The jury for the 2026 Sony Future Filmmaker Awards will be announced later this year.
Justin Chadwick
Chair of the Jury
Justin Chadwick is an award-winning British theater, television and film director. He is best known for critically acclaimed films including the Academy Award ®, BAFTA and Golden Globe-nominated Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (2013), the AFI and IFTA nominated The Other Boleyn Girl (2008); Tulip Fever (2017) and The First Grader (2010). His films have won numerous awards including the Audience Award at Durban International Film Festival, the Audience Prize for Best Film at Doha Tribeca Film Festival, both Best Director’s Choice and Audience Choice Awards at the Sedona Film Festival, and Best Feature Film at the Palm Beach Film Festival 2010. His award-winning short films include Boy (2011), Shakespeare Shorts (1996) and Family Style (1993). His recent credits include the Disney+ series Shardlake (2024), the upcoming film Sierra Madre starring Kiefer Sutherland, and Amazon’s Fear, currently in production.
Minhal Baig
Filmmaker
Minhal Baig is a filmmaker. Her latest feature, We Grown Now, about two boys growing up in a Cabrini-Green high rise, premiered at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival, awarded the TIFF Changemaker Award and Audience Award at Chicago International Film Festival and received Best Picture, Best Cinematography and Best Editing nominations for the 2024 Independent Spirit Awards. Sony Pictures Classics releases the film theatrically in spring 2024. Her previous feature, Hala, about a Pakistani-American Muslim teenager uncovering a secret about her family, premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival and was released by Apple. She had a two-year overall writing-producing deal in television with Amazon, is a 2022 Sundance Momentum Fellow and a graduate of the 2022 WGA Showrunner Training Program. She also served as co-executive producer on Criminal, story editor on BoJack Horseman and staff writer on Peabody-award winning half-hour comedy Ramy. Her work has been supported by fellowships/residencies at Yaddo and The Black List.
Elizabeth Gabler
President of 3000 Pictures
Elizabeth Gabler is the President of 3000 Pictures, a multi-media division at Sony Pictures Entertainment, which she formed in 2019. This company represents a partnership between Sony Pictures, HarperCollins Publishers, and what was formerly Fox 2000. 3000 Pictures focuses primarily on literary adaptations, both fiction and non-fiction for theatrical and streaming feature films, as well as television. The first film under the 3000 banner was the adaptation of the publishing phenomenon, Where the Crawdads Sing, which grossed more than $140 million globally. An adaptation of Lady Chatterley’s Lover for Sony and Netflix premiered on the streamer and remained in the Global Top 10 for three weeks in a row, reaching over 60 million hours viewed. Upcoming for the label are Klara and the Sun, directed by Academy Award ® winner Taika Waititi, starring Jenna Ortega and Academy Award ® nominee Amy Adams, and based on Nobel Prize winner Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel of the same name and People We Meet on Vacation, 3000 Pictures and Netflix’s feature adaptation of the New York Times bestselling novel by Emily Henry – the first of her novels to go into production – directed by Brett Haley, starring Tom Blyth and Emily Bader. Gabler began her career at International Creative Management before joining Columbia Pictures as a Creative Executive. In 1999, Gabler became President of Fox 2000 Pictures, a division of Twentieth Century Fox which shepherded such films as The Devil Wears Prada, The Hate U Give, Hidden Figures, and Life of Pi. Prior to this, Gabler also held the positions of Vice President of Production at United Artists and Senior Vice President at Twentieth Century Fox.
Jason Reitman
Academy Award ® - nominated filmmaker
Jason Reitman is an Academy Award ® -nominated filmmaker who most recently directed Saturday Night, a film he co-wrote with Gil Kenan. Reitman made his feature film debut with the 2006 Sundance hit Thank You For Smoking for which he won best screenplay at the Independent Spirit Awards. He notably earned Academy Award ® nominations for directing Juno and Up in the Air, the latter of which earned Reitman a WGA Award and BAFTA Award for Best Screenplay. Reitman has collaborated with screenwriter Diablo Cody on four critically acclaimed films, including Young Adult, Tully, and Jennifer’s Body. As a producer, Reitman oversaw four seasons of the Golden Globe nominated Hulu comedy series Casual. He also produced the Academy Award-winning film Whiplash and Jean-Marc Vallee's Demolition. In 2010, Reitman co-created the Live Read series with Elvis Mitchell, which ran for five seasons at LACMA where he also sat as an artist-in-residence. In 2020, during the height of the COVID pandemic, Reitman created and directed the Home Movie Princess Bride, raising over a million dollars for World Central Kitchen. In 2021, Reitman directed and co-wrote Ghostbusters: Afterlife with Gil Kenan, and in 2023, produced and co-wrote its sequel, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire. In early 2024, Reitman assembled 35 prominent film directors in order to save the Westwood Village Theater.
