Virginia Film Festival industry guests are matched with local students and filmmakers to offer career and artistic guidance, as well as insights into the inner workings of the entertainment industry through one-on-one, 30 minute sessions.

Students and VA-based filmmakers interested in signing up for a session should fill out a brief application form, linked below. Deadline to apply was Wednesday, October 8, and has now passed.

VAFF staff will be in touch shortly after the application deadline with additional info.

See below for current roster of VAFF filmmaker/industry guests participating in the 2025 Connection Point, as well their expected availabilities.

APPLY TO PARTICIPATE

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GUEST AVAILABILITY

The participant list may expand and will be updated. Specific availability is subject to change.
All film and industry guest bios can be found here.

Roxana Hadadi, National Media (Vulture)
Thursday, October 23 | Friday, October 24 | Saturday, October 25 

Jai Jamison, Writer/Director (CW’s Superman & Lois), VAFF Board
Thursday, October 23 | Saturday, October 25

Alexa L. Fogel, Panelist: Casting is Everything (Casting Director for Atlanta, Ozark, The Wire)
Saturday, October 25 

Clay Tweel, Director (Andy Kaufman is Me), VAFF Board
Thursday, October 23

Genevieve Villaflor, Executive Director of Sag Harbor Cinema, VAFF Board
Friday, October 24

Ernie Bustamante, Director (Street Smart: Lessons from a TV Icon)
Friday, October 24 | Saturday, October 25

Scott Feinberg, National Media (The Hollywood Reporter)
Friday, October 24 | Saturday, October 25

Charles Haine, Director (Multiple Choice)
Thursday, October 23

Gina M. Angelone, Director (Sitting Still)
Thursday, October 23 | Friday, October 24

Kevin Jerome Everson, Filmmaker/Artist (A Suite of Short Films by Kevin Jerome Everson)
Saturday, October 25 

Bill Platt, Panelist: AI & Filmmaking (Creative Lead for AI, Warner Bros. Discovery)
Friday, October 24 | Saturday, October 25

Bilal Qureshi, National Media (NPR)
Thursday, October 23 | Friday, October 24 | Saturday, October 25 

Robert Daniels, National Media (RogerEbert.com)
Thursday, October 23 | Friday, October 24 | Saturday, October 25 

Marya E. Gates, National Media (RogerEbert.com) 
Thursday, October 23 | Friday, October 24 | Saturday, October 25 

Lisa Kennedy, National Media (Denver Post, New York Times) 
Thursday, October 23 | Friday, October 24 | Saturday, October 25 

Mineko Mori, Producer (Dear Sobriety: You’re Killing Me)
Friday, October 24 | Saturday, October 25 

Rob Spera, Panelist: The Unspoken Language of Film Directing (Supernatural, Criminal Minds)
Thursday, October 23 | Friday, October 24 | Saturday, October 25

David Usui, Director (Been Here Stay Here), Panelist: Making It – Film Industry Career Panel
Saturday, October 25

Morgan Evans, Director (Micro Budget)
Saturday, October 25  

Jeff Wadlow, Producer (Truth or Dare), Director (Kick-Ass 2), VAFF Board
Friday, October 24 | Saturday, October 25

Brian Truitt, National Media (USA Today) 
Friday, October 24 | Saturday, October 25