The Woods Hole Film Festival 2008 Judges
FEATURE NARRATIVE
Victoria Alonso – Co-Producer, “Ironman I and II”
Victoria is currently co-producer for Marvel Enterprises’ “Ironman” series, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow. Her resume includes VFX Producer on other mega budget productions like “Kingdom of Heaven,” for which she won the Visual Effects Society Award for Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Motion Picture. Other films include “50 First Dates,” “Big Fish,” and “6th Day.” In live action she produced the hit film "Sordid Lives," starring Olivia Newton John, Beau Bridges, and Delta Burke which won 10 film festival awards and distribution through Regent. Following that Victoria produced a short film “Brace Face Brandy” for Steven Spielberg’s Dreamworks,SKG. She has worked on numerous high-end commercials, music videos and shorts for directors such as David Kellogg, Simon West and David Fincher. Victoria also serves as VP on the board of the Gay Media Arts Project. She has a doctorate in Psychology and a master’s in theatre from the University of Washington.
Carol Bidault – Financing and Acquisitions Consultant, Program Director - DC Independent
Carol Bidault de l’Isle is an international motion picture and television senior consultant, specializing in media asset acquisitions & management, financing and distribution. Her current enterprise, MediaFusion, spawned such programs as: Cultural Assets; DC Independent Film Festival and Market; Cine Latino; Mid-Atlantic Regional Showcase (MARS). She currently presides over the capital campaign for the Washington, DC Center of the Moving Image. She is a co-founding member of Women in Film International, Co-Founder of Women in Film (France), a member of Women in Film & Video – Washington, DC, and a former board member of "Les Anciens de Science Po" in Washington, DC. Ms. Bidault is also the recipient of the US Department of State/ Secretary's Open Forum for Outstanding Contribution to international cultural affairs and support to media arts (2002); Reatig Award/Rosebud Film Festival for Outstanding Service & Contribution to the Washington, DC; Maryland and Virginia film and video community, as well as other awards and recognition in the area of film.
Susan Welsh – Producer, Robbins Entertainment
Susan Welsh is a producer at Robbins Entertainment. She is currently working on the feature, "Non Stop to Brazil," written by Brad Anderson and Lyn Vaus. It will be shot in Rio de Janeiro and New York City this winter. Her last film was XX/XY, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. She was formerly the Director of the Film Programs, at the International Film and Television Workshops, Rockport, Maine and the Education Director of the Boston Film and Video Foundation. Susan created SpeakPreviews, a screenplay reading series held at the old MamaKin Playhouse, Landsdowne St. She was the Executive in Charge of Production for the PBS series," Making Sense of the Sixties," and was Archival Director for the PBS archeology series, "Out of the Past."
FEATURE DOCUMENTARY
Steve Ascher - Director, Producer, Writer and Educator
Steve Ascher’s film, “Troublesome Creek: a Midwestern” (co-directed with Jeanne Jordan) _was nominated for an Academy Award and won the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award at Sundance among others. It was released theatrically and broadcast around the world. Ascher and Jordan's most recent feature documentary, “So Much So Fast,” premeried at Sundance, was released theatrically to critical acclaim, and has broadcast internationally. Ascher co-authored “The Filmmaker's Handbook: a Comprehensive Guide for the Digital Age.” He produced, wrote and directed the drama, “Del & Alex,” and “Life and Other Anxieties” which was chose for the Whitney New American Filmmakers series, among many others. He has produced and directed installations for museums and institutions around the world and his awards include Prix Italia, a Peabody award, an International Documentary Association Distinguished Achievement Award, Directors Guild of America Award.
David Poland – Publisher/Editor - Movie City News.com/Columnist - TheHotButton.com,
David Poland is the publisher/editor of Movie City News and author of the widely read, Internet-based entertainment industry column, “The Hot Button.” In addition to writing his column, Poland has served in recent years in roles ranging from editor-in-chief of Turner Network Television's roughcut.com website to consultant on the Bermuda International Film Festival to guest critic on "Roger Ebert & The Movies,” and director of the 2002 Miami Film Festival. His coverage of the entertainment industry has appeared in such publications as Entertainment Weekly, the Chicago Tribune, the Philadelphia Inquirer and many others.
Sam Weisman – Director, Educator
Sam Weisman worked for an actor before making the transition to directing. His credits include the feature films “George of the Jungle” (which received a British Academy Award nomination for Best Children’s Movie) and “The Out of Towners” starring Steve Martin, Goldie Hawn, and John Cleese. Mr. Weisman has directed over 175 television episodes, for such shows as “Family Ties,” “Moonlighting,” “Law & Order,” and “The Bernie Mac Show.” His television work has received three Emmy Nominations, and a Golden Globe Award. His theatre work is extensive and has won many awards, including Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Best Director honors for the West Coast premieres of Harold Pinter’s “Betrayal” and Simon Gray’s “The Common Pursuit”. Mr. Weisman is a graduate of Deerfield Academy and Yale (B.A. Music History), and received an M.F.A. in Acting and Directing from Brandeis University’s Department of Theatre Arts. For the last two years, he has taught and directed at the American Repertory Theatre’s Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at Harvard University. Mr. Weisman serves on the boards of The American Repertory Theatre and Discovering Justice, the Advisory Board of the Berkeley College of Music.
