2022 Presenters
Christine Lakin: Host
Atlanta native Christine Lakin is probably best known for her role as “Al” in the 90’s sit-com Step By Step. She exec produced and starred in the POP comedy, Hollywood Darlings alongside Jodie Sweetin (Fuller House) and Beverley Mitchell (7th Heaven). Christine has also appeared in dozens of films and TV shows such as Modern Family, Mother's Day, CSI, The League, Melissa and Joey, Valentine's Day, Veronica Mars andYou Again. You may have heard her voice in multiple roles on FOX’s Family Guy or in one of her numerous audio book narrations, including the Bosch/Ballard series by Michael Connelly, in which she plays "Renee Ballard." Christine has also performed in several acclaimed theater productions, notably as "Clarice Starling" in the cult-hit Silence!The Musical (LADCC award). She has hosted shows for CMT, VH1 and E! Ms. Lakin is a nominated choreographer, whose work has appeared in Westworld, True Blood, Schooled, The Goldbergs, You Again, and Parental Guidance. Most recently she’s been behind the camera, directing episodic television for Apple, Disney+ and ABC including The Goldbergs, High School Musical:The Musical: The Series and the forthcoming Life By Ella.
Bernardo Badillo: Presenter
Latin performer Bernardo Badillo can be seen in the Sundance 2022 film, "Emily the Criminal," alongside Aubrey Plaza, who plays "Emily." He has steadily worked in film, television, commercials, and print. Highlights from his TV career include recurring roles on FX Network's "Snowfall," where he was directed by John Singleton, USA Network's "Queen of the South" as the right-hand man of a drug kingpin, and TNT's "Animal Kingdom." He has also guest starred in hit series such as "Dexter," "Weeds," "Dead To Me," and "Insecure, among others. Most recently, Bernardo can be seen in the fan favorite Hulu series "This Fool," executive produced by Fred Armisen. Bernardo's most notable film role is in the Clint Eastwood directed Warner Bros. film "Sully" starring Tom Hanks. Bernardo trained with a Navy Seal to portray real-life NYPD scuba diver Robert Rodriguez. As a Latin actor, Bernardo is proud to be part of expanding the representation of Latin actors in Hollywood. Outside of acting, he enjoys traveling, having gone to Brazil for the World Cup, backpacked through Spain, and even attended a traveling acting school in Italy.
Douglas J. Eboch: Presenter
Douglas J. Eboch’s first success in Hollywood was the kind every writer dreams of: a college assignment turned into a script that became his first sale and was made into the hit movie "Sweet Home Alabama" starring Reese Witherspoon. It broke the record for biggest September opening ever and ended up grossing $128 million domestically. Since then, he has worked as a script doctor and rewriter in the movie business. Doug has not limited his writing to feature films, however. He has written several novels, including "Totally Rad Wormhole" and, with his sister, Kris Bock, the Sweet Home Alabama prequel novels, "Felony Melanie in Pageant Pandemonium" and "Felony Melanie in the Big Smashup." His short stories have been published in such magazines as "Science Fictionery" and "The Colored Lens." He wrote the acclaimed screenwriting book "The Three Stages of Screenwriting" and co-authored "The Hollywood Pitching Bible" with Ken Aguado. He wrote the interactive stories for the "Nightmare Cove" game app. His children’s Christmas plays "Sleepover at the Stables" and "Magi Road Trip" have been performed by hundreds of schools, churches and children’s theaters nationwide.
Julie Ann Emery: Presenter
Actress Julie Ann Emery is best known for her breakout role in “Better Call Saul,” AMC’s highly buzzed about prequel to “Breaking Bad”, in the role of ‘Betsy Kettleman.' Julie Ann reprised the role in the fan-favorite internet short “No Picnic” and in the Better Call Saul/American Greed crossover event, leading up to an incredible Kettleman reunion surprising fans in the final season of the series. Next up, she stars opposite Vera Farmiga and Cherry Jones in Five Days at Memorial, AppleTV+'s limited series from Oscar winner John Ridley, Carlton Cuse and ABC Signature. Emery plays Diane Robichaux. In 2019, Julie Ann starred opposite George Clooney and Christopher Abbott in the critically-acclaimed Hulu mini-series "Catch-22." Julie was praised for her brilliant work in AMC's "Preacher." Following "Preacher," Julie Ann also played FBI agent 'Sylvia Reece' in the 6th & 7th seasons of Amazon's "Bosch." Julie Ann made her big screen debut in the hit romantic comedy "Hitch" and went on to star in "Gifted" with Chris Evans and Octavia Spencer.
Jamie and Jason Neese: Presenter
Jamie and Jason Neese were born in North Carolina and hold a B.F.A in Creative Writing from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. They currently serve as co-executive producers on the EMMY nominated Netflix series THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY. Previously they were supervising producers for CRUEL SUMMER, UNREAL and DEAR WHITE PEOPLE. In addition, they have multiple projects out to market with such collaborators as Don Cheadle and director/EP Sean McNamara.
Jes Macallan: Presenter
Jes Macallan is an actor and director, and proud member of both SAG and the DGA. Her acting career is extensive, including upwards of 130 episodes as a lead in different series and films. Before her series regular role in the Arrowverse dramedy superhero show, "DC’s Legends of Tomorrow" (Netflix), which ran for seven seasons, Macallan starred in ABC’s hit drama series, "Mistresses" (Hulu) with Alyssa Milano, which ran for four seasons. She also starred in the pilot "Crash and Burn," executive produced by Tony Hawk. In 2016, with a non-existent budget, she wrote, produced, and directed her short film "Self, E" as a directorial sample piece. The film, as well as a cohesive application, secured Macallan’s admittance to the highly competitive Warner Bros. Television Directors Workshop. She is a proud graduate of the class of 2019. As an episodic director, she went on to direct (and simultaneously act in) two highly ambitious, VFX/SPFX heavy, episodes of "DC’s Legends of Tomorrow." Following a recent series wrap on "DC’s Legends of Tomorrow," Macallan went on to direct an episode of "All Rise" for OWN/Warner Bros Television Studios.
Tony Muscio: Presenter
Tony Muscio is a Los Angeles based writer. His TV series, HOTEL HORROR, is in development with Blumhouse Television, while another of his TV series, WALDORF=ASTORIA, has Alfred Molina attached. Film credits include producer on ALL I WISH (Sharon Stone and Tony Goldwyn), and theater credits include, WORDS, produced at Actor’s Co-Op Hollywood and published in the U.K. by The Playwrights Publishing Co. Tony is a graduate of Cornell University where he studied hotel administration and playwriting.
Kelly Stables: Presenter
Kelly Stables is an American actress, comedian and singer. She is known for her work in television comedy including "Two and a Half Men," "Romantically Challenged," "The Exes," "No Tomorrow," and most recently "Superstore." Active in singing and voice-over work, Kelly is the voice of 'Joni the Showstoppin’ Pony' on "Doc McStuffins," 'Saffron the Horse' on "Sofia the First," 'Olivia Parker' in "Adventures in Odyssey," 'Will' in "W.I.T.C.H.," and 'Athena' in "Tom & Jerry: The Lost Dragon," for which she was nominated for the BTVA Best Female Vocal Performance in a Theatrical Short. She loves Burbank and congratulates all the BIFF filmmakers, wishing them continued success!
