2022 Jury

Skizz Cyzyk has held positions, and served on juries, at several festivals over the past three decades. He has been an annual juror for Sidewalk since year one (1999), except 2013, when the film he co-directed, HIT & STAY, won Best Documentary Feature, and 2018, when his film, ICEPICK TO THE MOON, won the Audience Award for Best Alabama Film. He plays music with Half Japanese, The Jennifers, Go Pills, The Stents, and Mink Stole & Her Wonderful Band.

Corey Carpenter is a filmmaker from Alabama currently based in Atlanta, GA. His main focus is telling southern stories through documentary films. His work as a filmmaker and animator has been featured on PBS, NPR, and Amazon Prime. He is a Sidewalk Alum, having won the Reel South Shorts Award in 2018, and the Alan Hunter Best Alabama Film Award in 2017. His debut feature length documentary “Alabama The Beautiful” premiered at Sidewalk in 2015. Corey is a graduate of the University of Alabama with a BA in Television and Film.

Brighid Wheeler (she/her) is a programmer, producer, and film festival consultant. She received her BA in Film from the University of Alabama, with a focus on Documentary Filmmaking. Brighid is passionate about creating community through exhibition, having previously worked as Programming Director for Atlanta Film Society and Senior Programmer for Indie Memphis Film Festival. She has dedicated most of her career to uplifting the stories of Southern filmmakers. She currently serves on the Board of Film Impact Georga and is currenly the Program Director of the Tampa Bay Gay & Lesbian Film Festival. As a dedicated member of the LGBTQ+ community, she is a vocal advocate for historically underresourced filmmakers. Brighid seeks to create cinema spaces that inspire conversations and foster a sense of belonging.  When she is not in a movie theater, serving on a festival jury, or on set, you will find Brighid cuddled up with her sweet blind Rottweiler, Biggie. (and dreaming of visiting SF again)

Cameron McAllister is a writer, producer, film critic and the former Associate Director for the Atlanta Film Society. In 2011, he founded both Reel Georgia and the Georgia Film Critics Association, one of the largest and most highly-regarded film critics groups in the Southeastern United States. He worked for the Atlanta Film Society for nearly a decade, helping to propel the 46-year-old Academy Award-qualifying Atlanta Film Festival to its place as one of the nation’s premiere independent film showcases. He formerly served as Executive Director for the Rome International Film Festival and is the current President of the Atlanta chapter of the Rachel Morgan Fan Club. Cameron’s written work has been featured in Paste, Oz Magazine and Southern Distinction.

Brandon Harris is the president and co-founder of I’d Watch That, author of MAKING RENT IN BED-STUY (2017), director of REDLEGS (2012) and a recovering studio executive.

Lauren Rector is a Senior Programmer for the Atlanta Film Festival focusing on documentary features and multi-genre shorts. Each year, she collaborates with the programming team to build a fresh, engaging, and inclusive festival program out of over 7000 submissions. A film enthusiast and longtime Atlantan, Lauren is a graduate of Agnes Scott College with a background in business management and English literature as well as film.

Aaron Hillis was praised by Brooklyn Magazine as one of “The 100 Most Influential People in Brooklyn Culture” alongside Lena Dunham and Spike Lee. As Cinedigm’s Director of Programming, he’ll be helping to relaunch the indie discovery platform Fandor this fall. Aaron’s writing has appeared in The Village Voice, VICE, Variety, Vanity Fair, and other outlets that don’t begin with V. His co-directorial feature debut, FISH KILL FLEA, screened at Sidewalk 2007.

Sean Charles is a Development & Production Manager at ALLBLK an AMC Networks property. He is responsible for producing and developing all original content for the streaming service, in addition to assisting in acquisitions and scheduling.

Sean most recently worked in Corporate Communications as a Production Coordinator working on all cross branding and marketing assets, across internal and external communications from Sundance Film Festival to Offsite meetings. He also formed and led the inaugural Black employee resource group, Vested Interest in Black Employees (V.I.B.E) from 2018 through 2021, as Co-Chair.

He received his B.A in Media Communications from Queens College, CUNY and holds an M.B.A from Mercy College.