Justin Chadwick
Chair of the Jury
Justin Chadwick is an award-winning British theatre, television and film director. He is best known for critically acclaimed films including the Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe-nominated Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (2013), the AFI and IFTA nominated The Other Boleyn Girl (2008); Tulip Fever (2017) and The First Grader (2010). His films have won numerous awards including the Audience Award at Durban International Film Festival, the Audience Prize for Best Film at Doha Tribeca Film Festival, both Best Director’s Choice and Audience Choice Awards at the Sedona Film Festival, and Best Feature Film at the Palm Beach Film Festival 2010. His award-winning short films include Boy (2011), Shakespeare Shorts (1996) and Family Style (1993). His recent credits include the upcoming Disney+ series Shardlake (2024) and Amazon’s Fear, currently in production.
Michael Barker
Co-President and Co-Founder of Sony Pictures Classics
Michael Barker is Co-President and Co-Founder of Sony Pictures Classics. Together with Tom Bernard, he has distributed some of the finest independent movies. Previously, he was an executive at the first modern-day specialized distribution company, United Artists (1980-1983), before co-founding Orion Classics (1983-1991) and Sony Pictures Classics. Over the span of his career, Barker has released prestigious films that have received 41 Academy Awards from 187 nominations, including Best Picture nominations for The Father, Call Me By Your Name, Whiplash, Amour, Midnight in Paris, An Education, Capote, Howards End, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Bernard and Barker have received numerous recognitions for their work, including being honored by the Directors Guild of America for their significant contributions in support of the industry, receiving the French Legion of Honor in acknowledgment of their continued contributions to French culture, the Spirit of Independence Award from Film Independent at the Los Angeles Film Festival and The Women in Film Beacon Award from Women in Film Los Angeles, in recognition of their unmatched support of female filmmakers throughout their careers. Barker currently serves as Co-Chairman on the Museum of the Moving Image Board of Directors, on the Entertainment Media and Technology Dean’s Advisory Board at the NYU Stern School of Business, and has in the past taught at the Columbia University School of the Arts and the University of Chicago. He was also inducted in the Texas Film Hall of Fame.
Tom Bernard
Co-President and Co-Founder of Sony Pictures Classics
Tom Bernard is Co-President and Co-Founder of Sony Pictures Classics. Together with Michael Barker, he has distributed some of the finest independent movies. Previously, he was the director of the first modern-day specialized distribution company, United Artists (1980-1983), before co-founding Orion Classics (1983-1991) and Sony Pictures Classics. Over the span of his career, Bernard has released prestigious films that have received 41 Academy Awards from 187 nominations, including Best Picture nominations for The Father, Call Me By Your Name, Whiplash, Amour, Midnight in Paris, An Education, Capote, Howards End, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Bernard and Barker have received numerous recognitions for their work, including being honored by the Directors Guild of America for their significant contributions in support of the industry, receiving the French Legion of Honor in acknowledgment of their continued contributions to French culture, the Spirit of Independence Award from Film Independent at the Los Angeles Film Festival and The Women in Film Beacon Award from Women in Film Los Angeles, in recognition of their unmatched support of female filmmakers throughout their careers. Bernard, a two-time Monmouth Arts honoree for his dedication to the arts, is the New Jersey State Film Commissioner, Co-Chair for the Asbury Park Music and Film Festival, and a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, the Count Basie Theatre Foundation Board of Directors, the Atlantic Highland Arts Council Advisory Board, and the Monmouth County Arts Council.
Rob Hardy
Cinematographer
Rob Hardy ASC, BSC is a British cinematographer, who has received acclaim for his groundbreaking work on Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018), and his ongoing collaboration with Alex Garland on Ex-Machina (2014), Annihilation (2018), Devs (2020), Men (2022) and the upcoming visceral epic Civil War (2024). He also won the BAFTA for cinematography on the powerful drama Boy A (2007) which was swiftly followed by the influential Red Riding 1974 (2009). Other credits include James Marsh's atmospheric Shadow-Dancer (2012) and the period piece Invisible Woman (2013) for Ralph Fiennes.
Unjoo Moon
Director
Unjoo Moon is a South-Korean born Australian director. She is known for her feature film I Am Woman (2020), which premiered at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival and for which she received a Best Director nomination at the Australian Directors Guild and 9 Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards nominations, including Best Picture, and was awarded the inaugural Athena Breakthrough Award, sponsored by Netflix. After working as an on-air reporter for ABC TV, her passion for storytelling led her to the Australian Film Television & Radio School where she met her creative partner, Academy Award-winning cinematographer Dion Beebe. Together they founded the production company Deep Blue Pacific and moved to Los Angeles where Moon attended the American Film Institute, graduating with a Master of Fine Arts and the Franklin J Schaffner Directing Award. She has directed and produced many award-winning short films, music videos, commercials and documentaries, including The Zen of Bennett (2012), and is currently working on an adaptation of David Yoon's New York Times-bestselling debut novel Frankly in Love. She currently sits on the American Film Institute’s Alumni Council and is the chair of the inaugural Australian Film Television & Radio School Alumni Advisory Group.
