2022 Palm Springs International Shortftest announces forum programs/participants & jury members

The 28^th annual Palm Springs International ShortFest today announced programs and participants in its annual Forum, as well as jury members who will bestow Oscar-qualifying Awards, Student Short Awards and Special Jury Awards.

ShortFest 2022 will hold all of its screenings in-theatre at the Camelot Theatres from June 21-27. The festival will screen 51 curated programs showcasing 300 films including 38 World Premieres, 17 International Premieres, 35 North American Premieres and 18 U.S. Premieres. More than 5,800 short films from 134 countries were submitted.

The ShortFest Forum will take place June 22-26, bringing together festival filmmakers, prominent industry representatives and others for a series of panels, roundtables and meetings covering a wide range of emerging trends and new practices in the global film community.

Virtual panels and events will take place on June 22-23, and in person from June 24-26 at the Hilton Palm Springs. Some events are filmmaker only with limited seating and require pre-registration, which is open from June 6-14. For any Forum questions, please contact shortfestforum@psfilmfest.org. This year’s Forum programs and participants include:

Strategizing for Success at Festivals (Virtual)

Wednesday, June 22, 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.

Being accepted into festivals is only the start! How do you select the right ones for your film, and make the most of your experience? Hear from our virtual panel of industry experts about the process of navigating the festival circuit and setting up your film for success and the right exposure from the get-go.

Featuring: Sandrine Cassidy (USC), Rona Edwards (Rona Edwards Productions), Monika Skerbelis (American Pavilion), Paul Sloop (Cleveland FF), Jennifer Reeder (Filmmaker). Moderated by: Michelle De Lateur (No Film School).

Everywhere All at Once: Distributing Your Short (Virtual)

Thursday, June 23, 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.

What opportunities exist for short films in today’s ever-changing content world? How can you ensure you’re finding wide audiences and partnering with the right companies to set your film up for success? Industry veterans guide us through the current shorts distribution landscape and how to help your film go further. Featuring: Florentina Almonte (ShortsTV), Amos Geva (T-Port), Andrea Goncalvez (Manifest), Wouter Jansen (Some Shorts), Kelly Lui (OUAT Media). Moderated by: ​Ryan Lattanzio (Indiewire)

Ask Me Anything: Acquisitions & Distribution (In Person)

Friday, June 24, 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.

Join us for intimate sessions designed to connect industry and filmmakers informally, to allow for candid advice and open dialogue. Our panel of acquisitions and distribution executives will share their own career journeys and answer your questions about how they find and select projects. Limited seating - advance sign-up required. Featuring: Linda Jin (Bron Studios), Meghan Oretsky (Vimeo), Amanda Salazar (Argo).

One on Ones - Filmmaker Mentors (In Person)

Friday, June 24, 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. (Session 1), 1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. (Session 2)

Don’t miss the chance to meet in person with an established filmmaker as part of our One on Ones. These general meetings are designed to allow you the opportunity to ask burning questions about their careers, aspects of filmmaking you are interested in learning more about, general advice, or ways to best position yourself and your work as you move forward. Featuring: Esteban Arango (Blast Beat), Isabel Bethancourt (Cusp), Andrew Carlberg (Skin), Kate Chamuris (Blocks), Sue-Ellen Chitunya (Get the Life), KD Davila (Emergency), Rona Edwards (Unforgettable), Bridey Elliott (Clara’s Ghost), Gillian Horvat (I Blame Society), Brandon Kraus (First Date), Andria Wilson Mirza (Brown Elephant), Fawzia Mirza (Hidden Canyons), Jesy Odio (Every Day in Kaimuki), Alison Rich (The Other Morgan), Michael Rousselet (Dude Bro Party Massacre III), Monika Skerbelis (American Pavillion), Mari Walker (See You Then), Katie White (Best Summer Ever), Christopher Makoto Yogi (I Was a Simple Man), Matt Yoka (Whirlybird).

From Short to Feature (In Person)

Friday, June 24, 3:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.

It’s true that making the leap from short to feature filmmaking can be a challenge, but our panel of filmmakers who have gone through it all before are here to help ease that transition. Hear their perspectives on what worked, what didn’t, and how best to prepare yourself as you move into the world of features. Featuring: Giulia Caruso, Kate Tsang, Mimi Cave. Moderated by: Ania Tzebiatowska (Sundance).

Roundtable Meet & Greet: Development & Artist Support (In Person)

Saturday, June 25, 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.

