Meet Our Jury

Deeply rooted in the sci-fi genre, Moore got his start in the entertainment business on the writing staff of “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” During his tenure there, he wrote or co-wrote 27 episodes, including the two-hour series finale “All Good Things,” for which he won a Hugo Award in 1994. That same year, Moore was honored with an Emmy® Award nomination and was eventually promoted to Producer.

In 1994, Moore joined the writing staff of “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” as Supervising Producer and was elevated to Co-Executive Producer the following year. Moore spent five seasons on the series until the end of its successful run in 1999.

Moore also served briefly as Executive Consultant on the USA cable series “Good vs. Evil” before joining the staff of “Roswell” as Executive Producer. After two seasons in that post, he took over the reins as Showrunner from Creator Jason Katims in its final year.

In the fall of 2002, Moore was named Showrunner and Executive Producer of HBO’s critically acclaimed one-hour drama “Carnivàle.”

In 2003, Moore created the re-imagined series, “Battlestar Galactica,” and served as Showrunner/Executive Producer of the series, which ran for four seasons. “Battlestar Galactica” was honored with a prestigious Peabody® Award and twice as an official selection of the AFI (American Film Institute) top television programs for 2005 and 2006. In 2006, Moore was nominated for an Emmy® Award for Best Writing in a Dramatic Series, and in 2008, he won an Emmy® for the “Battlestar Galactica” webisodes.

In 2008, Moore co-wrote the pilot to the spin-off series “Caprica,” a drama set 58 years before the events of “Battlestar Galactica.” He served as Executive Producer for the run of the series.

In 2010, Moore’s production company, Tall Ship Productions, signed an overall deal with Sony Television to develop and produce television series. Under the Tall Ship banner, Moore is currently producing the Golden Globes®-nominated series “Outlander” for Starz and “For All Mankind” for Apple TV+, and previously served as Executive Producer on the Amazon/Channel 4 anthology series, “Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams,” as well as the SyFy original series, “Helix.”

After a decade with Sony Television, Tall Ship Productions inked an overall deal with Disney’s 20th Television in 2020, where Ron is currently developing new television projects.

Moore is a native of Chowchilla, California and attended Cornell University, where he studied political science. He lives in California with his wife, Terry. He has three children – Robin, Roxy and Jonathan.

Chiké Okonkwo is a British Nigerian Actor, Producer, Entrepreneur and Activist. His work in theater encompassed stints at the UK’s ROYAL NATIONAL THEATRE, and ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY, including his performance in the award-winning production of JULIUS CAESAR that went to New York in 2013. That year, Okonkwo was also commended for his role in Arthur Miller’s ALL MY SONS at the Royal Exchange Theater. After relocating to the US, his work has included his role in the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award winner at the Sundance Film Festival, THE BIRTH OF A NATION. He starred opposite Gabrielle Union on the hit BET series BEING MARY JANE. Chiké received the BEST ACTOR award at SERIESFEST, for his lead role in TV Pilot DISTEMPER and is currently on screens in LA BREA, which has just concluded its third season on NBC.

His activism focuses on Black banking in his role as Ambassador for One United Bank, the largest Black owned bank in the US, as an advocate for the eradication of Child Poverty in his work with the Children’s Defense Fund and as a facilitator of a Restorative Justice course for system impacted men at California State Prison in Lancaster. Chiké is a member of the Master Artist’s Council of the Arthur Miller Foundation.

Chiké is one of the co-founders of MANSA, an ad-supported streaming platform that focusses on curated Black culture for a Global Audience. MANSA is available wherever you get apps, and downloadable on most smart TV’s in the US.

In her role as Senior Vice President of Television Development, Jocelyn is responsible for shepherding many high-profile series including the John Wick Spinoff series, THE CONTINENTAL, and the Spartacus Spinoff series, SPARTACUS: THE HOUSE OF ASHUR. During her ten-year tenure at Lionsgate Television, Jocelyn has been at the helm for HBO Max’s JULIA, Starz’s MINX, Apple’s ACAPLUCO, Roku’s SWIMMING WITH SHARKS, and Showtime’s THE FIRST LADY. Additionally, she developed and launched several Lionsgate Television-produced series for Starz including the Powerverse series. Jocelyn also worked on Netflix’s mega-hit series ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK.

