Haleigh Foutch
Horror Editor, Collider.
Haleigh Foutch a film journalist and lifelong lover of genre cinema who’s been writing her way across the internet for the better part of the last decade. In addition to her work as an editor at Collider, where she heads up the horror vertical, Haleigh is a critic, commentator, and host who has appeared on Movie Talk, Birth.Movies.Death and Rotten Tomatoes, co-creator of The Witching Hour podcast, and a proud member of GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics.
Vanessa Meyer
Programming Manager Frontières
Vanessa Meyer is a filmmaker, producer, and academic who has worked in film and tv in Montreal and New York for the past 10 Years. Her experience spans both fiction and non fiction realms -currently Programming Manager for Frontières International co-pro market and formerly Head of Development for Brooklyn based documentary prod co Hard Working Movies. In her spare time she’s completing her doctoral thesis in feminist media studies and co-hosting a podcast with her best friend.
Matt Ralston
Producer, LOVE AND SAUCERS
Matt Ralston is a documentary producer and editor living in Seattle, WA. Along with director Brad Abrahams he produced the documentary Love and Saucers which won the jury prize for documentary at Fantastic Fest and played at dozens of other festivals around the world. Matt is currently fundraising for their next feature film “Cryptozoologist”, a documentary about people who search for Bigfoot and other unknown animals for a living.
Haleigh Foutch
Horror Editor, Collider.
Haleigh Foutch a film journalist and lifelong lover of genre cinema who’s been writing her way across the internet for the better part of the last decade. In addition to her work as an editor at Collider, where she heads up the horror vertical, Haleigh is a critic, commentator, and host who has appeared on Movie Talk, Birth.Movies.Death and Rotten Tomatoes, co-creator of The Witching Hour podcast, and a proud member of GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics.
Vanessa Meyer
Programming Manager Frontières
Vanessa Meyer is a filmmaker, producer, and academic who has worked in film and tv in Montreal and New York for the past 10 Years. Her experience spans both fiction and non fiction realms -currently Programming Manager for Frontières International co-pro market and formerly Head of Development for Brooklyn based documentary prod co Hard Working Movies. In her spare time she’s completing her doctoral thesis in feminist media studies and co-hosting a podcast with her best friend.
Matt Ralston
Producer, LOVE AND SAUCERS
Matt Ralston is a documentary producer and editor living in Seattle, WA. Along with director Brad Abrahams he produced the documentary Love and Saucers which won the jury prize for documentary at Fantastic Fest and played at dozens of other festivals around the world. Matt is currently fundraising for their next feature film “Cryptozoologist”, a documentary about people who search for Bigfoot and other unknown animals for a living.
Something Strange
Nick Bruno
Programmer, Portland International Film Festival
Nick Bruno is a publicist and film programmer from Portland, Oregon. In addition to programing the Portland International Film Festival’s popular, late night genre sidebar PIFF After Dark, he curates and hosts the genre and cult series Genrified! Cult & Other Curiosities at the Northwest Film Center where he works as the organization’s Publicity and Promotions Manager and a member of their year-round programming team. If Nick is an it, then it came from the video store, having spent nearly a decade as a manager and film buyer for the popular East Bay gem Five Star Video. He also has served as a juror for the H.P. Lovecraft Festival and was the publicist for the 2017 edition of the Overlook Film Festival. And let’s not even get into his past as an obsessive film blogger.
Shannon McGrew
Owner, Nightmarish Conjurings
Shannon is the owner and founder of the horror entertainment website, Nightmarish Conjurings. As a lifelong movie lover, she learned at a relatively young age that she had a passion for horror films. Along with soaking up all things horror related, she also has immense love for haunted attractions and immersive experiences, something that she regularly highlights on her site. When not writing or talking about horror, Shannon works as an interior designer for a well-known Taco chain located on the West Coast.
