Announcing the 2012 New Hampshire Jury

We are pleased to announce the members of our New Hampshire Night Jury, who will be selecting the winners in the Best NH Film and Best NH Documentary categories, among others. We’re joined by a great cast of characters this year, from many aspects of filmmaking and local media. Meet our 2012 NH Jury below!

Afton Grant

Afton Grant is a camera and Steadicam operator, originally from New Hampshire, and now living and working in New York City.  It was an equal love for the technical tools of the trade as well as the creative side to filmmaking that attracted him to the craft.  His fascination with the abilities of the Steadicam began long before he even knew what the machine actually was used for.  His work has since been seen on all major networks, most cable networks, and dozens of big screens around the world.  He has had the privilege of working with the great directors Wes Anderson, Rob Reiner, and Nicole Holofcener to name just a few.

Virginia Prescott

Virginia Prescott is host of Word of Mouth, NHPR’s daily conversation about emerging trends, new ideas and under-reported stories from viral and pop culture.  Her deep roots in public radio began at WWOZ in New Orleans.  She later launched the Edward R. Murrow Award-Winning interactive media team at WNYC in New York City, and became editor, producer and director for NPR’s On Point and PRI’s Here & Now programs while at WBUR in Boston. Throughout her radio career, she’s helped build independent radio stations throughout the developing world and trained journalists in post-conflict zones from Sierra Leone to the Balkans.  Her commitment to the power of sound and story-telling led her to create audio installations in Houston, Watertown, Massachusetts, and at MIT. She was awarded a Loeb Fellowship at Harvard University and was a member of the Peabody Award-winning production team for Jazz from Lincoln Center with Ed Bradley.  She loves working in radio, but regrets that so many good outfits go unnoticed.

Jay Schadler

Jay Schadler is a two-time Emmy Award winning journalist, photographer and artist. He has been a correspondent and anchor for ABC News for 28 years, reporting for all major platforms including 20/20, PrimeTime, Good Morning America, World News and Nightline. In addition, he has contributed special reports to National Geographic TV, Discovery, Bravo and PBS. His art is a natural expression of a lifelong traveler who’s seen both the grit and greatness of life. The deeper you look into reality the more mystery there is to see. Jay’s art is a lot like that.

Anthony Tenczar

Anthony Tenczar is Program Coordinator and an associate professor of the communication arts program at the University of New Hampshire Manchester. Professor Tenczar teaches digital video production, media programming, motion picture aesthetics, audio production and documentary film. He is an award-winning documentary and experimental filmmaker, who has also been recognized for his television and audio work. Before his teaching career, he worked professionally in television production and management. Tenczar’s media work has been recognized by many film/media festivals and competitions including the Ann Arbor Film Festival, Syracuse International Film Festival, Chicago International Film Festival, Columbus International Film Festival, SXSW Film Festival, Cable Ace Awards, Broadcast Education Association Festival of Media Arts Faculty Awards, University Film & Video Association Faculty Awards, and the National Educational Film & Video Festival. Before joining UNH, he taught at Ithaca College and the University of Texas, Austin. He holds his BA from the University of Massachusetts and his MFA from the University of Texas, Austin.

Phil Vaughn

Phil Vaughn works at NH Public Television as a producer of special projects, documentaries and series, such as Windows to the Wild. Prior to joining the NHPTV production team, Phil worked for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation as a producer and editor. It was at CBC where he developed a love for sharing people’s stories. Besides producing, Phil has spent the past 30 years filming, editing and writing stories both in Canada and the United States.