Mike Falbo founded the production company Pacific Electric Picture Co. with Ed Helms in 2012. He most recently produced two seasons of the critically acclaimed series RUTHERFORD FALLS for Peacock & UTV. Also for Peacock, he produced TRUE STORY WITH ED & RANDALL, co-hosted by Helms and Randall Park, to rave reviews. Before that, he produced the Netflix sketch show AUNTY DONNA’S BIG OL’ HOUSE OF FUN, which topped Australian charts and currently sits at 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. Mike also produced THE FAKE NEWS WITH TED NELMS, a special for Comedy Central, which won a WGA Award for writing. On the feature side, he produced COFFEE AND KAREEM for Netflix, directed by Michael Dowse, and CORPORATE ANIMALS, written by Sam Bain and directed by Patrick Brice, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. He also produced ODE TO JOY, directed by Jason Winer, alongside This American Life. Mike is currently producing the hit podcast SNAFU, hosted by Ed Helms, with FilmNation for iHeart, and has projects in development at Disney+, Peacock, AMC, Netflix, FilmNation, STX, Warner Animation, and others through Pacific Electric.

Journalist, screenwriter, and creative Malcolm Venable has written extensively about arts, culture, trends, and big provocative ideas for more than 20 years with work published in The Washington Post Magazine, Interview, Entertainment Weekly, Emmy magazine, TV Guide and more. Malcolm has also led campaigns as an advertising brand strategist for clients including The Ritz-Carlton, Lexus, and Kraft. Malcolm now develops editorial and brand content for Shondaland.com, where he is Sr. Writer. A comedy screenwriter, Malcolm is an avid runner, cyclist, and yogi who cannot resist marked-down designer clothes, vintage flea markets, or a good DJ set. He lives on the West Side of Los Angeles.

As the Principal at Show Pony Entertainment, Amanda leads teams of creative professionals who work on projects that bring joy and inspire empathy. She leverages her expertise in new media and production, as well as her deep relationships with global talent, to create high-quality content that appeals to different markets and audiences. Some of her Netflix series projects include Dark, The Rain, Club de Cuervos, The Ultimate Beastmaster, and Cable Girls. She also contributed to the development and production of International Originals at Snap, where she oversaw Global Originals for the last 3 years.

Peabody Award winning producer MICHAEL RUCKER has produced, directed and showrun some of unscripted tv’s most game changing programs. Not only has his work won or been nominated for numerous awards but with 4 Emmy nominations Michael has left his fingerprints in ART, FOOD, FASHION and almost EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN (Project Runway, Work of Art, Fast Foodies, Top Chef: Masters, The Numbers Game, Chrissy & Dave Dine Out).
In addition to over a decade of showrunning experience working across network, cable and streaming, Michael has successfully developed and helped launch countless new series to multiple seasons and spin-offs, as well landed on many “Best of” lists –including Wired’s “Best of 2022” for 101 Places to Party Before You Die.

Andrea Ambam is a performance artist and writer whose roots sprout from Cameroon. As a politically-engaged artist who believes in the art’s potential for movement-building and transformative justice, Andrea puts narrative to use, creating theatrical experiences that world bend and record truth. Currently, Andrea is a New York Theatre Workshop 2050 Artistic Fellow and the Programming Manager at Level Forward, where she hosts the Anthem Award-winning podcast and third space, More To Talk About. She has developed her multi-hyphenated practice as a Playwrights Realm Writing Fellow, a Brooklyn Arts Exchange (BAX) Artist-In-Residence, an Artistic Fellow with Signature Theatre, a Writing As Activism Fellow with PEN America, an Artivism Fellow with Broadway Advocacy Coalition (BAC), an Artist-in-Residence for Anna Deavere Smith, an EmergeNYC Fellow, and as a competitive public speaker/performer where she was been awarded 10 national championships including “Top Speaker in the Nation” three times. Andrea holds a Master’s degree in Art & Public Policy from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.

Diana Williams is the Co-founder & CEO of Kinetic Energy Entertainment, a multidisciplinary entertainment and venture studio which develops and produces story-based IP for distribution across all platforms. Kinetic partners with a diversity of talent who are pushing the boundaries of storytelling and technology, with an eye towards the future of media and entertainment. An award-winning producer, Diana built her career in scripted film/tv, unscripted and documentary. Her experience ranges from indie film to studio franchises, and across the media landscape including videogames, podcasts and location based experiences. Prior to Kinetic, DIana was the Creative Development/Franchise Producer for Star Wars at Lucasfilm, and was a founding member of the team that launched ILMxLAB, an immersive entertainment and mixed reality laboratory. She has also consulted for a variety of companies across categories including studios/streamers, game developers, theater and tech.

Missy Laney is the Director of Development at Adult Swim. She lives in Los Angeles.

Jen Yamato is a journalist and film critic who most recently served as a staff reporter for the Los Angeles Times, where she also co-created and co-hosted the award-winning “Asian Enough” podcast. Formerly an editor at Movieline and Deadline Hollywood and a reporter for The Daily Beast, her byline has appeared in numerous publications including The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post. She is a member of the Los Angeles Film Critics Assn. and is based in Los Angeles.

