OCTOBER 7-13 2025
#SOHO16 #SIFFNYC
LESLIE FIELDS-CRUZ
Executive Director at Black Public Media
DARYN SIMONS
Producer / Talent Agent
Cohesive Entertainment Group
LOU DIAMOND PHILLIPS
Writer l Director l Producer
PIERRE ROMAIN
Producer
SUSANNAH D'ARCY
Producer l Distributor
#SOHO15 MEMBERS OF THE JURY - BIOS
MARCI PHILLIPS Marci is the NY VP of Talent & Casting for Disney Entertainment Television, covering the East Coast (and beyond) acting pool for 20th Television, ABC Signature Studios and select other entities within the Walt Disney Company. For over 25 years she has cast for ABC Studio and Network pilots, new series regulars, recurring roles and numerous guest star roles. Marci has been heavily involved in finding (and in many cases mentoring) the talent for the Disney Television Discovers: Talent Showcase since its inception in 2000. This illustrious roster includes Lupita Nyong’o, Chadwick Boseman, Gina Rodriguez, Pedro Pascal, Dominique Fishback, Jesse Williams, Jermaine Fowler, Ali Stroker and a multitude of others too numerous to mention! Marci has coached and taught actors for decades and previously worked as a Casting Assistant for MGM Studios. She cast the independent film “Let It Snow”, which was featured at the Sundance Film Festival. Marci also co-produced two off-off Broadway plays and is the author of the book “The Present Actor - A Practical and Spiritual Guideline to Help You Enjoy the Ride”. Being the daughter of a Broadway Musical actor and a wife to multiple actors (one at a time, no bigamy here!), her life experience in this business actually outweighs her professional experience.... but that's too long a story for this Bio!
LOU DIAMOND PHILLIPS starred in the FOX series “Prodigal Son,” having previously starred on the acclaimed Netflix series, “Longmire,” based on the Walt Longmire mystery novels by Craig Johnson. Other credits include NBC’s Quantum Leap, Amazon’s “Goliath,” FX’s “You’re the Worst,” CBS’ “Blue Bloods,” and recurring roles on Fox’s “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” and Netflix’s “The Ranch.” He received an Emmy nomination for “Outstanding Actor in a Short Form Drama or Comedy” for his roles in both Amazon’s “Conversations in LA” and History Channel’s “Crossroads of History.” Recent film credits include DC’s Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths, the Amblin feature “Easter Sunday,” Warner Brothers’ “The 33,” “Created Equal” directed by Bill Duke, and Sundance Festival favorite “Filly Brown,” for which he was named Best Actor at the Imagen Awards. Lou is also one of the governors for the actors branch of the Academy of motion Arts and Pictures.
ERNABEL DEMILLO She currently hosts and reports for CUNY-TV’s 7-time Emmy-nominated program “Asian American Life” http://www.cuny.tv/show/asianamericanlife, a magazine-style show focusing on the tri-state’s Asian American community. She is an award-winning journalist, cited by the Governor of New York for her service and contributions to the Asian American Community and was honored with a Folio Award for Best Environmental Reporting. She also made Buzzfeed’s list of 34 Epic Filipinos in the United States. Along with her work as a journalist, Ernabel managed to find success in a second career. She is a tenured Journalism professor at Saint Peter’s University in Jersey City, N.J. and is faculty chair of the Department of Communication and Media Culture. Ernabel is active in the Asian American community. She has served on the boards of several organizations including: Vice President of Broadcast for AAJA, board member for Apex for Youth, an AAPI mentoring organization and board member for the Coalition for Asian American Children and Families (CACF). She currently serves on the board of Advancement for Rural Kids (ARK), a non-profit helping build schools and empowering communities in developing countries. Ernabel grew up in San Francisco and now calls herself a Jersey girl. She lives on the Jersey Shore with her husband, John Muller, an anchor for PIX11 News and their 17-year-old daughter, and rescue dog, Stella. Follower her on Twitter @ErnabelD
LESLIE FIELDS-CRUZ started at Black Public Media, formerly National Black Programming Consortium, in 2001 managing grant making activities that supported the production and development of documentary programs for PBS. By 2005, she was the Director of Programming, leading the distribution of all funded programs to public television. In 2008, with six independent titles in need of a public television broadcast, Fields-Cruz launched AfroPoP: The Ultimately Cultural Exchange, a documentary series highlighting the variety and depth of the global black experience. AfroPoP has garnered several awards and is the only national public television series focused solely on stories from the black experience. In the fall of 2014, Fields-Cruz became BPM’s third Executive Director. Though she keeps the pulse on the development of program content and its distribution across public media platforms, she is focused on growing BPM’s resources to enable it to support more stories about the Black experience.
DARYN SIMONS is a Producer, Talent Manager, Digital Strategist, Entrepreneur and past President of the Talent Managers Association. Daryn won The Heller Award for Talent Manager of the Year in 2015 and has produced the past three Heller Awards with Sharon Stone, Joan Rivers, Betty White and William Shatner. Prior to working in Management, she worked in development and production at Paramount Studios, Sony and Fox. Daryn recently produced Nelson Bixby Takes On The Whole Wide World for Disney, Locating Silver Lake with Finn Wittrock & Josh Peck and The Debt Collector, with Tony Todd, Louis Mandylor & Scott Adkins for Sony/Netflix. Daryn has also had the opportunity to cast features and a digital project and is prepping for the upcoming FnD Podcast. CEG is currently developing a major slate of film, television and digital projects. TMA MANAGER OF THE YEAR 2015
JAMES TUMMINIA is a producer/actor/director/writer. He received a 2019 EMMY nomination and won two Telly Awards for producing LOVE, GILDA (Magnolia Pictures/CNN Films) that opened the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival. James Co-founded Italus Films, an Italy/US joint venture based in Milan and Los Angeles, producing content for all media. As a producer, he has championed filmmakers whose voices span a diverse spectrum. Select film credits: ALL SHE WROTE (US/Bulgaria), THREE DAYS IN AUGUST, SOMEBODY’S MOTHER (South African Gabrielle Tollman’s directorial debut) and STRIKE ONE (starring Danny Trejo). He is currently producing FREE!, directed by Virtic Emil Brown, STOLEN DREAMS, directed by Angelo Reyes, and VODÚN, directed by Alessio Liguori with Buffalo 8, and executive producing the feature documentary, VIVA VERDI!, directed by Yvonne Russo. As GPA Entertainment head of production, he developed and produced for TV and film. James often works in non-fiction, producing content for TV and digital streaming. He specializes in attaching A-list talent to projects: (Film) LOVE, GILDA (Bill Hader, Melissa McCarthy, Amy Poehler and Maya Rudolph) and many TV programs such as 2020’s “Back to Broadway,” “The Vampire Diaries,” “Gilda Radner’s Greatest Moments” and “TV’s Greatest Sidekicks.” James has collaborated on/contributed to productions for A24, ABC Studios, CBS, CW, Disney Channel, Disney+, Facebook Live, Fine Living, MAX, Lifetime, Litton Entertainment, NBCUniversal, Unrealistic Ideas (Mark Wahlberg’s company), Disney TV Animation, and YouTube Originals. His award-winning short, MY CHRISTMAS WISH, played at worldwide festivals, earning directing and producing awards. As an actor, James can be seen in the upcoming Peacock series “Those About to Die,” starring Anthony Hopkins; other screen credits: STRIKE ONE, “Criminal Minds,” “Melissa & Joey” and “The Shield.” He is a longtime member of the Producers Guild of America, SAG-AFTRA and the TV Academy. Born in New York City, James graduated from Georgetown University with a BA in Political Science. James has dual (US/Italy) citizenship.
