Tallgrass Film Association Hosts 21st Annual Film Festival Downtown Wichita October 5-8, in Several Venues, Including Historic Orpheum Theatre
Jury & EDA Jury
Stubbornly Independent & Vortex Jury
H.P. Mendoza
H.P. Mendoza is a Filipino-American filmmaker. Along with his feature films, Mendoza is also known for his music and art installations including the touring screening of his experimental visual album, ATTACK, DECAY, RELEASE, winner of the 2022 Grand Jury Prize at the Tallgrass Film Festival, Stubbornly Independent. Mendoza is currently touring with his new film, THE SECRET ART OF HUMAN FLIGHT starring Academy Award nominee Paul Raci.
Bill Guentzler
Bill Guentzler is currently serving as Vice President of Acquisitions for Gravitas Ventures. Gravitas, an Anthem Sports and Entertainment company, is recognized worldwide as one of the largest all-rights distributors of independent films and documentaries.
Jim Brunzell III
In 2005, he started as a volunteer at the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Film Festival (MSPIFF). He joined Sound Unseen in 2008 as a programmer and became the festival director in 2012. He was also the Program & Artistic Director for the All Genders, Lifestyles, and Identities Film Festival (aGLIFF) in Austin, TX from 2014-2020. In February 2023, he started working at L.A.-based film distributor Dark Star Pictures, where he is the Director of Festivals.
Gordon Parks & Narrative Feature Jury
Sean Armstrong
Sean Armstrong is an award-winning entrepreneur and seasoned business professional with more than 15 years of experience across many functional areas and co-founder of Homestead Entertainment.
Jamie Broadnax
Jamie Broadnax holds a Master’s Degree in Film and a BS in Broadcast Journalism. She reports entertainment news, reviews film and TV reviews, and interviews entertainers for her publication Black Girl Nerds. She also serves on the EDA Features Jury.
Jon-Sesrie Goff
Jon-Sesrie Goff is a multidisciplinary artist, curator, and arts administrator. His feature-length directorial debut After Sherman, won the Gordon Parks Black Excellence in Filmmaking in 2022.
Woman Filmmaker and Documentary Feature Jury
Lonita Cook
Lonita is a Film, TV, Theater, and Culture critic contributing to KCTV5, Everyday Northwest (Portland CW), and Hello Iowa. She serves filmmakers and other artists as the East Central Kansas Field Rep for the Kansas Department of Commerce Creative Arts Industries where she also currently facilitates the KCAIC Critical Writing Initiative. She also serves on the EDA Shorts Jury.
Jennifer Merin
Jennifer Merin, AWFJ President, and AWFJ.org Editor-in-Chief, writes the CINEMA CITIZEN blog. She’s covered film for NY Press, About.com, Women’s eNews, USA Today, L.A. Times, Christian Science Monitor, US, Ms., Daily News, NY Post, SoHo News, and others. She’s a member of the Critics Choice Association and a voting member of the Black Reel Awards. Her syndicated culturally-oriented travel column began in 1984. She also chairs the EDA Features Jury.
Caitlyn Cody
Caitlyn Cody is a cinematographer from Wichita Kansas. She’s been a part of the local film community and Tallgrass since 2017 when she became an Emerging Programmer Apprentice for the Tallgrass Film Festival. She loves supporting female and non-binary filmmakers and helping them tell their stories.
Narrative Shorts & Kansas Jury
Sheri L Kaufman-Marsh
Sheri began a recent career with film festivals 8 years ago, founding the Doc Sunback Film Festival in Mulvane, Kansas with her co-founders Nancy Farber-Mottola, and Kenny Linn. Sheri served as the Programming Director for the festival for 7 years, bringing a fresh perspective to the festival as a curator for the short film format. As a 30-year retired Boeing Business Development leader, Sheri was able to further the reach of the festival by applying her marketing expertise.
Jedd Beaudoin
Jedd Beaudoin is the host and producer of the syndicated music show Strange Currency, originating from KMUW, Wichita’s NPR affiliate. In addition, he serves as an arts reporter for the station and has written for a variety of publications, including PopMatters, Noisey, and American Songwriter.
Milan Chakraborty
Milan Chakraborty, Head of Film at Marginal MediaWorks, oversees all of the company’s efforts in independent, studio, and streaming film. He is an 18-year veteran of the film industry. Milan worked at Warner Bros and New Line Cinema in production finance and accounting on projects including Batman Begins, Superman Returns, History of Violence, and V for Vendetta. Milan began independently producing in 2008 and has produced and executive produced over 20 features including My Friend Dahmer, Assassination Nation, Plus One, The Dark & the Wicked, multiple Spirit Award nominee The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain, and THE SECRET ART OF HUMAN FLIGHT.
