2015 COMPETITION FILM JUDGES

NILE RODGERS

Among music legends, Nile Rodgers is truly exceptional. He amplifies his legacy as a Grammy-winning composer, producer, arranger, and guitarist by constantly traversing new musical terrain and successfully expanding the boundaries of popular music. As the co-founder of CHIC, Rodgers pioneered a musical language that generated chart-topping pop hits like "Le Freak," and sparked the advent of hip-hop with "Good Times." His work in the CHIC Organization and his productions for artists like David Bowie and Madonna have sold over 200 million albums and 50 million singles worldwide while his innovative, trendsetting collaborations with Daft Punk, Avicii, Disclosure, and Sam Smith reflect the vanguard of contemporary music. Fueling four decades of pop anthems with more than 200 production credits to his name, the scope of Rodgers' peerless influence is undeniable. His boundless talents include scoring music for films like the Eddie Murphy blockbuster Coming to America (1988) and distributing soundtracks for popular AAA video games via his national distribution company and record label, Sumthing Distribution and Sumthing Else Music Works. Indeed, there's no shortage of superlatives or accolades to convey the impact Nile Rodgers has made in popular music. From "Good Times" to "Get Lucky," Rodgers' unrivaled track record is a mere glimpse of what's yet to come.  

MAUREEN MASTER

Maureen is currently director of regional publicity and film festival bookings for Magnolia Pictures where she oversees regional marketing efforts for Magnolia’s theatrical slate. She began her film career in college writing indie film reviews, eventually earning a BA in Journalism from the University of North Texas. After graduation, she was hired by Moroch, Dallas, TX, doing film publicity. Continuing her career in film publicity, she moved to Philadelphia accepting a position in film PR. While in Philadelphia, she earned her Masters in Communication Theory from Villanova University. In 2010, Maureen moved to New York to work for Magnolia Pictures where she has overseen successful regional campaigns for Melancholia, Page One: Inside the New York Times, Jiro Dreams of Sushi, Queen of Versailles and more recently Blackfish and Life Itself.

RAFE FOGEL

Rafe Fogel is a Partner at Falcon Investment Advisors, LLC and joined at its inception. Rafe was previously a Senior Vice President and Portfolio Manager of SunAmerica Investments, Inc., where he co-managed SunAmerica's $8.0 billion high yield portfolio. Prior affiliations include Montgomery Securities and Franklin/Templeton Group. Rafe has spent two decades investing in media and technology companies and has served on the Board of Directors of numerous companies, including Legendary Pictures, Village Roadshow Entertainment Group, Anton Capital Entertainment SCA, Relativity Media Group and Digital Domain. He received a B.A. in Economics with honors from Haverford College.  

SCOTT FEINSTEIN

Scott Feinstein joined 42West's Movie Marketing division as an account executive in November 2005.  He works with a number of film studios, production companies, and filmmakers to create and execute their publicity and marketing strategies.  In addition, he handles films at major film festivals; Sundance, Toronto, Tribeca, Cannes, SXSW, and Venice.  His clients at 42West have included Sony Pictures Classics, A24, Miramax, Fox Searchlight, Disney, Paramount, IFC, and filmmakers Bennett Miller, Gia Coppola, Sofia Coppola, Wes Anderson, Noah Baumbach, David Chase, Martin Scorsese, Mike Nichols, Woody Allen, Jonathan Demme, and Teddy Schwarzman.  Previously, Feinstein spent over three years working at Walt Disney Pictures.   

HARPER SIMON

Harper Simon is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer. In 2010 he released his critically lauded self-titled solo album, which Rolling Stone called "a gorgeous collection of vintage-sounding country-folk tunes and dreamy psychedelia."  Division Street, Simon's second solo album, was released in March 2013 to critical praise.  Simon recently co-produced the short film Fruits De Mer directed by Hala Mata for Nowness and hosts TALK SHOW on TheLip.tv.