Awards

Three-time Academy Award-nominated, Grammy-nominated, and Emmy-winning composer, pianist, and producer Nicholas Britell continues to push the boundaries of musical storytelling while captivating audiences globally with his moving compositions. Britell has achieved renown in his collaborations with Academy Award-winner Adam McKay on The Big Short, Don’t Look Up, and Vice, and with Barry Jenkins on If Beale Street Could Talk, The Underground Railroad, and Academy Award-winner for Best Picture, Moonlight.  

In television, Britell continued his work with McKay on HBO’s Succession and created the Emmy-nominated score for Lucasfilm’s Star Wars series, Andor. Britell has the distinction of winning the World Soundtrack Awards for Film Composer of the Year, Television Composer of the Year, Discovery of the Year, as well as the award for Best Original Song Written for a Film. 

Since 2017, he has written and produced songs with artists including Ariana Grande, Florence + The Machine, Bon Iver, Pusha T, Christina Aguilera, Sara Bareilles, and Kid Cudi. Having studied at Juilliard and Harvard, Britell continues his passion for artistic development through his current affiliation with the Juilliard School as Creative Associate and Executive Creative Director of the Juilliard Film Score Lecture Series.  

Miles Caton, a Brooklyn native born into a family of music legacy, has captivated audiences since he was just two years old. His vocal talents first gained national attention on BET’s Bobby Jones Gospel, where he performed Kurt Carr’s “Bless Somebody Else” with top gospel artists. Over the years, Miles has been building a fanbase through performances on major stages for the U.S. Army, the NY Knicks, and two appearances on NBC’s Little Big Shots hosted by Steve Harvey. His powerful rendition of Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good” went viral in 2017 and later featured in Jay-Z’s 4:44 short film. At 16, he toured globally with Grammy-winner H.E.R., mesmerizing audiences as a featured vocalist on her sold-out tours.

Now venturing into acting, Miles Caton made his debut in the 2025 thriller Sinners, written and directed by Ryan Coogler and starring Michael B. Jordan. This multi-talented artist is a rising star to watch. 

Jay Duplass began his career in the early 2000s writing, directing, and producing several award-winning independent and studio films with his brother Mark, including The Puffy Chair and Cyrus. In 2014, Jay and Mark created the critically-acclaimed television series, Togetherness with HBO, where they’ve since produced shows like Somebody Somewhere, The Lady and the Dale, and Room 104. The Duplass brothers also produced the Emmy-winning Netflix documentary series Wild Wild Country.  

Jay began acting in 2012 when Joey Soloway cast him in their Amazon TV series, Transparent, which won multiple Emmys and a Golden Globe for best comedy series, and for which Jay was nominated for a Critics Choice Award in 2016. He has also starred in shows like HBO’s Industry, Netflix’s The Chair, Disney’s Percy Jackson, and in feature films like Outside In with Edie Falco, and Beatriz at Dinner with Salma Hayek.  

Jay has returned to his roots of writing and directing films with the premiere of The Baltimorons at SXSW 2025. His latest film, See You When I See You, is currently in post-production.  

Michael Strassner is an actor, writer, and director known for The Baltimorons, which he stars in and co-wrote with Jay Duplass. Other credits include Young Rock, A Spy Movie, Modern Family, Parks and Recreation, English Teacher, and more. He also wrote, directed, and starred in the award–winning short film Big Boy.  

Originally from Osaka, HIKARI is an award-winning writer, director, and producer with a professional background as a dancer, singer, painter, and photographer. Her debut feature 37 Seconds premiered at the 2019 Berlin International Film Festival and won the Panorama Audience Award, the CICAE Art Cinema Award, and earned a nomination for Best First Feature. 

Her television directing credits include the Emmy-winning series Beef, starring Steven Yeun and Ali Wong, and Tokyo Vice starring Ansel Elgort, Ken Watanabe, and executive produced by Michael Mann. She has also written and directed short films such as Tsuyako, a post-war Japanese drama USC Thesis film that won over 50 awards, live action/animated fantasy film A Better Tomorrow, Can & Sulochan, a comedy about an Indian scientist living in Tokyo who falls in love with a vending machine, and Where We Begin, which was nominated for Best International Short Film at the Tribecca Film Festival. 

HIKARI is currently developing several projects including Made in Utah, an original TV series based on her life as an exchange student living with a dysfunctional Mormon family, as well as an original adaptation of Jules and Jim. 

Jessica Hargrave is the producer of Into the Fire (Netflix), and she previously produced Netflix’s Emmy-nominated Pamela, A Love Story. Hargrave also produced Amazon’s Good Night Oppy, which won five Critics Choice Awards, including Best Documentary, and was nominated for seven Emmys.

Prior to this, Hargrave produced Coded: The Hidden Love of J.C. Leyendecker (MTV), which was shortlisted for the Academy Award and won best documentary short at Tribeca. She is also the producer of Assassins, an Emmy-nominated film about the assassination of Kim Jong-nam, and executive producer of Visible: Out on Television, the first documentary series on Apple TV+ which explores the history of the LGBTQ movement through the lens of television. 

Hargrave is the producer of Ask Dr. Ruth (Hulu) and the executive producer of The Keepers (Netflix). Hargrave was also the producer/writer of Good Ol’ Freda (Magnolia Pictures) and the co-producer of The Case Against 8 (HBO), which was nominated for two Emmys and shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best Documentary. She is a mentor with #Startwith8Hollywood and Women in Film. 

Evgenia Alexandrova (French Society of Cinematographers) is an accomplished cinematographer whose work bridges cultures and artistic traditions. Born in Saint Petersburg and shaped by her training at La Fémis in Paris, she developed a visual language that combines intuition, precision, and emotional depth. After initially studying business, she discovered the transformative role of the director of photography and quickly immersed herself in the craft. Known for her collaborative spirit and vibrant imagery, Alexandrova views the cinematographer’s role as not only shaping the atmosphere of a film but also leading a crew with empathy and clarity of vision.  

Her career highlights include projects that range from fiction features to documentaries, each marked by her willingness to take risks and embrace different aesthetics. She most recently lensed Kleber Mendonça Filho’s The Secret Agent (2025). Other works such as Heartless (2023), Machtat (2023), Svalbard (2016), and The Balconettes (2024) further showcase her versatility, from raw, close-quarters documentary shooting to bold and stylized experiments in color and movement. Whether drawing inspiration from literature, music, or lived experience, Alexandrova remains committed to crafting images that feel alive in the moment. 

Cara Brower is an LA-based production designer who collaborated with director Nia DaCosta on Candyman (2021), The Marvels (2023), and most recently, Hedda (2025). 

Brower received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative Contemporary Program (One Hour or More) for her work as the art director on Twin Peaks, The Return (2018). 

Cara Brower also served as the art director for Jordan Peele’s Us (2019) and the Coen brothers’ Hail Caesar! (2016). She previously worked as the assistant art director for David Fincher’s Gone Girl (2014) and World War Z (2013). 

Chris Farina, a resident of Charlottesville for 40 years, is the director and co-producer of Pep Banned, his sixth documentary film to show at the Virginia Film Festival. Chris graduated from UVA in 1982, and in his last semester he began making his first award-winning film Route 40, set in his hometown of Baltimore. His second film, West Main Street, was a portrait of Charlottesville. 

World Peace and other 4th Grade Achievements tells the story of Charlottesville teacher John Hunter and his curriculum The World Peace Game. The film aired on PBS and The World Peace Game has now been taught by educators in 43 countries. His film Holistic Life Foundation: Breathing Love into a Community spotlights a wonderful Baltimore organization, whose work has been adopted by communities across the country to help schoolchildren. His film Seats at the Table (PBS) looks at the UVA class Books Behind Bars created by Professor Andrew Kaufman, which brought together UVA students with juvenile correctional center residents through the study of Russian Literature. Chris’ film A Bridge to Life (PBS) focuses on the Virginia-based organization The Bridge Ministry, which for years has been changing the lives of men dealing with life-threatening drug addiction. 

James Schamus is an award-winning screenwriter (The Ice Storm), producer (Brokeback Mountain), and former CEO of Focus Features (Dallas Buyers Club, Lost in Translation, Milk, The Pianist). His feature directorial debut, the critically-acclaimed adaptation of Philip Roth’s Indignation, premiered at the Sundance and Berlin Film Festivals. Works from his New York-based production company, Symbolic Exchange, include Kitty Green’s The Assistant, Andrew Ahn’s Driveways, Rhys Ernst’s award-winning trans comedy Adam, and Mike Ott’s McVeigh, which premiered last year at the Tribeca Film Festival.   

This past year saw the release of Andrew Ahn’s reimagining of Ang Lee’s The Wedding Banquet, which James co-wrote and produced, as he did the original. Schamus is now collaborating with composer Huang Ruo on an opera for The Met, is a Consulting Producer on The Boroughs, and is currently in production in Mexico on a new comedy he wrote for Netflix.  He is in his fourth decade as Professor of Professional Practice at Columbia University’s School of the Arts, where he teaches film history and theory.