Murmurations & Doc Shorts Jury
Jean Anne Lauer
Jean Anne Lauer has promoted the development and exhibition of Latinx, Iberoamerican, and Indigenous film and media since 2004. She has worked with Cine Las Americas International Film Festival (Austin, TX, 2008 through 2022), and with Fantastic Fest (Austin, TX, 2013 to present). Currently, Jean is the Director of Short Film Programming at Fantastic Fest, and she teaches courses at ACC in the Dept. of Philosophy, Religion, and Humanities, and the Dept. of Radio-Television-Film. Jean has been a faculty member at ACC since the Fall of 2005.
Alex Garcia Topete
Alex Garcia Topete is a writer and filmmaker with more than 15 years of experience working in the creative industries in Mexico and the United States. He has been the managing partner and chief creative officer of the Dallas-based media production company Nowadays Orange Productions since its establishment in 2011, having written, directed, and produced several projects, ranging from independent features to award-winning docu-series. In addition, Alex has been a curator/programmer since 2007 for several film festivals, including the Dallas International Film Festival and the Festival de Cine Latino Americano of North Texas (FDCLA), of which he’s an original co-founder.
Raul Benitez
Raul Benitez is a film programmer in Chicago for over 14 years. Raul currently is the Senior Programmer at the Midwest Film Festival and the After Dark programmer at the Chicago International Film Festival. Raul also programs at Comfort Station Logan Square, Full Spectrum Features, and the Nightingale Cinema. Raul has been named a Chicago Film Gem by New City Chicago for 2015,17,19 and in 2023 Raul was inducted into the Film Gem Hall of Fame. Raul was also named an Esteemed Artist by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and received a DCASE grant for his Chicago/Mexico City Filmmaker exchange program.
Emerging Shorts Jury
Mason Vietti
Mason Vietti grew up in small-town Kansas and always adored the smaller aspects of life. With a passion for film and a background in journalism, Mason likes to shine a light on whatever stories he sees. Now that he finds himself at film school surrounded by a plethora of other artists, he’s never not creating.
Monica Biltz
Monica is a Wichita filmmaker who participates in all aspects of the creative process, with a focus on screenwriting and directing. In addition to her film projects, she enjoys assisting others with their creative endeavors in the Wichita community, while also pursuing a degree in filmmaking at Wichita State University.
Piper Prichard
Piper Prichard is a senior at Wichita State University majoring in filmmaking. She found her passion in writing when she was younger and she hopes to continue her love for telling stories after she graduates.
EDA Features Jury
Jennifer Merin (see bio above)
Jamie Broadnax (see bio above)
MaryAnn Johanson
MaryAnn Johanson launched her popular and respected FlickFilosopher.com in 1997, making it one of the longest-running film-criticism sites online. Her reviews have also appeared in a variety of US alt-weekly newspapers. Other credits: Indiewire, PBS’s Independent Lens blog, Film Threat, Film4.com. Executive member, The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (Webbys); member, Online Film Critics Society, Alliance of Women Film Journalists. She has appeared numerous times on the BBC World Service’s “The Arts Hour.” A native New Yorker, she is now based in London.
EDA Shorts Jury
Lonita Cook ( see bio above)
Brandy McDonnell writes reviews and features for The Oklahoman and NewsOK.com. She started journalism in seventh grade, submitting stories to local weeklies through high school. She wrote for The Daily O’Collegian at Oklahoma State, earning a journalism degree with honors. She worked at Oklahoma dailies, joined The Oklahoman, moving to the entertainment desk in 2007. A founding member of the Oklahoma Film Critics Circle, she writes AWFJ.org’s THE WEEK IN WOMEN.
Rachel West
Based in Toronto, Rachel is a Senior Film Critic at ThatShelf.com. She has interviewed everyone from Michael Fassbender to Miss Piggy and has reported live from TIFF, the SAG Awards, Comic-Con, and the Golden Globes, among other events, and has contributed film writing and content to outlets including ET Canada, Telefilm, Global News, The National Post, Cineplex Magazine, and Letterboxd, among others. She is a member of the Toronto Film Critics Association.
