Competition Judges
Film Judges
Zack Stentz
A screenwriter & producer, Zack has co-written Marvel blockbusters Thor & X-Men: First Class as well as original movies such as Rim of the World, written & produced over 100 hours of television including The Flash, Fringe, & Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles & created Netflix’s current animated hit Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous. Zack also co-authored the acclaimed young adult novel Colin Fischer and teaches screenwriting techniques at venues from Sony Animation in Culver City to Wanda Studios in Beijing to the Nepal International Film Festival in Kathmandu.
Larry Laboe
Larry Laboe is Co-Founder and Executive Director of NewFilmmakers Los Angeles (NFMLA), an organization committed to highlighting and connecting emerging filmmakers and storytellers worldwide. Larry is a member of the Producers Guild of America (PGA) and has been a Faculty Member at the San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) and L Art University in Shanghai and Beijing. He is a Board Member of the BRIC Foundation, a Committee Member of SAGindie and the Co-Chair of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce Entertainment, Arts and Media Committee. Larry has produced scripted and unscripted streaming series and commercials, directed by talent such as James Franco and Joseph Gordon Levitt, for some of the world’s leading brands, networks and studios, including Disney, NBC, CBS, VEVO, Dailymotion, MTV, DEFY Media, Comedy Central, Verizon go90, Amazon, Complex Media, IKEA, Mountain Dew, Samsung, Coca-Cola, Verizon and Smuckers.
Steven Gary Banks
Steven Gary Banks is screenwriter and producer who has sold and written 13 feature films for the major studios (Disney, Universal, Paramount, WB, Sony) and 7 pilots for the ABC and FOX networks. He was named to the list of Top 20 Selling Writers of the Decade in 2010 and has also found success as a producer working with top talent to develop and sell over a dozen additional film and television projects. Mr. Banks is best known for writing the film “Are We There Yet” which not only spawned the successful film sequel "Are We Done Yet", but also a TBS television series that ran for 100 episodes. Outside the U.S., Mr. Banks writes and consults with multiple powerhouse directors and producers and shares screenwriting credit with the internationally renowned Ning Hao on his 2019 mega-hit “Crazy Alien”. When not writing, Mr. Banks is an active member of WGA Writers Education Committee and a Professor of Television & Film at Mt. San Antonio College.
Annie Gregory
Annie Gregory has directed award-winning documentaries and short films. Her work has taken her throughout the US and Mexico; into incarceration facilities, courtrooms, and orphanages. In additional to her production work, she has been a guest speaker and a guest judge for renowned film festivals, and her essay on New Iranian Cinema is published in the Journal of Religion and Film. Ms. Gregory holds a BFA in Film Production from Chapman University, and an MA in Film Studies from the National University of Ireland, Galway. She teaches Television & Film Production for Mt. San Antonio College.
Y’Dhanna Daniels
Y’Dhanna Daniels began her entertainment career in Houston, Texas while working for a NASA contractor appearing as an actor in television commercials, voicing radio ads and performing as a stand-up comic. In 2015 she wrote and performed Ethel Mae at The Geffen Playhouse as part of their Veterans Writing & Performance Project “Everyday Heroes”. She is a graduate of Stephens College's MFA in TV and Screenwriting program and has been published in the Journal of Screenwriting. Y’Dhanna is a Professor of Television & Film at Mt. San Antonio College.
Stillman Kelly
Stillman Kelly is a Television Director, Technical Director, Editor, and respected veteran presence in the fast-paced world of live television. After entering the media business as a sound engineer for high profile music artists (for which he received an AMPEX Golden Reel for Technical Excellence), Mr. Kelly shifted to visual side of the business and built a storied career working with industry-leading companies ranging from Disney and ABC to NBC, Direct TV and TVG. As OTT and HD have become the industry standards, Mr. Kelly's deep experience as a designer and builder of A/V Systems infrastructure has also delivered innovative live-streaming and live-broadcast solutions to independent clients that include Vista Studios, Diversified, and Key Code Media. Mr. Kelly is Professor of Television & Film at Mt. San Antonio College and is the Program Lead under Mt. SAC's widely-respected Creative Entertainment Arts Department (CEA).
John L. Geiger
John L. Geiger is a screenwriter and intellectual property attorney in Los Angeles with over thirty years of litigation and transactional experience. He has represented a wide variety of entertainment professionals, including producers, directors, screenwriters, and actors, as well as music-recording and headline international-concert-tour artists, and is co-author of Creativity and Copyright: Legal Essentials for Screenwriters and Creative Artists (UC Press, 2019). Mr. Geiger is an alumnus of the University of California, Los Angeles (MFA-Film), a card-carrying member of the WGA/west Independent Film Caucus, and professor of screenwriting at Mt. San Antonio College.
James Zolliecoffer
James Zolliecoffer is a content creator and educator. He is passionate about education and creating customized, targeted and engaging branded media. His work has included award winning collaborations with global advertising agencies, production companies, universities and philanthropic entities. His core specialties include writing, producing, editing, teaching, and at-risk youth development. James is an alumnus of Loyola Marymount University (MFA) and an Adjunct Professor of Television & Film at Mt. San Antonio College and Columbia College-Hollywood.
photography judges
Dennis Dunbar
Since 1991 Dennis has been adding the Photoshop Magic to movie posters and images for ad campaigns. He loves working on cool images with cool creatives whether they’re for the latest blockbuster movie or a shot of a beautiful model or a product shot for a new ad campaign.