Kyle Odermatt: Presenter
Odermatt began his career at Walt Disney Animation Studios in 1996 as a model development technical supervisor. His responsibilities included overseeing modeling, rigging, layout and EFX development for all current shows in production. Odermatt went on to become the artistic supervisor of computer graphics on “Treasure Planet.” He served as a CG Supervisor on “Chicken Little,” “Meet the Robinsons” and a VFX Supervisor on “Princess and the Frog,” “Winnie the Pooh” and 2012’s Oscar®- winning short “Paperman.” Odermatt was Visual Effects Supervisor for 2014’s Oscar-winning feature film “Big Hero 6” and 2016’s Oscar-nominated “Moana.” He most recently worked on the 2021 release “Raya and the Last Dragon”, a project completed entirely from home. His current feature project is due to be announced shortly and will release at the end of 2023 celebrating 100 years of Disney Animation Studios.
Eric Petersen: Presenter
Eric Petersen is an actor hailing from the suburbs of Chicago, IL. Eric has worked extensively in Television and the Broadway stage. Television credits include: 'Kevin' on “Kevin Can F*** Himself” on AMC, 'Ant’ney' on the hit children’s show “Madagascar: A Little Wild” on HULU (EMMY Nominated for his role), and “Kirstie” (TVLand) where he played the Series Regular role of 'Arlo Barth' alongside Kirstie Alley, Rhea Perlman, and Michael Richards. Eric has made guest star appearances on “Big Bang Theory”, “Modern Family”, “NCIS”, “CSI”, “GCB”, and the Lifetime movie “The Brittany Murphy Story”. Eric has many Disney channel credits including the shows “Jessie”, “Sydney To The Max”, “Kirby Buckets” and “Pair of Kings”. Eric appeared in the Oscar nominated Coen Brothers’ film “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” for Netflix.
Jim Piddock: Presenter
Jim’s long and versatile acting career has included "Independence Day," "The Prestige," "Friends," "The Haunting of Bly Manor," "Lost," "Lethal Weapon 2," "ER," "Modern Family," "Get Shorty," "The Five-Year Engagement," "Think Like A Man Too," "A Mighty Wind," and his iconic role in "Best in Show" alongside Fred Willard. As a writer, his films include "Tooth Fairy," "The Man," and "A Different Loyalty," as well as co-writing and starring with Christopher Guest in "Family Tree" for HBO and "Mascots" for Netflix. Earlier this year, Jim’s acclaimed memoir "CAUGHT WITH MY PANTS DOWN and Other Tales from a Life in Hollywood” was published, with all his royalties from the book being pledged to three charities.
Michael Paré: Presenter
Michael Paré's first starring role was on the TV series "The Greatest American Hero." His well-known feature film roles were playing 1960s rock icon 'Eddie Wilson' in "Eddie and the Cruisers" and its sequel "Eddie and the Cruisers II: Eddie Lives!" as well as "Streets of Fire" and "The Philadelphia Experiment." Other films include "Moon 44," "Village of the Damned," "Bad Moon," "Hope Floats" and "The Virgin Suicides." On television, Paré starred on the CBS police drama "Houston Knights," as well as the short-lived sci-fi series "Starhunter."
David Millbern: Presenter
EMMY Award winning actor-producer David Millbern first emerged as a child actor in such iconic commercials as McDonald’s “Glasses to Go” and was the smile behind their “Sundae Smile” campaign, among many others. By 17, David had already studied and worked with Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio in NYC. After graduating from Northwestern University, a contract role on ABC’s "General Hospital" brought him to L.A. David’s first film was a lead in Roger Corman’s, “The Slumber Party Massacre”, which became a cult favorite. Next was a lead in “Sorceress” also for Corman. More feature films followed including Sir Ian McKellen’s doctor in the Oscar-winning “Gods and Monsters”, Mariel Hemingway’s captor “In Her Line of Fire”, and Alfred Molina’s match in “Texas Rangers”.
