Competition Judges

Eric Champnella

Eric Champnella, is best known for co-writing the Whoopi Goldberg comedy, Eddie, the Bernie Mac baseball comedy, Mr. 3,000, and Thunderstruck starring NBA All-Star Kevin Durant.  He has also written and directed for Will Ferrell's Funny or Die, working with talent such as Linda Cardellini and Jesse Tyler Ferguson, and most recently, he wrote and directed Alex & Me, a Warner Brothers family comedy starring soccer legend Alex Morgan.  Champnella's next two projects are currently casting: Cancun, an action script he co-wrote for mega-producer, Basil Iwanyk, and Future Tense, a thriller he's co-writing and directing for Convergent Media.

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.

David Higgins

Screenwriter/Producer David W. Higgins began his career as assistant for Brian Grazer & Ron Howard’s Imagine Films and Writers & Artists Agency, then quickly worked his way into the executive ranks and ultimately running production and development for powerhouse producers, Martin Bregman, Dan Jinks, Mark Gordon, Walter Latham, David Friendly and Marc Turtletaub, and Mark Amin’s SOBINI FILMS.

Mr. Higgins now runs LAUNCHPAD PRODUCTIONS, where he writes and produces both film and television. His producing credits include the critically-acclaimed independent film HARD CANDY and the $200 million grossing comedy BIG MOMMA’S HOUSE and its sequel, as well as THE DAMNED, a bilingual supernatural thriller shot in Bogota, Colombia; SEXY EVIL GENIUS, starring Seth Green & Katee Sackhoff; JUJITSUING REALITY, an Academy Award short-listed documentary about a screenwriter paralyzed by ALS who continues to ply his craft; BURNING BRIGHT, and multi- festival winner DISFIGURED, written & directed by Glenn Gers.

Mr. Higgins writing credits include co-story credits on BURNING BRIGHT and THE DAMNED and uncredited for BIG MOMMA’S HOUSE and HARD CANDY, and he is currently developing additional projects with ABC Studios, Amasia Entertainment, Blumhouse, and Endeavor Content. He is also a frequent guest lecturer for both the Communications and MBA departments of the University of Texas at Austin and sits on an advisory board for the groundbreaking Burnt Orange Film Financing Fund.

James Zoliecoffer

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.

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.

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).

Rich Pellegrino

Rich Pellegrino is an award-winning illustrator and Assistant Professor of Illustration and Comic Arts at New England College in Manchester, NH. He has a BFA in Illustration from Rhode Island School of Design and MFA from New England College Visual Arts Program. Clients include: NFL, Microsoft Xbox, Wes Anderson, WWE, Valiant Comics, , BOOM Studios Comics, Rovio (Angry Birds), Blue Moon Brewing Co., Planet Rock Magazine, MARVEL STUDIOS, Warner Bros., Lucasfilm, Eric Clapton's Guitar Festival 2010, RISD XYZ, and Picture Window Books.

Pellegrino was commissioned by Wes Anderson to create a painting used in the film The Grand Budapest Hotel.  His editorial portrait illustration for Planet Rock magazine was awarded the Bronze medal by the Society of Illustrators West 56. He is recognized by Spectrum 22, 24 and 26, Richmond Illustrators Club 2012, and CMYK 37.

Tony Rodriguez

The work of Cuban-American illustrator and educator, Tony Rodriguez, infuses flat color with bold line to convey a sense of spontaneity and simplicity. Although the art is created digitally, it has the look of traditional pen and ink gestural, dynamic, and expressionistic drawings. Rodriguez's works have earned awards from The Society of Illustrators, Communication Arts, NBC Universal, Creative Quarterly, 3x3, American Illustration, Latin American Ilustración, Applied Arts, Entertainment Tonight, The Society For News Design, Grey Cube Gallery, and The United Kingdom's World Illustration Awards.

Cuyler Smith

Inspired by visual storytelling, Cuyler obtained his BFA in animation from Laguna College of Art and Design and his MFA in illustration from California State University Fullerton. Cuyler's pop culture inspired illustrations have been featured in the New York Post, Entertainment Weekly, and Cineplex Magazine. The Clio award winning illustrator continues to enhance and adapt his passion for visual communication while being a professor at Mt. San Antonio College and freelance illustrator. His clients include Sony Pictures, Lionsgate, AMC, HBO, ThinkGeek, NFL, Fandango, TSN, and the LA Kings.

Hector Rivas

Professor of Animation & Gaming at Mt. SAC

In 2007, Hector Rivas joined the faculty at Mt. San Antonio College as a full-time professor. He holds a Master’s Degree that was Disney sponsored. He has fifteen years of animation and gaming industry experience gained by working for various studios, such as FOX, Warner Brothers, and Disney. Also, Hector Rivas has worked as an artist for properties such as A Bug’s Life, Emperor’s New Groove, Atlantis, Monsters Inc., Lilo & Stitch, Treasure Planet, and Kingdom Hearts, as well as other animations and video games.

Sunil Thankamushy

Professor of Animation & Gaming at Mt. SAC

Prof. Sunil Thankamushy started his career working in the games industry in the Los Angeles area on core teams of critically acclaimed and successful video games. Besides working as a faculty in the Animation & Gaming program of Mt. SAC, he now is engaged in various products development as Writer/Producer/ Creative Director for educational games, VR, and other innovative uses of gaming and animation.