Kasey Newton serves as Director, Content Acquisitions & Partnerships for Tubi. She leads a team that handles the company’s global AVOD revenue share & FAST channel business with all studios, global indies, and third-party producers. Prior to her current role, she oversaw the Digital Distribution & Business Development team at Tubi. Newton managed their 30+ app distribution partnerships, regularly developing new growth opportunities with them while also sourcing, vetting, and negotiating new partnership deals to grow Tubi’s footprint and reach new audiences.

Prior to joining Tubi, Newton was the Sr. Manager of Content Distribution at NBCUniversal. She played an essential role in managing the overall strategic relationships between NBCU and its top cable and digital distribution partners. She was a crucial part of the negotiation team securing global linear and digital distribution agreements for NBCU’s portfolio of TV Networks including: broadcast, cable entertainment, news, and sports. Newton was a part of the NBCUniversal sales team that was named Sales Team of the Year in 2014 and 2016 by CableFAX.

Previously, Newton worked on the US Open corporate hospitality team for the United States Tennis Association from 2012 through 2013 and earned her B.A. at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Saloni Gajjar covers television for The A.V. Club. Her work experience includes NBC, Mashable, Complex, Interview Magazine. She’s a member of the Television Critics Association & WGAE.

Brian Tee will star opposite Nicole Kidman in the prestige limited series “Expats,” as “Clarke Woo” husband to “Margaret” (Kidman), directed by the acclaimed Lulu Wang for Amazon Prime. Tee also stared as Dr. Ethan Choi, on NBC’s hit drama “Chicago Med,” produced by Dick Wolf and won a 2020 NAMIC Vision Award (Best Performance – Drama) for his work on “Chicago Med.”

On the big screen Tee has shared his talents in many giant blockbuster movies. Tee is known around the world for his starring role as “D.K. The Drift King,” in Universal’s franchise “The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift,” directed by Justin Lin. He was a lead in FOX’s summer hit “The Wolverine,” starring Hugh Jackman and Directed by James Mangold. He played “Hamada,” the head of park security in Universal Pictures’ and Amblin Entertainment’s box office smash “Jurassic World.” And continuing his tentpole career, Tee starred in Paramount Pictures’ and Michael Bay’s “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2,” as the iconic villain “Shredder.”

As a character leading man, Tee romanced audiences as the lead opposite Anne Heche in the Hallmark movie “One Christmas Eve.” He starred in the series “Mortal Kombat: Legacy 2,” as “Liu Kang,” produced by Warner Brothers, took on a lead role in Lifetime’s “The Gabby Douglas Story” as the inspirational Coach “Liang Chow,” and also gave a standout comedic performance in Justin Lin’s comedy, “Finishing the Game,” as the insanely hilarious Vietnam Vet, “Mac Chang.”

A talent in all genres, Tee gave an unforgettable, heart wrenching performance as “Jimmy Nakayama,” in the action drama “We Were Soldiers,” opposite Mel Gibson. And on the comedy side, Brian has featured in big budget comedies “Austin Powers: Goldmember,” alongside Mike Myers and “Fun with Dick and Jane,” with comedy great Jim Carrey.

On the small screen, Tee was a series regular playing ”EMT Eddie Choi,” in “Crash,” a STARZ TV series based on the Academy Award winning film. He recurred on the hit NBC series “Grimm,” CBS’s “Hawaii 5-O,” and ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy.” Tee has made memorable guest star appearances on shows such as “Chicago Fire, Chicago PD, Lucifer, ZOO, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, The Lottery, Legends, Beauty and the Beast, Burn Notice, The Good Guys, CSI, Dark Blue, Bones, Lie To Me, Jericho, Entourage, The Unit, Wanted, Without A Trace, JAG, Family Law, The Pretender, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” among others.

As the consummate artist, Tee continued to stretch his range Internationally. He starred in the Korean American romantic comedy indie feature “Wedding Palace,” and was the lead villain in Korea’s highly anticipated action film “No Tears for the Dead,” opposite, Jang, Dong-Gun and Kim, Min-Hee, Directed by the acclaimed Lee, Jeong-Beom (“The Man from Nowhere.”)

In love with his craft, Tee never stops honing his talents and embraces all mediums. Brian returned to the stage to rave reviews for his lead performance in “Snow Falling on Cedars” at the prestigious Hartford Stage.

A Los Angeles native and mixture of multiple Asian descents, Tee is proficient in both Japanese and Korean, and holds a bachelor’s degree in Dramatic Arts – Acting from the University of California, Berkeley. His muse is his Family, his amazing wife Mirelly Taylor and magical daughter Madelyn Skyler who are his life’s love and inspiration.