SUSANNAH D'ARCY began her career as a script supervisor and moved quickly to being David Fincher’s 1st AD. Finding her place in production, distribution, and sales of all kind’s projects. A dynamic Producer & Line Producer for feature films, television, live events, and musicals. Susannah has produced live events for AFCI, Boeing, Equestrian Longines Master’s as well as $30M private events conferences and galas. She has opened up an international division, serving projects in France, Egypt, Belgium, and Italy. She is currently in pre-production & development on various film projects Newly appointed President for BritCan Media. Britcan Media recently partnered with full-service production studio in Prague for international Films and TV sales arm and has built out a production arm in both Vancouver and Australia. She has just finished the development phase and final script on a Musical, featuring a Motown 70’s iconic band which is expected to launch next year, with Tony winning team members. During covid she worked with Dick Wolf Production for FBI International and prior to Covid she was in Egypt working luxury live event. She has worked with Martha Stewart, Steven Spielberg, Sir Richard Attenborough, Alex Proyas, NBC, ABC, CBS, Universal Studios. Ms. D’Arcy is a member the Producers Guild of America where she served as Chairman of Live Events. And become a Mentored through the PGA program highlighting up and coming film creators. She is also Los Angeles Board Member of French In-Motion, member of Producers without Borders and an Ambassador to the Red Cross of America. , www.britcanmedia.com
JEFFREY JETURIAN has directed feature films that foreshadowed a vibrant Philippine independent cinema.He made relevant social themes and issues appeal to wider audiences beyond the arthouse aficionados. The Manunuri ngPelikulang Pilipino ( critics' group ) included three of his films - Pila Balde (1999), Tuhog (2001) and Kubrador (2006) - on its list of 20 important Filipino movies produced in the past two decades. Kubrador, widely perceived as Jeturian's most accomplished film, was exhibited in more than a hundred international festivalsincluding a US premiere at the New York Museum of Modern Art, winning over 40 national and international awards. Pila Balde also received numerous awards and citations abroad. Locally, Tuhog and Kubrador were URIAN best picture winners while Minsan Pa(2004) was named best picture by the Golden Screen Awards. Bisperas (2011) and Ekstra (2013) received best film and special jury awards respectively from the Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival*English titles of the filmsPila Balde - Fetch A Pail of WaterTuhog - Larger Than LifeKubrador - The Bet CollectorMinsan Pa - One Moment MoreBisperas - Eve of ChristmasEkstra - The Bit Player
PIERRE ROMAIN For More Than 30 Years Pierre Romain has embodied innovative creativity by standing on the front lines of the entertainment industry where all segments of the American and international population can meet under an umbrella of quality feel good, thought-provoking entertainment. Pierre Romain has produced Award-winning Documentaries and feature Films including: Mind The Gap (Alan King, Elizabeth Reaser, Kim Raver, and Eric Schaeffer), Coleman Family Legacy (Jazz Legend George Coleman, Sr. and his family), Fractured (Eric Roberts and Jake Busey), All You Can Eat (Randy Quaid, Ashley Johnson, Kathy Najimy), The Pack (Lucie Arnaz, Carlos Leon, Elisabeth Moss) Bayou Caviar (Cuba Gooding Jr, Richard Dreyfuss, Famke Janssen), Son of The South (Spike Lee (ep), Barry Brown (dir.), Lucas Till, Lucy Hale, Cedric The Entertainer and Brian Dennehy), North of The 10 (George Lopez, Terrence Jenkins, Mykelti Williamson, Jaleel White, and LaRoyce Hawkins, Fresh Kills (Jennifer Esposito, Emlly Bader, and Odessa A'zion) and several new films for Paramount Global.
MARCI PHILLIPS
Executive Director of Casting
ABC TV Network & Disney+
ERNABEL DEMILLO
Broadcaster l Journalism Professor
2024 MEMBERS OF THE JURY
JEFFREY JETTURIAN
Director
JAMES TUMMINIA
Actor / Director / Producer / Writer