2016 ShortFest Jury
David Ansen was a movie critic for Newsweek from 1977 to 2008. He was the Artistic Director of the Los Angeles Film Festival from 2010 through 2014. He has written documentaries for TNT, HBO and PBS on Greta Garbo, Groucho Marx, Bette Davis, and Elizabeth Taylor and has written for The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Entertainment Weekly, Interview, Cosmopolitan and other publications.
Jeremy Boxer is an award-winning filmmaker and creative director based in New York. For over 15 years he has worked at the leading edge of where film, technology and art intersect. He has worked with the world's biggest brands and festivals. Recently he curated the VR section of Sonar +D in Barcelona. As Vimeo's Creative Director of Film & Video, Jeremy was instrumental in the creation of Vimeo On Demand and was Co-founder and Director of the Vimeo Festival & Awards. Jeremy graduated from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts (Film). His film The Last Supper won several awards.
Zorianna Kit is a member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association and writes for the entertainment website SSN Insider. She also conducts film interviews for Hulu's Just Seen It. Zorianna was the resident film expert at the TV Guide Network, an entertainment anchor for KTLA Channel 5 and a movie critic for AMC's The Movie Club with John Ridley. She also filled in for the late and legendary Roger Ebert on the long-time syndicated movie review series Ebert & Roeper. She was one of the few women to ever appear on the show.
Molly Parker, best known for her role as Alma Garrett in Deadwood and as Jackie Sharp in House of Cards, is one of the most in-demand actors in the indie film world. Her daring feature debut in Lynne Stopkewich's film Kissed culminated in a Genie Award. Molly went onto star in numerous independent features opposite actors such as Viggo Mortensen and CharlizeTheron, John Cusack, HillarySwank and Angelica Huston, and Clive Owen and Nicole Kidman. She will next be seen in Amazon's Goliath written by David E. Kelly, and in Lakeshore Entertainment's American Pastoral to be directed by Ewan McGregor.
Rachel Samuels, as Executive Producer for CondéNast Entertainment, oversees digital video production and programming for Wired, The New Yorker, and Vanity Fair, while also overseeing West Coast production across all Condé magazines. Previous to working in digital, Rachel directed three feature films as well as episodic television. Her feature film TheSuicide Club aired at the Palm Springs Film Festival in 2000.
Alison Willmore is BuzzFeed's film critic. In her past life as the TV editor at Indiewire, she helped launch the site's television coverage. Her writing has also appeared in the AV Club, Salon, Time Out New York, and Movieline. Alongside Matt Singer, she hosts the Film spotting: SVU podcast.