Meet the members of the Slamdance Film Festival's 2024 jury! Fourteen key figures from the world of independent film charged with selecting the competition winners of the Sparky awards. We thank them for undertaking this challenging task and look forward to their decisions.
Sonia Sobrino
Narrative Features, Breakouts, Episodes
Miriam Sobrino
Narrative Shorts, Experimental Shorts, Animated Shorts
Award-winning filmmakers Sonia and Miriam Albert-Sobrino, collectively known as ALSO Sisters, defy the ordinary directing duo. Engaging in screenwriting, directing, cinematography, and editing, their hands-on approach highlights their proficiency and profound understanding of the filmmaking process. This applied practice predates their filmmaking journey and stems from their prior roles as Registered Nurses in Spain and Scotland. A background that not only shapes their narratives but also instills a preference for active on-set involvement over the conventional role of the "sit-down director.” Following their tenure in Nursing, Sonia and Miriam immersed themselves in the world of visual storytelling through comprehensive education in film schools both in Spain and the US. It was in the latter where they earned their Master of Fine Arts degrees in Film Production, laying the foundation for their distinctive approach to the craft. Over the ensuing decade, ALSO Sisters' creative endeavors have culminated in a multitude of films, garnering acclaim at reputable festivals, including Sitges International Film Festival, Edinburgh, Raindance, Cinespaña, among a myriad of general and horror-specific award-qualifying venues.
Linh Tran
Narrative Features, Breakouts, Episodes
Linh Tran (b.1994) is a Vietnamese filmmaker residing in Chicago, IL. Linh’s narrative works explore memories of childhood and early adulthood. Her short films have been selected by various film festivals worldwide and her debut feature film “Waiting for the Light to Change” took the Narrative Grand Jury Prize at the 2023 Slamdance Film Festival.
Andre Hyland
Narrative Features, Breakouts, Episodes
Andre Hyland is a director, actor, writer, comedian, producer, and visual artist. Hyland can currently be seen on the final season HBO’s BARRY, as well as a series regular alongside Kate Beckinsale on the new Paramount + streaming series Guilty Party. In 2019 he starred in the A24 Daniel Scheinert (Everything Everywhere All At Once) feature film, The Death of Dick Long. As a filmmaker Andre is a four-time Sundance Film Festival writer/director, including the recent Eric Andre produced 2022 festival Indie Episodic offering Culture Beat. Hyland both wrote, starred in, and co-directed along with Kitao Sakurai (Bad Trip). Paste Magazine called their pilot “The Best Six Minutes of Sundance 2022”. Some of his other TV work includes directing season 2 of Tru TV’s "Jon Glaser Loves Gear", and Co-Head writing Adult Swim's "Mostly For Millennials”. Hyland’s fine art work was mainly seen on the streets via graffiti and street art during the 00's under the name Buddy L. Which lead to his work being included in exhibitions at London's Institute of Contemporary Art, MASS MoCA, and Publico’s “Good World” in association with Cincinnati's CAC Beautiful Losers. His work has also been featured in books and magazines such as Graffiti World and Scribble Magazine.
Heidi Van Lier
Narrative Features, Breakouts, Episodes
Heidi Van Lier won the Slamdance Grand Jury Prize 25 years ago, after which she joined the Slamdance programming team for more than a decade. Having already attended the Sundance Screenwriters Lab before her win, Heidi moved on to direct 2 other feature films, write many indie spec scripts, plus scripts for hire and countless rewrite gigs. 15 years ago she moved heavily into producing reality TV, on the team for shows including Rehab with Dr. Drew, Wife Swap, Bad Girls Club, Love and Hip Hop Couples Retreat and Couples Therapy. Heidi continues to consult and produce for reality shows while also writing during production breaks. As a side project, Heidi currently has a comedy web series she can’t seem to stop making called Phoebe Kind Of, found on Instagram.
Melody Cooper
Documentary Features, Documentary Shorts
Originally a NY actor and playwright, Melody now lives in LA. She completed writing a feature adaptation of the African fantasy novel “Beasts of Prey” for Netflix and sold a genre show to Netflix with Will Packer. Melody won an Urbanworld Grand Jury Prize for Best Screenplay and started out as a staff writer on CW's Two Sentence Horror Stories while still in the 2019 HBO Access Writing Program. Other credits: Law & Order: SVU, co-producer on Power Book IV: Force. She did the Sundance Episodic Lab and won an Adobe Women at Sundance fellowship in 2021. Melody also writes comic books (OMNI) and has directed short films. She’s co-founder of Nyx Horror Collective which produced the short film program “13 Minutes of Horror” that ran on Shudder. She exec. produced the short HIDE YOUR CRAZY that's now playing the festival circuit.
Juliet Romeo
Documentary Features, Documentary Shorts, Unstoppable
Juliet Romeo is an award-winning documentary filmmaker, writer, director, and disability advocate. She is the visionary behind the Slamdance Film Festival's groundbreaking UNSTOPPABLE program, a trailblazing initiative that champions diversity and disability inclusion in film. Her latest film, "Uncomplicated," which focuses on the sickle cell community, has garnered widespread acclaim. It won the Merit of Awareness award at the 2023 Los Angeles Awareness Film Festival and has been featured in numerous other festivals. Uncomplicated has also reached a broader audience through Delta Airlines' In-Flight Entertainment system. Juliet's exceptional skill in storytelling and her role as a mentor are paralleled by her dedication to inclusivity, cementing her status as an influential and transformative presence in the world of film.
Skizz
Documentary Features, Documentary Shorts
Skizz Cyzyk has held positions at MicroCineFest, Maryland Film Festival, Slamdance, and Atlanta Film Festival, as well as serving on juries, advisory boards and screening committees at many other festivals. He has directed or co-directed the documentary features Sound Mechanic, Icepick To The Moon, Hit & Stay, and Freaks In Love. He hosts the popular radio show, Point Me At The Sky, and performs music with ZOCKO!, The Stents, Go Pills, The Jennifers, Garage Sale, Half Japanese and Mink Stole & Her Wonderful Band.
Gabe Misla
Documentary Features, Documentary Shorts
Gabe is an Emmy Award Winning photojournalist who places a dedicated focus on social justice issues. Hailing from Puerto Rico, his advocacy for the island's independence since his youth has shaped his unique perspective. Having graduated from the film program at the University of Utah, Gabe contributed to bringing Unstoppable back to his alma mater. With a firm commitment to sparking dialogue and driving positive change, he strives to propel the film industry towards greater equity and inclusion; aiming to shed light on marginalized voices. He is also the curator for the Revolution Shorts program this year and recipient of an Emmy for his journalism work.
Asha Chai-Chang
Unstoppable
Hailing from Charlotte, NC and imported to Los Angeles, Asha Chai-Chang is a Two-Time NETFLIX Writer/Director Fellow and Emmy nominated producer. As an Afro-Latina and Caribbean-Asian female director with disabilities, she is a stigma disruptor in the entertainment industry as a revered creative, Production Accessibility Coordinator, and Co-Founder & Co-Captain of Slamdance Unstoppable.
Elizabeth Prouty
Unstoppable
ElizaBeth Prouty is a 2011 Slamdance alumna, and a longtime programmer across its Narrative Shorts, Documentary Features, and Unstoppable committees. Her time with Slamdance, LA Film Festival, Disposable Film Festival, and the 24 Hour Film Race has exposed her to a wide range of independent films from different genres over the years. She is an autistic migraineur with both blood and seizure disorders who believes that universal accessibility should be a welcome challenge in the world of filmmaking, both on and off the set. She's honored to be involved with the Unstoppable program and its community.
Jack Dunphy
Narrative Shorts, Experimental Shorts, Animated Shorts
Jack Dunphy is a filmmaker, animator, actor and writer from Chicago whose short films Serenity and Chekhov have played at Sundance, AFI and festivals around the world. He was named one of the 25 New Faces of Independent Film by Filmmaker Magazine. His short film Revelations premiered at Slamdance and went on to play The Champs-Élysées Film Festival in Paris, France. His short film Brontosaurus played The True/False, Nashville, Florida, Philadelphia and Cucalorus film festival. He starred in Assholes (dir. Peter Vack) which won the audience award at SXSW. He co-wrote Stinking Heaven, which premiered at The International Festival of Rotterdam, with Nathan Silver, and wrote, edited and produced Silver’s The Great Pretender, which played Tribeca, AFI and festivals around the world. His latest short film, Bob's Funeral, will be premiering at The Sundance 2024 Film Festival.
Sam Krauss
Unstoppable
Samuel Krauss is a TV comedy writer and a gay / disabled / wheelchair-using man who focuses on telling young adult comedies featuring disabled protagonists. In 2022, Krauss received his MFA in screenwriting from Spalding University. He currently enjoys a bi-monthly writers’ collective where a group of five disabled TV writers gather under Nathan Varni’s (ABC, Current Programming) tutelage.
Brian Ratigan
Narrative Shorts, Experimental Shorts, Animated Shorts
Brian Ratigan is an award-winning director and film curator. He is the founder of Non Films, a label for ephemeral animation and experimental cinema in New York City. Ratigan is established in the film festival circuit as a programmer and juror for the Slamdance Film Festival, Atlanta Film Festival, Chicago Underground Film Festival, Indie Memphis, and the London Indie Festival, among others. His work has been featured in the New York Times, Moviemaker Magazine, 1883 Magazine, and film festivals worldwide.
Mel Abraham
Unstoppable