Autumn Reeser: Presenter
Autumn can currently be seen in ALWAYS AMORE and THE WEDDING VEIL LEGACY for Hallmark. She's known for her ability to deftly balance comedy and drama, particularly in the roles she played as “Lizzy Grant” on HBO’s ENTOURAGE, “Taylor Townsend” on FOX’s THE OC, and “Katie Andrews” on ABC’S NO ORDINARY FAMILY. She was also a series regular on the Shawn Ryan drama series LAST RESORT opposite Andre Braugher and Scott Speedman. Over the past few years, Autumn has recurred on CBS’ HAWAII FIVE-O straight off of her arc on USA’s NECESSARY ROUGHNESS, as well as memorable arcs on Amazon’s SALVATION and the E! series THE ARRANGEMENT. On the feature side, she has appeared in Clint Eastwood’s SULLY with Tom Hanks, and THE BIG BANG opposite Antonio Banderas and Sam Elliot.
Maya Stojan: Presenter
Maya Stojan is an actress and producer, known for her recurring roles on the ABC show "Castle" and 'Agent 33' in "Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." Her recent roles include the hit TV shows "The Resident" on Fox and "Magnum PI" on CBS, and she just wrapped shooting the action-thriller movie "Hunt Club" with Mickey Rourke and Mena Suvari. Maya is also an Activist and a proud ambassador for organizations such as Humanitarian for Empowerment which currently provides medical care and supplies to the Ukraine, as well as an ambassador for Boo2bullying, an anti-bullying program, and Self Help Africa which promotes sustainability in underdeveloped countries in the African continent.
Pinar Toprak: Presenter
Pinar Toprak is an Emmy-nominated composer, conductor and performer with an unmatched gift for creating iconic thematic scores for everything from superhero sagas and blockbuster comedies to TV series and dramas. With her work on "Captain Marvel" and "Fortnite," Pinar is the first female composer to score both a film and video game with gross revenues of over $1 billion and $5 billion respectively. Pinar’s talent for illuminating a story with her music is evident throughout her work, including scores for "The Lost City" (Starring Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum, directed by Adam Nee and Aaron Nee), "Stargirl" on the CW (Created by Geoff Johns and Greg Berlanti ), Syfy’s "Krypton" (Created by David S. Goyer and Damien Kindler), as well as HBO’s "McMillions" (directed by James Lee Hernandez and Brian Lazarte).
Selah Victor: Presenter
Selah Victor is best known for her work portraying the role of 'Chloe Bourgeois' on the hit Disney Plus animated series MIRACULOUS LADYBUG. She can also be seen on your favorite TV and Film comedies and performs stand-up comedy all over Los Angeles. She produced the feature film ALL I WISH, now on Netflix, starring Sharon Stone and Tony Goldwyn. Selah enjoys entertaining her audience with her “mom comedy” on Instagram and TikTok which you can find on her page: @selahvictor and www.selahvictor.com.
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Jeff Rector: Presenter
Jeff Rector is an award-winning writer, director, producer, actor as well as former President and Festival Director for the Burbank International Film Festival. Jeff's notable TV credits include "American Horror Story", "Star Trek: The Next Generation", "The Bold & The Beautiful" to name but a few. Feature film credits include co-starring with Matthew Modine in the Netflix drama, "Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admission Scandal", "Dark World", "Save The Wedding" for Hallmark Channel and the Lionsgate supernatural thriller "The Black Gate".
Stephen Owen: Presenter
Stephen Owen is President and Chief Executive Officer of First Entertainment Credit Union. He brings more than 20 years of experience in the financial industry to his role leading the Credit Union to become the preferred financial partner for those in entertainment and a top-rated workplace. Since joining in 2022, he has worked with the Leadership team to identify ways to reinvigorate the credit union’s commitment to the entertainment industry.
Jess Talamantes: Presenter
Mayor Jess Talamantes is a senior member of the Burbank City Council, with a 32-year career of dedicated service as a Burbank Firefighter and First Responder. Mayor Talamantes continues to bring a powerful new perspective to the Burbank City Council. Jess has spent many years on the frontlines in public safety, and passionately works as a coach to Burbank’s young athletes. His attention to youth programs and commitment to their success continues to this day through his Mayoral theme of ‘A Healthy Burbank.'