Meet the judges!
Carolina Posse
Carolina Posse Emiliani is an award-winning media producer and educator. She worked in the arts non-profit sector as Programming Director, and ultimately served as Interim Director of the Chicago Latino Film Festival. For eight years she served as the film curator for Mostra: Brazilian Film Series presented in cooperation with Partners of the Americas Illinois-Sao Paulo Chapter. She has guest lectured for numerous educational and governmental institutions; she has served on juries for the Sundance Institute, Latino Public Broadcasting (LPB), the Independent Television Service (ITVS) among others; she currently serves in the Latinx Community Council of the Gene Siskel Film Center. Carolina is currently an Assistant Professor at Columbia College Chicago.
Brad Riddell
Brad Riddell is a Chicago-based WGA screenwriter who has written numerous feature films for Universal, Paramount, and independent producers. His first film, American Pie: Band Camp (Eugene Levy), remains one of the highest grossing live-action DVD releases in history, and is now syndicated on TBS. Crooked Arrows (Brandon Routh, Gil Birmingham) was released nationally in theaters, and is the first mainstream lacrosse movie ever produced. His award-winning directorial debut, Ten More (David Pasquesi, Ellie Reed) played at over twenty festivals in the U.S., and his series, Other People's Children, won critical acclaim from juries around the world. Brad is currently a tenured screenwriting professor at DePaul University's School of Cinematic Arts in Chicago, and the co-founder of Wry Mash Media.
Nick McKinney
Nick McKinney is an Emmy and WGA-nominated writer, producer, and director. Nick's work lives principally in non-fiction film and television, with a focus on telling accessible, populist stories about politics, health, history, social issues and journalism. With a background that straddles both documentary and comedy, Nick's work often brings humor and satire to his explorations of important current issues. His most recent producing project, The Kids in the Hall: Comedy Punks, was a SXSW 2022 official selection and has since been purchased by Amazon Prime for distribution later this year.
Alessia Cecchet
Alessia Cecchet is a maker of moving images. Originally from Italy, (now in California) she makes hybrid films that incorporate live action film, found footage, stop motion animation, fibers and sculpture. Her work explores matters of loss, grief and memory with a specific attention with the way we look at animals and specifically animal death.
Alessia’s work has been exhibited internationally at several film festivals and art venues, including Academy Qualifying festivals such as the 25th Slamdance Film Festival (Park City, UT), the 49th Nashville Film Festival (Nashville, TN), the 24th and 25th Encounters Film Festival (Bristol, UK) and many more. Additionally, her films have won several awards, the most recent being an Honorable Mention at Festival de Cine Silente (Puebla, Mexico) and the Best Fiction at High Coast Film Festival (Sweden).
Joshua Dean Tuthill
Joshua Dean Tuthill is an experimental filmmaker and animator whose work focuses on existential sub-conscious narratives with an emphasis on humankind’s interaction with the world around them. His recent work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally including festivals such as the 24th Slamdance Film Festival, the 45th Athens International Film + Video Festival, the 25th Chicago Underground Film Festival, to name a few. Joshua’s newest film, Black Dog, premiered at the 56th New York Film Festival and has received the Jury’s Choice Award at the 37th Black Maria Film Festival and the Award for Artistic Contribution from the 28th Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival.