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11th Annual!

2023 Theme Quote

Jury Award Winners

FIRST PLACE
"Shared Spaces"
Filmmakers: Collin Black, Joey Caldwell
Key Collaborator: Sammy Lahiri

RUNNER UP
"Rough Draft"
Filmmaker: Kaitlin Moose
Key Collaborator: Bryan Ricke

HONORABLE MENTION
"The Children's Table"
Filmmaker: Peter Lee
Key Collaborator: Jasmine Karcey

Shout! Factory Genre Filmmaker of the Future Award

Collin Black and Joey Caldwell for "Shared Spaces"

ASG.STREAM Marshall Fritz Prize
for demonstrating the values of personal freedom in film

"Terms and Conditions"
Filmmaker: Patrick Duncan
Key Collaborator: Ursula Rudorfer

Key Collaborator Award Winners

FIRST PLACE
T.J. Thickett

RUNNER UP
Ursula Rudorfer

HONORABLE MENTION
Nika Khitrova

Best Actor - Drama Winners

FIRST PLACE
Brittany Simone Daniels for "Mind Yours"

RUNNER UP
Chauncey Trask for "Terms and Conditions"

Best actor - Comedy Winners

FIRST PLACE
Erin Bechler for "Shared Spaces"

RUNNER UP
Katie Oliver for "Good Day"

Best Cinematography Winners

FIRST PLACE
"Weight"
Orion Yorke

RUNNER UP
"Tea"
Luigi Ventura

Best Editing Winners

FIRST PLACE
"Weight"
Jillian Nicole Smith and Reagan Yorke

RUNNER UP
"Good Day"
Michael Stratigakis

Best Writing Winners

FIRST PLACE
"Canine"
Christen Carter

RUNNER UP
"The Children's Table"
Melissa Lynn Moore & Peter Andrew Lee

Best Use of Quote Winners

FIRST PLACE
"Mind Yours"
Filmmaker: Tiffaney Robinson
Key Collaborator: Brittany Simone Daniels & Rachel Hughes

RUNNER UP
"Terms and Conditions"
Filmmaker: Patrick Duncan
Key Collaborator: Ursula Rudorfer

Best Audio and Sound Winners

FIRST PLACE
"Shared Spaces"
Collin Black, Joey Caldwell

RUNNER UP
"Terms and Conditions"
Patrick Duncan

Best Music Winners

FIRST PLACE
"Weight"
Jillian Nicole Smith and Reagan Yorke

FIRST PLACE
"Mind Yours"
Tiffaney Robinson

Best Set Photo

"What Could It Be if it Matters?"
Filmmaker: Ibrahim Perez

Grand Jury

Lauren Craniotes

Lauren Craniotes is an agent at the legendary Gersh Agency and the former Vice President of Production at Sony Stage 6. She is also a veteran Hollywood Producer and accomplished film executive. She formerly worked at Warner Bros and is also a producer of independent film.

The Bragg Brothers

Brothers Austin and Meredith Bragg have spent years channeling their sibling rivalry into award-winning content.

Most recently The Bragg Brothers wrote and directed their debut feature film Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game, starring Mike Faist (West Side Story), Crystal Reed (Teen Wolf), and Dennis Boutsikaris (Better Call Saul). Produced by MPI Original Films, the comedy is based on the true story of Roger Sharpe, the journalist who helped overturn New York City’s ban on pinball. The New Yorker declared the film “a feast of wryly nuanced acting, a giddy wonder, and also a warmhearted, sharp-edged love story…worthy of classic-age Hollywood.” (Whew!)

Previously, the Braggs wrote and directed the short film A Piece of Cake, starring Rich Sommer (Mad Men, GLOW), which was nominated for Best Narrative Short at the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival and went on to win several awards, including Best Comedy and the Audience Choice Award in Comedy at the Oscar-qualifying Indy Shorts International Film Festival. Their comedic web series, The Defenders of Stan, was sold to Warner Bros. Television and they co-wrote the pilot. In 2016 they won the HP Masters of Short Film competition at the Cannes Film Festival. As producers for Reason TV, their work has garnered three first place wins for Best Comedy at the Los Angeles Press Club Awards as well as a National Magazine Award nomination. The Braggs have produced projects for Turner Broadcasting, Visa, Atlas Obscura, AT&T, The Smithsonian, The Washington Post, Current TV, and two pilots for Warner Bros.’s online division.

Lana Link

Lana Link, the Moving Picture Institute's senior vice president, works with the executive staff to acquire, develop, and produce MPI films. She also works with rising filmmakers in MPI's talent development programs and runs MPI masterclasses with industry experts. Her various producer credits include narrative shorts Gringa, A Piece of Cake (Official Selection Tribeca Film Festival 2020, Nominated for Best Narrative Short), Melons, The Perfect One, Moving Violation, and Regulation; feature documentaries Project Home: 3D Printing the Future, Incarcerating US, and Los Ultimos Frikis; short doc Mama Rwanda; and feature narratives Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game and Miss Virginia. Lana also served as co-executive producer on the feature documentary The Dissident. She is currently producing MPI's forthcoming narrative features, Freedom Hair and Kemba.
Lana is a graduate of the University of Chicago and a former Fulbright grant recipient in Vienna, Austria. She earned her JD from Pepperdine University School of Law and her certificate in independent producing from UCLA Extension. Lana is an associate member of the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences.

Dan Koontz and Anthony Sherritt

Reeling from their failure to create a homunculus via natural and sub-natural methodologies, CFC veterans Dan Koontz (C.C.Unit, The Abolisher) and Anthony Sherritt (I Drought It, American Oxycution) joined forces to birth the ass-kicking, crowd-pleasing 2022 CFC Grand Jury Award Winner Get Nipsy.

Gus Krieger

Gus Krieger is an award-winning writer/director/producer of stage and screen. His first produced feature screenplay “The Killing Room” premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. In 2012, Krieger served as Associate Producer on the horror feature “Would You Rather” and produced "Fender Bender" for Shout! Factory in 2016. As writer-director-producer, Krieger’s feature films include the philosophical thriller "The Binding," and the 2018 Slamdance Audience Award-winning hip-hop drama "My Name Is Myeisha."

Cindy Schoonover

Cindy has been in the business for the last 17 years. She actively represents over 350 talented clients of all ages as they move forward with their careers at ERIS Talent Agency! She covers Theatrical, Commercial, Print, and Theatre . Her connections include directors and producers in film/TV, casting directors, theatrical and commercial managers, photographers, coaches and PR companies. This, coupled with her business and marketing experience, enables her to identify quality talent who sparkle and can book in this industry.

She fell in love with the industry when her youngest child wanted to be an actress. She actually told her "NO, absolutely not", as she feared it might end up badly, which is kind of funny now. But her daughter, now known as Laci Mercede won out. Following her daughter through her career turned out to be life changing for Cindy as well. She changed her career to become a full time talent agent a few years ago.

Besides her career, Cindy has been married to her husband for 27 years, raised 4 children and now has 3 grandchildren , not to mention numerous friends.

First Round Judges

Tiffany Brower

Tiffany Brower has been in Television and Film Production for 20 years, and has been a Post Production Supervisor for 10 years. Specializing in animation, but with an eye for detail and good writing, her love of film goes beyond any specific genre.

Steve Babka

Steve Babka was born and raised in Northeast Ohio. He's an avid film buff and a long-suffering fan of the Cleveland Browns. He graduated from the University of Akron with a B.A. in Political Science. He has worked for two political campaigns. He currently works for the Advocates for Self-Government to promote the ideas of Self-Government and Human Respect.

Whitney Bowers

Whitney Bowers is a Producer, Director and Award Winning Actress who is a creative through and through. She has worked in many different genres; Horror films, Comedies, Drama and more. She is currently producing a tv series and a conversational talk show called "The League Talk Show with Newton Mayenge." She is the President of Full Circle Creative Studio, a full service production company.