Bonnie Dichone is a versatile actor based in the Pacific Northwest, known for her work in film and television. She has appeared in productions such as "Train Dreams" (2025), "The Cleaning Lady (FOX)" (2022), and "Going Home" (2022). In addition to her acting career, Bonni has an extensive background in dance, mathematics (Ph.D.), and music, which enriches her performances across various mediums. She is happily married and has two beautiful children.
juror for Shorts, Narrative Features
Dan Webster is a former staff writer for The Spokesman-Review. In 1999, he cofounded the movie-review show Movies 101 for Spokane Public Radio, and since 2010 he has been both the show’s host and the station’s senior film critic.
juror for Documentary Features
Devante Smith, a skilled creative in graphic design and film, graduated from Eastern Washington University in 2017. He kick-started his career while in his Junior year at EWU as an intern for the TV series Z Nation, swiftly advancing to Basecamp Production Assistant.
Since then, he has managed basecamps from HBO TV series to a million-dollar or more feature films. Learning from and meeting influential figures he admires in the industry such as Kellita Smith, Russell Hodgkinson, Katy M. O’Brian, Beau Bridges, Zooey Deschanel, Noah Jupe, Keith David, and many more.
His on-set experiences shaped him into an exceptional production coordinator in Washington. When not on set, since 2017, Devante has been involved with Spokane Film Project, eventually becoming its President in 2023, and currently is part of Washington Filmworks' Leadership Council as a Co-Chair and a voting board member. Guided by industry leaders, Devante has become a prominent voice in his community and aims to be a producer/UPM for Washington. When not working, he enjoys refining his design style for his business Duo Design + Media, spending time with friends & family, and catching up on the latest anime series.
juror for Northwest Shorts, Northwest Features
Jamie Absalonson is a Spokane based artist. She has been currently immersing herself in learning how to be an upcycling and re-use artist designer..and seamstress. Inspired by Japanese art, nature, literature as well as local indigenous communities and those around the world. Originally a fine artist and street photographer, she started learning how to make films. She married the two recently while working with new underrepresented directors in the LGBTQ and Indigenous Communities marrying her skills in Art Direction, Costume design as well as Producing. The meditative beauty of water, earth, forest, flowers, and fauna are inspirations in her work and activism. Music and Collecting Rare Books are her hobbies. She owns a black cat who is almost always by her side.
juror for Documentary Features
Jessica Earle received her BFA from Eastern Washington University (2015), where she focused on digital media and sculpture, and went on to graduate from Alfred University (2017) with an MFA in Electronic and Integrated Art. She works with a variety of digital and electronic media, such as experimental film, video installation, sound, and digital print media. She works with generated, shot and found imagery to explore themes of landscape, identity, and mental health. Jessica works in iterations, reworking and re-exploring her work to unearth her true intentions, and to find new context within new installations. Outside of her fine arts practice she teaches at regional universities and works as a grip (and sometimes gaffer) on film and commercial productions.
juror for Animated Shorts
Malcolm Pelles is a writer and director. He was the winner of the Outstanding Production & Outstanding Direction awards at AACTFest 2023. He’s a Humanitas New Voices Finalist. He was a writer for the 2016 CBS Diversity Sketch Comedy Showcase. He’s written scripts for the US Army, NFL, and Ubisoft Entertainment. His stage productions have been performed in Spokane, Off Broadway in New York City, and in Washington, DC at places like the Kennedy Center. Additionally, he’s a member of the Board of Directors and an Equity Committee co-chair with Washington Filmworks. Pelles has an MFA degree from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and an undergraduate degree from Florida State University’s College of Motion Picture Arts.
juror for Shorts
Mikayla Daniels is a writer, award winning filmmaker and an Emmy winning former video editor. She is also a film academic with her MFA in Screenwriting and an essay in the book “When Women Wrote Hollywood”. She has been a writer and on camera host for KSPS Saturday Night Cinema since 2016. She is also currently an Arts Commissioner for the city of Airway Heights.
juror for Northwest Shorts, Northwest Features
Nanette Cloud is a cartoonist from Spokane, WA, and an editor of Spokane Sequential. Xe make intimate and otherworldly comix, zines, and illustrations.
juror for Animated Shorts
Nathan Weinbender is a film critic for Spokane Public Radio, where he has also co-hosted the weekly review show “Movies 101” since 2012. He was previously the film and music editor of the Inlander and an entertainment reporter for the Spokesman-Review. He is currently a senior copywriter at DH, a social impact communications agency in downtown Spokane.
juror for Narrative Features
Payton Wyatt works as a Nonfiction Filmmaker at Rogue Heart Media. She grew up in Kennewick, WA and from an early age could frequently be found behind a camera or hunched over iMovie. They’ve loved working in the camera department on various sets across the US—most recently Mark Wilson’s The Calling and Madison Gotthardt’s Butch. As an advocate for representation in media, they’ve worked with the Geena Davis Institute and ReFrame. Outside of watching and making movies, Payton loves a good jigsaw puzzle, knitting, cups of tea, and rock climbing!
juror for Shorts
Peter Green is a cinematographer and producer. He is an elected member of the International Cinematographers Guild's Nation Executive Board and graduated with a business degree from Gonzaga University. He has lensed several TV series and films including Serenity (2005), Z Nation (2014-2018), Euphoria (2022), and Boon (2022).
juror for Northwest Shorts, Northwest Features
Reza Safavi’s work explores how the presence of technology in daily life shapes experience. His artistic inquiry spans a range of media including code, video, animation, light, drawing, performance and sculpture. He integrates both analog and digital devices to create interactive experiences that examine the boundaries between consciousness, technology, and the environment. He is a Professor of Art at Washington State University in Pullman, WA.
juror for Animated Shorts
Shweta 'Cricket' Green is a Costume Designer from Bombay, India. She moved to the United States in 2013 and now lives in Pacific Northwest with her Cinematographer husband and their precocious toddler. She thrives on being an integral part in the filmmaking process from creating a character, to story telling through costumes. Shweta believes that in film making, every new day begins by presenting challenges, experiences and opportunities to flourish.
juror for Narrative Features
Zana Morrow is dedicated to exploring and supporting regional artists and creatives. She works at KSPS PBS, the Public Television station for the Inland Northwest based in Spokane, Washington delivering educational and artistic programming to urban, rural, and remote audiences across Washington State, Idaho, Montana, and 3 Canadian territories.
juror for Animated Shorts, Documentary Features