Pan’s feature film debut “Face”, co-written by Oscar nominee and Emmy Award winner Oren Moverman, starring Bai Ling, Kristy Wu, Kieu Chinh, Ken Leung, Will Yun Lee, and Treach of Naughty by Nature, with music by Hub of The Roots, premiered at Sundance Film Festival as a Grand Jury nominee, winning Urbanworld’s Grand Jury Award for Best Director, GenArt’s Audience Award, CineVegas Critics Award for Best Director, nominated for Gotham Award’s Breakthrough Director, and selected as a NY Times Critics’ Pick during its U.S. theatrical release. Pan’s second feature “Almost Perfect”, starring Kelly Hu, Edison Chen, Ivan Shaw, Christina Chang, Golden Globe & Emmy Award nominee Tina Chen, and Olivier & Tony Award winner Roger Rees, was selected as the Centerpiece Film at Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival and won the HBO Emerging Filmmaker Award, garnering glowing reviews from Variety, San Francisco Chronicle, and MTV during its theatrical releases in
U.S. and Taiwan. For television, Pan has directed Ava DuVernay’s “Queen Suger,” executive produced by Oprah Winfrey and produced by Warner Bros for Own TV. In addition to Mando-pop superstar Leehom Wang’s 3D concert film “Open Fire” which
premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, Pan has directed music videos for SlimKid3 of Pharcyde, Chris Trapper of The Push Stars, and the shorts “Lucy in the Sky”
starring SAG Award winner Catherine Curtin, Tony Award winner Danny Burstein, Zoe Colletti, Quinn McColgan, Kelly Hu, and Whoopi Goldberg, winner of Oscar, Golden Globe, Emmy, Grammy and Tony Awards; as well as “Sluggers,” starring Hassan
Johnson and Corey Parker Robinson both of the acclaimed HBO series “The Wire.”

Cameron McAllister is a writer, producer, film critic and the former Associate Director for the Atlanta Film Society. In 2011, he founded both Reel Georgia and the Georgia Film Critics Association, one of the largest and most highly-regarded film critics groups in the Southeastern United States. He worked for the Atlanta Film Society for nearly a decade, helping to propel the 46-year-old Academy Award-qualifying Atlanta Film Festival to its place as one of the nation’s premiere independent film showcases. He formerly served as Executive Director for the Rome International Film Festival and is the current President of the Atlanta chapter of the Rachel Morgan Fan Club. Cameron’s written work has been featured in Paste, Oz Magazine and Southern Distinction.

Matt Layne is a poet and young adult librarian at O’Neal Library in Mountain Brook, AL. He recently served as a member of the 2022 Michael L Printz Award Committee for Excellence in Young Adult Literature which chose Angeline Boulley’s Fire Keeper’s Daughter as the award recipient, and he is the President-elect of the Alabama Library Association. His forthcoming poetry collection, Miracle Strip, will be published in September, 2022 by Brick Road.

Andrea Krauss’s professional background in television, film and video with a concentration on independent film spans over more than two decades. Producing credits include: Dalila Ali Rajah’s short film “Secret & Toys” with Quentin Lee directing, “Grown This Way” and “Cock N’ Bull2” directed by Nathan Adloff and “Cinema Conversations with Stephen P. Jarchow”, a docu series for Here Television. Andrea resides in Hawai’i on the island of O’ahu where she was involved with casting for Hawai’i Five-O and Magnum PI reboot. She is currently the Programming Director for the Honolulu Rainbow Film Festival which takes place in late October.

Darrien Michele Gipson is the Executive Director of SAGindie, an educational organization for independent filmmakers. Darrien is a graduate of UCLA, where she received her BA in English Literature; and USC, where she earned an MFA from the Peter Stark Producers Program. She was the Vice President of Development for DEF Pictures before joining SAGindie in 2002 as Festival Coordinator. Through SAGindie, she traveled extensively to film festivals, film schools, and conferences, hosting workshops and teaching filmmakers how to hire professional actors using SAG-AFTRA’s low budget contracts. Since becoming SAGindie’s Executive Director in 2006, Darrien has expanded the organization to reach more festivals and help even more creators on all platforms to bring their projects to fruition. She continues to travel around the world speaking on panels, mentoring writers and filmmakers, and championing diversity, equity, and inclusion in the entertainment industry.

Verton R. Banks is best known as the diligent medical intern Vernon on the HBO comedy Getting On starring Laurie
Metcalf, Niecy Nash, and Alex Borstein. Verton can be seen in
the upcoming Ryan Murphy show, Monster: The Jeffrey
Dahmer Story on Netflix and Showtime’s Your Honor. Recent
appearances include FOX’s 9-1-1, Hulu’s Dollface, FX’s Snowfall, Comisery on Amazon, and Eastsiders on Netflix.
Twitter: @vertonbanks

Sean Charles is a Development & Production Manager at ALLBLK an AMC Networks property. He is responsible for producing and developing all original content for the streaming service, in addition to assisting in acquisitions and scheduling.

