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2017 Juries

Announcing Our 2017 Juries

 


Narrative Grand Jury

Robert Eggers
Writer, Director

Eggers is a Brooklyn-based writer and director. Originally from NH, Eggers is currently in development with a re-imagining of F.W. Murnau’s classic Nosferatu for Jeff Robinov’s Studio 8.

 

 

 

Danielle McCarthy-Boles
Director of Regional Publicity, Magnolia Pictures

McCarthy-Boles has overseen publicity and promotion for independent films including Man On Wire (winner of the 2008 Oscar for Best Documentary), Blackfish, The Handmaiden, Melancholia, Life Itself, The Wolfpack and the Oscar-nominated documentary I Am Not Your Negro.

 

 

 

 

Timothy Rhys
Editor-In-Chief, Moviemaker Magazine

Rhys is a writer, director, producer and actor who edits and publishes MovieMaker Magazine. He is the president of MovieMaker Media, LLC, Inc. and develops independent motion pictures through his production company, Vagabond Pictures.

 


Documentary Grand Jury

Jared Bowen
Executive Arts Editor, WGBH

Bowen is an Executive Arts Editor at WGBH and the Emmy award-winning host of the weekly television series, Open Studio with Jared Bowen. He is a contributor to WGBH-TV’s nightly news magazine program, Greater Boston, and appears regularly on 89.7 WGBH.

 

Matt Grady 
Founder, Factory 25

Grady is a NH native, UNH Alumni and the founder of Factory 25, an independent film distribution company that is a home for conceptually provocative narratives and documentaries. Grady was recently named “One of the Most Influential People in Brooklyn Culture.”

 


Michael Williams
Producer, Co-Owner, Scout Productions

Williams is an award-winning producer and co-owner of Scout Productions. Williams has achieved an Oscar for Errol Morris’ documentary The Frog of War, an Emmy for Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, and an Emmy for OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network’s Home Made Simple.

 

 


New Hampshire Jury

Jay Childs
Founder, JBC Film Group & JBC Communications

Jay Childs is Principal of JBC Film Group/JBC Communications and an Emmy-honored documentary filmmaker, and speaker. Childs was recently honored by The NH Film Festival as NH Filmmaker of the Year for his film Food Fight – Inside the Battle for Market Basket. He has been producing thoughtful programs for television and corporate clients for over twenty five years. Other notable documentaries, Communities & Consequences and Caring for Mo, have been aired on Public Television and in theatres, become curriculum tools at universities, and have won numerous awards at festivals in New England and beyond.

 

Paul W. Hodes
Councilor, National Endowment For The Arts

Hon. Paul W. Hodes served two terms as a United States Congressman from New Hampshire’s second congressional district, (2007-2011). He has combined professional careers in entertainment, law and politics. At Dartmouth College, he studied theater, dance and music. He also studied at the National Theatre Institute in Waterford Connecticut and returned there to work as the sound engineer for the O’Neill Playwrights Festival.
After graduating from Dartmouth in 1972, he returned to New York City and continued his studies as an actor at the Herbert Berghof-Uta Hagen studio and appeared off-off Broadway in the original cast of “What’s a Nice Country Like You doing in a State Like This?”. While there, he produced a documentary film Raceweek in Newport which was distributed internationally and appeared in a film directed by Jules Dassin. Prior to his congressional service, Hodes pursued the private practice of law as a trial and entertainment lawyer. Throughout his career, Hodes has devoted substantial time to community service and advancing the arts in New Hampshire. Hodes served as a New Hampshire State Councilor for the Arts as an appointee of then Governor, now U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen. Hodes was elected to Congress in 2006, and was chosen as the President of the historic 2006 freshman class. He served as a national co-chair of President Obama’s 2008 campaign. In 2012, President Obama appointed Hodes to the National Council on the Arts, which advises the Chair of the National Endowment on the Arts.  Hodes is President of a company developing a new streaming platform for film festivals. He is also currently the host of “Off the Record with Paul Hodes” on WKXL AM-FM.

 

Angie Lane
Executive Director, Red River Theatres

Angie Lane is a New Hampshire native and graduated from the University of New Hampshire with a B.A. in Communications. She is currently the Executive Director of Red River Theatres, a non-profit independent cinema in Concord, NH.  Prior to this she worked at New Hampshire Public Radio in their development department where she also produced events.

 

 


Narrative Shorts Jury

Sharon Badal
Vice President of Shorts Programming, Tribeca Film Festival

Badal has been with the Tribeca Film Festival since its inception in 2001 and has produced special projects for them since 1999. She has been a panelist/juror for numerous festivals and industry organizations and works on many branded content initiatives with Tribeca Studios.

 

Linda Olszewski
Senior Executive, Shorts Entertainment Networks

Olszewski has overseen acquisitions of the Oscar Shorts Theatrical/VOD/iTunes releases as an Associate Producer for ShortTV/Shorts International since 2006. She also managed the launch of shorts on iTunes for its first 5 years.

 

 

Chris White
VP Operations & Business Affairs, Magnolia Pictures/Magnet Releasing

White’s work involves interfacing with producers, sales agents, filmmakers and every department at Magnolia in order to successfully release all of their films. He has handled efforts on films including I Am Not Your Negro, Blackfish and Melancholia.

 

 


Documentary Shorts Jury

Bryant Naro
Documentary Filmmaker, Cinematographer

Naro has worked on Ken Burns’ The Roosevelts and now runs the documentary/commercial production company Slate Roof Films, which was co-founded with his business partner (and wife) Meagan Frappiea in 2014.

 

 

Bryan Storkel
Documentary Filmmaker

Storkel’s first film, Holy Rollers, won the NHFF Best Documentary award in 2011. His follow-up, Fight Church, won the Grand Jury Prize at IFF Boston 2014, and was picked up by Lionsgate/Netflix. Currently, Storkel is working on two independent documentaries.

 

 

Jan Sutcliffe
Documentary Editor

Over the past 20 years, Jan has edited numerous programs for broadcast and cable series, as well as many independent documentaries including Omar & Pete, The Principal Story, Make No Little Plans: Daniel Burnham and the American City and Old South for America Reframed.