CIFF 2021 Special Jury
Scott Birmingham
Scott Birmingham has been an on-camera Film Critic for 15 years for News 4 & FOX in Reno, Nevada and is the host of the special segment, Film Friday. Scott also hosts an award-winning podcast called 4 Your Review (Spotify)
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Scott is an active voting member of the Critics Choice Awards and Last Vegas Film Critics Society.
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In addition to reviewing films, Scott is a filmmaker and has garnered awards for his own short films including from the American Film Institute.
Benny Boom
Director, Benny Boom exploded onto the music video scene in the mid 90's and has brought his innovative storytelling and edgy visuals to over 200 music videos for artists such as Nicki Minaj, Sean "Diddy" Combs, Ciara, Akon, Keyshia Cole, 50 Cent, John Legend and Busta Rhymes. Benny is a five time BET Award nominee.
In addition to directing music videos with more than a billion views, Benny directs commercials, TV Movies and episodic dramas including The Equalizer, City on a Hill, Black Lightning, NCIS: Los Angeles, All American, Tales, Ambitions and Empire.
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Benny directed the feature films Next Day Air and the long awaited Tupac Shakur Bio-pic, All Eyez on Me.
Barbara Chase
Barbara Chase is Senior Director, Event Production at the Academy of Television of Arts
and Sciences. In her career spanning over 20 years, she produced Primetime Emmy Nominee Receptions for 29 peer groups and worked with the Board of Governors on peer group and diversity events, the Hall of Fame, and Television Academy Honors Presentations. Barbara was the administrator of the Daytime Emmy Awards, and produced the Creative Arts Presentations.
She produces the Networking Night Out Mixers series for Academy members; and Academy membership grew from 10k to 15k during her tenure. Barbara is also an actress with credits in features, TV and commercials, and co-hosted the talk show, Our Generations and the Mrs. America Pagents, with her mother, Actress, Florence Henderson.
Nikki Corda
Nikki Corda is the Executive Director & Founder of the Nevada Women's Film Festival. She spent her early career in feature film development in Los Angeles, with stints at Twentieth Century Fox and Michael Douglas' company at Paramount. Nikki began producing and writing independently with the award-winning documentary, Urban Rescuers, and continues to follow her passion for nonfiction film with her business, Life-Portraits.
Nikki also teaches a variety of film and English classes at the College of Southern Nevada and Nevada State College, and is a freelance writer for Story Terrace. Nikki holds a B.S in film from Boston University and an M.F.A in creative writing from Sierra Nevada College.
Ty Defoe
Ty Defoe (Gilzhig), Onieda and Ojibwe Nations, is a writer and interdisciplinary artist. Ty interweaves artistic projects with social justice, Indigi-Queering, and environmentalism.
Ty is the recipient of multiple awards and fellowships, and is a Grammy Award winner.
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Notable performing credits: Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Netflix) and Young Jean Lee's Straight White Men, Dir. Anna Shapiro (Helen Hayes, Broadway). Ty resides in NYC + loves the color clear. Ty is a Member of the Dramatists Guild Council, ASCAP, SDC, SAG/AEA, and the Phluid Project.
Warren Drummond
Warren Drummond was born and raised in Jamaica Queens, New York and attended the High School of Art & Design and The School of Visual Arts.
Warren's storyboard career began in the early '90s with films like Above. the Rim and 2nd Unit work on Die Hard with a Vengeance and The Devil's Own. Now based in LA, Warren is one of the industry's premier storyboard artists whose credits include A Beautiful Mind, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Nightcrawler and Ad Astra. His TV work includes NCIS: New Orleans, Marvel's Agents of Shield and Grey's Anatomy.
Warren made his directorial debut in 2018 with the short film, Unknown Caller, starring his son Josh Drummond. Warren is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Steve Duval
Steve Duval has been in the camera department of many legendary reality television shows including the original Amazing Race, The Amazing Race Philippines, and Australia, Escape Routes, Big Brother, and Solitare.
Steve was Cinematographer for the series' K-9 Border Wars and Border Wars and the documentaries, With Lee in Virginia, Bluetopia: The LA Dodger Movie, and Homeland Security, USA.
A Nevada native, Steve is also a producer with credits including the reality documentary series, It's A Dog's Life with Bill Farmer and the feature film, Desert Shadows.
Jake Hart
Jake Hart is an actor, artistic educator, and producer. With a 20 year career in the arts, he has held residencies at Universities and Colleges all over the country.
Jake is a board member of Red Eagle Soaring Native Theater, a company member of Native Voices at the Autry, a regular visiting artist with the Yale Indigenous Performing Art Program , an ensemble member of the Arts in the Armed Forces Foundation, and is a member of the SAG-AFTRA National Native Americans Committee. As the Director of Indigenous Programming for Cordillera, Jake continues to advocate for the new generation of Indigenous filmmakers across Turtle Island.
Robin Holabird
As the former Film Commissioner for the State of Nevada, Robin has assisted industry legends such as Clint Eastwood, Taylor Hackford, and PT Anderson on projects they filmed in the region.
Robin has combined her love of travel with her film expertise to author the books, Elvis,
Marilyn, and the Space Aliens and Around the World in 80 Movies. Robin has a weekly film program on Reno’s NPR affiliate, KUNR, and provides film commentary for KOH. Robin holds a journalism degree and a Masters in Public Administration and has worked as a reporter for several regional outlets.
Robin is an avid outdoor enthusiast and photographer who has finished the Boston Marathon six times.
Alex Kalymnios
Alex Kalymnios is an English Director, Producer and Screenwriter. Alex started her career at the BBC Director’s Academy and works Internationally.