J. Brad Wilke
Co-Founder, Smarthouse Creative
J. Brad Wilke is a co-founder and principal of Smarthouse Creative. Brad holds an MBA from the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business, a Master of Communication in Digital Media from the University of Washington’s Department of Communication, and a Bachelor of Science from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Brad designs and executes digital, social media, and film distribution strategies for Smarthouse’s clients. Brad is the co-founder of livestream platform Wonderstream, as well as an award-winning filmmaker, produced feature-length screenwriter, film producer, and artistic director of the Portland Film Festival.
Nick Bruno
Programmer, Portland International Film Festival
Nick Bruno is a publicist and film programmer from Portland, Oregon. In addition to programing the Portland International Film Festival’s popular, late night genre sidebar PIFF After Dark, he curates and hosts the genre and cult series Genrified! Cult & Other Curiosities at the Northwest Film Center where he works as the organization’s Publicity and Promotions Manager and a member of their year-round programming team. If Nick is an it, then it came from the video store, having spent nearly a decade as a manager and film buyer for the popular East Bay gem Five Star Video. He also has served as a juror for the H.P. Lovecraft Festival and was the publicist for the 2017 edition of the Overlook Film Festival. And let’s not even get into his past as an obsessive film blogger.
Shannon McGrew
Owner, Nightmarish Conjurings
Shannon is the owner and founder of the horror entertainment website, Nightmarish Conjurings. As a lifelong movie lover, she learned at a relatively young age that she had a passion for horror films. Along with soaking up all things horror related, she also has immense love for haunted attractions and immersive experiences, something that she regularly highlights on her site. When not writing or talking about horror, Shannon works as an interior designer for a well-known Taco chain located on the West Coast.
J. Brad Wilke
Co-Founder, Smarthouse Creative
J. Brad Wilke is a co-founder and principal of Smarthouse Creative. Brad holds an MBA from the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business, a Master of Communication in Digital Media from the University of Washington’s Department of Communication, and a Bachelor of Science from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Brad designs and executes digital, social media, and film distribution strategies for Smarthouse’s clients. Brad is the co-founder of livestream platform Wonderstream, as well as an award-winning filmmaker, produced feature-length screenwriter, film producer, and artistic director of the Portland Film Festival.
Short Films
William Day Frank
Producer, PSYCHOPATHS, MODEL HOME
William Day Frank has produced eight feature films. His projects have premiered in festivals such as SXSW (POD), Tribeca (PSYCHOPATHS), Austin Film Festival (FLOCK OF FOUR), and Los Angeles Film Festival (YOU GET ME). He also produced TOTEM alongside Blumhouse Films, which debuted on Cinemax this past October. As a screenwriter, his feature script HIBERNATION made the prestigious Black List and was optioned by director Justin Lin. Since then he has written on assignment for Disney, Paramount, Bad Robot, Jerry Bruckheimer, and Roland Emmerich. His feature script SUNNY, starring Sharon Stone, is currently in pre-production.
Ryan Oliver
Journalist, The Playlist
Ryan Oliver is a writer and podcast editor at The Playlist (Past bylines include GotchaMovies, Ellensburg Film Festival, and The Program 101). Originally from Portland, Ryan moved to the Seattle area three years ago, and has loved it since. Some of Ryan’s favorite films include Taxi Driver, Sorcerer, A Nightmare on Elm Street, All That Jazz, and Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (fitting for the NBFF). When he’s not avidly watching movies, he works at Amazon, dabbles in bass and guitar, golfs, runs, or any kind of outdoor activity.
Emily Von Seele
Journalist, Bloody Disgusting
Emily von Seele hails from Seattle, where it rains a lot, which gives her plenty of excuses to stay inside and watch movies. She has written for Bloody Disgusting, Daily Dead, the Women in Horror Annual and Grim Magazine, and is co-host of the Dead Ringers podcast. You can usually catch Emily on Twitter (@horrorellablog), where she has been known to gab excessively about movies and tweet adorable pics of her two cats – seriously, they are the cutest ever.