Robert Primes
Director/cinematographer
Robert Primes ASC began as a documentary filmmaker and then became a commercial director/cinematographer. He became a TV and feature director of photography, shooting the first season of Thirtysomething (1989). He has received two Emmys for his work on My Antonia (1995) and the series Felicity (1998), as well as the American Society of Cinematographers award for MDs (2002), the first digitally shot show to win a major cinematography award. Primes has lobbied congress for artist’s rights and for a higher TV image quality standard and also represented cinematographers on the National Film Preservation Board. He taught cinematography at the American Film Institute for eight years and has served on the boards of the American Society of Cinematographers and the International Cinematographers’ Guild.
Kate Reid
Cinematographer
Kate Reid BSC is an award-winning cinematographer. After working as a camera assistant, she studied cinematography at the prestigious National Film and Television School, where she was the recipient of the Freddie Francis Scholarship. Kate’s recent credits include the upcoming second season of Apple TV+’s Silo, Steven Knight’s adaptation of Great Expectations (2023), HBO’s The Baby (2022) and The Nevers (2021), for which she received an American Society of Cinematographers nomination for Best Cinematography on a non-commercial Television series. Other credits include HBO’s Game of Thrones (2019), Amazon Prime’s Hanna (2019), BBC One’s Press (2018), Netflix’s Marcella (2016), The Closer We Get (2015), the Emmy Award-winning series Years of Living Dangerously (2014), and Ava DuVernay's Venus Vs. (2013). Kate’s films have screened in competition at international festivals including Sundance, Berlin and SXSW. She has won numerous Best Cinematography Awards for her short films, including the Underwire Award for Nazi Boots (2015). Kate was listed in Screen Daily & The British Film Commission’s Next Generation of UK Film Award Contenders 2020, and was named as one of 10 Directors of Photography in Definition Magazine’s 2018 list of Ascending Stars of Cinematography. She was invited to become a member of the British Society of Cinematographers the same year.
Justin Chadwick
Chair of the Jury
Justin Chadwick is an award-winning British theatre, television and film director. He is best known for critically acclaimed films including the Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe-nominated Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (2013), the AFI and IFTA nominated The Other Boleyn Girl (2008); Tulip Fever (2017) and The First Grader (2010). His films have won numerous awards including the Audience Award at Durban International Film Festival, the Audience Prize for Best Film at Doha Tribeca Film Festival, both Best Director’s Choice and Audience Choice Awards at the Sedona Film Festival, and Best Feature Film at the Palm Beach Film Festival 2010. His award-winning short films include Boy (2011), Shakespeare Shorts (1996) and Family Style (1993). His directorial work for television includes Eastenders, Byker Grove, The Bill, and Spooks, and he established two series: Red Cap (2003-2004) and Murder Prevention (2004) and BAFTA award-winning and Golden Globe-nominated Bleak House (2005). Justin has additionally been nominated for an Emmy Award and the BAFTA Award for Best Direction. His recent work includes lead director on Tin Star (2017) for Sky and for Becoming Elizabeth (2022) for Starz.
Nicole Brown
President of TriStar Pictures
Nicole Brown is President of TriStar Pictures. Her oversight of Sony Pictures’ specialty label includes all film development and production. In 2019, Brown was appointed Head of TriStar Pictures, making her the first Black woman to run a live-action label at a major studio. Brown has been instrumental in securing several major deals and overseeing projects for the studio, including Gina Prince-Bythewood’s critically acclaimed The Woman King, starring Viola Davis. The film opened in theaters on September 16, 2022 and has made over $75 million globally so far. Upcoming for the label is the highly anticipated Whitney Houston musical biopic I Wanna Dance With Somebody, and Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical, a partnership with Netflix based on the Award-winning West End musical. During her TriStar tenure, Brown has overseen movies such as Marielle Heller’s Oscar-nominated A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood starring Tom Hanks as Mister Rogers; Happiest Season, which was licensed by Hulu in the U.S. and earned the number one spot on the streamer, as the LGBTQ+ romantic comedy was the most-watched film across all acquired and Hulu Original films during its opening weekend; Edgar Wright’s breakout hit Baby Driver; Danny Boyle’s sequel to Trainspotting; Jodie Foster’s Money Monster starring George Clooney and Julia Roberts; and Jonathan Demme’s Ricki and The Flash starring Meryl Streep.
