2015 MCs, Panelists & Judges

2015 Best Canadian Short Award Adjudication Panel

Selwyn Jacob, Producer | He is a Canadian documentary filmmaker whose work has often explored the experiences of Black Canadians as well as other stories from Canada’s multicultural communities, as both as an independent director and since 1997 as a producer with the National Film Board of Canada (NFB).

Jeff Chiba Stearns, Co-Founder, Hapa-palooza Festival | Jeff Chiba Stearns is an Emmy® nominated and Webby award-winning animation and documentary filmmaker. Jeff’s work has broadcast around the world, screened in hundreds of international film festivals, and garnered 33 awards. He often features themes of multiethnic identity, and was awarded the Cultural Pioneer Award by Harvard University in 2011 for his continued exploration of multiethnic identity in his work; in that year, he co-founded the annual Hapa-palooza Festival. Jeff is currently directing and producing his second feature-length documentary entitled Mixed Match about the complexities multiethnic people face when trying to find bone marrow transplants.

Kristyn Stilling, Festival Director, Vancouver Short Film Festival | Born and raised in the lower mainland, Kristyn is an alum of the Capilano University film program and comes from a long background of entertainment administration and festival work. She is currently the Vancouver Short Film Festival Director, the shorts programmer for the Whistler Film Festival, and recently co-founded a monthly webisode film festival called VanChan.

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2015 Panelists

VAFF 2015 Post Production Panel:

Robin Chan (Moderator) | Robin started working as a Producer and Post Production Supervisor on indie projects when shooting on film was still a necessity. He has experience working on project requirements ranging from working with DSLR footage to finishing on 35mm film print. He is currently
producing a Telefilm funded micro-budget film and overseeing the post production process that is using a Red Camera workflow.

Mike Jackson | Mike Jackson is an Emmy-nominated editor, and has cut documentaries for CBS, The
History Channel, Knowledge, Vision, and APTN. He also cuts dramatic films, including the zombie feature Dead Rising: Watchtower for Legendary Pictures, and the pilot for MTX! for Disney XD. Mike was nominated for an Emmy for his work on the CBS / History Channel documentary Beyond Top Secret. Other notable projects include Dan Rather Reports: Greenscare, Eco-Pirate: The Story of Paul Watson and Knowledge Network’s Our First Voices.

Rob Neilson | Rob Neilson, an accomplished editor and colorist, is the founder of Etch Media, an independent postproduction facility located in Vancouver. Etch Media is now an established provider of services for a wide variety of projects ranging from video games, corporate videos and commercials, to theatrically released feature films. Credits includes: The Thaw (Feature Film), 3 Days in Havana (Feature Film), Parked (Web Series), and Michael Buble’s 3rd Annual Christmas Special.

Kirby Jinnah | As sound designer/editor, music editor, and picture editor, Kirby’s diverse technical skills has developed over the last 20 years. In studio, he has enjoyed directing such names as Carol Burnett, Tracy Ullman, Zooey Deschanel, Ashley Judd, and Liam Neeson. His television experience in sound supervision includes Emmy nominated Alice, ABC’s Missing, SyFy Universal’s Continuum, and MGM’s Stargate. Kirby has received extensive peer recognition through nomination and awards across North America, including the Primetime Emmy’s, Genie’s, Gemini’s, Leo’s, Streamy’s, and the IAWTVs (International Academy of Web Television).

Dave Rice | As technical producer at Finalé Editworks, Dave oversees set-to-post workflows and dailies
operations. In addition, he helps keep Finalé on the cutting edge, by designing and implementing new strategies which utilize the very latest in technology. He is a graduate of the Art Institute of Vancouver, where he earned a Digital Film Degree in 2005. His education and experience as an editor and digital media specialist have helped him develop strong understandings of digital workflows from set to post. Dave also creates his own short films, the newest “Outside the Lines” screened at the Crazy8s shorts competition.