2019
Judging Panel
Industry professionals, offering filmmakers real-world insights and feedback
MEGHAN ORETSKY
Vimeo Staff Picks Curator / Ladies with Lenses
Before joining Vimeo in 2014, you could find Meghan cheering on filmmakers in the comments section of countless videos on their site. Today she serves as a member of the Vimeo curation team, for which she watches and curates thousands of videos a year. She is especially proud to support women in film via her Vimeo channel “Ladies With Lenses” and features their work in a monthly screening series in New York City. You can find out more about this online collection of shorts and the IRL series @ladieswithlenses.
SHERESE ROBINSON
Writer, Teaching Artist, Speaker
Sherese creates, manages, and teaches how to use digital content to build meaningful relationships. Sherese believes that every voice deserves to be heard, and she’s here to listen.
She is the creator of the scripted digital audio soap opera Sugar. Slated for an exclusive Fall launch on the Ense app, Sugar is a “throwback to the pre-TV radio serials.” Sugar is sponsored by plus-size fashion company Dia&Co.
Sherese has had her work featured at over 20 film festivals internationally, on cable TV, Public Television, and was a writer on ABC’s Daytime series All My Children and Port Charles.
She holds a BFA in Film from School of Visual Arts, and an MFA in Screenwriting from Columbia University, and currently teaches film studies, digital content creation and analysis, and screenwriting at the University of Connecticut, School of Visual Arts, and the Fashion Institute of Technology.
Natasha Soto-Albors
Screenwriter, Producer, Teaching Artist
Natasha Soto-Albors is a bilingual screenwriter, producer, and teaching artist based in New York City. She is of Puerto Rican descent and was born and raised in Sacramento, California. Natasha is a graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts (B.F.A. Drama). As of September 2018, Natasha is an adjunct faculty member at the School of Visual Arts, where she teaches screenwriting. Producing credits include Ship of Fools (co-writer, lead actor), Lil’ Benny, Leah Shore’s Funeral, Friendly Neighborhood Coven, and the upcoming web series "86'd". Screenwriting credits include the short films Clams Casino, Cambio, Aleita, The Picture of Isabel, and Sophia. Natasha's work has screened at many film festivals in the U.S. and abroad including The New Orleans Film Festival, Austin Film Festival, Sidewalk Film Festival, Sarasota Film Festival, and Woodstock Film Festival. Natasha is the founder and CEO of Night Spark Pictures, a film production company dedicated to diverse and dynamic storytelling.
Pre-Screeners
Lea Sassi
Léa Sassi is a French director based currently in New York City. After studying journalism at the European Institute of Journalism in Paris, she moved to New York for her Master's in Directing at School of Visual Arts where she was a recipient of the SVA Premieres: Best of 2019 program in L.A. Her debut film, Daisy Desires is currently on the film festival circuit while she continues working on freelance directing projects.
India McKinney
India is a film director based in NYC. She has worked at television shows and entertainment companies such as Saturday Night Live, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The USA Network, Park Slope Productions and The Tribeca Film Center. India aspires to create dramas, psychological thrillers and experimental narratives that explore dark subject matter and the overall honesty of the human condition. She is a graduate of the Masters of Directing program at the School of Visual Arts and has an undergraduate degree from Marymount College. Her short film, The Truck, is currently on the film festival circuit.
Hannah Pascoe
Hannah peddles in stories. As a filmmaker, writer and performer, she sews together visual information, works collaboratively and thinks creatively. Her unique skill set, built working across 4 continents, combines a keen visual eye and a natural sense of storytelling with a producer's sensibility and an entrepreneurial attitude. When not creating, she's drinking (too much) coffee, learning strange things about the world and wondering why humans behave the way they do. hannahpoppypascoe.com