Before TriStar, Brown was Executive Vice President at Good Universe (originally formed as Mandate Pictures) where she oversaw the development of the company’s slate of films. Some of the films that she shepherded and produced were Neighbors, This is the End, Last Vegas, Evil Dead, Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist, The Possession, Whip It, Seeking A Friend For The End of World, the Harold & Kumar franchise and the Independent Spirit Award-winning film, 50/50.
The Los Angeles native got her start as an intern at Miramax while attending Columbia University. After graduating from Columbia in two and a half years and Phi Beta Kappa, she was accepted into The Peter Stark Producing Program at USC. She instead took a position at Marc Platt Productions and worked on the Legally Blonde franchise and Honey. Brown is on the board of Women in Film, is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, and is a mentor for both ReFrame Rise and the Sony Mentorship Initiative.
Jeremy Barber
Partner, Motion Picture Literary and Talent, United Talent Agency
Jeremy Barber is a Partner in the Motion Picture Literary and Talent Departments at UTA. Prior to UTA, Barber was President of Catch 23 and Catch 23 UK, the production and management company which he helped found. During his tenure, Barber executive produced One Hour Photo and King’s Ransom. Barber was also Head of Production and Acquisitions at Artisan Entertainment where he oversaw films such as Requiem for a Dream, The Blair Witch Project, and Buena Vista Social Club.
Barber began his entertainment career as an attorney at Loeb & Loeb (after working for Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, clerking on the Ninth Circuit, and working in the U.S. Attorney's office for the District of Columbia). Prior to Hollywood, Barber had a career in politics, where he worked on the Dukakis/Bentsen Campaign, for Congressman Chuck Schumer, Senator Herb Kohl, and on Bill Clinton’s Chicago Convention.
Barber serves on: the Georgetown University Law School Board of Visitors, the Telluride Film Festival’s Esteemed Council of Advisors, the board of The People Concern, UTA’s Advisory Council and Leadership Council, Campbell Hall’s Advancement Committee, and served as Chairman of the Board of the UCLA Lab School - where he now maintains an emeritus position.
Jeremy holds a law degree from Georgetown University and an MA and BA from Cambridge University. He is a member of the Academy of Arts and Sciences. He lives in Beverly Hills with his three teenaged children.
Sir Roger A. Deakins, CBE, ASC, BSC
Academy Award-winning cinematographer
Sir Roger A. Deakins is one of today’s most honored cinematographers, renowned for his vast and varied body of work. He has been nominated for an Oscar 15 times and won the award twice for the films Blade Runner 2049 and 1917. He has also won 5 BAFTA Awards and been nominated 10 times.
His other Oscar nominations are for: Denis Villeneuve’s Prisoners and Sicario; The Coen Brothers’ Fargo, The Man Who Wasn’t There, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, No Country for Old Men and True Grit; Frank Darabont’s The Shawshank Redemption; Martin Scorsese’s Kundun; Andrew Dominik’s The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford; Stephen Daldry’s The Reader; Sam Mendes’ Skyfall; and Angelina Jolie’s Unbroken.
Sir Roger A. Deakins has been honored by his peers with 16 American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) Award nominations, winning 5 times, for Shawshank Redemption, The Man Who Wasn’t There, Skyfall, Blade Runner 2049 and 1917. He has also been recognized by his British peers with 11 British Society of Cinematographers (BSC) nominations and 7 wins. His myriad of professional honors also include two Independent Spirit Awards, numerous Critics’ Choice Awards and the National Board of Review’s Career Achievement Award. He has also received Lifetime Achievement Awards from the ASC, the BSC and National Board of Review.
In 2013, he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), the only cinematographer ever bestowed with this high honor. In 2021, he was given a Knighthood, again being the sole cinematographer to receive this honor.
Sir Roger was born in Torquay, Devon, England, attended art college and the National Film School, and began his career by working in the medium of still photography. He was given an assignment by the Beaford Art Center to document the disappearing way of life of the North Devon farmers and spent a year doing this. He then went to film school and his cinematic career began. Many of his first cinematographic projects were documentaries, often shooting in Africa. He also covered the Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race, which required him to work for more than nine months as a crew member while filming and directing the documentary. He then moved on to feature film cinematography, starting in England and later in the United States.
His numerous credits also include such diverse films as Sid & Nancy, Barton Fink, The Hudsucker Proxy, Courage Under Fire, The Big Lebowski, A Beautiful Mind, Doubt and Hail, Caesar! He has also served as a visual consultant for several animated features, including WALL•E, How to Train Your Dragon, Rango, The Guardians, The Croods, How to Train Your Dragon 2, How to Train your Dragon 3 and the upcoming animated feature Vivo.
Sir Roger also recently published a book of his still photography, BYWAYS. (Damiani, 2021), revealing another side to his visual talent.