Aaron is the Co-Founder and Producer at London animation company, Slurpy Studios, who creates a range of animated content for commercials, education and entertainment platforms. Away from Slurpy, he is a co-owner and writer at Skwigly Animation Magazine and also runs animation-festivals.com, the only website dedicated to listing and covering animation-specific film festivals around the world.
Bren López Zepeda is a filmmaker and animator based in Montreal. Her graduation film from Concordia University, ABEO (2018), received five awards and was screened in over 70 film festivals around the world. She has worked on two animated productions at the National Film Board of Canada and two independent animated features at Unité Centrale under the direction of Félix Dufour-Laperrière. Her recent projects include a hand-painted animated short for TED-ed (2020) and a 2D animated short for the Canadian Association of Midwives (currently in production). She is most interested in art that challenges our worldviews through honesty, vulnerability and imperfection. Like Toni Cade Bambara, she also believes "the role of the artist is to make revolutionary change irresistible.
Maral Mohammadian is a producer at the renowned National Film Board of Canada's Animation Studio in Montreal. Her award-winning auteur films include Shannon Amen by Chris Dainty, Freaks of Nurture by Alexandra Lemay, The Weatherman and the Shadowboxer by Randall Okita and I Am Here, by internet sensation Eoin Duffy. Maral has helped to develop some of Canada's top rising talents through the NFB's internationally recognized Hothouse apprenticeship program, which has spawned a series of one-minute hits. In addition to films, she produces interactive projects with a distinct artistic edge, such as Paloma Dawkins' stunningly beautiful multi-award-winning VR joyride, Museum of Symmetry.
Bren López Zepeda
Aaron Wood
Maral Mohammadian
Jury Members - 2020