“ This is how film festivals should be.”
-Peter Gilbert, HOOP DREAMS


SIDEWALK PANELIST/MENTOR BIOS

Alison Bagnall (Short Film & SideWrite Juror) co-wrote BUFFALO 66 with Vincent Gallo. She has also written and directed numerous short films, including ONE NIGHT STAND and LOVE PERFECT. She also directed an episode of FEMMES for French television channel M6. She is a graduate of Yale University , and was a directing fellow at the American Film Institute. Her feature directorial debut, PIGGIE, won a Special Award from the Feature Film Jury at Sidewalk 2004.

Steve Burch (SideTalk Moderator) is in his 5th year as Assistant Professor of Theatre History at the University of Alabama. He has been an actor, director, and an award-winning playwright (Playwriting Fellowship from the New York Foundation for the Arts), and, for the last six years, a teacher. He lives in Tuscaloosa with his wife Deborah Parker, who teaches government and geography to Middle-Schoolers. For the last two summers Steve has also been directing a Tuscaloosa group of Shakespeare enthusiasts called the Rude Mechanicals who perform Shakespeare for free in River Road Park along the Black Warrior River.

Anna Marie Crovetti (HEAVENS FALL, producer)

Alison Dickey (Feature Film Juror) produced the Sidewalk 2004 Special Feature Film Jury Award-winner PIGGIE, as well as the feature films SKIPPED PARTS and HOW TO MAKE THE CRUELEST MONTH. Prior to producing, Alison worked with Sean Penn developing film projects for his production company at Orion Pictures and Columbia Pictures. She has served on the juries of the 2003 AFI Film Festival and the 2004 IFP/Los Angeles Film Festival, and taught the IFP Producer's Lab in Los Angeles.

Tommy Fell (Alabama Film Office)

Terry Green (HEAVENS FALL) is the founder and President of Strata Productions, Inc., a motion picture production company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. A native of Indiana, Green earned a B.A. degree from Graceland University in Lamoni, Iowa and completed his M.F.A. training at the DePaul/Goodman School of Drama in Chicago. Upon graduation, he worked as an actor and director in the Chicago theatre scene of the 1980's. In 2000 he produced and directed ALMOST SALINAS, a feature film starring John Mahoney, Virginia Madsen and Lindsay Crouse. ALMOST SALINAS, garnered awards at the Stony Brook, Temecula and Woods Hole film festivals in 2001. In 2004 Mr. Green wrote, produced and directed the Sidewalk 2006 Closing Night Film, HEAVENS FALL. His next project is a feature film based on the lives of Sacco and Vanzetti.

Amanda Gusack (IN MEMORIUM) studied film and writing at Hampshire College. During the summers, she worked for acclaimed independent animators Emily and Faith Hubley, and interned at Trimark Pictures in Santa Monica. Soon after graduation, in 1996, she moved to Los Angeles with 3 completed screenplays in hand. After writing several additional specs over the years, interning at various agencies, and passing to the semi-finals of the Chesterfield screenwriting competition, Gusack wrote and directed the 35mm short, THE ANNIVERSARY, which screened at Dances With Films, Stonybrook, and the Palm Springs International Shorts Fest. IN MEMORIUM is her first feature.

Hadjii (SOMEBODIES) was born and raised in Brunswick, Georgia. He graduated from the University of Georgia's Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication with a BA degree in Telecommunications Arts. In 2004, he was a finalist in the Image Film Festival Perfect Pitch Competition with his pitch for his original screenplay “My Father’s Business.” His 2002 short film THE MAKING OF BRICK CITY won 2nd place at the 2002 Peach City Short Film Festival and was featured in the 2003 Hollywood Black Film Festival. He was also a semi-finalist in the 2002 Hollywood Black Film Festival Storytelling Competition, and was an invited panelist at Roger Ebert’s Overlooked Film Festival in 2004, discussing the state of African-American film. Earnest Hardy of the L.A. Weekly praised his work for its “potent mix of irreverence and social consciousness.” Hadjii is an adjunct instructor at the University of Georgia where he teaches writing for film and television. SOMEBODIES is his first feature.

