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International Judging Panel
A.J. Catoline, ACE
Picture Editor
A.J. is a graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and USC's Master of Professional Writing Program. He serves as a Board Member of the Motion Picture Editors Guild (IATSE) and is a frequent contributor to Cinemontage Magazine about members of the Guild and their work in the post-production industry. He is a picture editor working in Los Angeles, recently on "Ted Lasso'' for Apple TV+, and won an Emmy for Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Comedy in 2021. He has also been nominated for the American Cinema Editors Eddie Awards. His other television credits include "Brockmire" for IFC, "Speechless" for ABC, and "Black Jesus" for Adult Swim. He is a native of Cape Cod, Massachusetts and, when not in the cutting room, loves to be out in nature fishing and downhill skiing. He also serves as a volunteer with his local West Hollywood chapter of the Human Rights Campaign.
Ellen Dubin
Award-Winning, Multi-Nominated Actress & Voice Artist
Ellen Dubin has enjoyed a highly unique and diverse career as an actor. Her penchant for landing bizarre and fascinating roles has resulted in Ellen becoming a cult figure in the science fiction world, beginning with Lexx. Ellen was nominated for a Gemini Award for her series lead in The Collector. Favourite recent roles: Bene Gesserit Ancestors (voice over) in the Oscar-winning Dune, opposite Naomi Watts in The Desperate Hour, Pixar's Oscar-nominated Turning Red, the English dub of the Oscar-nominated Le Pupille, and Blumhouse's blockbuster hit M3GAN. She was thrilled to be in the multi-award-winning mega cult classic Sundance Film Festival's Napoleon Dynamite and in the Emmy-nominated animated series as Captain Phasma in Lego Star Wars, Star Wars Resistance and Fortnite, the Netflix series Daniel Spellbound and the Emmy nominated Elinor Wonders Why. She won a BTVA for her role in Fallout 4. As a daughter of a veteran, having worked on Midway and the short WWII film Boundless was a dream come true. She is honoured to be a member of Women in Animation, BAFTA, SOVAS, AISFA, Women in Film and Television and a judge for the Annie Awards in Los Angeles, The Ultimate VO Survivor and Ms Wheelchair USA.
Michaelangelo Masangkay
President & Founder of Siné Institute
Michaelangelo is currently the Director of Production at Toronto Film School, General Manager of Raven Banner Entertainment, and President/Founder of Siné Institute. He began his career in 2006, navigating the economic crisis and digital distribution revolution, eventually becoming VP of Sales and Marketing at Cinemavault. In 2011, he co-founded Toronto Men’s Fashion Week, producing large-scale fashion events with significant media impact. Since 2013, as General Manager at Raven Banner, he has repped over 200 films and produced several, including collaborating with Slash from Guns N' Roses. He has also provided production services to AMC, TUBI, and others. He has worked with the Film Development Council of the Philippines since 2016, empowering Filipino filmmakers. His first produced film, TOPAKK, has premiered globally and has been selected for numerous prestigious festivals.
J.J. Geiger
Picture Editor
J.J. Geiger is a Television Editor who has worked on shows such as Netflix's "FUBAR," the Amazon Original Series "Reacher," and the soon to be released spin-off titled "Neagley." His editing career overall has been quite diverse; from editing documentaries to local programming, where his production team won a LA regional Emmy.
Sergio Di Zio
Actor & Producer
Sergio Di Zio has been acting in film, television and theatre for over thirty years. Winner of several awards, including the Gemini and the Dora Mavor Moore and recieving multiple nominations across every medium, Sergio has over 100 film credits and has performed on stages across the country. A series regular on Flashpoint, Rogue, and This is Wonderland, he has also guest starred and been featured in Transplant, The Queen's Gambit, Coroner, and Chucky: The Series. He has been directed by Oscar and Emmy Award winning directors Ron Howard, Robert Zemeckis, John Maddan, Scott Frank, and Christoph Waltz. His theatre credits include the world premieres of This is War, Scorched (English Translation), and Leo, and the Toronto premieres of Detroit, Between Riverside and Crazy, and The Motherfucker With the Hat.
Maria Ricossa
Actress
Maria started her career at Second City in Chicago and Toronto and has continued to work in theatre, film and television for over 40 years. She was a member of the Stratford Festival for 5 Seasons playing leading roles in King Lear, Twelfth Night, Measure for Measure, Much Ado About Nothing, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Twelfth Night, Measure for Measure and Hamlet. Other theatre work includes roles at the Tarragon Theatre, Canadian Stage, Necessary Angel, Nightwood Theatre, The Storefront Theatre, The Manitoba Theatre Center, The Harold Green Jewish Theatre and Theatre 180. Maria has been a series lead, guest star and recurring character on TV series including Ransom, The Strain, Clarice and Designated Survivor and the upcoming Sheriff Country. She has also had leading roles in feature films, including The Inlaws, Some Things That Stay and The Space Between. Maria has taught screen acting at Humber College and coaches actors on set.
Frank Morrone
Emmy-Winning Sound Mixer
Frank Morrone is a two-time Emmy-winning Hollywood audio professional who has mixed sound for high profile television and movies including The Strain, LOST, Sleepy Hollow, The Kennedys, Copper, Boss, Ransom and Oscar winning When We Were Kings. He has worked with leading directors and producers including JJ Abrams, Guillermo del Toro, Gus Van Sant, Ron Howard, and Tim Burton.
Andrew Jackson
Actor & Voice Artist
Andrew Jackson has worked extensively in television, film, classical theatre, commercial voice, and animation. Andrew recently recorded two voice roles on the live action/animated feature film I, Object and 16 episodes on the popular animated series My Little Pony: Tell Your Tale. Andrew appeared on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds as the Klingon Captain D'Chok, played the real Santa/dad on Catch Me If You Clause and was granted supporting lead roles on Christmas in Maple Hills and Shifting Gears. Selected credits include Gangland: Undercover, Christmas in Paris, Peter’s Redemption, Rogue, The Listener, Breakout, Deadly Betrayal, Merlin’s Apprentice, Sea Wolf, Being Erica, Seed, Smallville, Charmed, Catch a Falling Star, The Highlander, Scared Silent, The Last Don II, Scooby Doo 2, Family of Cops II, All I Want, King, Breakout Kings, Lost Girl, Criminal Minds (The Pilot), The Collector, Kyle XY, Earth Final Conflict and Being Erica. . Some of you may know him as Vanaver Mainwairing from the fifth season of Wind at My Back, or you might recognize him from his two-year stint as Dr. Stephen Hamill on ABC's All My Children. Andrew was nominated for an ACTRA Award for his performance as Buford on the animation series Numb Chucks, he won the best actor award at the Cabbagetown Short Film Festival for the comedy My Father is an Actor and the best actor award at the Canadian Cinematography Awards for his performance in the award-winning short film, Obdurate.
Mark Lanza
Sound Supervisor
Mark Lanza has been crafting sound for top movies and television for years. His first job in the industry was working for Oliver Stone. Some of his credits include Independence Day, True Lies, Natural Born Killers, JFK (for which he won a BAFTA), Homeland, Empire, and Electric Dreams. He has over 30 Golden Reel nominations to his name. Mark is currently working at Sony Pictures where he creates sound for TV’s top network and streaming shows. He is a past President of the Motion Picture Sound Editors.
Christian Allaire
Writer
Christian is an Ojibwe writer from Nipissing First Nation, Canada. He graduated from Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University) with a Bachelor of Journalism in 2014. He began his career in New York City as a fashion editor at Footwear News/WWD, and became a staff writer at Vogue in 2017. At the magazine, he is currently the Senior Fashion & Style Writer, where he covers celebrity profiles, red carpet style, fashion trends, emerging designers and more. He is also notably an expert in Indigenous fashion, covering contemporary designers and artists, as well as tentpole events such as the Santa Fe Indian Market and various Indigenous Fashion Weeks. He is also a two-time published author. His first book, The Power of Style: How Fashion and Beauty Are Being Used to Reclaim Cultures, was released with Annick Press in 2021. His second book, From the Rez to the Runway: Forging My Path in Fashion, is a memoir, released with Harper Collins in 2025.
Nadine Whiteman
Actress
Nadine Whiteman is an Actor/Singer/Acting Coach based in the Toronto area. She got her start in musical theatre in the North American premiere of Mamma Mia and went on to be part of the Las Vegas and Broadway companies. Her many theatre credits include Drowsy Chaperone & Blow Wind High Water (Theatre Calgary & MTC), All Shook Up (Drayton Entertainment & Stage West) Selected Film and Television credits include: Designated Survivor; Murdoch Mysteries; Odd Squad, Faith Heist, Love Upstream, Take Note, Brilliant Minds and Sky Med.
Bernard Weiser
Sound Supervisor, Designer, Editor & Educator, President of EIPMA
Bernard is a professional Supervising Sound Editor working in ADR/Dialogue and Sound Effects/Design. Starting his career in picture editing, his talent brought him into post-production sound, where over the past 40 years he has worked in Feature Motion Pictures and television for most of the major studios in Hollywood. His credits include Schindlers List, The Hurt Locker, It, American Hustle, True Detective, Law & Order SVU, Ted Lasso and FERRARI. Bernard also teaches Sound Design at UCLA's School of Theater, Film & Television Graduate Program. His is President of the Entertainment Industry Professionals Mentoring Alliance, (EIPMA) and is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, the Television Academy, and the Motion Picture Sound Editors.
Christopher Lane
Award-Winning Writer, Producer,Director, Film Historian, Educator & Author
Christopher Lane is a film and television professional and an award-winning writer, producer, director, film historian, educator, and author. Over the past two decades, Christopher has produced, directed and written documentaries, films, shorts, features and plays, music videos, corporate and travel videos, commercials and major ad campaigns, as well as multiple television shows including the internationally acclaimed adventure series Canada in the Rough and Gamer Girlz. During this time he also served as Film Production Coordinator for the Toronto Film School for over 15 years, as well as curriculum developer for TFS and many other institutions. Recently Christopher has been active in production working in television as a H&S Supervisor for ViacomCBS/Paramount on such major productions as Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Matlock, Walker: Independence, Players, Glamorous and Star Trek: Discovery. This exciting work has seen him working internationally including in Los Angeles, Panama, New Mexico, Vancouver, China as well as all over Ontario.
Rich Caplan
Talent Agent
Rich Caplan is a partner at Noble Caplan Abrams, one of Canada’s largest and most respected talent agencies. Established way back in 1977, NCA has represented award-winning actors for film, television, stage, commercials, and voice work for decades. Rich also produced the award-winning short film The Sisters Tolchinski (about his mother!), which premiered at the prestigious Flickers Rhode Island International Film festival, where it took down the audience choice award for best documentary short. Rich also plays poker internationally and hilariously chronicles all in his poker blog VIRGIL GOES TO EUROPE.
Andrea Trentadue
TV Personality, CHIN
It was at a young age that Andrea discovered her love of writing that would become the precursor to her chosen career in Journalism. While studying at Humber College, Andrea volunteered as Producer and Reporter for segments of City Magazine and Plugged In!, a half hour program at Rogers Television. In 2000, Andrea joined CHIN Radio and Television, working many facets of the live show from Floor Director, Production Assistant, Segment Producer and finally, as co-host of the Johnny Lombardi show.
Ozzie Sutherland
Manager, Sound Technology & Post Workflows Production Technology & Operations, UCAN
Ozzie Sutherland is the “go-to” guy for Pro-Audio solutions. While being based in Los Angeles, his reputation in the industry is known worldwide. A creative, optimistic and talented visionary with superb technical expertise in audio engineering/mixing/sound editorial/studio design. His amicable persona is evident in his ability to work as a team player and relate to everyone from aspiring students to high profile studio management and creatives. Ozzie joined Netflix in 2018 and is currently Lead, Audio Workflows with the Creative Technologies team.
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