First wave of shots Awards Americas 2025 judges announced

With the super early bird entry period closing on the 31st of December, and with a group of top-notch Head Judges already raring to go, we're thrilled to announce the first batch of jury members poised to look over your best work.

shots Awards The Americas consists of 24 distinct categories, which are judged in ten separate jury groups. Heading up each is:

• Animation & VFX: Kirsten Noll, Managing Executive Producer, Scholar
• Cinematography: Diego Garcia, Director of Photography, LUX Artists
• Casting, Production Design, and Styling: Akin McKenzie, Production Designer
• Charity: Kelly Bayett, CEO, Love Films
• Concept & Copywriting: Jason Kreher, Partner, Maximum Effort
• Direction: Luke Ricci, President, RSA Films US
• Editing: Sila Soyer, Executive Producer, Arcade Edit
• Music & Sound Design: Brian Bernard, Audio Director and Audio Engineer, Grayson Music
• Music Video: Abdi Ibrahim, Director and Photographer, De La Revolucion
• New Director: Danielle Hinde, Owner and Executive Producer, Doomsday Entertainment

Above: Our jury heads. [Image 1, clockwise from left]: Kirsten Noll, Diego Garcia, Kelly Bayett, Jason Kreher, and Abdi Ibrahim. [Image 2, clockwise from top left]: Sila Soyer, Akin McKenzie, Brian Bernard, Danielle Hinde, and Luke Ricci.

Joining the head judges are an esteemed panel of creative arbiters from North and South America, more of whom will be added in the coming weeks;

• Leo Aguirre, Director, Park Pictures
• Jo Arghiris, Executive Producer, Hornet
• Kirsten Arongino, Managing Director, ArtClass
• Tomás Becú, Executive Producer & Partner, BAMBA
• Ryan Michael Bernstein, Casting Director, RMB Casting
• Chiao Chen, Cinematographer & Editor, Forager
• Connie Dercho, Executive Producer, Business Development Director, RODEOFX
• Beau Dickson, Editor, Cut + Run
• Carol Dunn, Managing Director, Barking Owl
• Amir Farhang, Director/Creative Director, Freelance
• Sally Fung, Associate Creative Director, FCB
• Arturo A. Fuenmayor, Re-Recording Mixer/Assistant, Company3
• Farhad Ghaderi, Cinematographer, Artistry, LUX Artists, Aura Collective, Mantl Reps
• Jessica Glowacki, Music Producer, Yessian Music Global
• Suzanne Hargrove, Vice President/Executive Producer, PRETTYBIRD
• LJ Johnson, Director, Hungry Man
• Kevin Krouglow, Composer, Songwriter, Producer, Freelance
• Ralph Laucella, Founding Partner/Executive Producer, O Positive
• Jenny Lumpkin, Managing Partner / Co-CEO, The Cre8tors
• Paige Matho, Senior Producer, Cartwright
• Cailey Milito, Sound Designer, CaBooM Productions
• Paul Mitchell, Director, Untold Studios
• Becky Morrison, Founder / Executive Producer, The Light
• Steve Mottershead, Executive Creative Director / Founding Partner, Artjail
• Naz Nazil, Creative Director, Creative X, Meta
• Danny Nouri, Executive Producer, 72andSunny
• Luga Podesta, Founder, London Alley
• Nicole Powell, Line Producer, Freelance
• C.T Robert, Director, Partizan
• Jaz Rongokea, MD / EP, Coffee & TV NY
• Jared Malik Royal, Director, RSA Films
• Rhea Scott, President, Little Minx
• Dotti Sinnott, Head of Content Operations, Doodles and Managing Director, Golden Wolf
• Dominic Tunon, Head of Content, Bodega, Wieden + Kennedy
• Mikelle Virey, Director, Maselita Films
• Azsa West, CCO, Wieden + Kennedy
• Nic Yiallouris, Director / Creative Director, The Mill

To find out more about our judges, click here.

The super early bird deadline for 2025's America's awards is Tuesday December 31st. 

To enter your work and be in with a chance of picking up a coveted shots trophy, click here to find out all the information you need to enter. 

There are additional details on the categories you can enter here, and for info on price and eligibility, please click here.