE HALLECK: media activist, founder of Paper Tiger Television and co-founder of the Deep Dish Satellite Network. She is Professor Emerita: Department of Communication, University of California, San Diego. Her film, Mural on our street was nominated for an Academy Award (1965). She has led media workshops with elementary school children, reform school youth, senior citizens and migrant farmers. In 1976 she was co-director of the Child-Made Film Symposium, a fifteen-year assessment of media by youth throughout the world. She has served as a trustee of the American Film Institute, Women Make Movies and the Instructional Telecommunications Foundation. Her writings have been in, among others: Film Library Quarterly, Film Culture, High Performance, The Independent, Leonardo, and Afterimage. Winner of a Guggenheim Fellowship (1989) and of two Rockefeller Media Fellowships for The Gringo in Mañanaland, a compilation film about stereotypes of Latin Americans in U.S. films: Venice Film Festival, London Film Festival, special jury prize at the Trieste Festival for Latin American Film, and first prize from the American Anthropological Association's Visual Anthropology Division (1998).  She has received five awards for lifetime achievement. She was a member of the MacBride Roundtable on Communication, Communication Rights in the Information Society (CRIS) and an official delegate to the World Summit on the Information Society in Geneva 2003 and in Tunis in 2005.

MICHAL MATUS is a film and TV producer, was born in Israel. She received her BA degree in cinematography from the Tel Aviv University and her Masters in film from Syracuse University. Matus is head of the Education Department of the Tel- Aviv Cinemateque, and the director of the Tel Aviv International Children's Film Festival. She was awarded the "Etgar" prize of Municipal Committee for quality and excellence. Formerly a creative producer of educational films, Matus now produces a national documentary competition for youth as part of the Tel Aviv International Children's Film Festival, master classes, workshops, multimedia presentations. Her career and expertise has centered on children's film and television programming, as a creative producer of several films and TV series broadcast on the commercial and public channels of Israel television. Her work as a graphic artist and video art led to the creation of a video postcard project for children and her development of this project into an international arena. She is the Israeli representative at the Cifej.

JIM MORRIS is a Producer at Pixar Animation Studios, where he is in production on a film with Andrew Stanton, the creator of Finding Nemo.  Morris’ film is scheduled for a Summer ’08 release. Prior to Pixar, Morris worked for Lucasfilm and its divisions for 17 years. He served as President of Lucas Digital Ltd. for 11 years, where he was  responsible for Industrial Light & Magic and Skywalker Sound.  Concurrently, Morris served as ILM's General Manager, where he supervised a staff of more than 1300 talented artists and technicians, and guided the largest visual effects facility in the entertainment industry.  Under Morris’ leadership, ILM created the groundbreaking, Academy Award-winning visual effects seen in Jurassic Park, Death Becomes Her and Forrest Gump.  Some of the other 150 films completed under his management include Schindler's List, Alive, The Flintstones, The Mask, StarTrek: Generations, Casper, The Indian in the Cupboard, Jumanji, Mission: Impossible, Dragonheart, Twister, 101 Dalmatians, Star Trek: First Contact, Mars Attacks, Star Wars Trilogy Special Edition, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Men In Black, Deep Impact, Small Soldiers, Saving Private Ryan, The Mummy, Star Wars: Episode I, Pearl Harbor, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Star Wars: Episode II, Minority Report, Men in Black II, Signs, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secret, Gangs of New York, The Hulk, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Pirates of the Caribbean, Peter Pan, Van Helsing and The Day After Tomorrow. 

PAOLO SASSANELLI began his artistic career in the theatre. He works with many important Italian directors such as Nino Manfredi, Vito Signorile, Pierpaolo Sepe and Marcello Cotugno. In 1983 he appeared in the telefilm Don Chisciotte and few years later he achieves success with the popular telefilm Classe di ferro. Sassanelli’s cinema debut is in Nella Mischia (1994) by Gianni Zanasi. Some of his other films include: Moon Shadow (1993) by Alberto Simone, Matrimoni  (1998) by Cristina, A Domani(1998) by Gianni Zanasi. La capagira (1999) by Alessandro Piva, Comencini, Ora o Mai Più (2002) by Lucio Pellegrini, Last Minute Marocco (2007),regia di F. Falaschi.. and La casa sulle nuvole (2008). Regia di Claudio Giovannesi. He has a special role in Red Like The Sky, interpreting the character of Don Giulio, a provincial priest who is the first to understand and support little Mirco’s talent. Paolo is presently working on several theater, cinema and television productions. He plays the teacher, Don Giulio in Cristiano Bortone’s Red Like the Sky (2006).

EUGENE ZYKOV from Russia is the founder, publisher, and chief editor of All The Showcase, a Russian/English magazine whose mission is to advance international awareness of Russian cinema. Before starting this magazine he worked for four years on several international film publications including Variety and Moving Pics. Eugene also functions as a Creative Producer working to generate venues for Russian films, to help producers and directors select talent, from the script stage to distribution. As an Executive Producer he raises funds for production and oversees public relations and marketing. He has worked as an agent to cast Western actors in Russian films. He reads and selects scripts for producers. His role in promoting Russian film includes writing and overseeing subtitles for major festivals such as Cannes, Berlin, and Venice. He finds English titles for Russian films. All The Showcase has become a powerful instrument in promoting Russian film for festivals, theatrical distribution, and television. For 5 years he has selected the Russian films for the Syracuse International Film Festival.

CHRISTIAN VON TIPPELSKIRCH has worked with such companies as BMG, Silver Pictures, Showtime, Sony, Viacom, and Warner Bros. His feature film credits include, among others, as executive producer, Greta, starring
Hillary Duff and Ellen Burstyn; Highlander: The Source (line- producer); Dungeons & Dragons: Wrath of the Dragon God (co-producer); Out of the Ashes and Batman III and IV (production supervisor); Random Hearts and The Bad Lieutenant. His documentary project Invitation to Dance brings the disabled community in the US in touch with disabled veterans from the Iraqi war. He also has been part of such diverse documentary projects as Hometown about a family in Zambia (director/ camera), Refuge, a film about Tibetan Buddhism and the Dalai Lama (consultant); Satellite Sky, for PBS and The American Experience (assistant producer).

ALAN WRIGHT, award-winning producer of drama and documentary. In 1983 he was nominated for an International Emmy after producing the ten part drama series based on the life of German composer, Richard Wagner, starring Richard Burton in the title role. He has produced dramas featuring such leading artists as Lord Olivier, Sir John Gielgud, Liam Neeson, Jessica Lange, Gabriel Byrne and Vanessa Redgrave, including many projects for PBS Masterpiece Theatre like the mini-series The Rector's Wife, and Trial By Fire for the Mystery! strand. His extensive documentary work includes Route 66, a two-hour celebration of the iconic American highway and the film biography of Catalan architect, Antonio Gaudi, An Act of Kindness, as well as the ground-breaking documentary following the tour of China by Ireland¹s foremost traditional musicians, The Chieftains.