Festival Award Nominees

Screenwriter best known for Pixar / Disney’s Cars 3, Smallfoot, Angry Birds 2 and Scooby-Doo reboot SCOOB. Stewart has written screenplays for Dreamworks, Universal, Warner Bros., Paramount, ABC Studios, STX, Paramount Animation, Sony Animation, Fox Animation, Netflix Animation and served on Pixar’s Braintrust from 2013-2014.

Screenwriter best known for Pixar / Disney’s Cars 3, Smallfoot, Angry Birds 2 and Scooby-Doo reboot SCOOB. Stewart has written screenplays for Dreamworks, Universal, Warner Bros., Paramount, ABC Studios, STX, Paramount Animation, Sony Animation, Fox Animation, Netflix Animation and served on Pixar’s Braintrust from 2013-2014.

Stewart’s inspired-by-true-LGBTQ-events TV drama pilot Grace sold to ABC Studios in the fall of 2016, and modern update on the Dickens classic Two Cities in fall 2017. In 2012, Podell & Stewart’s screenplay Seuss––a biopic about the legendary author––earned the #2 slot on the original Hollywood Black List.

Stewart is represented by Verve and Redefine Entertainment in Los Angeles and Granderson Des Rochers in New York.

Wendy Willis once drove over Laurel Canyon topless at 6 am after having to sleep off a sake tasting from the night before.   She’s been a sex worker, dated a famous boxing coach, interviewed a rebel army general in the jungles of Burma and has only been in one fight in her life when she was about 8 years old.  She was shot in the face with a fire extinguisher by a dear friend and got too drunk on the first date with her now husband, the love of her life.  She also does stuff where she produces animated TV shows and films, including the 2020 Oscar-winning short animated film, Hair Love, the Adult Swim animated series OMG Yes! and the upcoming anime, Yoppaman.  

Perrin is President & Owner of Worlds Beyond VR, a company that is based on the passion for exploration and experiences. His company was inspired by the dreamers in less fortunate situations that deserve the opportunity to actively engage in wondrous, awe-inspiring experiences that they may have not gotten the opportunity to experience, otherwise.

Dubbed “the queen of independent animation” by Bill Plympton, Joanna Priestley has made 32 award winning films that run the gamut from personal memoir and documentary to poetic adaptation and abstract phantasmagoria. Priestley has had retrospectives at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, British Film Institute, National Film Theater in London, Center for Contemporary Art in Warsaw and the American Cinematheque.

Rick Mischel currently is an Executive Producer at Sony Pictures Animation and CEO of Artists Animation Studio. Prior to his current role, Mischel served as CEO of Bardel Entertainment. For Bardel’s work on RICK AND MORTY, Rick received a 2020 Emmy award as an Executive Producer on the show. Prior to his work at Bardel, Rick was SVP & GM of Sony Pictures Imageworks, launching the animation & vfx facility in Vancouver behind such hits at HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA, SMURFS, and the SPIDER MAN animated academy award winning feature INTO THE SPIDERVERSE. Previously Rick was EVP, Animation and Interactive Services at Technicolor. 

Leslie Hope’s directing credits include: LOST IN SPACE, STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS, VAN HELSING, GHOST WARS, DEVIL IN OHIO and THE ORDER. She directed multiple episodes over 3 seasons of SNOWPIERCER and was also a producer on Season 4. Leslie directed the WWII mini-series A SMALL LIGHT for Disney+ and NatGeo, MURDER IN A SMALL town for FOX, and several ep’s in the LAW AND ORDER franchise. Most recently she directed THE BETTER SISTER starring Jessica Biel and Elizabeth Banks for Amazon Prime.

Leslie produced and directed WHAT I SEE WHEN I CLOSE MY EYES, a documentary following the street-living kids of Cambodia. Her film won several awards, was the official selection of over 30 film festivals and sold to Moviola, The Short Film Channel. EYES was invited to screen at “V-Day” and The American Visionary Arts Museum. Leslie wrote and directed the comedy short GAYKEITH, directed and exec produced BURIED TREASURE and with Jon Eskenas she served as Executive Producer on THE BLING RING.

Leslie produced the feature film LIE EXPOSED and she recently formed PARALLILA PICTURES with Tina Vacalopoulos. PARALLILA is committed to making films as seen through the eyes of female filmmakers.

Ezra Edmond is a writer, director, producer, and the creative mind behind the heartwarming animated short film, “Blewish.” Born from Ezra’s passion for storytelling and inspired by his own background, “Blewish” captures the journey of a young biracial Jewish boy as he navigates his unique identity and seeks a sense of belonging. Through vibrant animation and dialogue-free storytelling, “Blewish” explores themes of friendship, self-acceptance, and the power of embracing one’s true self. The film has touched the hearts of audiences worldwide, having been featured at over eighteen film festivals. Ezra’s next project is a children’s book, My Friend LeVar, scheduled for release this October from Charlesbridge Publishing. The book highlights Ezra’s deep love of reading and how LeVar Burton and his classic book-feature television series, Reading Rainbow, helped inspire and foster that love.

Michael Cordova brings 20 years’ experience in visual effects to LAIKA, where he serves as Compositing Supervisor. Prior to joining LAIKA in 2011, he worked for 12 years at Industrial Light & Magic. He was nominated by the Visual Effects Society for his work on ParaNorman (Outstanding FX and Simulation Animation, 2012) and was a member of the compositing teams for the Oscar®-winning Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (Best Visual Effects, 2004) and the Oscar®-nominated and BAFTA® Award-winning Kubo and the Two Strings (Best Visual Effects and Best Animated Film, respectively, 2016). His most recent credit is LAIKA’s Golden Globe®-winning Missing Link (Best Motion Picture – Animated, 2020), and he’s currently working on LAIKA’s latest and most ambitious animated feature, Wildwood. In addition to his role at LAIKA, Michael serves on the Visual Effects Society’s Oregon Chapter Board of Managers. He graduated with a degree in Media Arts and Computer Science from The Evergreen State College.

Johnny Castuciano is a Filipino/Canadian Storyboard Artist and Director in animation. Originally from a small town in Alberta, Canada he first received his degree in Graphic Design, he then relocated to Vancouver in 2005, with big dreams of working in the animation industry. He attended Vancouver Film School and completed the Classical Animation Program is 2006. Having worked in the Vancouver animation scene for over 12 years, he has storyboarded and directed on such productions as “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic”, “The Adventures of Puss in Boots”, “Kung Fu Panda: Paws of Destiny” and “Sausage Party”. In 2017, he moved to Los Angeles to work with Disney Television Animation, working on “Big Hero 6: The Series”, “Ducktales”, and “The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder”. In 2022, Johnny was nominated for Outstanding Storyboarding Achievement on “The Ghost and Molly McGee”. Johnny is currently living in Los Angeles with his family, and volunteers coaching his kids’ teams, and mentors young artists.

Eric Bear is an actor, writer and producer who created and starred in the award-winning performance capture series “Belonging” on Apple TV.  Bear played a recurring role in Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone prequel “1883” on Paramount+ and began as a child actor with a memorable line in Woody Allen’s “Annie Hall.”  Born in New York City, Bear grew up performing in theater and dance, deeply influenced by Deborah Hay.  This early training in embodied movement established a foundation as a kinesthetic artist, tapping emotion and relational awareness to inform performances and ways of being in the world.

In addition to filmmaking, Bear is a tech entrepreneur known for creating award-winning interactive media; hailed as “one of the most thoughtful and provocative interface and interaction designers working in the field.”  Bear’s patented innovations have been licensed by all major movie studios in the USA, and products based on other of his 100+ inventions are used every day by millions of people.

Portland-based screenwriter Isaac Adamson has written film and TV projects for Netflix, Lionsgate, Fox, AMC and a host of others. His script “Bubbles” was the #1 screenplay on the 2015 Black List and he’s the author of five published novels. He’d rather be playing soccer, though, or noodling around on guitar, or doing just about anything besides writing. 

Signe Baumane is a Latvian born, Brooklyn-based independent filmmaker, artist, writer, and animator. She has made 17 award-winning animated shorts but is best known for her first animated feature Rocks In My Pockets which premiered at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in 2014 where it received a FIPRESCI Prize. The film went on to over 130 international festivals. It opened theatrically in the U.S. through Zeitgeist Films.

Signe’s new animated feature My Love Affair With Marriage (2022) tells the story of a spirited young woman’s quest for perfect love and lasting marriage. It premiered in June 2022 at Tribeca Festival and has screened at over 80 festivals winning twelwe awards. It was nominated by European Film Academy as Best Animated Feature.

Signe is a Guggenheim Fellow and a Fellow in Film for New York Foundation for the Arts. She has a degree in Philosophy from Moscow State University.

46 Features, 29 Series, over 180 TV credits, David Winning is a US/Canada Dual Citizen and veteran film & television Director and Producer. He has experience in all genres including sci-fi, horror, drama, action, theatrical release, movies-of-the-week, episodic, romance, westerns, Christmas movies, comedy, family, kid’s series, live audience multi-cam, situation comedies, web-based, etc.  Started 2017 on the Netflix/SYFY Channel action series VAN HELSING, a post-apocalyptic take on the vampire rising based on a graphic novel, directing multiples including the third Season Finale and opening the explosive fourth season. He has directed 26 Christmas and family films for the Hallmark Channel and Lifetime, including 3 Films in the popular Blake Shelton TIME series, 2 final Films in the FATHER CHRISTMAS series, a top #5 NEW YORK TIMES PICK: THE TREE THAT SAVED CHRISTMAS and UNLEASHING MR. DARCY, which broke the Network record on social media with 47 million tweets. He has worked for NETFLIX, HALLMARK, SYFY CHANNEL, LIFETIME, NICKELODEON, PARAMOUNT, MGM, 20TH CENTURY FOX, HBO, LIONSGATE, among others and has directed in locations including Scotland, Budapest, Vancouver, Montreal and Los Angeles.

More information is available at www.DavidWinning.com.