The Circuit

The Bahamas fest has announced their jury - a nice, strike-time, working vacation.  The four competition categories at BIFF are Spirit of Freedom: Dramatic; Spirit of Freedom: Documentary; New Vision; and Short Film. The 2007 BIFF jury includes:

New Vision
Ryan Fleck- Writer/Director (winner of BIFF 2006 New Vision Award for "Half Nelson")
Ben Lyons- E! Entertainment's resident film expert
Lauren Craniotes- Vice President of Production at Warner Independent Pictures

Spirit of Freedom:  Dramatic
Sharon Swart - our own Senior Editor of features at Variety
Harlan Jacobsen - USA Today Film Critic, Writer, Director
Antonius Roberts - Bahamian Visual Artists

Spirit of Freedom: Documentary
Elliot Kotek- Editor in Chief of Moving Pictures Magazine
Philip Burk  - President of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association
Jennifer Konawal - Talent/Literary Agent at The Gersh Agency

Short Film
Magali Dubie - Buyers Manager, Short Film Corner, Festival de Cannes
Katrina Rothenstein- Programmer for the Short Films at the Miami International Film Festival
Charley Walters - Director of International Casting and Creative Production Marketing at DreamWorks Animation

Also, BIFF is bringing in a group of industry heavies and semi-heavies to participate in various panels and seminars. They include actress Jennifer Tilly, writer/director Susan Jacobsen, Jennifer Konawal of the Gersh Agency; Director Adrien Belic ("Beyond the Call"); filmmaker Lawrence Konner ("Mighty Joe Young"); composer Francis Shaw; Ben Arnon; Chris "Kazi" Rolle; producer Peter Newman ("The Squid and the Whale"); producer Norman Golightly ("Ghost Rider"); Shoreline Entertainment CEO Morris Ruskin, Jerome Paillard - Executive Director of Cannes Marche du film, IFC Entertainment's Head of Theatrical Marketing Ryan Werner; veteran film festival director Nicole Guillemet; Pape Boyle from Coach 14; Bruno Chetelin from Filmfestivals.com; and Joan Graves - Chairman of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA).