2010 NSFA Screenwriting Competition Judges
Holly Race read English at Oxford University, where she fell in love with film and storytelling. She is a freelance script reader for both theatre and film. She trained at the Magic Theatre, San Francisco and now works for companies including Aardman, The Script Vault and the Rondo Theatre in Bath.
David Chamberlain is a produced Screenwriter and Film Producer who has also written and directed for the stage, in both England and the US. Originally from California, Davids extensive drama background began with his acting for the stage and screen. David is also the Co-Founder and Festival Manager of the London Screenwriters Festival.
Rebecca Brand is Head of Communications for Women in Film and Television UK, and produces their Show Us Your Shorts short film strand. She graduated from the University of East Anglia with a first in Film and TV studies and is a writer/director of short films in her (limited!) spare time.
Industrial Scripts is a new London-based script consultancy and training organisation operating primarily in film and television, formed by some of the UKs leading script doctors. With clients ranging from Paramount Pictures to Warner Bros. to BBC Films, Industrial Scripts is able to provide writers and filmmakers with a very high standard of feedback, and one relevant in today's marketplace.
Asitha Ameresekere was seduced by Greek myth at an early age, read Classics at Bristol University and graduated in Directing at the California Institute of the Arts. His short film Do Not Erase won a BAFTA in 2007, and his latest work 14 was BAFTA and European Film Academy-nominated in 2009.
Dr Pauline Kiernan is a screenwriter, script consultant and Shakespeare scholar. Her commissioned screenplays include a historical epic for an indie Hollywood producer (in development). She has had two original screenplays optioned. Her website offers in-depth articles and script coverage services to help writers create screenplays of originality with strong market potential.
Jean Lynch is the creator and editor of www.close-upfilm.com, and co-founder of the Summerscreen FilmFestival for Young People and the 2Days Later 48hr Shorts competition. She has produced several short films, worked extensively in film journalism, press & pr, and launches Close-Up Film PR in January 2011.
Amanda B Holiday studied Fine Art before moving into film. She directed numerous shorts funded by the Arts Council, C4 and the BFI. Her feature scripts have received support from European Script Fund, Media II and British Screen. Resident in Cape Town between 2001-2009, she scripted and directed 2 children's educational TV series aired on SABC. Article, Blogs and Artwork.
Jez Freedman is an award winning screenwriter and freelance script reader. He won the International Emmy Sir Peter Ustinov Award and now sits on the competition jury panel. Jez runs an affordable script feedback service Script Reading on the Blog. Other reading clients include CinemaNX, Tiger Aspect and Catherine Bailey Ltd.
Desiree Nordlund is a screenwriter with five sold short scripts, four of them produced so far. One of the short films based on her script won first price for best short film at a film festival. Right now one of her feature scripts it turned into a graphic novel.
Chris Horton is a Film and Media Studies lecturer at Barton Peveril College, Hampshire. He is also a coursework moderator for both the AS and A2 WJEC Film Studies courses.
Karel Segers is a former international movie buyer who blogs, teaches and consults on screen story through The Story Department. Among his clients are writers, producers, the AWG and government agencies in Australia and the rest of the world. Karel headed Programming and Acquisitions at the Digital Broadcasting Co in London, bought films for Europe's largest pay-tv group Canal Plus and was a movie show host for MTV Europe.
Michael Patrick Sullivans work has appeared on stages in Chicago and Los Angeles and has been recognized by the Rod Serling Conference at Ithaca College. His short feature, Mastermind, recently premiered at the 2010 San Diego Comic Con. When evil is afoot, he is a fuzzy slipper.
John Oak Dalton has written a number of direct-to-DVD screenplays that are in development, in production, on the video shelf, or on the festival circuit. He has been a festival judge and/or workshop instructor for the Microcinema Fest in Rapid City South Dakota, the Blue Whiskey Film Festival in Palatine Illinois, the Phantoscope High School Film Festival in Richmond Indiana, and the Oranj Art and Music Exposition in Indianapolis Indiana.
Andy Phillips has an MA in screenwriting from the Screen Academy at Bournemouth University (2010). He has written sketches for the Treason Show and News Revue, and short animation scripts for children, as well as one act plays. He is now co-writing a feature animation script with lots of robots, Christmas and destruction.
Julie Gray works with screenwriters and teaches at Warner Bros., The Great American PitchFest, The Creative Screenwriting Expo. Columbia College in Chicago, West England University in Bristol and The Oxford Union at Oxford University. Julie also contributes regularly to the Huffington Post. Julies book Just Entertain Me will be available Fall, 2011.
Jason Arnopp is the writer and executive producer of forthcoming horror film Stormhouse. He has written BBC audiobooks for the Doctor Who and Sarah Jane Adventures ranges, as well as Doctor Who audio plays for Big Finish and the 2005 New Line Cinema novel Friday The 13th: Hate-Kill-Repeat.
Nathan Marshall is an Emmy Award nominated writer and director. After hosting the TV series In The Mix as a teenager, Nathan field produced and edited for National Geographic, and received an MFA from UCLA. Currently, Nathan works as a screenwriter and director in Los Angeles, CA, and hosts the screenwriting blog ScriptFaze.
Tom Murphy is an MA graduate in screenwriting from Bournemouth University. He has written two short films (The Suit and IOU) and his work has been performed at the Rocliffe New Writing Forum. He is currently developing various script projects and working on his first novel, Bulletproof Faces.
Diane J. Wright has collaborated on feature films and television series with studios, networks, and production companies in LA, Vancouver, and Toronto. Founder of THE STORY SPOT, her award-winning work has earned competition spots in the Sundance and Tribeca festivals. Dianes first novel, Birthday Girl is available through Seedpod Publishing.