The Judges
Judges of the 2009 Film Festival
NICK BARBIERI
Nick earned his BFA from the prestigious Tisch School of the Arts at New York University (UGFTV '01). Nick has worked as a film/video editor for such clients as Def Jam Records, Absolut Vodka, Cunnard, and M&M Mars. He is a former Final Cut Pro editing supervisor at the New York Film Academy as well as an acclaimed music video director. In Thailand Nick joined Fox Video Productions Inc. as their senior video editor in 2004. In 2008, Nick's short film "Word on the Street" was awarded Best Short Film by the Gotham Screen International Film Festival in New York City.
AGNES CRANE
Agnes Crane is a New York-based journalist who covers financial news as a columnist for Reuters. A writer for most of her 12-year career, she currently edits coverage of the U.S. debt crisis, including a popular column for The Wall Street Journal. Agnes has published articles in the Wall Street Journal, Barron's, the Daily Deal, among others. She began her career in Mexico City, covering the country's watershed presidential elections in 2000. In a previous life, she was an active member of the arts community in San Francisco where she co-managed a gallery and supported up and coming artists. Agnes, a native of Philadelphia, has called New York her home for eight years.
GIUSEPPE DE ANGELIS
Giuseppe de Angelis graduated from the ‘Civic school of Cinema’ in Milan (Italy), with a Diploma in Film Editing. He worked for three years at ‘Rumblefish s.r.l.’, a production and post-production company in Milan where he worked as assistant editor of movies, such as “Honolulu Baby” by Maurizio Nichetti; editor of various short movies; editor of TV programmes for MTV South Feed, drama, cartoons such as “CoccoBill”; promos, corporate videos for SONY group and documentaries for RAI channels. He's been full time employed at the Murdoch’s big network ‘SKY Italia’, writing, editing specials, epk, backstage items and film news for Sky Cinema channels. In 2005/2006 he produced and directed two short films: “Enemy Closer” and “Midday Room” in Los Angeles, both of them were very well-regarded by International Film Festivals. In 2009 he started a new collaboration with ‘Oikos Films’ in New York, producing and editing documentaries, commercials and feature films. He is also currently working as film editing instructor at ‘New York Film Academy's branches in New York, Rome, Florence and Abu Dhabi (UAE).
NEGIN FARSAD
Negin is currently writing for the new MTV series, Detox. She recently completed her first feature film Nerdcore Rising, a ragingly hilarious comedy about nerdcore hip-hop, for which she was director, producer, writer, PA, and golf caddie. Nerdcore Rising premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival to sold-out houses and critical praise. Salon named it a “hilarious and delightful” Best of Fest pick, the Boston Herald called it a “laugh riot from the first scene,” the Portland Mercury said it was “charming and insightful…touching, funny, and awkward,” and Wired magazine cleared the lump in their throat to simply say it was “honest and heartfelt.” Nerdcore Rising has been an official selection of multiple festivals around the country and internationally, earning the distinction of Closing Night Film in several festivals.
ANITA TOVICH
As a producer Anita Tovich received a daytime Emmy award and another Emmy nomination, as well as a Peabody Award for electronic journalism, and Cable Ace for Nickelodeon’s “Nick News” hosted by Linda Ellerbee. Anita worked with IFC and emerging filmmakers, and while an Interim Executive Director at DCTV, Anita worked with first time writer directors to produce shorts and features. She has worked as a producer/consultant, supervising producer, and/or executive producer for CBS, NBC, Lifetime, Viacom, PBS, MSNBC, among others.One of Ms. Tovich’s most recent projects was co-producer of a series of Docu-Dramas for Hallmark TV about real-life heroes with re-enactments of their distinguished and epic acts. Currently she is the Chair/Director for the Producing Department at the New York Film Academy where she developed the Industry Speaker Series and Internship programs, both of which she oversees. She writes business plans for films and is co-producing a new documentary about a skateboarding hero.
KENT TURNER
Kent Turner, originally from Albuquerque, New Mexico, has worked for the San Francisco International Film Festival (the country’s oldest), and in Los Angeles, as a script supervisor and for the independent film studio Fries Entertainment (among its releases was Jerry Schatzberg’s Reunion with a screenplay by Harold Pinter). He was also part of the producing team behind the award-winning documentary Living with AIDS (seen on the PBS series POV). Since 2003, he has been a writer and the editor for the film review Web site Film-Forward.com, and has written for School Library Journal and Arts & Opinion.
BILL WOODS
Bill Woods serves as the host and co-curator for the New Filmmakers series at Anthology Film Archives. Bill was named as a part of the 2008 NY Culturazzi by New York Magazine. Bill ran Staten Island’s first weekly independent film series, under its two incarnations, Independent Film Night at the Muddy Cup and FilmFest Reloaded, ran for seven years. (2001-2008) Bill has served on the film juries for the New York Korean Film Festival, Royal Flush Festival and served as the film curator for the 21st Century Happenings: SUPERNOVAS! Warhol Superstars at the Chelsea Hotel.