Our Community | Slamdance

Slamdance is a community, a year-round experience, and a statement in which everyone is invited to take part. The first Slamdance Film Festival was held in 1995 by a wild bunch of filmmakers who were tired of relying on a large, oblique system to showcase their work. Since then, Slamdance has proven year after year that independent grassroots communities can take risks on bold talent and launch careers that change the industry. Our artist-led community continues to discover and nurture diverse, international creators through various programs throughout the year, focusing on new writers, digital and interactive art, awards and mentorship, DIY film education, film screenings and of course, the Slamdance Film Festival.

Slamdance Headquarters Team

By Filmmakers, For Filmmakers. Nowhere is our guiding principle more evident than in programming at Slamdance. Each year, we invite the newest class of Slamdance alumni to join us in the effort to discover and support the most exciting new voices in filmmaking, and to have a hand in shaping the future of film.

As Slamdance programmers, we’re all filmmakers and we’re all volunteers. Almost all of us have screened films at Slamdance. Every film submitted is watched in its entirety by at least two different programmers and there are over 200 programmers watching submissions from wherever in the world we are. Every programmer has an equal voice in the debate whether it’s their first or 25th year programming at Slamdance. After every film is watched and scored, our programming teams meet in person and spend a few weekends in late October and November re-watching, debating, and duking it out until our Festival Lineup finally emerges from the rubble of our battles.

Here are the programmers who made Slamdance 2023 possible.

Slamdance Headquarters Team

Peter Baxter President and Co-founder

Michael Christopher Morin Festival Producer

Cayden Turnbow Channel Manager

Gabriel Monroe Eckert Festival Intern

Chris and Pat McFaul Submissions Tech Gurus

Kyra Rogers Grants Manager

Taylor Miller Festival Director

Anna Lee Lawson Film Festival & Screenplay Competition Manager

Dekker Dreyer Marketing Consultant

Paul Sbrizzi Graphic Artist

Steven Amhrein Web Developer

Slamdance 2023 Artists

Tara Tavi Festival Key Artist

Slamdance Group Directors and Officers

Taylor Miller Secretary

Ken Coelho Treasurer

Paul Rachman Director

Peter Baxter Chairman

Sandy Lighterman Director

Kyra Rogers Director

Slamdance 2024 Programmers

Spotlight Features

Peter Baxter

Paul Rachman

Narrative Features

Maha Al-Saati

Sonya Alexander

Daniel Barosa

Michael Bartolomeo*

Nadia Bedj

Stephanie Bell

Annika Birgel

Chelsea Christer

Sarah Diamond

Jeff Dickamore

Damian Fitzsimmons

Spencer Holden

Michael Curtis Johnson

Dan Katzir

Bowon Kim

Sasha Levinson*

Kris Montello

Lars Mulle

Anthony Pedone

Paul Rachman

Lise Raven

Steph Reuler

Ken Robb

Jeff Rutherford

Paul Sbrizzi*

Zach Sherman

Matthew Keene Smith

Noel Taylor*

Documentary Features

Emily Allen

Jonathan Berman

Brian Bolster*

Cheryl Bookout

Marcin Borchardt

Louis Crisitello

Fabian Euresti

Summre Garber*

Brendan Geraghty

Andrew H Brown

Patrick Hamm

Karin Hayes

Jay Kuehner

Sasha Levinson

Alex Nevill

Jason Polevoi

Patrick Sheehan

Debra Sugarman

Breakouts

Josh Mandel

Chris Parizo*

Paul Rachman

Todd Remis

Kyra Rogers

Ben Umstead

Peter Baxter
President and Co-founder

Michael Christopher Morin
Festival Producer

Cayden Turnbow
Channel Manager

Gabriel Monroe Eckert
Festival Intern

Chris and Pat McFaul
Submissions Tech Gurus

Kyra Rogers
Grants Manager

Taylor Miller
Festival Director

Anna Lee Lawson
Film Festival & Screenplay Competition Manager

Dekker Dreyer
Marketing Consultant

Paul Sbrizzi
Graphic Artist

Steven Amhrein
Web Developer

Tara Tavi
Festival Key Artist

Taylor Miller
Secretary

Ken Coelho
Treasurer

Paul Rachman
Director

Peter Baxter
Chairman

Sandy Lighterman
Director

Kyra Rogers
Director