Jurors

Christine Vachon is an Independent Spirit Award and Gotham Award winner who co-founded powerhouse Killer Films with partner Pamela Koffler in 1995. Over three decades, they have produced more than 100 films, including some of the most celebrated and important American independent features: KIDS, I SHOT ANDY WARHOL, HAPPINESS, BOYS DON’T CRY, HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH, FAR FROM HEAVEN, ONE HOUR PHOTO, STILL ALICE, CAROL, BEATRIZ AT DINNER, and DARK WATERS. In television, Vachon executive-produced the Emmy and Golden Globe-awarded miniseries MILDRED PIERCE for HBO as well as the Emmy Award-winning limited series HALSTON for Netflix. Recent releases include Todd Haynes’ MAY DECEMBER (Netflix), starring Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore, and Celine Song’s PAST LIVES (A24), which marks her first Oscar nomination in the Best Picture category.

Savannah Abrishamchian is a Persian-Armenian American artist working across film, television, photography, and print production. At Jordan Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions, she works in Development & Production nurturing TV, film, and special projects including The New York Times Best Seller Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror, a short story collection edited by Jordan Peele. Savannah studied English at the University of San Diego where she was dedicated to poetry, participating in spoken word events and slams. Post-college, Savannah was a writer for Spotify’s ¡Viva Latino! Video Playlist, writing short-docu style content for artists such as Ricky Martin and Demi Lovato. She then moved to CAA’s TV Scripted department supporting Tony Etz and later served as the right hand to writer/producer/director Jenni Konner (HBO’s Girls) where she started her journey in development.

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.