William Day Frank
Producer, PSYCHOPATHS, MODEL HOME
William Day Frank has produced eight feature films. His projects have premiered in festivals such as SXSW (POD), Tribeca (PSYCHOPATHS), Austin Film Festival (FLOCK OF FOUR), and Los Angeles Film Festival (YOU GET ME). He also produced TOTEM alongside Blumhouse Films, which debuted on Cinemax this past October. As a screenwriter, his feature script HIBERNATION made the prestigious Black List and was optioned by director Justin Lin. Since then he has written on assignment for Disney, Paramount, Bad Robot, Jerry Bruckheimer, and Roland Emmerich. His feature script SUNNY, starring Sharon Stone, is currently in pre-production.
Ryan Oliver
Journalist, The Playlist
Ryan Oliver is a writer and podcast editor at The Playlist (Past bylines include GotchaMovies, Ellensburg Film Festival, and The Program 101). Originally from Portland, Ryan moved to the Seattle area three years ago, and has loved it since. Some of Ryan’s favorite films include Taxi Driver, Sorcerer, A Nightmare on Elm Street, All That Jazz, and Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (fitting for the NBFF). When he’s not avidly watching movies, he works at Amazon, dabbles in bass and guitar, golfs, runs, or any kind of outdoor activity.
Emily Von Seele
Journalist, Bloody Disgusting
Emily von Seele hails from Seattle, where it rains a lot, which gives her plenty of excuses to stay inside and watch movies. She has written for Bloody Disgusting, Daily Dead, the Women in Horror Annual and Grim Magazine, and is co-host of the Dead Ringers podcast. You can usually catch Emily on Twitter (@horrorellablog), where she has been known to gab excessively about movies and tweet adorable pics of her two cats – seriously, they are the cutest ever.
Virtual Reality
Jesse Damiani
Editor-at-Large, VR Scout
Jesse is an entrepreneur, advisor, journalist, and public figure in emerging technology. He is Editor-at-Large of VRScout, Series Editor of Best American Experimental Writing, and CEO of Galatea, a writing and project management tool for VR and AR stories. He covers XR, blockchain, AI, and media, with work in Adweek, Billboard, Entrepreneur, IndieWire, HuffPost, and Quartz; and syndication in CBS News, The New Digital Storytelling textbook, and REDEF. He was listed as a top global VR influencer in 2017 by Onalytica, was interviewed as an expert source in the AP guide for immersive journalism, and runs “Immersive Writers & Storytellers” and “Blockchain + XR.” He owns Bitcoin and Ether, and actively trades cryptocurrencies.
Dumeethra Luthra
Founder, Take Pause VR
Imagine a world where we learn social emotional intelligence alongside reading and writing. Dumeetha Luthra was inspired to create that world and established Take-Pause after years as an award-winning BBC war correspondent. She witnessed first hand the worst we can do to ourselves, and her experiences led her to Take-Pause and a company dedicated to helping us build a different future for ourselves.
Jesse Damiani
Editor-at-Large, VR Scout
Jesse is an entrepreneur, advisor, journalist, and public figure in emerging technology. He is Editor-at-Large of VRScout, Series Editor of Best American Experimental Writing, and CEO of Galatea, a writing and project management tool for VR and AR stories. He covers XR, blockchain, AI, and media, with work in Adweek, Billboard, Entrepreneur, IndieWire, HuffPost, and Quartz; and syndication in CBS News, The New Digital Storytelling textbook, and REDEF. He was listed as a top global VR influencer in 2017 by Onalytica, was interviewed as an expert source in the AP guide for immersive journalism, and runs “Immersive Writers & Storytellers” and “Blockchain + XR.” He owns Bitcoin and Ether, and actively trades cryptocurrencies.
Dumeethra Luthra
Founder, Take Pause VR
Imagine a world where we learn social emotional intelligence alongside reading and writing. Dumeetha Luthra was inspired to create that world and established Take-Pause after years as an award-winning BBC war correspondent. She witnessed first hand the worst we can do to ourselves, and her experiences led her to Take-Pause and a company dedicated to helping us build a different future for ourselves.