HEAD OF JURY

Phoebe is a visual artist, performer/improvisor who studies at the world-renowned Groundlings Theatre/ School and has written and performed sketch comedy and appeared in a variety of short and feature films. www.phoebesarason.net

Shawna is a filmmaker from Los Angeles, California, and has edited feature films, documentaries, and doc-drama series. She studied film at San Diego State University, and received her Bachelor degree from the school of Theatre, Television and Film. During her studies, she discovered the art of film editing, and the college radio station, where she became a DJ, and soon immersed herself in both music and film. As a storyteller, Shawna compares the rhythm of editing to music, — the cadence, the complexities, and the disciplines of the unknown. There is truth in every frame.
Shawna is currently editing a feature documentary titled Another Take. This film follows six women and non-binary directors, as they each navigate making a feature film in different parts of the world.

Zach is an actor/director and a longtime Topanga resident. Most recent Tv/film credits include Magnum P.I., Happy Endings, It’s always Sunny in Philadelphia, Santa Clarita Diet, Parenthood amongst others. Zach is honored to be serving on the jury for TIFF his 2nd year in a row.

Marcel is a Venezuelan writer, director and producer with extensive experience across film, tv, theater, and advertisement. He is also a Sundance 2020 Feature Film Program Alumnus, and the recipient of the NBC Universal Global Talent Fellowship. His first feature HERMANO won The Grand Prix of the Moscow International Film Festival with Luc Besson presiding the jury. It was the Venezuelan candidate for the Foreign Language Film Category at the Academy Awards and was theatrically released in the US by MusicBox Films. He also produced Diego Vincentini’s debut feature SIMÓN, now streaming on Netflix. Currently, he is preparing to direct his sophomore feature, BREAKAWAY, set in the dangerous world of underground competitive soccer.

Marcel is the co-founder of one of Venezuela’s most prestigious production companies: TRES. He co-produced award-winning international features such as THE NIGHT OF THE TWO MOONS, ONCE UPON A TIME IN VENEZUELA. Variety included Rasquin on its “Top Ten Directors to Watch” list in 2011. He earned his Masters Degree in Film at The Victorian College of the Arts of the University of Melbourne, and is currently based in LA.

Tim began his career in Mexico City, where he wrote English subtitles for Alfonso Cuarón's Solo Con Tu Pareja and Alejandro González Iñárritu's Amores Perros before writing his first feature, La Flecha. After moving to Los Angeles, he wrote HBO films including For Love or Country (WGA Paul Selvin Award), Boycott (Humanitas Prize), and Live From Baghdad (Emmy nomination). His screenplay for Children of Men, co-written with director Alfonso Cuarón, earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. He went on to write Libertador and Chávez, created the Lifetime thriller The Lottery, and was Co-EP on NBC's Chicago P.D. for five seasons. He lives in Topanga.

Brad has enjoyed a long and varied career as a screenwriter, director, graphic novelist and currently, novelist. Brad broke into the business after his action thriller spec STATIC sold to Columbia during a five studio bidding war (the good old days). Soon thereafter he wrote INVINCIBLE (#1 at the box-office) starring Mark Wahlberg, Elizabeth Banks and Greg Kinnear and wrote & directed BLACK IRISH (winner of best feature awards at four film festivals) starring Brendan Gleeson, Melissa Leo & Michael Angarano. He also co-wrote SOUL SURFER starring AnnaSophia Robb, Dennis Quaid & Helen Hunt. Brad recently co-wrote NASA’s FIRST WOMAN graphic novel series, which won two Webby Awards in 2022. With multiple film projects currently getting packaged and/or developed, he is also co-authoring a memoir with DJ Casey Connor as well as writing a thriller novel. 

Director at,TRAKTOR (traktor.com) - Swedish directing collective founded 1992, moved to LA 1998. We are now spread out around the world but keep contact daily and collaborate on our projects. We focus on TV commercials but have been involved in everything from feature films, TV and music videos. I have lived in the canyon since 1999 with my wife Veronika and three kids (grown-ups) and just realized that I have now lived most of my life in Topanga. I feel deeply about this community, the people and the fantastic nature surrounding us. I’m honored to have been chosen to be part of the jury work at Topanga Film Festival 2026 and look forward to watching the final selection together with you.

Sej is an award-winning ethnographic filmmaker, cultural conservation photographer, and interdisciplinary artist. Her work focuses on indigenous wisdom, ecological consciousness, and spiritual traditions worldwide. She holds an MFA from the University of Southern California and directed short films like The Curious Woods and The Language They Spoke.

Chopper, is a father, husband, filmmaker, actor, director, and writer. His film and TV work includes T3, Crypted, Gloria Bell, Super Pumped, Snowfall, American Crime Story, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and others.  He is also a voice actor and has done hundreds of commercials, thousands of promotions for networks NBC, MSNBC, Bravo, etc., and  animation films and TV. He has made a feature film and numerous short films and is working on putting three more into production at the moment.  He has lived in Topanga for 23 years. Thanks for the opportunity to watch all this amazing work. 

Prakriti, is a Venezuelan actress, screenwriter, and director based in Los Angeles. A Berlinale Talents and TEDx speaker, she has built an international career as a lead actress in Latin American cinema, working across eight countries. As a filmmaker, she has explored narrative and experimental storytelling through short films, music videos, fashion films and other audiovisual formats.

She is the creator of the Actor/Creator Lab and leads the California division of JEVA, the Venezuelan Association of Women Filmmakers. She currently works as screenwriter, and as Intimacy Coordinator, bringing a multidisciplinary perspective shaped by her experience on both sides of the camera.

Enrique. has worked across disciplines and cultures, developing a particular understanding of cinema as a language through which we observe, listen, and share the human experience.

Enrique is an internationally awarded filmmaker, director, producer, cinematographer and social-impact storyteller.

He is best known for the feature documentary Scab Vendor: The Life and Times of Jonathan Shaw, an intimate portrait of an uncompromising artist and a life lived outside convention; and for Hermano, a story of brotherhood, dreams and hardship. Venezuela’s official submission for the Academy Awards, Hermano received major international honors at film festivals in Los Angeles, Moscow, Huelva and Havana.

Enrique brings an international perspective while sharing a deep connection with Topanga, the community he calls home.

For Enrique, cinema is the medium; storytelling is the art and the soul.