2022 Jurors

Jeff Yanc is currently the Program Director at The Loft Cinema and co-director of the annual Loft Film Fest. He holds B.A. and M.A. degrees in Media Arts from the University of Arizona, where he also served as an adjunct professor in film history. His writing on cinema has appeared in film journals such as The Velvet Light Trap and Cinemad, and he is co-producer/co-host of the podcast, The Many Rules of Film Club. He In 2015 he was the recipient of the David Hoyt Johnson Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Arts, presented by the Tucson Pima Arts Council.

Claudette Godfrey is the Director of Film Festival Programming for the South by Southwest Film Festival & Conference in Austin, Texas, where she serves as a curator for the feature film program, oversees the short film curation team, and manages all aspects of festival staff and event logistics. Born and raised in Austin, Texas, Claudette began her career at SXSW in 2006 as an enthusiastic volunteer, and soon was promoted to Short Film Programmer & Operations Manager for SXSW, where she then curated the festival’s 10 short film programs, oversaw all film submissions and the overall organization of the event. A University of Texas Film graduate, Claudette previously worked as a Corporate Relations Coordinator at the CineVegas Film Festival and served as a Shorts Programmer for the Alamo Drafthouse’s Fantastic Fest from 2010-2012.

Six-time Peabody Award winner and University of Arizona School of Theatre, Film & Television alumnus Paul Pennolino is currently directing his ninth season of HBO’s multi award winning LAST WEEK TONIGHT WITH JOHN OLIVER. Prior to this, from 2000 – 2021 Paul was the Associate Director on THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART, assuming the Director chair under new host Trevor Noah in 2017. Paul is also known for his work as Director of TBS’s FULL FRONTAL WITH SAMANTHA BEE, National Geographic’s EXPLORER and Apple TV Plus’s THE PROBLEM WITH JON STEWART. In addition to his Peabody Awards, Paul has received six Emmy nominations for his directing as well as six DGA Directing Award nominations, and is a proud volunteer firefighter.