FELICITY HUFFMAN

International Short Film Competition Judge

Felicity Huffman earned an Academy Award nomination for her performance
in “Transamerica,” as well as a Golden Globe Award and Independent Spirit Award for
the same role. Huffman has also been honored with an Emmy and a Screen Actors
Guild Award for Best Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for her role on “Desperate
Housewives.” Huffman is a founding member of the Atlantic Theater Company, an
off-Broadway theater company where she was also featured in numerous plays. Her
company “Velocity” produces both television and theater. Huffman resides in Los
Angeles with her two kids and her husband, fellow actor and director William H. Macy.
 

WILLIAM H. MACY

International Short Film Competition 

A consummate character actor made his biggest impression off-Broadway, embodying a host of unhappy, hapless souls. Macy’s breakthrough came as a desperate car salesman in Fargo (1996). In the ’00s, Macy was incredibly prolific, appearing in big-budget flicks (Seabiscuit), indies (The Cooler) and a number of critically acclaimed TV-movies. He recently finished shooting The Surrogate.

ELIJAH WOOD

International Short Film Competition 

After being a noticed child star, Elijah Jordan Wood began appearing in films such as Paradise (1991), and Forever Young (1992), with Mel Gibson. Elijah later appeared in North (1994). Although it was deemed a flop at the box office, Elijah was praised as the only good thing to come out of it. Elijah next went to work on what has been called the biggest project ever to hit the movies, the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, based on the books by J.R.R. Tolkien. He is currently staring in the hit TV show Wilfred on FX.  

RONNIE YESKEL

International Short Film Competition 

A suporter of the festival since its earlier days, and a fellow Topangean. Ronnie has been a casting director for the LA Theater Center.. Some of her favorite Films and TV projects have included Pulp Fiction, Rservoir Dogs, L.A. Law, Curb Your Enthusiasm. She recently completed work on THE SURROGATE with John Hawkes, Helen Hunt, W. H. Macy, The Man Who Shook the Hand of Vicente Fernandez with Ernest Borgnine.

RANDALL EINHORN

International Short Film Competition

(Director) — Our longest-standing judge has not slowed down. We have followed him shape his role on The Office as The Documentarian’s lens and become the series’ most prolific director as well as a creative consultant for the multiple Emmy- winning series. Other credits include It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Wilfred for FX, Parks and Recreation. Randall, a Topanga resident, is set to direct his first feature film, Late Bloomers for Alcon Entertainment and Warner Bros.

BRENT HOFF 

International Short Film Competition 

Brent Hoff is the editor and co-founder of Wholphin DVD where he films drunk bees, crying competitions, and illegal trans-border volleyball matches. Before that he authored Mapping Epidemics, a book on pandemic disease transmission, made TV at The Daily Show, VH1, and Nickelodeon, and wrote articles about squid. His feature script “El Diablo Rojo” recently was awarded the Tribeca Sloan grant.

STEPHEN NEMETH

Feature Documentary Competition

Stephen founded Rhino Films, an offshoot of iconoclast record label Rhino Records. The film company produced Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Dogtown and Z Boys, War/Dance, Fuel and several documentaries. Stephen is also very engaged in the world around him as board member of The Collaboration Foundation, a non-profit organization devoted to creating collaborative art and films that address various social issues.

BETH PORTELLO – DOCUMENTARY

Feature Documentary Competition

Beth Portello, Director of Events at Adidas, oversaw the brand’s major events including the NCAA Final Four, Women’s World Cup, (Men’s) World Cup and the Olympics in Atlanta and Sydney. Before leaving Adidas, Portello was a Brand Concept Manager and led the development and execution of a global marketing campaign around Los Angeles Laker, Kobe Bryant. In 2002, Portello became one of the founding partners of Cinema Libre Studio and is currently producing her first film, “Phenom”.

MALCOM PULLINGER

Feature Documentary Competition

Malcolm Pullinger is an Emmy-nominated filmmaker based in San Francisco. He produced and edited the award-winning documentaries Winnebago Man, Following Sean, andThe Key of G. His films have been released theatrically in the US and Canada, have aired on the BBC, PBS, and Channel Four, and have played at film festivals around the globe. He is also the Producer & Creative Director of Wholphin, the acclaimed quarterly of rare and unseen short films published by McSweeney’s. His current film projects include African ninjas, dissociative identity disorder, and wooden swords.

WENDY HAMMERS

International Short Film Competition Presenter

Wendy Hammers loves to act. And act up. Here’s the damage she’s done so far: Confused Tony on The Sopranos; Annoyed Larry on Curb your Enthusiasm; Pissed off Bernie on The Bernie Mac Show. She murdered her lesbian girlfriend (played by Kathy Griffin) in the Roger Corman slasher pic The Unborn (the demented baby made her do it). As a comic, Wendy has teased Oprah Winfrey in the daytime.