2022 Jurors
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Naomi has been heavily involved in the sapphic community since 2011 through a number of ventures including previously creating and running Planet London, Planet Nation and more recently Lesflicks and Sapphic Services. She consults for and supports a number of organisations and individuals including 17-24-30 and recently joined the board of Sappho Events. She excels particularly in collaborating and connecting people in her community and has a passion for indie film. She has a wealth of both corporate and community experience through her work over the past 20 years. A highly organised individual with experience in events, marketing, networking and communication. Naomi brings a broad range of knowledge around diversity and LGBTQ+ people and is passionate about and driven by empowering and connecting queer women.
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Ava Davis, a Sundance Fellow and also known as the Duchess of Grant Park, is a trans actress, producer, and writer living in Atlanta, Georgia. She is also an advocate for increasing trans and queer representation, especially that of black and other minorities. She founded her production company, Studio Vosges, in 2019 with the expressed purpose of telling the stories of queer and trans (GSM) black, brown, and beige people. She hosts the talk show, The Ava Davis Show, on you42.com.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Comparative Literature, with a focus in art history, film, and creative writing, from the University of Georgia, and has made Atlanta her home, along with her partner, two standard poodles, one Bengal cat, and one Russian ragdoll cat.
She has acted in, written, and produced several short films, including Feast, The Decision, and the short film The Duchess of Grant Park, about a trans woman who claims the Grant Park neighborhood of Atlanta as her duchy.
Ava Davis’ stage credits include Alice in Wonderland, The Laramie Project, It’s A Generational Thing, Stuck, and Locked. In addition, she has performed with the One Minute Play Fest, including a special performance in collaboration with the Queens Theater in New York City to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Pride. She also performs sketch comedy and collaborates with Critical Crop Top.
She is currently working to produce and secure financing for her first feature film, The Waltz.
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Spiro Economopoulos is the Program Director for the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, one of the largest and oldest LGBTI+ film festivals in the southern hemisphere. During his seven years in the role, Spiro has lead the curatorial vision of the festival to enlighten, entertain and celebrate, while delivering a world-class queer film festival.
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With lengthy stints at both the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Atlanta magazine, Richard L. Eldredge has been covering Atlanta’s arts, entertainment, political, dining and charitable fundraising scenes since 1990. In 2015, he launched Eldredge ATL, a daily digital magazine dedicated to the city’s ever-evolving arts, entertainment, cuisine and cultural landscapes. Since 2011, he has worked as senior editor at VOX Teen Communications, supporting Atlanta’s next generation of journalists. In recognition of this work, Eldredge received the Atlanta Press Club Impact Award in 2015.
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Fr3dR1cK Taylor, founder of Tomorrow Pictures, is a creative entrepreneur, filmmaker and culture consultant with a passion for finding, writing and visualizing amazing stories through analog and digital media. The adventure into content creation started in hip-hop working as a DP in Atlanta for directors like F. Gary Gray. Then on to directing videos for Russell Simmons and other hip-hop legends, including a VMA nod for director of Da'Dip. At his production company, Fr3deR1cK has helmed a slate of award winning documentaries, started an underground content platform called tomorrowpictures.tv and written and directed short films, commercials, and an Emmy winning episode of the web series If Cities Could Dance. He has written numerous screenplays including a "flip the script" take on a Rom Com called MATCH.at the event.
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Paula Martinez has extensive experience in business management and a strong background in festival and event planning. She currently serves as the Creators Conference Producer for the Nashville Film Festival. Paula co-founded StickyToePads, co-produced the Atlanta 48 Hour Film Project, the world's oldest and largest timed filmmaking competition and served as Managing Director and Festival Producer for the Atlanta Film Festival where she managed a portfolio of major corporate sponsor relationships. In addition to earning a B.A. from Oglethorpe and an MBA from Mercer University, Paula has produced world premier film events, launched product activations, hosted charitable fundraisers, and promoted officially sanctioned boxing matches. Her twitter, instagram and other social network handle is @platorebel.
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Patrick Saunders is an Atlanta native and a digital editor for WABE, the NPR and PBS affiliate for the metro Atlanta area. He is the former editor of two of the largest LGBTQ news outlets in the South — Georgia Voice and Project Q Atlanta. Patrick has covered social justice, politics, public health, arts and entertainment and the LGBTQ community in Atlanta as a reporter or editor since 2009. He has also covered numerous Out On Film festivals over the years and interviewed the stars and creators behind the films that have screened at the event.
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Melissa Simpson is the Executive Director of Film Impact Georgia, a nonprofit dedicated to helping uplift the voices of those making independent films in Georgia. She was born and raised just north of Atlanta and has a BS in Film & Digital Media from the University of North Georgia. Melissa was a founding director of the Georgia Film Festival, has worked as the Creative Director for TERMINUS Conference + Festival, and has worked in many different roles for film festivals across Georgia, including the Atlanta Film Festival, Rome International Film Festival, the WIFTA Short Film Showcase, and the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival. She spent the past two years working with film festivals and indie filmmakers across the world at Eventive, a virtual streaming platform for independent film. In her spare time, she is involved in many organizations in the Atlanta film community and works as a producer on independent projects. Melissa also has a house full of rescue animals and won a hula hoop contest when she was eight.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Comparative Literature, with a focus in art history, film, and creative writing, from the University of Georgia, and has made Atlanta her home, along with her partner, two standard poodles, one Bengal cat, and one Russian ragdoll cat.
She has acted in, written, and produced several short films, including Feast, The Decision, and the short film The Duchess of Grant Park, about a trans woman who claims the Grant Park neighborhood of Atlanta as her duchy.
Ava Davis’ stage credits include Alice in Wonderland, The Laramie Project, It’s A Generational Thing, Stuck, and Locked. In addition, she has performed with the One Minute Play Fest, including a special performance in collaboration with the Queens Theater in New York City to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Pride. She also performs sketch comedy and collaborates with Critical Crop Top.
She is currently working to produce and secure financing for her first feature film, The Waltz.