Meet Our 2025 Judges

An Irish/Canadian/Arkansan, Daniel never quite knew where he belonged until he moved to Hollywood. His lauded indie HARD MILES (Matthew Modine, Sean Astin) played 600 screens in the US and UK after its award-winning festival tour, and his previous film MISS VIRGINIA (Uzo Aduba, Aunjanue Ellis) landed deals with BET and Netflix.

His new horror film, SUCCUBUS (Ron Perlman, Rosanna Arquette) released in the U.S. September 24th and has been winning awards on its international festival run leading up to its foreign release.

He's a proud Academy Nicholl Fellow for Screenwriting, and picture editor of over a dozen feature films, including #1 on Netflix WHAT LIES BELOW and #1 on Hulu SUPERCELL (Alec Baldwin, Anne Heche). He's currently in development on a Cold War thriller and a revisionist Western starring and co-written by Matthew Modine.

Throughout a career spanning four decades, Peter has achieved success both in front of and behind the camera.

Having produced such films as the first Iron Man, The Break-Up, Four Christmases, and directing the Vince Vaughn starrer Couples Retreat, Peter currently serves as Executive Producer of the Netflix series F is For Family starring Bill Burr & Laura Dern, and recently wrapped the Dennis Quaid feature Broke.

Billingsley began his acting career at the age of three, in some of the '70s most memorable television commercials, and became a pop-culture icon when he played Ralphie in A Christmas Story. Today, he runs Wild West Productions with actor/producer Vince Vaughn. Billingsley has been nominated for three Emmys, a Tony Award and is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Jon Raymond is the author of the books The Half-Life (a Publisher’s Weekly Best Book of 2004), Livability (a Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers selection, and winner of the Oregon Book Award, 2009), Rain Dragon (2012), Freebird (an Indie Next Great Reads selection, 2017), and Denial (a New York Time’s Book Review Editor’s Choice, 2022) . He also published a collection of art writing called The Community: Writings About Art In and Around Portland, 1997 - 2016. He’s collaborated on six screenplays with the director Kelly Reichardt, including Old Joy, Wendy and Lucy, Meek's Cutoff, Night Moves, First Cow, and Showing Up, numerous of which were based on his fiction, and on the HBO miniseries Mildred Pierce with Todd Haynes. He was editor of Plazm Magazine, an Associate and Contributing Editor at Tin House Magazine, and served on the Board of Directors of Literary Arts. His writing has appeared in Zoetrope, Tin House, Artforum, Bookforum, and many other places. He lives in Portland, Oregon with his partner, the writer Emily Chenoweth, and their kids, Eliza and Josephine.

Sara Logan Hofstein is a triple threat CG production specialist with a background in VFX, animation, and games. Her career has spanned all four corners of the US and into Europe, and she currently calls Portland, Oregon her home.

Recent credits include Lionsgate’s The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Lucasfilm’s Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, and Netflix’s Unfrosted.

She gives back to her community through volunteering on the board of the 501(c)(3) organization Women in Film Portland and as Co-Lead of Women in Animation Portland, and has previously served as a judge for the Annie Awards. She is a proud member of the Producers Guild of America, the Visual Effects Society, ASIFA-Hollywood, and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

Kyle Marvin is a director, writer, producer, and actor who most recently directed 80 FOR BRADY, which he also executive produced. Inspired by a true story of four best friends taking a life-changing trip to 2017’s Super Bowl LI, the film stars Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Rita Moreno, Sally Field, and Tom Brady, and was released theatrically by Paramount. He starred opposite Jared Leto and Anne Hathaway in the Apple TV+ limited series WECRASHED. Marvin also co-wrote, produced, and starred in THE CLIMB, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and for which he was nominated for an Indie Spirit Award. Kyle is a native Oregonian and grew up in the McMinnville area.

Laura Silverman is an actress and writer, best known for Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist; HBO's The Comeback; the Sarah Silverman Program; and Fox's Bob's Burgers. She is a member of SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists).

Bojana Sandic is a film festival programmer with an enthusiasm for authentic voices. She is currently Programming Director of NewFilmmakers Los Angeles, where she is focused on connecting emerging filmmakers with new audiences, industry knowledge and opportunities.

Formerly the Director of Short Film Programming at the Newport Beach Film Festival, Bojana maintains a love of shorts as a medium for storytelling. She has worked in short film development and has served on film festival juries including those of Slamdance, Outfest and Palm Springs Shortfest.

Melissa Gregory Rue writes, directs, and produces films and series that provide cross-cultural experiences to inspire compassionate action on our planet.

In 2020, her short drama “Esperanza’s Turn” screened in 21 festivals around the globe, including the MSFF, and won Best Director at the Oregon Short Film Festival and the Rising Star Award at the Colorado International Activism Film Festival.

In addition to working on her own projects, Melissa co-produces Connectivity Project, a documentary series about people and organizations making a positive impact on our interconnected world. Before shifting her focus to filmmaking, Melissa taught writing and literature at Portland Community College in Portland, Oregon for many years.

Kendra Jacobson is an Oregon-based documentary filmmaker.  Her films showcase her passion for history and popular culture. She has earned acclaim for her short docs, including The 99W, a love story to one of the last drive-in theaters in Oregon.  The 99W has been showcased at over a dozen festivals globally and has received multiple award nominations, winning “Best Short Documentary” at the Oregon International Film Awards. 

Her second film, My Century which showcases the remarkable 100-year life of Ann Lundgren, was also featured in several festivals.  This film was awarded “Best Documentary Short” at the Lady Filmmakers Film Festival in Los Angeles. Kendra will be the documentary judge at the McMinnville Short Film Festival (2025) where both The 99W and My Century were shown.

The Jungle Red team is currently in post-production on their debut documentary feature, scheduled for release in 2025. In addition to her documentary work, Kendra has produced music videos, experimental shorts and non-profit video work.  She has written two narrative features and acted as a showrunner for the Oakland Underground Film Festival.

Ellie Foumbi is an award-winning Cameroonian American filmmaker whose debut film, Our Father, the Devil, premiered and won the Venice Film Festival. It went on to screen at over 50 international film festivals, winning 36 prizes, including the audience award at the Tribeca Film Festival. It received universal critical acclaim, including Independent Spirit Award and Gotham Award Nominations. She was one of ten filmmakers selected for Dirty Films’ inaugural proof of concept grant. She’s an alumna of Berlinale Talents and a BAFTA Breakthrough USA Fellow.

Ellie was also named one of 25 New Faces of Independent Film by Filmmaker Magazine.