2019 Fine Cut Judge Bios

Effie T. Brown

Film and television producer

Effie T. Brown is an award winning film, television, and digital producer who has produced such critically acclaimed projects as “Stranger Inside (2001),” which premiered at Sundance, “Real Women Have Curves (2002),” winner of the Sundance Audience Award and Special Jury Prize for Ensemble Performance, and “Rocket Science (2007),” winner of the Sundance Grand Jury Prize for Directing and nominated for three Independent Spirit Awards. With Jon Avnet and Rodrigo Garcia, she produced more than 130 episodes of “WIGS,” the number one scripted channel on YouTube, which is also distributed via Hulu. Brown then produced the highly acclaimed “Dear White People,” which won the Special Jury Prize for Breakthrough Talent at Sundance in 2014 and Best First Screenplay at the 2015 Spirit Awards.
Given her longstanding relationship producing successful content with the network, HBO invited Brown to join the controversial reboot of “Project Greenlight” (Executive Produced by Matt Damon & Ben Affleck).
In 2016, Brown joined Lee Daniels Entertainment to Executive Produce Season 1 of “Star.” She also Executive Produced Disney’s “Zombies (2018).” Brown is also a member of the Academy Motion Picture Arts & Sciences (AMPAS) and serves as a Film Independent Board member.

Pete Hammond

Deadline's Chief Film Critic / Host of KCET Must See Movies

Pete Hammond is currently chief film critic for Deadline Hollywood. For the past eight years he has also been Awards Editor and Columnist for Deadline (previously he was doing a similar column for the Los Angeles Times, “The Envelope”). He served as film critic for BoxofficeMagazine, Backstage Magazine, Hollywood.com, Movielineand for Maxim magazine (for three years) and was a frequent contributor to Variety.  He is in his seventeenth year as host of the KCETCinema Series in Los Angeles, and UCLA extension’s Sneak Preview for the past ten years. He can also be seen hosting the TV series showcasing classic films “Must See Movies” every Friday night and Saturday afternoon on KCET. He has hosted panels at AFI Fest, the Santa Barbara Film Festival, Palm Springs International Film Festival, Los Angeles Film Festival, Mill Valley Film Festival, Cine Vegas, San Francisco Film Festival, and Cannes Film Festival, and has interviewed top stars and filmmakers at screenings for such groups as SAG, DGA, BAFTA, and WGA. He has held producing positions at Entertainment Tonight, Extra, Access Hollywood, the ArsenioHall Show (as well as being a writer for the show), the Martin Short Show, and the AMC network. He is the recipient of five Emmy nominations for his TV writing and is the winner of the 1996 Publicists Guild of America’s Press Award and is only the second journalist in the organization’s 50-year history to receive the award twice winning again in 2013. He also served on the Board of Governors for the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences representing writers for six years.

Michael Herrera

Story Artist

Michael Herrera is currently a Story Artist at Walt Disney Animation Studios, having worked most recently on “Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2.” He was born and raised in Southern California and always planned on a career in Animation. His previous work includes “The Angry Birds Movie” and projects for Reel FX and RovioAnimation Company. He spends much of his free time writing, teaching, illustrating and developing projects for animation and beyond.

Marianne Jean-Baptiste

Actress, Writer, Director, Composer

Marianne Jean-Baptiste received Academy Award, Golden Globe and British Academy Award nominations for her feature-film debut role in Mike Leigh’s “Secrets and Lies.”  

Marianne can next be seen in Amazon’s new series “Homecoming” opposite Julia Roberts and Bobby Cannavale.  She was most recently seen in the Sony live-action/animated film of the Beatrix Potter classic “Peter Rabbit,” opposite James Cordenand Margot Robbie.  She also recently wrapped production on Peter Stickland’sfeature film “In Fabric” opposite Gwendoline Christie.  Marianne recently starred as LAPD Deputy Chief Joy Lockhart on CBS’ “Training Day,” as Virginia Cross in ABC’s “How to Get Away with Murder” and as FBI director Bethany Mayfair on Season 1 of NBC’s hit show “Blindspot.” She was also featured in Season 2 of the hit ITV drama “Broadchurch” playing Sharon Bishop, a role written especially for her by the show’s writer and creator, Chris Chibnall.  For seven years Marianne portrayed Vivian Johnson on “Without A Trace” (CBS).  She and her cast were nominated for the SAG Award for Best Ensemble in a Drama Series in 2004, and she was nominated for an NAACP Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series three years in a row. Other television credits include “Harry’s Law” (NBC), “Sons of Anarchy” (FX), “The Murder of Stephen Lawrence” (PBS), “The Man” (BBC) and Oprah Winfrey’s mini-series “The Wedding” (ABC).

Feature film credits include “Robocop” (MGM/Columbia) opposite Joel Kinnamanand Samuel L. Jackson, “The Moment” opposite Jennifer Jason Leigh, “Violet & Daisy” opposite James Gandolfiniand SaoirseRonan, directed by Geoffrey Fletcher, Fernando Meirelles’ “360” (Magnolia) opposite Jude Law, Anthony Hopkins, and Rachel Weisz, “Won’t Back Down” (FOX) opposite Maggie Gyllenhaaland Viola Davis. She can also be seen in “Takers” (Screen Gems), “City of Ember” (Fox), “The Cell” (New Line), “28 Days” (Columbia), “The 24 Hour Woman” (Artisan) and “Spy Games” (Warner Brothers) opposite Robert Redford. 