In the summer of 2002 Dennis was named to the Board of Directors for the Los Angeles Chapter of the Advertising Photographers of America where he serves as head of the Digital Committee. His work with the APA led him to concentrate on working with groups that are focused in the area of creating standards for the Digital Imaging.
He is a founding member of the UPDIG (Universal Photographic Digital Imaging Guidelines) and a member of the DISC Committee as well. More information on these groups are available at: www.updig.org and www.disc-info.org .
Website: http://dunbardigital.com/
Entertainment: http://dunbardigital.com/entertainment/
Rachel Murillo
Rachel Murillo is a California based artist and film photographer. She works with a wide variety of analog camera formats and in mixed media to document her environment through an abstract point of view. Rachel has exhibited in solo and group shows at Division 9 Gallery in Riverside, The Millard Sheets Gallery in Pomona, The Inland Mujeres Studio, and participated in the Elemental Sisterhood Collective, just to name a few. Rachel was published in “Beyond Heritage,” a collective of Hispanic Artists in Los Angeles. Rachel teaches Beginning Photography at Mt. SAC.
Rachel received her BFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York, where she focused on alternative photography and darkroom techniques, art history, bookbinding, screen printing, and camera construction. She received her Masters of Art in Art Education at Azusa Pacific University.
Jackie Lovato
Jackie Lovato is a photographer, business owner and educator in Orange County, CA. Contributing to many layers of the photography industry since 2005, Lovato primarily shoots portraits and events, though her portfolio also includes corporate and documentary work. Her camera has taken her to 15 countries and across the US and her work has been featured in many publications, both print and web. She currently teaches photography and advises the Photo Club at Mt. San Antonio College.
James Loy
James Loy is a commercial photographer and teacher with over 30 years of experience. Shooting catalogs, advertising, social media, for the apparel industry. Teaching students the skills needed for to be a working photographer.
Louis Felix
Louis is a graduate of Art Center College of Design and has been a professional photographer for over 20 years. He has been an adjunct professor at Mt. SAC for 8 years. His clients include Kaiser Permanente, Children’s Hospital, People Magazine, Caltech, Los Angeles Magazine, etc..
Mher Ajamian
A graduate of Art Center College of Design, Mher Vahakn is a professional photographer that specializes in wedding, portrait and product photography. Over the last 20 years Mher has photographed, hundreds of special events, thousands of portraits and has created branded content for multiple brands such as Gardel's Chimichurri, Clarisma Beauty and Norani Baby, among others. In 2019, Mher started teaching Mt. SAC as an adjunct photography professor in hopes for sharing his knowledge and passion of photography with the next generation.
Kathyrn Russell
Kathyrn Russell is a professional photographer specializing in food, product and catalog photography. In the past 30 years she has freelanced for clients across the U.S. including Target Stores, Brown Jordan Furniture, Wolfgang Puck, Disney, as well as a plethora of Advertising Agencies, Design Firms, and Magazines. While living her dream as a successful commercial photographer, she has had the opportunity to share her experiences with college students in Los Angeles. Currently Kathyrn is enjoying a new adjunct position at Mt. San Antonio College.
Chris Benoe
Chris is the program lead at Mt Antonio collage. Chris was trained as a commercial photographer at Art Center Collage of design. He ran a successful commercial and wedding business for 15 years working with clients around the world. He now teaches and mentors students where he has been instrumental in the success of Mt Sac’s Photography Program.
Illustration judges
Luke Flowers
Luke has illustrated more than sixty children’s books. Most notably, the New York Times Best-seller “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” poems by Fred Rogers, the award-winning “Unicorn Day”, by Diana Murray, and Disney’s “The Muppet Christmas Carol” storybook. He is also both author and illustrator of “Jim Henson’s Labyrinth: A,B,C Storybook” and the “Moby Shinobi” series with Scholastic. The Moby Shinobi book series has sold over a million copies since book #1 was published in 2016.Luke Flowers graduated from RMCAD in 2000. After graduation, he spent 10 years as a designer, illustrator and creative director for Young Life. In 2010 he launched his own studio, Luke Flowers Creative. At that time he began focusing his creative journey on children’s publications. By 2015, Luke Flowers illustrated his first published children’s book with Penguin Random House and the Smithsonian Institute.Luke’s pop-culture themed artwork has been featured more than 50 gallery shows in New York, Los Angeles and various galleries in Colorado.When Luke isn’t illustrating or writing in his creative cave he enjoys puppetry, playing banjo, basketball and outdoor adventures with his family. He lives with his wife and three children in Colorado Springs. Colorado. Learn more about his story, books and art at lukeflowers.com.
Scott Listfield
Scott Listfield is known for his paintings featuring a lone exploratory astronaut lost in a landscape cluttered with pop culture icons, corporate logos, and tongue-in-cheek science fiction references. Scott grew up in Boston and studied art at Dartmouth College. After some time spent living abroad, Scott returned to America and, after watching 2001: A Space Odyssey for the first time, began painting astronauts and, sometimes, dinosaurs. He now lives and works in Los Angeles. Scott regularly exhibits his work in galleries and museums around the world, and his paintings have been profiled in Juxtapoz, Wired Magazine, and The Boston Globe. A book on his paintings is now available from Paragon Books.
Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 ImagineFest will not host live events on campus. In compliance with safety protocols all live events will be held entirely on-line.
