2012 Greenwich Youth Film Festival
Animation Judge: Blue Sky Studios
Blue Sky Studios is the Academy Award®-winning, feature CG animation studio behind the wildly successful ICE AGE franchise. Using their propriety rendering software, CGI Studio®, Blue Sky creates photo-realistic, high-resolution, computer-generated character animation and rendering to tell timeless stories to children of all ages. Blue Sky’s productions include ICE AGE (2002), ROBOTS (2005), ICE AGE: THE MELTDOWN (2006), DR. SEUSS’ HORTON HEARS A WHO (2008), ICE AGE: DAWN OF THE DINOSAURS (2009), RIO (2011) and ICE AGE: CONTINENTAL DRIFT (2012). Blue Sky Studios is wholly owned by Twentieth Century Fox.
Creative Judge: Ron Howard
[Biography to come soon]
Documentary Judge: Clayton Pecorin
Two Ton Films principal Clayton Pecorin is the lead producer on THE WEDDING, which stars Robert DeNiro, Diane Keaton, Susan Sarandon, Katherine Heigl, Amanda Seyfried, Topher Grace and Robin Williams. Pecorin also recently financed, produced, and wrapped production on BLACKOUT, which will be released in 2012. Clayton is also a producer for the television series, Lights Out on FX Networks. Clayton entered the world of entertainment as an investor in the independent cult-classic GOING GREEK as well as Stephen Sondheim’s Broadway play company.
As an executive in media and healthcare. Pecorin has raised over $250mm of debt and equity financing. In addition, Clayton has worked closely with the charities of Magic Johnson, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and business leader Michael Milken. Clayton is a graduate of Clemson University and of Greenwich High School. He currently resides in Riverside with his wife, Eva, and their two children.
Music Video Judge: Jeff Cardoni
Originally trained in classical piano, composer Jeff Cardoni made a decision to become a professional musician, eschewing the keys for guitar and relocating to Los Angeles. The move paid off, and Cardoni now splits his time between a variety of film and television projects. His work ranges from studio features such as Just Friends, Firehouse Dog, Open Season 3, Miss March and the latest in the American Pie franchise, to television scores for hit shows such as the CBS drama “The Defenders”, “Undercover Boss”, comedy “The League” on FX and the worldwide hit “CSI:Miami”.
He has also worked extensively in independent film, including the 2009 Sundance film “The Vicious Kind”, directed by Lee Toland Krieger and produced by Neil LaBute, Oscar nomi nated director Roland Joffe’s Cannes feature “You And I”, and the upcoming romantic drama “A Perfect Man” starring Liev Schreiber and Jean Tripplehorn. His scores range from traditional orchestral to intimate and unique, with Cardoni performing a myriad of instruments himself. Other recent highlights including creating a new live score for 2011 Super Bowl on Fox, recording with an 80 piece orchestra in the world famous Dvorak Concert Hall in Prague. Jeff is also an active songwriter, penning the theme song for MTV’s “Pimp My Ride”, Tori and Dean Inn Love, Mad TV, and having songs appear in countless films, including Austin Powers, Harold and Kumar 2, The Sweetest Thing, and A Walk To Remember.
Public Service Announcement Judge: Gretchen Carlson
Gretchen Carlson is one of the nation's most successful morning news anchors as Co-Host of the #1 rated "Fox and Friends" on the Fox News Channel. She is also a regular contributor on "The O'Reilly Factor" with Bill O'Reilly. As a television host, Carlson interviews the top newsmakers of the day, from the President of the United States to Hollywood celebrities and sports stars.
A graduate of Stanford University, Carlson was valedictorian of her high school class, and was recently named to her school's first ever Hall of Fame. She also studied at Oxford University in England. Carlson's television career spans two decades. She was formerly the Co-Anchor of "The Saturday Early Show" on CBS and has also worked as an Anchor/Reporter in Dallas, Cincinnati, Cleveland and Richmond, VA.
In 1989, Carlson became the first classical violinist to win the Miss America crown and remains a staunch advocate of the arts. Carlson serves as a National Celebrity Spokesperson for the March of Dimes, and in 2010 received that organization's prestigious Volunteer of the Year President's Award. She also serves on the Board of Directors for the Miss America Organization. Carlson is the mother of two small children and stays very involved in First Presbyterian Church of Greenwich where she and her husband teach Sunday School.