A writer and composer, she wrote the score for Mike Leigh’s feature film “Career Girls.” She has written and performed with British jazz musicians, including Jason Rebello, for whom she wrote and recorded four tracks on his album “Keeping Time.” 

A graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Marianne’s theatrecredits include “Hang” (Royal Court), “The Way of the World,” “Measure for Measure” (Royal National Theatre), “The Winter’s Tale” and “The Merchant of Venice” (Shakespeare in the Park) opposite Al Pacino. 

She made her directorial debut with the short film “Ink,” which she also penned.

Claire Aguilar

International Documentary Association (IDA), Director of Programming and Policy

Claire Aguilar is an award-winning film curator, film festival director and public television commissioning editor and broadcaster. Since 2017 she has served as Director of Programming and Policy at International Documentary Association (IDA). At IDA she oversees IDA’s professional development, education, mentorship and training initiatives and sets strategy around IDA’s policy and advocacy work supporting filmmakers around a range of issues. She serves as the primary programmer for IDA’s biennial “Getting Real” conference which will take place in September 2020.  Claire is the former Director of Programming and Industry Engagement at Sheffield Doc/Fest, one of the leading festivals for documentary and digital media.  At the Independent Television Service (ITVS), she served as Vice President of Programming and Executive Content Advisor, working on program content and strategy for the organization, including commissioning over 200 films from international and U.S. independent producers. A second-generation FilipinaAmerican, she holds a B.A. in Communications Studies and an M.A. in Film and Television Studies from UCLA. Claire is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and serves on the boards of Women Make Movies, Firelight Media and the Why Foundation.

Mike Schneider

Senior Editor, TV Awards at Variety

Michael Schneider is the Senior Editor of the TV Awards at Variety and a contributor to Los Angeles public radio station KCRW, where he hosts “Screengrab,” a weekly segment about the TV industry, and contributes to “The Business.” At Variety he oversees Emmy coverage and special issues, in addition to writing about television programming and the entertainment industry for the publication. He also hosts the podcast “My Favorite Episode.”
Prior to that he was Executive Editor at IndieWireand an Editor-At-Large for Variety, and before that the Chief Content Officer for TV Guide Magazine, where he helped launch the website TV Insider. During his original tenure at Variety and Daily Variety, Schneider spent 12 years as TV editor. 
With more than 20 years of experience covering TV business, Schneider regularly moderates industry panels with execs, showrunnersand talent at events including San Diego Comic-Con, PaleyFest, the HRTS, NATPE, PromaxBDA, and countless other events. He has appeared on ABC “World News Tonight” and “Primetime Live,” NBC’s “Today” show and “Dateline NBC,” CBS’ “Early Show,” G4’s“Attack of the Show,” E! News Daily, CNN, MSNBC, “Entertainment Tonight,” “The Insider,” “Access Hollywood,” NPR and many other programs and outlets. He also served as a reality show judge on a Fox Reality Channel show you probably didn’t see. 

Michael Schneider has been covering the business of television for nearly 25 years — most of that time at Variety. He also hosts “Screengrab,” a weekly segment about the TV industry, for KCRW. He was previously Executive Editor at IndieWire; the Chief Content Officer for TV Guide Magazine; and TV Editor at Variety and Daily Variety. Mike regularly moderates industry and TV show panels at events including Comic-Con, PaleyFest, HRTS, NATPEand others, and once won a staring contest with Jon Hamm on the Dolby Theatre stage.

Van Partible

Animator/Writer/Producer

Van Partible grew up in Salinas, California (the lettuce capital of the world) and always dreamed of turning his love of cartoons and comic books into a career. Upon graduation from college, Van’s dream came true when he sold his senior thesis project and turned it into the animated TV series, “Johnny Bravo,” which ran for five seasons on Cartoon Network. 

Van’s unique perspective on life as a Filipino American also served as inspiration for the 2002 award-winning feature film, “The Debut.”  Van has gone on to produce original material at Film Roman, Walt Disney Television Animation, Fox Kids, NBC and Cartoon Network Asia where he consulted on all of their original content.  

He is currently a director on the animated series, “Pete The Cat,” which is currently playing on Amazon Prime and continues to develop both live action and animated properties with an eye towards creating another comedic underdog.  

Kimmie H. Kim

 Documentary Filmmaker

KimmieH. Kim produced the acclaimed documentary “Live from New York!” celebrating the 40thanniversary of the iconic Saturday Night Live. The film premiered on the opening night of the TribecaFilm Festival. In 2017, she Executive Produced the documentary film “Oh, Rick!” which won the Audience Award at DOC NYC for its portrayal of comedian Rick Crom. In 2018, Kimmieserved as Producer on the film “Songwriter,” a documentary that shares an intimate look at the songwriting process of leading artist Ed Sheeran. Songwriter made its world premiere at the 2018 Berlin International Film Festival and debuted in North America at the 2018 TribecaFilm Festival. In 2019, Kimmiepartnered as Producer and Showrunnerwith PBS’s Indie Lens Storycastto adapt the acclaimed Jeff Chang book “We Gon’ Be Alright” into a 4-episode docuseries. Kimmieis actively developing multiple projects across various genres, and she plans to continue her creative journey by telling stories that make the world laugh, think and be inspired.