Rootclip

Get to know the current Rootclip judges. Looking for past judges? Click here to see the Alumni.

Cathy Baron, Hollywood, CA
Judging Contests: Hole and Corner

Cathy is an actress who can be seen in numerous films such as Dead Stop, Black and Blue, Christian Roane and The Lights. She just booked the lead role in a film called The Eves shooting this April! Cathy is also one of the stars of the web series Valley Peaks and a guest star in the web series The Crew. She has a B.S. in Nutrition, needs 13 hours of sleep a night, enjoys her morning cup of joe, can do all 3 splits, wants to be a DJ, and paints with acrylic in her spare time. Cathy feels the most grounded and spiritual traveling overseas.

Did you know Cathy danced professionally for 4 sports teams before working solely as an actress? Find Cathy online...just Google her name. You can also find her on Twitter (@cathybaron).

Here is a short bio put together by some of her Twitter followers:

We view Cathy through a computer screen most days. The good side of the Gemini: she's a chance taker, beat maker, booty shaker, and a guitar loving, tweeting actress. She's working on her dreams like an attack of the 50 foot blob squirrel. Her electric purple aura will find you and captivate your soul. We love Cathy because she is having fun along the way, enjoying the ride, and filling us in on Hollywood life. (like almost having a car accident with Michael Bay). She's a multi-talented guru of space and time who can't be stopped. Peace and love is her middle name.


Lee Bullington, Anchorage, AK
Judging Contests: The Haunted Site

Photo and Bio coming soon!


Sean Duran, Buena Park, CA
Judging Contests: Hole and Corner

Sean Duran, or esotericsean as he's known on the internet, co-runs an online film-making community with his best friend, Peter Men.

After deciding that film school wasn't for him, Sean decided to get a camera and make something of his own. Together with Peter, they started out making short films in Sean's garage. Years later they're still making short films in Sean's garage, but now they have a better camera and actually know what they're doing.

Film is the ultimate art form. It's where photography and music and writing and theater all come together, usually to clash, but sometimes to make a movie.


Kayvon Esmaili, Los Angeles, CA
Judging Contests: Hole and Corner

Kayvon Esmaili was born in San Francisco. Upon graduating high school he moved to Los Angeles where he has been acting in commercials and working as a photographer for the last nine years. Kayvon has acted in over fifteen national commercials. You may have seen his work most recently in national ads for McDonald's, Advil, Sony PSP, and Pontiac.

Kayvon currently co-produces, directs, and acts in a web series called, Valley Peaks. Valley Peaks spoofs half hour teen drama shows with extreme absurdity.

In addition to acting and producing, Kayvon is also a photographer currently working for Disney.



Miranda Felch, Anchorage, AK
Judging Contests: The Haunted Site

Photo and Bio coming soon!


Brea Grant, Los Angeles, CA
Judging Contests: UTK 2009 Spring Film Project

Brea Grant is an actress from Texas who is best known for playing Daphne Millbrook in NBC's Heroes. She's also appeared in Cold Case, Friday Night Lights, Max Payne, and in numerous indie films. Short films are her favorite part of film festivals and she really likes watching things on the internet. Most days she can be found drinking tea, hanging out with her dog and reading a good book.


Doug Griffin, Anchorage, AK
Judging Contests: The Haunted Site

My name is Doug Griffin. I'm a 22 year old aspiring filmmaker/cinematographer from Anchorage, AK. My education includes a one year Visual Art & Design course at Vancouver Film School and a 10-Week cinematography program at the Rockport Media Workshops. Most recently, I was a documentary co-programmer for the 2008 Anchorage International Film Festival. I am currently working on my own documentary project that is set to begin filming in June 2009.

I have a strong passion for movies, music, and travel. My favorite film directors are David Gordon Green, Paul Thomas Anderson, & David Fincher.

With all the exciting and endless possibilities of digital filmmaking I look forward to see how the internet can serve as a primary route for distribution and ultimately an wide audience.


Kelly Gwynn, Anchorage, AK
Judging Contests: The Haunted Site

Hi! My name is Kelly Gwynn and I'm the media instructor at the Alaska Native Heritage Center. We have an after school program for high school students here that focuses on perpetuating Alaska Native culture. And part of that is media, the class I teach.

I've been involved at various levels of film production now for about 9 years. My main focus has been documentaries, but I've also been involved in animation and feature short productions. I've recently been one of the Documentary Film Co-Programmers for the Anchorage International Film Festival. And, currently, I'm working on my MA at the University of Alaska Anchorage in applied anthropology, and part of my thesis is going to be a documentary film. All in all, life is pretty exciting up here in the Last Frontier.