Panels /Education
Meet the Filmmakers/Meet the Programmers
Friday, October 6, 10:30 am
Tallgrass Programmers Andre Seward and Hannah Bothner, Filmmaker Advisory Board members, and attending filmmakers
Grab your morning cup of joe or tea for this informal mix-and-mingle session with the crackerjack team behind our Stubbornly Independent programming, our Filmmaker Advisory Board members, and you, the filmmakers of Tallgrass 2023! You’ll learn how you can make the most of your festival experience, hear more about the films screening this weekend, and get to talk to each other in a setting more casual than a Q&A and quieter than 3 am karaoke.
Hannah Bothner, Operations Manager & Shorts Programmer. When Hannah’s not programming films or running events you can find her listening to a podcast, rewatching Wet Hot American Summer for the millionth time, and/or hanging out with her boyfriend Jake and cat Dipper. Born and raised in Wichita, she is a graduate of Wichita State University, and measuring in at only 5’2″ tall she is the perfect height to program short films.
Andre Seward, Programming Director, started volunteering for the Tallgrass Film Festival when he was 15. He started in events and transitioned into prescreening and somehow ended up as Programming Director. Along the way, he also has worked for Bentonville Film Festival and Tampa Bay International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival in programming as well. He has gone from Wichita, to LA, Madrid, and now is in Berlin but Wichita will always be home. He is happy to be involved in an organization that plays a big part in what makes Wichita special.
Crickett Rumley, Panels Director, received her MFA in Film at Columbia University and is the founder and Senior Director of the Film Festival Department at the New York Film Academy in Los Angeles. She has guided filmmakers to official selections at festivals ranging from Sundance to Bronzelens as well as to nomination and shortlisting for major student awards. Thrilled to be back at Tallgrass for a third year, Crickett was on the jury in 2021 and now serves as the festival’s Panels Director. In her spare time, she writes novels.
Continuing Legal Education (CLE) Seminars
Behind every film is a mountain of legal paperwork, and this year the Tallgrass Film Festival, in association with the Wichita Bar Association, will break some of it down for filmmakers and attorneys alike. Join us for three entertaining and engaging seminars that will get to the heart of legal issues and possibly help with your current and/or future films.
CLE: The Basics of Music Copyright Law
Friday, October 6, 2 pm
CLE REGISTRATION HERE FOR ATTORNEYS
FILMMAKERS MAY ATTEND FOR FREE
Presenter: Jim Jesse
Music plays such a critical role in motion picture storytelling, so what does a filmmaker need to know as they set about procuring rights to the pieces that will enhance their work? This seminar will cover topics ranging from issues in clearing music for films and other audio-visual works, to what a copyright is and how to obtain one, to what a music license looks like.
Jim Jesse has been an attorney since 1992, and has been a full-time Music Law presenter since 2013. He is the former General Counsel for Cool Music Network (THE COOL TV), which is a 24-hour-a-day music video television network. He founded Rock N Roll Law, and his passion is spreading music law through his seminars. He is the author of The Music Copyright Law Manual and The Musician’s Guide to Music Copyright Law. In addition, he is a singer/songwriter who has released three albums and multiple singles, is a member of BMI, and has run his own record label distributing his music. He is a member of California Copyright Commission, Folk Alliance and Nashville Songwriters Association International.
CLE: Why So Serious? Fair Use In The Context Of Scripted And Non-Documentary Works Presented by Conlee, Schmidt & Emerson
CLE REGISTRATION HERE FOR ATTORNEYS
Friday, October 6, 3 pm
We all know that documentarians, educational filmmakers, and news producers take advantage of fair use regularly. But did you know it can be relied on in an entertainment context, too? Entertainment attorney Tyler Emerson and special guest Vera Drew will present new legal developments in fair use doctrines and discuss its application to protect scripted and non-documentary films and series.
Tyler Emerson has been a practicing entertainment attorney at Conlee Schmidt & Emerson LLP for over a decade. He has a general motion picture practice in which he provides counsel in connection with company structuring, financing and distribution, rights clearance, and production legal services. He also represents individual producers, writers, actors and social media influencers. In addition to his legal work, Tyler is also a writer and producer, most recently producing the critically-acclaimed Chasing Chasing Amy.
Vera Drew is an accomplished filmmaker and actor who came up in TV post production. Once known in her alternative comedy circle as an “editor that thinks like a writer,” she expertly edited and contributed visual effects to dozens of iconic comedy televisions shows, including CHECK IT OUT WITH DR. STEVE BRULE, THE BIRTHDAY BOYS, KRFT PUNK’S POLITICAL PARTY (for which she got her first contributing writer credit), season two of I THINK YOU SHOULD LEAVE, three seasons of COMEDY BANG! BANG! on IFC, and ON CINEMA (she later went onto direct season 12). Having honed her skills at Tim and Eric’s Abso Lutely Productions (a company known for incubating some of the industry’s most unique editors), Vera’s talent as an editor has been recognized by the Television Academy in 2019 when she was nominated for Emmy for her work on Sacha Baron Cohen’s “Who Is America.” That same year, she launched Tim and Eric’s streaming TV network (for which she wrote and directed four series and hours of original content) . Prior to that, Vera was a contributor to Highland Park TV and Everything Is Terrible.
Most recently, Vera finished her first feature film, THE PEOPLE’S JOKER – a Queer coming of age comic book parody that premiered at TIFF in Fall of 2021, to critical acclaim and minor controversy. A proud trans woman born and raised in the south suburbs of Chicago, she has been making funny, spooky, and/or queer short films and music videos for most of her life. She is currently writing her next feature film and trying to #FreeThePeoplesJoker.
CLE: The ABCs Of Post-Production Sales Contracts
CLE REGISTRATION HERE FOR ATTORNEYS
Friday, October 6, 4 pm
You’ve made a film! But danger still lurks! Emerson and special guest Milan Chakraborty will walk step-by-step through both material terms and boilerplate terms of a common sales agency agreement and a common independent distribution agreement, identifying and discussing both legal and business red flags for filmmakers and their attorneys to watch out for when their films are ready to be taken to market.
Tyler Emerson has been a practicing entertainment attorney at Conlee Schmidt & Emerson LLP for over a decade. He has a general motion picture practice in which he provides counsel in connection with company structuring, financing and distribution, rights clearance, and production legal services. He also represents individual producers, writers, actors, and social media influencers. In addition to his legal work, Tyler is also a writer and producer, most recently producing the critically acclaimed Chasing Chasing Amy.
Milan Chakraborty, Head of Film at Marginal MediaWorks, oversees all of the company’s efforts in independent, studio, and streaming film. He is an 18-year veteran of the film industry. Milan worked at Warner Bros and New Line Cinema in production finance and accounting on projects including Batman Begins, Superman Returns, History of Violence, and V for Vendetta. Milan began independently producing in 2008 and has produced and executive produced over 20 features including My Friend Dahmer, Assassination Nation, Plus One, The Dark & the Wicked, multiple Spirit Award nominee The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain, and THE SECRET ART OF HUMAN FLIGHT.
Money, Distribution, and the Indie Filmmaker
Saturday, October 7, 1 pm
The pandemic caused massive shifts in filmmaking and distribution, so what do indie filmmakers need to know to make it in the post-pandemic era? This panel will explore topics such as managing expectations and personal finances, film budgeting, and distribution. We’ll address the possibilities for indie film theatrical distribution in today’s AVOD, SVOD, TVOD world, what distributors wish filmmakers knew about deliverables and marketing, and what producers wish they had known before they signed a contract or booked a sales agent.
Panelists:
Sean Armstrong is an award-winning entrepreneur and seasoned business professional with more than 15 years of experience across many functional areas and co-founder of Homestead Entertainment.
Jim Brunzell III was born in the 70’s, played sports in the 80’s, went to school in the 90’s, and started working on film festivals in the 2000’s. He graduated from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities in 2001 with a B.A. in English studies. In 2005, he started out as a volunteer at the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Film Festival (MSPIFF) and worked his way up to associate programmer and office manager before leaving for the corporate world and becoming a freelance film critic writing for many outlets and publications. He joined Sound Unseen in 2008 as a programmer and became the festival director in 2012. During his tenure the festival was named “One of the 25 Coolest Film Festivals in the World” by Moviemaker Magazine in 2016 & 2019 and “One of the 20 Great First Time Moviemakers Festival” in 2022. He was also the Program & Artistic Director for the All Genders, Lifestyles, and Identities Film Festival (aGLIFF) in Austin, TX from 2014-2020. In 2016 Brunzell was named by the Austin Chronicle as “One of the Top 10 Local Queer Heroes.” In February 2023, he started working at L.A.-based film distributor Dark Star Pictures, where he is the Director of Festivals.
Milan Chakraborty, Head of Film at Marginal MediaWorks, oversees all of the company’s efforts in independent, studio and streaming film. He is an 18 year veteran of the film industry. Milan worked at Warner Bros and New Line Cinema in production finance and accounting on projects including Batman Begins, Superman Returns, History of Violence and V for Vendetta. Milan began independently producing in 2008 and has produced and executive produced over 20 features including My Friend Dahmer, Assassination Nation, Plus One, The Dark & the Wicked, multiple Spirit Award nominee The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain, and THE SECRET ART OF HUMAN FLIGHT.
Bill Guentzler is currently serving as Vice President of Acquisitions for Gravitas Ventures. Gravitas, an Anthem Sports and Entertainment company, is recognized worldwide as one of the largest all rights distributors of independent films and documentaries. After spending a summer studying in Berlin in 1998, he joined the Cleveland International Film Festival as an intern and grew with the organization, ultimately being named Artistic Director in 2005, a position he held for 15 years. During his time at CIFF, he was part of the team making the festival one of the largest and most well-respected film festivals in the US and one of the first in the world to transition to an online format in 2020. In his brief hiatus from the film industry, he worked for Medworks, a Cleveland-based nonprofit organization linking people who are uninsured and underinsured with vital healthcare services. He holds a BA in Communications from Cleveland State University, which named him one if its inaugural 50 Fascinating Alumni. He also proudly serves on the Board of Directors for Cleveland Social Venture Partners.
Originally from Kansas, Sav Rodgers is a filmmaker and screenwriter whose feature directorial debut CHASING CHASING AMY is about the complicated legacy of Chasing Amy (1997) and its profound impression on his life. The TED Talk he gave in 2018 kickstarted this filmmaking journey, and spurred the writing of scripts that center on highly specific, surprising stories about queer people. His screenplays have been recognized by GLAAD, Outfest, ScreenCraft, among others. An alumnus of the Producers Guild of America’s inaugural PGA Create program, Sav is also the Founder and Executive Director of the Transgender Film Center, a nonprofit aiming to help trans creators bring finished films to audiences around the world. Sav is a proud University of Kansas graduate and still sports KU baseball caps wherever he goes.
Moderator:
Lonita Cook is a Film, TV, Theater and Culture critic contributing to KCTV5, Everyday Northwest (Portland CW) and Hello Iowa. She serves filmmakers and other artists as the East Central Kansas Field Rep for Kansas Department of Commerce Creative Arts Industries where she also currently facilitates the KCAIC Critical Writing Initiative. She’s also a creative producer currently executive producing an open road travel show.
Mental Health and Filmmaking
Saturday, October 7, 2:30 pm
With trauma support for filmmakers as critical as ever, this candid discussion will dive into topics around resilience, safety, and trauma-informed methods for those working on sensitive subject matter and with vulnerable communities. How can filmmakers be their own advocates, set boundaries, and manage mental health both on and off set? What are best practices for securing support from producers, financiers, and collaborators?
Panelists
Caitlyn Cody is a cinematographer from Wichita Kansas. She’s been a part of the local film community and Tallgrass since 2017, when she became an Emerging Programmer Apprentice for the Tallgrass Film Festival. She loves supporting female and non-binary filmmakers and helping them tell their stories.
H.P. Mendoza is a Filipino-American filmmaker best known for his work as screenwriter, composer and lyricist on COLMA: THE MUSICAL (2006), as well as his art-house horror film, I AM A GHOST (2014) called “H.P. Mendoza’s objet d’art” by Dennis Harvey of Variety. After his directorial debut FRUIT FLY (2009), David Lamble of the San Francisco Bay Area Reporter dubbed Mendoza “San Francisco’s queer cinema poet”. In 2012, Mendoza was inducted into Essential SF by the San Francisco Film Society which supported his Filipino-American dramedy BITTER MELON (2018) which placed on over a dozen Top 10 lists after its 2018 theatrical run and was hailed as one of the “20 Best Bay Area Films of the Decade” by the Mercury News. Along with his feature films, Mendoza is also known for his music and art installations including the touring screening of his experimental visual album, ATTACK, DECAY, RELEASE, winner of the 2022 Grand Jury Prize at the Tallgrass Film Festival, Stubbornly Independent.
Originally from Kansas, Sav Rodgers is a filmmaker and screenwriter whose feature directorial debut CHASING CHASING AMY is about the complicated legacy of Chasing Amy (1997) and its profound impression on his life. The TED Talk he gave in 2018 kickstarted this filmmaking journey, and spurred the writing of scripts that center on highly specific, surprising stories about queer people. His screenplays have been recognized by GLAAD, Outfest, ScreenCraft, among others. An alumnus of the Producers Guild of America’s inaugural PGA Create program, Sav is also the Founder and Executive Director of the Transgender Film Center, a nonprofit aiming to help trans creators bring finished films to audiences around the world. Sav is a proud University of Kansas graduate and still sports KU baseball caps wherever he goes.
Moderator:
Amanda Mustard is a queer, award-winning filmmaker and photojournalist raised on a Christmas tree farm in rural Pennsylvania. As a professional people watcher, her practice is rooted in a deep empathy, curiosity, and love for the messiness of being alive. She began her career as a photojournalist, working globally for more than a decade based from Cairo and then Bangkok, for editorial clients such as the New York Times and National Geographic. That work imbued in her a deep compassion for humanity, a firm ethical foundation, an instinct for good stories, and a strong aesthetic vision.
Mustard recently completed her feature-length directorial debut, Great Photo, Lovely Life, a deeply personal documentary that attempts to break a cycle of generational trauma within her own family. Encompassing nine years of work, Mustard collaborated closely with creatives like Dan Deacon and Charlie Tyrell, with the goal of redefining how stories of abuse can be told beyond tired tropes and sensationalism. Great Photo, Lovely Life premiered at SXSW in 2023 and won Best Feature Film at the LES Film Festival, and continues to make its festival rounds until its air date on HBO in December 2023.
You Made Your Short Film, Now What?
Sunday, October 8, 1 pm
A valuable art form in its own right, the short film is also seen as a stepping stone to a career in feature filmmaking. This panel will identify tips for articulating your next goals, ways to utilize film festivals to network and level up, the importance of elevator pitches, and secrets for crafting a financier-friendly low-budget feature screenplay or documentary treatment.
Panelists:
Tina Carbone is an award-winning independent producer and filmmaker who has worn just about every hat when it comes to production. She has produced all types of fun projects, including feature films, shorts, branded content, series, and VR projects.
She absolutely loves what she does and has used her enthusiasm and creativity to grow a successful career elevating productions with smaller budgets into high quality films. Tina believes that filmmaking is a collaborative effort and loves bringing together the greatest production families around. The set experience is super important to her, as is the respect and happiness of each member of her team.
She is also active in the female filmmaker community as an advocate for women on set and continue to mentor in all aspects of production.
Caitlyn Cody is a cinematographer from Wichita Kansas. She’s been a part of the local film community and Tallgrass since 2017, when she became an Emerging Programmer Apprentice for the Tallgrass Film Festival. She loves supporting female and non-binary filmmakers and helping them tell their stories.
Alex Megaro is a filmmaker best known for producing/editing Driftwood, winner of the Slamdance Grand Jury Prize for Narrative Feature and the Virginia Film Festival’s Programmer award for Best Feature. He produced the Sheffield Doc Fest official selection 8:08 How We Respond, produced/edited the VICE documentary series Source Material, and edited episodes of the VICE on Showtime documentary series. His latest documentary Krush The Wrestler has thus far won three Best Documentary Short awards and is an official selection at 15+ festivals in 2023.
Benjamin Wiessner is a producer and VP of Sales & Distribution at Vanishing Angle. He was named to Filmmaker Magazine’s 25 New Faces of Indie Film in 2012 as part of ornana films, where he began producing and distributing shorts and features with partners across the world. He has produced short films in both hand-drawn animation and live action, with awards at festivals including SXSW and Sundance. He has also worked on numerous features with premieres at Sundance, Berlinale, SXSW, Cannes, and Tribeca, including producing and self-distributing THUNDER ROAD (SXSW 2018 Grand Jury Prize). He consults, mentors, and consoles numerous early career filmmakers. Raised by educators, he frequently speaks about filmmaking, distribution, and film marketing at film schools, festivals, and conferences from Cannes to Kazakhstan. In 2018, he co-founded the Short to Feature Filmmaking Lab and in 2020 he helped launch the Vanishing Angle Post Grant for short filmmakers.
Moderator:
Crickett Rumley received her MFA in Film at Columbia University and is the founder and Senior Director of the Film Festival Department at the New York Film Academy in Los Angeles. She has guided filmmakers to official selections at festivals ranging from Sundance to Bronzelens as well as to nomination and shortlisting for major student awards. Thrilled to be back at Tallgrass for a third year, Crickett was on the jury in 2021 and now serves as the festival’s Panels Director. In her spare time, she writes novels.