Our signature roundtable event returns! Hear directly from prominent development executives and organizations involved in artist support to learn about what they look for in projects and how to ensure your work stands out from the crowd. Bring your questions – we’ll rotate periodically. Featuring: Dave Binegar (Showtime), Toby Brooks (Sundance), Angela Lee (Film Independent), Rosa Morales (SFFilm), Adam Neuhaus (ESPN), Karolina Peysakhov (Pastel), Justin Lacob (XTR).

One on Ones Session: Industry Executive Mentors (In Person)

Saturday, June 25, 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. (Session 3), 1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. (Session 4)

Don’t miss the chance to meet in person with an industry professional as part of our One on Ones. These general meetings are designed to allow you the opportunity to ask burning questions about areas of the industry you are interested in working in or learning more about, general career advice, or ways to best position yourself and your work as you move forward. Featuring: Ayo Kepher-Maat (DECAL), David Courier (Consultant),  Bryan Dimas (Warner Bros), Mike Dougherty (Outfest), Paola Franco (Netflix), Marissa Frobes (CAA), Liliana Granados (3Pas), Lakshmi Iyengar (Minor Realm), Jasmine Jaisinghani (Ojala Productions), Rebecca Katz (Luma Pictures), Missy Laney (Adult Swim), Ana Leocha (Tango Entertainment), Marc Mounier (Entertainment 360), Diego Najera (Participant), Clay Pruitt (Seed & Spark), Ariel Richter (Endeavor), Matt Rosen (Mazo Partners), Diana Sanchez Maciel (Argo), Amelia Shugrue (2 AM), Ania Trzebiatowksa (Sundance), Caleb Ward (Highland), Landon Zakheim (Sundance/Overlook).

Finding Your Collaborators (In Person)

Saturday, June 25, 3:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Creative collaborations are the bread and butter of filmmaking, but where do they come from? How do you find the right people to help you craft your best work, and grow those relationships into long standing connections? Hear from our panel of distinguished guests as they discuss their processes with the cast and crew. Featuring: Shaz Bennett, Valerie Steinberg, Carey Williams. Moderated by: Pat Saperstein (Variety).

Ask Me Anything: Agents & Managers (In Person)

Sunday, June 26, 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.

Join us for intimate sessions designed to connect industry and filmmakers informally, to allow for candid advice and open dialogue. Trailblazing managers and agents will share their own career journeys and answer your questions about representation and what they look for in clients. Featuring: Roberto Larios (Verve), Hope Watson (UTA), Bryan Leder (Authentic).

Pitch Like a Pro: A Masterclass (In Person)

Sunday, June 26, 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

The art of pitching takes practice! Join us for a lively conversation with distinguished industry executives on the dos and don’ts of presenting your project and what they look for in a winning idea. Submit your pitch ahead of time for the chance to pitch directly to the panelists and receive feedback live. Featuring: Dave Fonseca (Attn), John McGrath (UTA), Bao Nguyen (Filmmaker), Yira Vilaro (Amazon). Moderated by: Kauveh Carrera.

Meet the Programmers (In Person)

Sunday, June 26, 1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.

A Forum favorite! Join us for an open and candid conversation with festival programmers and curators as they reveal their approaches to finding films, how their selection processes work, and give insider perspectives on approaching your next festival submission. Featuring: Opal Hope Bennett (POV), Megan Leonard (Seattle IFF), Bojana Sandic (New Filmmakers LA), Sheryl Santacruz (Outfest), Mike Plante (Sundance). Moderated by: Patrick Gomez (Entertainment Weekly).

Juried award winners will be announced on Sunday, June 26 from the official selection presenting them with awards and cash prizes worth $25,000 including five Academy Award® qualifying awards. This year’s ShortFest jury members include:

Best of the Festival Award

• Anna Camp – An actress and producer, Anna can currently be seen in the Paramount Plus film Jerry & Marge Go Large, opposite Bryan Cranston and Annette Bening. This past year, she was seen in Paramount’s The Lovebirds, Netflix's Desperados, and in the NBC comedy, Perfect Harmony, opposite Bradley Whitford. Camp has also starred in Universal's Pitch Perfect Trilogy,  Netflix’s Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, the Academy Award nominated film, The Help, the HBO drama True Blood, and recurrings roles on AMC's Mad Men and NBC's The Office.
• K.D. Dávila – K.D. is a Latina filmmaker from Los Angeles, who co-wrote and directed the Oscar-nominated film, Please Hold.
• Patrick Gomez – A veteran of People Magazine and The A.V. Club, Patrick is editor-in-chief and general manager of Entertainment Weekly. A USC graduate who currently resides in Los Angeles, he has appeared on “Good Morning America,” “Entertainment Tonight,” “The Today Show,” “Extra,” CNN, HLN and many other news programs. He previously served as a co-host on Glitterbomb, the first national talk show led by an all-LGBTQ Latin cast.

Best Animated Short

• Bryan Dimas – An animation and live-action producer, Bryan is the associate producer, development at Warner Bros. Animation. He began his career at DreamWorks Animation where he contributed to projects such as Trolls World Tour, Guillermo Del Toro’s Tales of Arcadia and more. In 2021, he produced the award-winning live-action short film Frank & Emmet. Bryan is the co-founder of LatinX in Animation, which empowers diversity in the animation industry.
• Linda Jin – Linda serves as director, content - sales and distribution at BRON Media Corp., a global leader in media entertainment sectors, comprised of: BRON Studios, a leading motion pictures and film studio; BRON Creative, BRON Animation, BRON Ventures and BRON Releasing. She previously worked at CAA in the Media Finance department, where her primary business focus was in the financing, packaging and selling of independent films.
• Sheryl Santacruz – Sheryl has been working at film festivals for over 15 years. After obtaining a degree in Communication Studies at NYU, she worked for the Tribeca Film Festival, New Directors/New Films, and the New York Film Festival. She continued with various posts at other festivals across the U.S., including the Philadelphia Film Festival, the Montclair Film Festival and the L.A. Asian Pacific Film Festival. In addition to her role at Outfest, she helps run the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival in Arkansas.

Best Documentary Short

• Isabel Bethencourt – A filmmaker in Brooklyn who studied cultural anthropology, documentary and cinematography at NYU, Isabel’s debut feature CUSP (Sundance ‘21) was released by Showtime and was nominated by the American Society of Cinematographers for Outstanding Cinematography. She was named by the Hollywood Reporter as one of the “Next Big Things: 10 Documentary Filmmakers Speaking Truth to Power,” and advised at the 2021 Southern Producers Lab with the New Orleans Film Society.
• Adam Neuhaus – Adam is the senior director of development for ESPN Films/ESPN+ primarily working on the award-winning “30 for 30” documentary series across feature films, shorts and the “30 for 30” podcast series. In addition, he leads creative development for original content on the streaming service, ESPN+.
• Ben Proudfoot – An Academy Award-winning director and entrepreneur, Ben is the founder and creative force behind Breakwater Studios, whose work has been recognized by the Sundance Film Festival, Tribeca and the Emmys, among others. He was named one of Forbes Magazine’s “30 Under 30” for his leadership and innovation in the brand-funded documentary space. A graduate of USC, he is an accomplished sleight-of-hand magician and has performed at The Magic Castle in Los Angeles.

Best Live-Action Short Over 15 Minutes

• Giulia Caruso – Giulia is an L.A.-based Italian producer and founding member of Nonetheless Productions. She was nominated for the 2018 Piaget Producers Award and won an Independent Spirit Award for Andrew Ahn’s Spa Night Producer of Kogonada’s acclaimed debut feature “Columbus,” she recently produced and co-wrote Araceli Lemos’ Holy Emy, nominated for 15 Greek Academy Awards including Best Feature and Best Screenplay. She holds an MFA in Film Directing from CalArts, where she teaches.
• Marissa Frobes – Marissa is a media finance executive at CAA focused on the packaging and sales of independent films. She began her career in New York working at women’s media brands InStyle, Elle and StyleHaul. She moved to Los Angeles and began working at Participant Media initially on the social impact campaign for He Named Me Malala and then for CEO David Linde. She left the company to work on the Participant-backed film Dark Waters, directed by Todd Haynes.
• Mike Plante – Mike is a filmmaker and festival programmer. Since 1993 he has programmed movies for many festivals and has programmed at the Sundance Film Festival since 2002, where he is currently a senior programmer for short film. He also makes non-fiction films about outsiders, including the shorts The Polaroid Job and We Were There to Be There, and the features And With Him Came the West and Giuseppe Makes A Movie.

Best Live-Action Short 15 Minutes & Under

• Bao Nguyen – Bao is a Vietnamese-American filmmaker. His latest film, Be Water, a deep dive into the life and journey of Bruce Lee, world-premiered in competition at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and was invited to other festivals including SXSW, Cannes and Telluride. He earned his BA at NYU and his MFA at the School of Visual Arts. He is a founding partner of East Films, a production company aimed at creating high-quality content in Asia as well as changing the perception of Vietnamese cinema abroad.
• Rachel Rosen – Rachel Rosen is a San Francisco Bay Area based independent film programmer and awards consultant. Rosen is currently a member of the selection committee for The New York Film Festival. Previously, she was Director of Programming for SFFILM which presents the annual San Francisco International Film Festival. She was Director of Programming for Film Independent and the Los Angeles Film Festival for eight years. She has worked in various capacities for New York’s Film Forum, the New York Film Festival, and Tri-Star Pictures. She is a graduate of Stanford University’s Master of Arts program in Documentary Film.
• Rebecca Windsor – Rebecca is VP of Warner Bros. Television Workshop, the premier writing and directing program for artists launching their TV careers. She helped launch Warner Bros.’ Stage13, overseeing Snatchers and Special, which garnered four Emmy nominations. Previously, she worked in Sundance Institute’s Feature Film Program, coordinating the screenwriters, directors, episodic and producing labs. Earlier in her career she worked for Samuel L. Jackson’s UppiTV and at Mandeville Films.

Best International Short

• Alexis Gambis – Alexis is a French-Venezuelan filmmaker and biologist. His research blurs the line between fact and fiction, blending scientific data with dreams and turning scientists into the animals they study. He founded the Imagine Science Film Festival and the platform Labocine, both curating science cinema and facilitating science/art collaborations. His latest feature, Son of Monarchs (HBO Max), is a Mexican-American narrative that premiered at Sundance and was awarded the Sloan Feature Film Prize.
• Chris Wells – C. Mason Wells is the Director of Distribution (US) for MUBI, a curated streaming service that also theatrically distributes ambitious films by emerging and world renowned filmmakers. He was previously Director of Theatrical Sales for Kino Lorber, Director of Programming for New York’s relaunched Quad Cinema, and has curated film series for the IFC Center, Anthology Film Archives, BAM, and the Criterion Channel.
• Andrew Norman Wilson – Andrew Norman Wilson is a Los Angeles-based artist and director. Festival screenings include Sundance, the New York Film Festival, and Rotterdam. His work is in collections such as the Museum of Modern Art New York, Whitney Museum of American Art, and The Centre Pompidou. He has taught at UCLA, SAIC, and Cooper Union, and lectured at Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, and Yale. His work has been featured in ArtReview, BOMB, Filmmaker, Frieze, The New Yorker, and Wired, and he has published writing in Artforum, e-flux, DIS, and the Paris Review.

Best U.S. Short

• Liliana Granados – Born in Mexico and raised in L.A., Liliana grew up in a family-owned beauty salon where she found inspiration to become a storyteller. She studied film and TV production at USC and received her start as a mailroom clerk at CAA before entering the world of international film sales and financing at Sierra Affinity. She later worked as a creative executive at Viola Davis’ JuVee Productions Today, she is director of films at 3Pas, where she aims to build and guide the next generation of diverse storytellers.
• Valerie Steinberg – Valerie produced the feature Karmalink, a Cambodian Buddhist sci-fi film that opened Venice Film Critics’ Week 2021, and she is EP of the feature film Beast, which premiered at Cannes 2022. Her award-winning short films include Hair Wolf (Sundance winner, Palm Springs 2018), Fry Day (SXSW, Tribeca, Palm Springs winner 2017), Blocks (Sundance, Palm Springs winner 2020), Coffee Shop Names (Tribeca, HBO Max, Palm Springs 2020), and Bug Bite (Palm Springs 2019).
• Christopher Makoto Yogi – Chris is a filmmaker born and raised in Honolulu, Hawai’i. He is the writer and director of the feature films I Was A Simple Man (Sundance 2021, distributed by Strand Releasing) and August at Akiko’s (Rotterdam 2018, distributed by Factory 25).

Best Comedy Short

• Bridey Elliott – Bridey graduated from the National Theater Institute, where she studied playwriting. She became a regular at the Upright Citizens Brigade and starred in the SXSW prize-winning Fort Tilden. Her first short film, Affections, screened at Sundance and went on to have an international theatrical run. Her dark comedy Clara’s Ghost went to Sundance and was released theatrically by MGM Orion. In 2020, The Starr Sisters, the first documentary she co-directed, premiered at Sundance.
• Rebecca Katz – Rebecca is associate director of artist development programs at Luma Pictures, where she leads initiatives to identify and support filmmakers with emotionally resonant and imaginative stories. Previously helping run the scripted labs and oversee the Sloan Foundation grants at Film Independent, she spent six years at the Sundance Institute, where she helped select and cultivate emerging writing, directing, and producing talent.
• Carey Williams – Carey was hailed by Filmmaker Magazine as one of the New Faces of Independent Film in 2018. His short film Cherry Waves won Best Short awards from HBO, NBC Shortcuts, San Diego Film Festival and others. His first feature, R#J, a modern-day Romeo and Juliet, premiered at Sundance, and the feature version of his Sundance and SXSW award-winning short Emergency is slated for Summer 2022 release from Amazon Studios.

Best LGBTQ+ Short

• Shaz Bennett – Shaz’s debut feature film Alaska is a Drag was released by Ava Duvernay’s Array, running on Netflix. She directed her first episodic for Duvernay’s Queen Sugar, going on to direct other episodes and serving as showrunner for the final season. Her other writing and directing credits include Billions (Showtime), Animal Kingdom (TNT), Bosch (Amazon), Ordinary Joe (NBC) and The Glades (A&E).
• Toby Brooks – Toby​ runs the Sundance Institute’s Sundance Ignite Program, which cultivates and supports a new generation of filmmakers. He has worked for the Sundance Institute since 2012, first as the assistant to the director of the Sundance Film Festival. From 2012-17, he was a member of the Emerging Leaders Council at Outfest, an L.A. film nonprofit that promotes LGBT equality by creating, sharing and protecting LGBT stories on the screen.
• Jennifer Reeder – Jennifer Reeder was recently named by Bong Joon Ho as a filmmaker to watch in the 2020s. She constructs personal fiction films about relationships, trauma, and coping.

Best Midnight Short

• Gillian Wallace Horvat – Gillian is an L.A.-based writer and filmmaker. Her debut feature I Blame Society garnered her a Film Independent Spirit Award nomination. Her short film Kiss Kiss Fingerbang, starring Anton Yelchin, Kate Lyn Sheil and Buck Henry, won the Jury Prize in the Midnight Shorts category at SXSW and was a Vimeo Staff Pick. She also produced A Fuller Life, a documentary about the life and films of Sam Fuller that premiered at the Venice Film Festival.
• Marc Mounier – Marc is a manager and producer at Entertainment 360. He launched his entertainment career working for MTV Networks and SRF in Switzerland before moving to Los Angeles in 2014, where he attended USC’s Peter Stark Producing MFA Program.
• Michael Rousselet – Michael is one of the founding members of the online comedy troupe 5secondfilms and co-writer/director of the horror-comedy feature Dude Bro Party Massacre III. A contributing writer for “Cyanide & Happiness” and “MAD Magazine,” he has written episodes of Shudder’s Creepshow and has been labeled “Patient Zero” behind the cult movement of Tommy Wiseau’s 2003 drama The Room when he converted the film’s dismal theatrical performance into successful fan screenings.

Best Student Doc & Best Student Animated

• Chase Joynt – Chase is a director and writer whose debut documentary, Framing Agnes, premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the NEXT Innovator Award and the NEXT Audience Award.  He co-directed No Ordinary Man, a feature-length documentary about jazz musician Billy Tipton which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, won nine awards on the international festival circuit, and been hailed by The New Yorker as “a genre unto itself” and Indiewire as “the future of trans cinema.”
• Ariel Richter – Ariel is a manager in the documentary department at Endeavor Content, identifying financing opportunities and managing their productions and sales. He joined Endeavor Content in 2019 after serving as director of Israeli competitions at the Jerusalem Film Festival and as associate director of the Jerusalem International Film Lab. He holds a BFA in Film & Television Production from The Jerusalem Sam Spiegel Film & Television School.
• Pacho Velez – Pacho is a filmmaker born and raised in New York City. His most recent feature, Searchers (2021), premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. His previous features, The American Sector (2020), The Reagan Show (2017) and Manakamana (2013), have won prizes and played around the world, including at the New York Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and Berlin International Film Festival. At present, he is an assistant professor at The New School.

Best Student International Short

• Niki Montazaran – Niki Montazaran is a Motion Picture agent at WME, where she focuses her business on representing directors, writers, actors, and producers. Niki was on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in the Arts and Entertainment section in 2019 for her work amplifying the voices of artists from underrepresented communities.
• Meghan Oretsky – Before joining Vimeo in 2014, Meghan could be found cheering on filmmakers in the comments section of countless videos on their site. Today she serves as a senior curator on Vimeo’s curation team, for which she watches and curates thousands of videos a year in consideration for Vimeo Staff Picks.
• Landon Zakheim – Landon is a short film programmer for the Sundance Film Festival, interactive curator & short film programmer for the Denver Film Society, associate programmer for narrative films and immersive projects at the Tribeca Film Festival, and co-founder and co-director of the Overlook Film Festival. He has also programmed for AFI Fest, the Philadelphia Film Festival and Aspen ShortsFest.

Best Student U.S. Short

• Jasmine Jaisinghani – Jasmine is co-founder of Global Cinematheque and program head for Ojalá’s Ignition Lab at UCP. She served as the first artistic director for the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles and has programmed for LACMA, Film Independent, MOCA and Sundance Institute’s Screenwriters Labs. She created the Cultural Relations department at AFI Fest, promoting international talent and films. Early in her career she produced films for Nisha Ganatra, Aldo Velasco and Igor Voloshin.
• Ayo Kepher-Maat – Ayo is the SVP of acquisitions at Decal. Recent acquisitions include South African eco-horror Gaia and Jake Johnson-starring comedy Ride the Eagle. She previously worked as director of acquisitions at Neon and held positions at Universal Pictures Home Entertainment, The Film Arcade and Creative Artists Agency.
• Matt Rosen – Matt is a manager and an independent producer at Mazo Partners. Last year he had four writers on the 2021 Blacklist and has made it his goal to champion the next generation of up-and-coming filmmakers. He loves all things cinema and believes the two most important films of the 1990’s are Point Break and The Watermelon Woman.

Local Jury

• Emily Alvarez-Zurita – Emily Alvarez-Zurita is from the Coachella Valley and is a current student at California State University San Bernardino, Palm Desert Campus. She will soon receive a B.A. in Business and is interested in incorporating the skills and experiences that she gained from courses such as film critique, fashion design, photography, art, and band to become a film critic in the future and to eventually begin her acting career. Emily is excited to be a part of the local jury and aspires to incorporate these skills with her current and future roles.
• Randy Florence – An 11-year resident of the desert, Randy and his wife Kay moved to La Quinta from the Silicon Valley in Northern California. He had a 40-year banking career, most recently as the homebuilder division manager for US Bank. After trying to retire, Randy became the CEO of the Palm Desert Chamber. He is a board member for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Coachella Valley and former chairperson of the Coachella Valley Economic Partnership.
• Barbara Sisto – Movies, live theater, genealogy, travel, and cooking have always taken priority in my life. I enjoy sharing these experiences with both family and friends. These activities afford me the opportunity to continue to explore and appreciate the cultures of our world and our common humanity. My life is enriched by having a spouse who shares my enthusiasm for film, theater, travel, and raising our pooch, Pepper. And what makes her even more special? She shares my passion for hot buttered popcorn!
• Tim Vincent – Interested in supporting the arts as a means of promoting social justice, Tim is president of the board of directors for Brothers of the Desert, a nonprofit with a mission to empower Black gay men and allies in the Coachella Valley through education, mentorship, advocacy and social networking. Also an independent consultant focused on health equity, he leads national training for a range of providers on topics such as implicit bias, examining the impact of stigma, and trauma-informed care.
• Michelle Webb – Open minded, socially conscious cultural consumer. Live music fan. Devourer of books. Foodie. Human. Mother. Wife. Friend. Nurse who has been forged during the pandemic and thrives on helping others. Volunteer. Do as much good for as many as possible as often as you can.

About Palm Springs International ShortFest

Designated by AMPAS, BAFTA, BIFA and Goya Awards as an award-qualifying festival, and accredited by the International Short Film Conference, the Palm Springs International ShortFest & Short Film Market is one of the most acclaimed short film showcases in the world.  The event is produced by the Palm Springs International Film Society, whose mission is to nurture and encourage new filmmaking talent, honoring the great masters of world cinema, and expanding audience horizons. Visit www.psfilmfest.org.