Announcing the Judges for The America I Am Film Competition

Tribeca Film Institute and the National Park Service (NPS) are thrilled to announce the judges for the inaugural America I Am film competition.

We have finished accepting submissions of high school students’ short films, up to five minutes in length, which stretch our thinking and deepen our understanding of “America.” 

From these submissions, five finalists will be selected for a $1,000 production award and an exciting distance-learning program with Tribeca – including a professional filmmaker mentor to help craft and polish a final cut of each short film. In April 2016, the five finalists (with a parent/guardian) will be flown to New York City for a Red Carpet World Premiere of all five films at the Tribeca Film Festival and at a Centennial Celebration event on Ellis Island.

The grand-prize winner will receive the NECO Award: a $10K production award and scholarship for post-production services and film education.

The judges for this inaugural America I Am film competition include:

From the National Park Service

Jane Ahern 

National Park Service Northeast Region (NER) External Affairs Director  

Ahern began her career with the National Park Service in 1984. She has worked at national parks from Alaska to New York City; including a post at the Statue of Liberty National Monument and Ellis Island from 2011-12. She currently oversees communications, tourism and partnerships, and congressional and legislative affairs for the NER. The Northeast Regional Office supports the parks and program areas in the northeast states, from Maine to Virginia."

Frank Barrows

Fort Stanwix National Monument Superintendent

With 13 years of experience with the National Park Service, Barrows  is a two-time Northeast Region Freeman Tilden Award winner for establishing the Youth Ambassador Program, a nationally-recognized program that engages youth in visual and performing art and social media outreach.

The Freeman Tilden Award annually recognizes outstanding contributions to the public through interpretation by a Park Service employee.. He established a “ladder” of youth and educational programs for pre-K through grade 12 learners and collaborated with several ethnic communities to develop the park’s Communities of Whaling exhibit, which interprets the stories of African-Americans, Native Americans, Azoreans, Cape Verdeans and West Indians. In this work, he has engaged with a wide range of community and municipal partners and government agencies. Barrows is one of only five park rangers out of the 28,000 employees in the NPS to be selected as a National Park Service Centennial Ambassador . As a part of his duties, Barrows travels the country promoting NPS sites in various areas throughout the country in honor of the 100th birthday.  Barrows

Enimini Ekong

Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site – Chief of Education and Interpretation

Since joining the National Park Service in 2010, Ekong has worked at various national park sites around the Washington DC area including Mary McLeod Bethune National Historic Site, Frederick Douglass National Historic Site, National Capital Region-Headquarters, and the National Mall and Memorial Parks. In his current position, Ekong is responsible for shaping and guiding public programming, educational programming and visitor services for Little Rock Central site – telling the stories of the Little Rock Nine as well as stories of the Civil Rights Era and desegregation. Ekong is also one of only five park rangers out of the 28,000 employees in the NPS to be selected as a National Park Service Centennial Ambassador. As a part of his duties, Ekong travels the country promoting NPS sites in various areas throughout the country in honor of the 100th birthday.

Artist Judges

Lisa Cortes

Lisa Cortés has been a major influence on the world of entertainment for over 20 years. Accomplished in both music and film, she continues to forge new paths, identifying and giving voice to stories not often seen and told.

Beginning her career in the early days of hip-hop at the newly formed Def Jam Records, Lisa became known for working with some of the earliest artistic talent in the genre, LL Cool J, Public Enemy, Beastie Boys, Run DMC and others, as well as working with legendary music producers and executive ‘movers and shakers’.

Taking on new challenges in the film world, Lisa worked with producer Lee Daniels to bring Monster’s Ball to screen, in which Halle Berry won her first Academy Award. Lisa’s film credits include The Woodsman (starring Kevin Bacon), Shadowboxer (starring Cuba Gooding Jr.) and the critically acclaimed Precious, which was nominated for six Oscars.

Stanley Nelson

Stanley Nelson, a 2002 MacArthur “Genius” Fellow, is executive producer of Firelight Films and director of Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution. His most recent film, Freedom Riders, is the winner of three Primetime Emmy Awards. Over the last ten years, Nelson has garnered multiple industry awards for his films: Jesse Owens, Freedom Riders, Wounded Knee, A Place of Our Own, Marcus Garvey: Look for Me in the Whirlwind, The Black Press: Soldiers Without Swords, and The Murder of Emmett Till. During this period, he also produced and directed Sweet Honey in the Rock: Raise Your Voiceand Jonestown: The Life and Death of People’s Temple, which was shortlisted for the Academy Awards. Several of his films have shown at the Sundance Film Festival. He currently is also in production on another film, Freedom Summer, which explores a key movement during the civil rights era — the 1964 Freedom Summer campaign. Bio at http://itvs.org/films/black-panthers/filmmaker

Luis Castro

Luis Castro is Acting Commissioner of the New York City Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment. An established leader in the multi-faceted arenas of media, nonprofit and government, Castro has a proven track record of building dynamic partnerships and impactful programs across these sectors. Bio at http://www1.nyc.gov/site/mome/about/commissioner.page