Darryl Hunt (THE TRIALS OF DARRYL HUNT), was 19 years old when he was wrongfully charged with the 1984 rape and murder of a 26-year-old white copy editor for the evening paper in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Nineteen and one-half years later, in 2004, a court exonerated him following the DNA identification of the real killer. The Governor of North Carolina issued a Pardon of Innocence to him the same year. He now advocates for criminal justice reform, including a moratorium of the death penalty, and serves as executive director of the Darryl Hunt Project for Freedom and Justice, which has a re-entry program for felons released from prison and also works in association with the innocence projects of five law schools in North Carolina.

Dr. Nathaniel Kohn (SOMEBODIES) is an Associate Professor at the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, and is Associate Director of the prestigious George Foster Peabody Awards. Dr. Kohn is festival director of Roger Ebert’s Overlooked Film Festival, and is co-founder and festival director of Robert Osborne’s Classic Film Festival. His credits as a motion picture producer include the Academy Award nominated ZULU DAWN, directed by Douglas Hickox and starring Burt Lancaster, Peter O’Toole, John Mills, Simon Sabela, Ken Gampu, and Bob Hoskins. In television, he produced the American version of the award winning British Channel 4 children’s science series "Abracadabra." He has written commissioned screenplays for companies in Los Angeles, London, Munich, Toronto, Montreal, Zagreb, and Johannesburg, and has been a consultant to production companies in Norway, Britain, and Germany. He continues to work as a writer, producer, and consultant to production companies and film festivals. Recently, he and his wife Pamela produced "Somebodies," written and directed by Hadjii, which was one of 16 films film in the dramatic competition at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival.

Larry Little (THE TRIALS OF DARRYL HUNT) met Darryl Hunt while playing basketball at the YMCA when Little was a City Councilman. He founded the Winston-Salem chapter of the Black Panther Party in the 1969, and later entered politics and served two terms on the city council. When Darryl Hunt was charged, he did not believe Hunt was capable of such a heinous crime, and assisted Hunt's court-appointed attorneys with investigation of the case and by forming the Darryl Hunt Defense Committee. Little attended Wake Forest University as a result of the injustices he observed in the Hunt trials, and practiced law for several years before becoming a professor at Winston-Salem State University where he teaches constitutional and administrative law. Little worked tirelessly for nearly 20 years with other members of the Darryl Hunt Defense Committee, keeping the case in the public eye and providing support to Darryl Hunt while he was in prison.

Molly Mayeux has produced such notable films such as DANDELION, SAVIOR, DANCING IN SEPTEMBER, DIARY OF A MAD BLACK WOMAN, and THE HI-LINE. She began her work in filmmaking working for producer Laura Ziskin (PRETTY WOMAN, SPIDER MAN) and producer-director Taylor Hackford (AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN, RAY), and moved up the filmmaking ladder working for directors such as Steven Speilberg, the Farrelly Brothers, Joe Schumacher, and John Landis. Mayeux has over sixteen years of experience in most facets of the entertainment industry, including production, marketing , and distribution.

Kent Osborne (Short Film Juror) wrote and starred in DROPPING OUT which won Best Feature Film at Sidewalk 2000. Kent hosted TBS's "The Movie Lounge," has written and storyboard directed for 'Spongebob Squarepants', THE SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS MOVIE, and ' Camp Lazlo ,' and has been nominated for three Emmys. He also starred in the short films DAY 37, QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS and Sidewalk 1999 Best Short Film winner, HERD.