SHORT DOCUMENTARY
Flavia Fontes – Documentary Filmmaker (www.meansofproductions.com)
Flavia Fontes has been making award-winning documentaries for fifteen years. She is currently in post-production on “Who’s Afraid of Lynne Stewart?” about the first lawyer in the United States accused of supporting international terrorism after September 11th. Fontes directed, produced, and edited “Forbidden Wedding,” which premiered at the 2001 Margaret Mead Film and Video Festival and has been screened in numerous festivals around the world. It broadcast on the Sundance Channel and received an award of excellence at the Biennial BRASA Film Festival in Brazil, Honorable Mention at the Philadelphia International Film Festival, and Best Documentary at Projections International Film Festival in Toronto. Fontes received the Someone to Watch Award from CineWomen, 2004. Ms. Fontes’ other films include “Living with Chimpanzees: Portrait of a Family,” and “My Father, the Clown.”
Chris Gore – Filmmaker, Speaker, Author – “Ultimate Film Festival Survival Guide”
Chris Gore is an author, columnist, television host and filmmaker who has built a solid reputation
as the brutally honest founder of the legendary Film Threat.com, a website committed to the independent film world, from reviews to interviews to festival news. He is the author of four books on film including The Ultimate Film Festival Survival Guide, which is considered the bible for fans and filmmakers touring the festival circuit. Chris began his independent filmmaking career with the cult short Red starring tough guy Lawrence Tierney from “Reservoir Dogs.” He also co-wrote and produced the feature comedy, "My Big Fat Independent Movie," which toured the festival circuit and can be seen on the Sundance Channel. In addition, Chris appears on television weekly as the film expert on G4 TV’s “Attack of the Show.” He was named one of the 25 Most Influential People in Independent Film by Film Festival Today magazine.
Nicole Conn – Filmmaker (“Claire of the Moon, “Little Man”) Author
Nicole wrote and directed the maverick lesbian film “Claire of the Moon,” (1992.) The script was a finalist in the Nichol Screenwriting fellowship and paved the way for lesbian-themed cinema. Her first novel, “Angel Wings” (Simon Schuster) was published in 1997. The script adaptation won the 2001 Telluride Film Festival's Best Screenplay Award. Her next novel, “She Walks in Beauty” was published in 2001, and is the basis for the script “Cynara.” In total, Nicole has written five novels, a teleplay, eight screenplays, produced two soundtracks and produced and directed the successful lesbian documentary, “Moments.” Her recent film, 12-time audience award winner, "little man," documents her son's premature birth and stay in Neonatal Intensive Care.
SHORT NARRATIVE
Bob Tourtellotte – Entertainment Editor, Reuters News Service
Bob is the entertainment editor for Reuters news service in Los Angeles. He has interviewed the most influential people in Hollywood over his 10 years in the post and profiled directors and stars of both the commercial and independent film world. His articles can be seen world-wide in print and on the internet. He has been the weekly box office correspondent on Reuters TV's regular entertainment wrap up and has been Live from the Red Carpet at the Oscars for the last two years. Bob holds a B.S. in economics from Oklahoma State University. After graduation, he worked on his father's campaign for Lt. Governor and owned and operated a real estate management company. He then moved to New York City and earned an M.A in journalism from New York University. While living in the city, Bob created and published the underground magazine, "Gotham."
Michael Huens – Producer
Michael Huens has produced many films including Eriq La Salle's "Crazy as Hell" a psychological thriller which La Salle directed and starred in and the Polish Brothers groundbreaking and award winning "Jackpot.” The list also includes Tim Ramos's "California Indian", Chris Eyre's "A Thousand Roads", "Motorcycle Mania III" starring the distinctive Jesse James, Sonya Bourn's "Sweet Union" a comedy about a strong family of women in the South, He has also produced trailers for films including "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas" with Jim Carrey and "Fire in the Sky" with James Garner. He has worked in television, producing a season each of Showtime’s "Compromising Situations" and USA’s "Teenage Alien Fighters". He has produced over two hundred commercials (among them 20 Clio and 3 Telly Winners.)
Sonya Gay Bourn – Writer, Director, Producer, Stand-Up Comedian
Sonya Gay Bourn began her career writing for the hit ABC show "Grace Under
Fire.” After it ended, she worked as an associate producer on the Spirit Award
winning film, “Jackpot.” Indulging her love for documentaries, she became an
associate producer at Calliope Films, with Academy Award winning director Chuck
Workman. Bourn worked on such projects as: 75th and 76th Annual Academy Awards
Presentations, Presidents' Day Special for The History Channel and the Martin
Luther King Jr. Special as well as the documentary feature “The Actor's Life.”
Recently, Sonya completed “Sweet Union,” her first short film, which she wrote,
directed and produced. The film has played a number of festivals and the
overwhelmingly positive response inspired Bourn to write the script for the
feature version, which she plans to direct in 2008. Other writing, directing and
producing credits include The History Channel's, "Conquerors", and "Guardian
Angels, M.D" for The Learning Channel. She contributes to Written By, the
magazine of the Writers Guild of America, West, and is co-chair for the
Committee of Women Writers at the WGA, and former chairwoman for Creative Women
of the Arts.