Sean most recently worked in Corporate Communications as a Production Coordinator working on all cross branding and marketing assets, across internal and external communications from Sundance Film Festival to Offsite meetings. He also formed and led the inaugural Black employee resource group, Vested Interest in Black Employees (V.I.B.E) from 2018 through 2021, as Co-Chair.

He received his B.A in Media Communications from Queens College, CUNY and holds an M.B.A from Mercy College.

Becca Greene is a film and TV Writer who has developed and sold various projects with several studios and acclaimed producers including NBC Universal, 20th Century FOX, Disney, Reese Witherspoon, and the De Laurentiis family. Becca’s most current screenplay, DARBY HARPER WANTS YOU TO KNOW, was filmed earlier this year and is due to premiere on Hulu this December.

Skizz Cyzyk has held positions, and served on juries, at several festivals over the past three decades. He has been an annual juror for Sidewalk since year one (1999), except 2013, when the film he co-directed, HIT & STAY, won Best Documentary Feature, and 2018, when his film, ICEPICK TO THE MOON, won the Audience Award for Best Alabama Film. He plays music with Half Japanese, The Jennifers, Go Pills, The Stents, and Mink Stole & Her Wonderful Band.

Farah White is an Actress, Producer, Director and Writer but does whatever needs to be done depending on the day! Her love for the entire filmmaking process is obvious by the wide spectrum of genres in her resume which spans over 25 years. She has produced over 30 feature films, shorts and TV pilots in addition to acting in over 50 films, MISS CONGENIALITY being one of her first. She has been on the creative side as well as produced commercials for FED-EX, AMERICAN AIRLINES, FRITO LAY, WALGREENS, GATORADE and REVLON. She UPM’d Solange’s Video Album “When I get Home” as well as producing live recordings of WEEZER and THE PIXIES for Live Nation Events. Earlier this year, she directed the feature film, LANDLORD FROM HELL for the LIFETIME Movie Network. You can see her next in the upcoming release CONDITION OF RETURN, starring AnnaLynne McCord, Dean Cain and Natasha Henstridge.

Brighid Wheeler (she/her) is a programmer, producer, and film festival consultant. She received her BA in Film from the University of Alabama, with a focus on Documentary Filmmaking. Brighid is passionate about creating community through exhibition, having previously worked as Programming Director for Atlanta Film Society and Senior Programmer for Indie Memphis Film Festival. She has dedicated most of her career to uplifting the stories of Southern filmmakers. She currently serves on the Board of Film Impact Georga and is currenly the Program Director of the Tampa Bay Gay & Lesbian Film Festival. As a dedicated member of the LGBTQ+ community, she is a vocal advocate for historically underresourced filmmakers. Brighid seeks to create cinema spaces that inspire conversations and foster a sense of belonging.  When she is not in a movie theater, serving on a festival jury, or on set, you will find Brighid cuddled up with her sweet blind Rottweiler, Biggie. (and dreaming of visiting SF again)

Andrea Krauss’s professional background in television, film and video with a concentration on independent film spans over more than two decades. Producing credits include: Dalila Ali Rajah’s short film “Secret & Toys” with Quentin Lee directing, “Grown This Way” and “Cock N’ Bull2” directed by Nathan Adloff and “Cinema Conversations with Stephen P. Jarchow”, a docu series for Here Television. Andrea resides in Hawai’i on the island of O’ahu where she was involved with casting for Hawai’i Five-O and Magnum PI reboot. She is currently the Programming Director for the Honolulu Rainbow Film Festival which takes place in late October.

Verton R. Banks is best known as the diligent medical intern Vernon on the HBO comedy Getting On starring Laurie
Metcalf, Niecy Nash, and Alex Borstein. Verton can be seen in
the upcoming Ryan Murphy show, Monster: The Jeffrey
Dahmer Story on Netflix and Showtime’s Your Honor. Recent
appearances include FOX’s 9-1-1, Hulu’s Dollface, FX’s Snowfall, Comisery on Amazon, and Eastsiders on Netflix.
Twitter: @vertonbanks