Mark Rabil (THE TRIALS OF DARRYL HUNT), was practicing law for four years when he was court-appointed to assist a senior partner in his law firm, Gordon Jenkins, in representing Hunt. Rabil continued to represent Hunt for the next 20 years, through trials, hearings, investigations, appeals, and clemency and pardon proceedings. This was the first capital trial for Rabil and Jenkins. Since 2003, Rabil has been an assistant capital defender in North Carolina and represents individuals charged with first-degree murder and facing the death penalty. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Darryl Hunt Project. Rabil has served the Wake Forest University School of Law as a supervising attorney for the Clinical Program since 1983 and as an adjunct professor of trial advocacy since 2003.

Todd Rohal (THE GUATEMALAN HANDSHAKE) wrote and directed four short films before completing his first feature, THE GUATEMALAN HANDSHAKE. His short films, including KNUCKLEFACE JONES and HILLBILLY ROBOT, screened at SXSW, Slamdance, and Maryland film festivals. At 19 he was nominated for a Student Academy Award and is a recipient of a Princess Grace Foundation grant. His films have also screened at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Baltimore Museum of Art and on AtomFilms. In addition to creating his own films, Todd served as Director of Photography for episodic programs on Court TV and for independent features and shorts. He worked as an editor for the Discovery Channel and PBS, and as a designer and producer for DVDs, including the underground classics HEAVY METAL PARKING LOT and THE AMERICAN ASTRONAUT. Originally from Columbus, Ohio, Todd graduated from the Honors Tutorial Department of Ohio University with a BFA in Film.

Lynn Shelton (WE GO WAY BACK) spent a dozen years acting and writing for the stage before going to graduate school in Photography and Related Media at the School of Visual Arts in NYC. There, she became an experimental filmmaker, studying with such luminaries as Ed Bowes and Peggy Ahwesh. In the role of film editor, Lynn has collaborated on a host of projects, including Paul Willis' experimental feature HEDDA GABLER and Alec Carlin's award-winning feature OUTPATIENT, as well as on numerous shorts. WE GO WAY BACK is her debut feature.

Mark Stricklin (Birmingham-Jefferson Film Office) in his first year at the helm of the Birmingham-Jefferson Film Office, brings over 19 years of film commission / management experience to the Central Alabama region. His accumulative efforts have resulted in over $960 million in revenue for Buffalo (NY), the State of Oregon, Wilmington (NC), and the State of Alabama from 1987-2005 through the recruitment of over 290 productions. Stricklin served as Director of the Wilmington (NC) Regional Film Commission for six years and was instrumental in the start-up of the organization. Through public and private investment, Wilmington became a major player in film production during the 1990s. Stricklin also served as a consultant for the Association of Film Commissioners International and as Executive Director of the Buffalo Niagara Film Commission, Oregon Film & Video Office, and the Alabama Film Office. Currently, Stricklin serves on the Board of Directors of the Association of Film Commissioners International. Some of Stricklin's more notable credits include "Bruce Almighty", "The Hunted", "Bandits", portions of "A.I" and "Pay It Forward", "28 Days", "I Know What You Did Last Summer", "Muppets From Space", "A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries", "Lolita", "Virus", "To Gillian on her 37th Birthday", "The Jackal", "The Road to Wellville", "Under Siege", "Blue Sky", "Mississippi Burning", "War and Remembrance", and the TV series "Sorority Life II", "Fraternity Life", "Dawson's Creek", "American Gothic", "The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles", and "Matlock".

David Wingo (THE GUATEMALAN HANDSHAKE), a Texan musician currently based out of Brooklyn, got his start in film-scoring on director David Gordon Green's acclaimed 2000 debut GEORGE WASHINGTON. Since then he has been the composer or co-composer on Green's other films (ALL THE REAL GIRLS, UNDERTOW and the recently completed SNOW ANGELS), Jordan Melamed's  2002 feature MANIC, Craig Robel's recently completed feature THE GREAT WORLD OF SOUND, and Todd Rohal's Sidewalk 2006 feature, THE GUATEMALAN HANDSHAKE. David also has written and recorded music for several commercials, and is the singer/guitarist for the band Ola Podrida,  who's debut album is being released by the L.A-based record label Plug Research in the spring of 2007.

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