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MEET THE 2015 JUDGING TEAM

ABOUT THE JUDGES

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Top Shorts 2015 Premier Judge, Mike Tollin, has produced and directed more than a dozen feature films, several award-winning documentaries, and hundreds of hours of television. His films include Coach Carter, Radio, Dreamer, Hardball, Varsity Blues, Summer Catch, Big Fat Liar, and Wild Hogs, along with the Tollin-directed documentary Hank Aaron: Chasing the Dream, which won a Peabody Award and was nominated for an Academy Award. 

Anna Bateman began her career in television when she interned for 60 Minutes at the tender age of 17. She is an award-winning executive producer, series producer and director who works across multiple platforms (TV, Radio, Web, Social Media) and genres (entertainment, lifestyle, documentary, comedy and Live multi studio camera).

In Australia and the UK, she has worked for public broadcasters, commercial networks, independent production companies and pay television.

Roy Zafrani is an award-winning documentary filmmaker, editor and educator. He has worked in numerous film productions within the creative industries since 1998, including cinema, theatre and television.

After graduating with a B.Ed in Filmmaking & Media, Roy has directed multiple award-winning documentaries, including: The Other Dreamers, On the Edge, On Tiptoes, Assi Dayan: Embittered, Until the End Amir and more.

Roy is the CEO of Magic Productions, an entertainment film production company, and the director and founder of two international film festivals: Top Shorts and Festigious.

Lee Greenhough is an award winning independent filmmaker, writer, actor, director of over ten years. Recently winning the peoples award at Pennine Festival and Best performance at Coventry Film festival with his short ‘Sticks and Stones’. Trained in scriptwriting and method acting, Lee's last short film ‘Three Strikes’ was made on zero budget and made a substantial amount for the NSPCC. Currently in pre production for his new British Thriller feature film ‘On Our Own’.

Yurj Buzzi is an Italian actor, director and writer.

He has been working with numerous directors such as Paul Feig in the movie Spy (2015 film) produced by 20th Century Fox.

In 2014 he joined Najma Bhatti at Four55 Ltd a Creative Agency, where his skills in writing and co-directing created a great symbiosis.

Their latest success has been winning Platinum at the Hermes Creative Awards with the Spec. Adv. Bleu the Chanel written, directed and produced by them.

Julia Parker is a successful actress, model and television host from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. Having modeled in NYC for years for such labels as Catalina Swimwear, Nike and others, Julia moved to Los Angeles where she began a successful acting career that included roles in the Emmy-nominated television film “The Flight that Fought Back,” the series “90210,” “After Lately,” Matthew Perry’s sitcom “Go On,” “Episodes” and others. Her work also includes the newly released film “Grace of God,” the award-winning feature “Ashes,” “Ribbons,” and many others.  Her upcoming film projects include “Death Before Dying,” “Marina de Luna” and “Bonds”.  Julia is also recognized for her work as the host of a number of infomercials, red carpet events and as correspondent for many entertainment Web sites with her always entertaining celebrity interviews on the red carpet.

Nami Melumad is an active Los Angeles based film composer. Having worked for Magic Productions Inc., Nami has scored numerous projects including commercials, trailers, animations and documentaries, which have been screened worldwide and won multiple international awards. She studied film scoring at the highly acknowledged Scoring for Motion Pictures and TV program at the University of Southern California (among her teachers were Bruce Broughton, Jack Smalley), and was mentored by composer Thomas Newman. Alongside film scoring, Nami has composed music for theater productions, video games and worked as a symphonic arranger.

Jacklyn Rosa is the Co- Founder and Managing Director of Artists for Creative , inc. a non-profit organization that has worked with many artists, and was developed to provide acting, film and music workshops for young adults interested in the performing arts but have little to no experience in the field. Jacklyn was born and raised in Williamsburg, Brooklyn where she received her first acting role as an actor/educator at Teatro El Puente a youth theatre group that educates young adults about the dangers of HIV/AIDS; she has always had a strong passion for activism and the arts. She has worked alongside Veronica Caicedo for the International Puerto Rican Heritage Film Festival and recently worked on the short film El Tumbe Directed by Veronica Caicedo as a Production Assistant.

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Kelly Karavites is an actor, producer, comedian living in and originally from New York City. After a career in financial services and after having served in the United States Army he launched his career in show biz. He has appeared Off Broadway, on television and in many diverse indie films. He is the owner of Achilles Heal Films LLC, a unique film company whose goal is to entertain, inform and heal people.

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