Alex has directed episodes of Impulse, Titans, The 100, S.W.A.T., Timeless, Quantico, Once Upon a Time, The White Princess, Scott & Bailey, EastEnders, Waterloo Road, Hollyoaks, Hollyoaks Later, The Cut, Becoming Human and the TV pilot, Close Up.
Alex directed the mini-series Three Families and TV Movies, Cleveland Abduction, and Love you to Death. Recently Alex completed a spy series for Netlix starring Noah Centineo.
Emma Menzies
Emma Menzies was born and raised in Sydney, Australia; the daughter of a cinematographer and producer, she grew up trick-or treating at craft services tables and finishing homework in camera trucks and makeup trailers.
Known for her bold use of color, narrative concepts and love of mixed media, Emma enjoys pushing the boundaries and working with new artists. She’s recently been focusing on documentary and narrative work in addition to her (one true love) music videos.
As well as directing, Emma works as a freelance writer, visual researcher and treatment designer for major music videos, commercials, film and television. Emma is a graduate of the USC School of Cinematic Arts with degrees in Film & Television Production and Screenwriting.
Peter Menzies, Jr.
Australian Cinematographer, Peter Menzies Jr., is known for his diverse and critically acclaimed body of work spanning feature films, commercials television movies and mini-series - including the recent HBO limited series, The Time Traveler's Wife for Director, David Nutter.
Peter's films include; Shooter, A Time to Kill, The Incredible Hulk, The General’s Daughter, Lara Croft Tomb Raider, Four Brothers, The 13th Warrior, Peter Rabbit 1 & 2, The Great Raid, Disney's The Kid, Clash of the Titans, All Eyez on Me, and Die Hard with a Vengeance.
Peter is a member of the Int'l Cinematographers Guild, the Australian Cinematographers Society and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
DeLanna Studi
DeLanna Studi (Cherokee) is an actor/playwright and social justice & youth advocate. TV credits include Dreamkeeper, Edge of America, Shameless, General Hospital, Z Nation, Goliath. Theater credits include the First National Broadway Tour of August: Osage County, Off-Broadway's Informed Consent, and Gloria: A Life.
DeLanna retraced her family's footsteps along the Trail of Tears with her father and wrote her play And So We Walked which is currently on tour. DeLanna's work in her Native communities includes multiple touring mentorship and playwriting workshops, the Alliance Against Racial Mascots, Challenge to Say No Tribal Tours, and the Cante Sica Foundation where she collected testimonials of survivors of the American Indian Boarding Schools. She is the Chair of SAG-AFTRA's National Native Americans Committee, and the Artistic Director of Native Voices at the Autry.
Meredith Tanzer
Meredith Tanzer has been a community builder for over 20 years. Her interest with at-risk youth began while owning a business in downtown Reno and volunteering with youth agencies. Meredith is the event organizer of the Youth Point In Time Count that raises awareness about youth services in Washoe County.
A resident artist at Reno Art Works, Meredith teaches workshops in collage, and painting and runs a free art program in her studio. For many years Meredith directed Reno's La Bussola Arts Boutique, HeartSPOT Gallery, and Center Gallery. She produced The Artist Coloring Book and Artsy & Fartsy's Colorful Journey. Meredith sits on the Artown Board and was recognized with the prestigious Reno City Super Hero Award. Meredith is Vice President of Our Center and helped guide the opening of the LGBTQ Community Center.
Danette Tull
Danette Tull is the Film Resource Coordinator for the Nevada Film Office, a division of the Governor's Office of Economic Development (GOED), which markets the state's diverse locations and promotes Nevada as a premier destination for filming.
She works closely with Nevada student filmmakers and advocates for more equitable representation of women in film. Danette founded the Nevada Film Group on Facebook and created the office’s FILManthropy charitable giving initiative. Danette received a Masters degree in Library Science from the University of California, Riverside. She is fluent in Spanish, Italian, Japanese and English and has lived and traveled abroad.
Connie Wray
Nevada Broadcast Hall of Famer, Connie Wray has worked in the media industry for over 20 years. She is currently the Morning Radio Show Host of “Connie Wray and Friends” on Reno’s Fun 100.9 and previously hosted the Bill and Connie Morning Show on Alice 106.5, which was the longest-running local morning show in Reno, Nevada.
A graduate of Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, Connie has always had an interest in radio, film and television and runs her own Media/ Production Company, A Story Media. Connie was inducted into the Nevada Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame in 2012. She hosted Reno's Fox 11 shows "What Women Want'' and "Living Local" from 2012 to 2018 and most recently hosts The Next Stage - an online docu-series Reno's Fox 11 Morning News. Connie believes in giving back. She sits on the Sierra Art Board and works to raise funds for Renown Children's Hospital and other community charities.
Eric Wycoff
Cinematographer, Eric Wycoff was born in Texas and moved to Southern California as a teen. He received a football scholarship to the University of Illinois and signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers after graduation.
Eric started as a Production Asst. and quickly moved into the lighting and camera departments and has worked on over 30 feature films under the mentorship of some of the top Lighting Directors and Cinematographers in Hollywood including Robert Richardson, Peter Menzies, Jr., Robert Elsworth and Steven Soderbergh.
Eric is a member of the International Guild of Cinematographers. Eric has filmed more than 100 music videos and is known for his commercial work for clients such as McDonalds Ford, NBA and MTV. Eric recently completed filming a series of three feature adaptations of Carl Weber's novels. The Man in 3B, the Choir Director and The Preacher's Son.