Judges For The Contest

Here's a list of just some of the judges that will be reviewing the pitches for the contest and who will be participating in the live pitching finals on May 1st! Stay tuned as we announce more A-List judges in the coming weeks!

TONY SAFFORD

Executive Vice President of Worldwide Acquisitions Tony Safford is head of Worldwide Acquisitions for Twentieth Century Fox, a position which combines both creative and business skills to acquire film projects for all Fox divisions, domestic and international, including Fox Searchlight.

Recent film acquisitions include Slumdog Millionaire, The Wrestler, Little Miss Sunshine, and Once. Prior to joining Fox in 1996, he was Senior VP of Acquisitions at Miramax. Before this, he was an acquisitions executive with New Line Cinema. Between 1985 and 1990, Tony was the Program Di

rector of the Sundance Film Festival. He also worked at the American Film Institute (Washington, D.C.) and Walker Art Center (Minneapolis). He has a B.A. and M.A., respectively, from U.C.S.B. and the University of Iowa.

Ross Siegel

Ross Siegel has been the Director of Creative Affairs at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios (MGM), one of two production executives overseeing the studio’s slate of Direct-to-DVD movies from development through distribution, since May 2007. Some of the films Ross has overseen include INTO THE BLUE 2: THE REEF, PICTURE THIS (which starred Ashley Tisdale), LEGALLY BLONDES, HIT & RUN, among others. Future films Ross is currently overseeing include remakes of BACK TO SCHOOL and MR. MOM, as well as a reinvention of the horror classic, THE AMITYVILLE HORROR. Prior to joining MGM, Ross was Director of Development from 2004 to 2007 at the production-management company Guy Walks into a

Bar, which produced ELF starring Will Ferrell and MEET DAVE starring Eddie Murphy during his tenure. He also set up several other projects while Director of Development, including CRISIS CONTROL at ABC/Touchstone, CAMP SACHEM at Revolution Studios, and OXLEY’S ROAD at Lakeshore Entertainment.

Christopher Lockhart

Christopher is the Story Editor at William Morris Endeavor Entertainment, where he finds projects for "A" list actors including Denzel Washington, Steve Martin and Mel Gibson. He lectures on screenwriting around the country and has been featured in THE WRITER magazine and Fox Morning News. His writing workshop, “The Inside Pitch,” was filmed for local television and earned him a Los Angeles Area Emmy nomination. He co-produced the horror film THE COLLECTOR, which was released nationwide in July, and is writer/producer on a feature length documentary called MOST VALUABLE PLAYERS (in post production). Chris has an MFA in dramatic writing from NYU’s film school.

Marcus Dunstan & Patrick Melton

The writers of SAW IV, V, VI, FEAST and THE COLLECTOR. Marcus and Patrick were winners of Project Greenlight. Marcus is also the director of The Collector

TREVOR ENGELSON

Trevor is Producer on the 2010 release of REMEMBER ME at Summit Entertainment starring Robert Pattinson, Pierce Brons

on and Leena Olen, directed by Allen Coulter. He also is an Executive Producer on the 2009 release of ALL ABOUT STEVE at Fox 2000, starring Sandra Bullock and Bradley Cooper. Trevor was a Co-Producer on LICENSE TO WED for Warner Bros which stars Robin Williams, Mandy Moore and John Krasinski and was directed by Ken Kwapis. Alongside his partner, Nick Osborne, he also received an Executive Producer on ZOOM for Sony which starred Tim Allen, Chevy Chase and Courtney Cox, and a Co-Executive Producer on ABC Family’s Christmas comedy MARY CHRISTMAS. Underground Films has a diverse set of projects set up at different studios and financiers including RAJ REDDY PALACE PEACOCK at Warner Brothers, the CLASS ACT, with Halle Berry attached to star at Walden, SOCCER MOM at New Line, TALES FROM THE WISHWORKS FACTORY at Universal and ANIMALS at Sony. Trevor grew up in Great Neck, New York. Graduated from USC undergrad in 1998. Worked at Endeavor as an trainee before joining Nick as his assistant initially at his earlier company O/Z Films. O/Z had a first look deal with Phoenix. In 2001 O/Z Films, metamorphisized into Underground Films and Management. One company dedicated to producing quality films and finding and managing the careers of talented clients.

www.undergroundfilms.net

JULIE RICHARDSON

Julie Richardson is a producer and Managing Member of Imaginarium Entertainment Group. She is best known for finding, developing, and producing the box office sensation COLLATERAL, starring Tom Cruise and Jamie Fox, which received two Academy Award nominations, two Golden Globe nominations and received the Critics Choice Award, along with twenty three other nationally or internationally sponsored honors.

As of November 2008, Ms. Richardson is in post-production on the THE MIDNIGHT MAN for Dimension, the first in a 3 film horror franchise, and is producing the comedy pilot NICE GIRLS DON’T GET THE CORNER OFFICE for ABC, along with her partners at Brian Grazer and Ron Howard’s Imagine Television (24, FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS). Ms. Richardson is also in negotiations with J2 Productions (BLONDE AMBITION) on her teen comedy COVER GIRL, fielding offers on her period cop drama HOLLOW-POINT, and out to directors on INSIDERS, a French comic which is a starring vehicle for Jessica Alba.

Ms. Richardson’s strong relationships span the entire entertainment industry. She has worked or is working with such renowned filmmakers as Fr

ank Darabont (GREEN MILE, SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION), Michael Mann (HEAT, MIAMI VICE), Peter Medak (RULING CLASS, ROMEO IS BLEEDING), and Randall Wallace (BRAVEHEART, WE WERE SOLDIERS), as well as best-selling authors John Farris and Dr. Lois Frankel.

Having developed a vast slate of premiere film and television properties, Ms. Richardson sold A RHINESTONE ALIBI to Paramount. Her current development slate includes FACT CHECKER, with Natalie Marciano and Michelle Chydik’s 26 Films (STARTER FOR 10, THE WEDDING DATE), SNOW JOB, by John Robert Marlow.

Mac Torluccio - Creative Executive Intrigue Entertainment

Anne Lower - consultant, Save the Cat! Enterprises

Cindy McCreery - a graduate of the Walt Disney/ABC Feature Writing Fellowship program for the 2002-2003 year. Her script POWDER PUFFS got her into the program and was sold to Disney after she finished the fellowship. After the sale of POWDER PUFFS Cindy immediately wrote and sold her next feature spec script, SOCCER MOM to New Line Cinema. In the fall of 2005 Tollin Robbins and Josephson Entertainment approached Cindy with the true story of Maria Pepe, the first girl to play in the Little League. Cindy came up with a pitch with the producers and sold the pitch to Nickelodeon Films. In 2006 National Geographic Films hired Cindy to rewrite ELEPHANT WILD and later in 2007 in partnership with Warner Brothers, they hired her again to develop and write FREE WILLY: ESCAPE FROM PIRATES COVE which will be released in March of 2010. Also in 2007 Cindy sold a pitch of a revamped BABY BOOM for MGM. In late 2008 Disney Channel hired her to adapt the book, RISING STAR into a Disney Channel Original movie. She is also a screenwriting professor at UCSB.

We are currently confirming many more A-List Pros!