Bill Larsen, Knoxville, TN
Judging Contests: UTK 2009 Spring Film Project

John Ford used to introduce himself to people saying, "I'm John Ford. I make westerns." Well, I'm Bill Larsen. I teach." For the last nineteen years I have taught English and Cinema Studies courses at the University of Tennessee. Before that, for twenty years I taught at a multi-cultural suburban high school on Long Island. I have been the primary teacher of the Introduction to Film Studies 281 course at UT for about fifteen years, and I team-teach Film and American Culture 334 with Chuck Maland. I also have been the instructor of the Writing the Screenplay 365 course at UT since fall 2000.

In between providing the voice for Gromit in the Wallace and Gromit films, for the last couple of years I have been working on two screenplays, one an original story and the other an adaptation of a 19th-century American novel. I received an AB from the University of Notre Dame (majoring in Government), and in 1995 I received my Ph.D in English from the University of Tennessee. My dissertation focused on the film adaptations of the novels of Edith Wharton.


Alan Lastufka, Chicago, IL
Judging Contests: Hole and Corner

Alan Lastufka, a.k.a. fallofautumndistro, is one of the Top 100 Most Subscribed Comedians of All-Time on YouTube. His YouTube videos have had more than three million views. One of his early short films received multiple airings on the Independent Film Channel.

On YouTube, Lastufka is widely praised for his collaboration videos. One of the more popular is the "iPwn" iPhone parody commercial, starring MadTV cast member LisaNova. Lastufka also appeared on YouTube's Official Channel in a video announcing the expansion of the Partnership Program.

Lastufka has published a book about YouTube with O'Reilly Media, contributed articles to numerous international magazines and zines, including a Featured Article in Verbicide Magazine, while co-running the popular independent publishing project, Fall of Autumn, in Chicago, IL.

Alan is currently a freelance writer, editor, consultant and graphic designer, who writes the blog Viral Video Wannabe.


Bob Legg, Knoxville, TN
Judging Contests: UTK 2009 Spring Film Project

Bob is not your usual academician. Prior to his university teaching career, Legg was the founder and General Manager of a communications firm in Virginia which consisted of a commercial radio station, a cable television system, a bi-state advertising consortium, a closed circuit television channel and a broadcast production facility.

Legg is currently an Assistant Professor in the University of Tennessee School of Journalism & Electronic Media. He both teaches and oversees the visual communications sequence that includes classes from Foundations of Video Production to Advanced Video and Documentary courses. Much of the product from many of his students can be seen on broadcast outlets around the state.

One of his latest projects saw him and 3 UT students traveling to Ethiopia and Tanzania for filming this past summer. The resultant documentary has just been submitted to an international festival in Romania.

Dr. Legg has just been invited by the US Department of Defense to travel to Angola, Africa to create a documentary on the left-over land mine issue. As usual, UT students will take an active part in that endeavor as well.


Tom Owens, Knoxville, TN
Judging Contests: UTK 2009 Spring Film Project

Tom's first film was a 30-second PSA made in the 1970's to recruit foster parents for juveniles on probation. Throughout his 36-year career, he's been a still photographer, videographer and television writer/producer. Now he's Director of the University of Tennessee Video & Photography Center where he recently launched UTTV a 24/7/365 television channel. He was the second unit cinematographer on a hi-def feature and recently did production/promotional photography for "Bluff Point," a short film entered in Sundance. He's won numerous awards including a Silver Medal from the New York Festivals and several Telly Awards. He was appointed to the Tennessee Film, Entertainment and Music Commission's Advisory Council. He has a BS from the University of Tennessee and MS and EdS from Indiana University.


Libby Sherrill, Knoxville, TN
Judging Contests: Hole and Corner

Libby Sherrill is an independent writer, producer, editor, and with over nine years of professional experience in the national cable market. She holds a master's degree from the University of Tennessee in Journalism and Electronic Media, with a special emphasis in Information Science. Libby also specializes in media management, co-organizes The Marble City 10 Hour Film Festival in Knoxville, and is currently producing an independent documentary, Beyond the Myth: A Documentary About Pit Bulls and Breed Discrimination.

Libby grew up in Kentucky, then migrated to Tennessee about 10 years ago. She considers herself a country girl at heart. She loves the outdoors and spends much of her time running and riding the greenways in Knoxville and minding her dog, Fern. She has several nicknames and is especially fond of "P-Lib".


Robert Twilley, Knoxville, TN
Judging Contests: UTK 2009 Spring Film Project

Robert Twilley is Jupiter Entertainment's Vice President and General Manager.

Established in 1996, Jupiter Entertainment is among the nation's most successful independent creators/producers of high quality programming for America's leading cable networks, including hit prime-time series such as Oxygen's Snapped and Captured; History Channel's martial arts series Human Weapon; Fuse Network's breakout series Live Through This, A&E's City Confidential and Biography; Animal Planet's King of the Jungle; and Court TV's Dominick Dunne's Power, Privilege and Justice.

As VP and GM, Robert manages Jupiter's production operation and business affairs. Additionally, he serves as supervising producer for the company's current Biography episodic productions. Robert is a graduate of Mercer University and has a Master's degree from UGA's Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication.