Elementary School level: Grady Roderweiss-O’Brien. “The Impossible Way.” A film about food. Young Filmmaker attends Beye School, Oak Park, Ill. Password is: impossible.

Middle School level: Samantha Older. “The Shortage of Helium.” A film about waste. Young Filmmaker attends Roosevelt Middle School, River Forest, Ill.

Middle School level: Tess Moretti-Hill, Gabriel Jeffers, Mahea Dunn, Keanu Frith. “Green Gone.” A film about open space/ecosystems. Young Filmmaker attended Maui Huliau Foundation’s filmmaking classes in Maui, HI.

High School level: Chloe Chin, Tessa Chin, Ka'imi Kaleleiki. “Remember.” A film about open space/ecosystems. Young Filmmakers attended Maui Huliau Foundation’s filmmaking classes in Maui, HI.

High School level: Dane Ottman and Matt Golin. “Sea Creature Complaints.” A film about water and open space/ecosystems. Young Filmmakers attended Maui Huliau Foundation’s filmmaking classes in Maui, HI.

College level: Jordan Renville. "Change." Young Filmmakers attends The Packer Collegiate Institute, Brooklyn, NY.

College level: Natalie Shoultz. "Racism and the Environmental Movement." Young Filmmaker attends Loyola University, Chicago, Ill.

College level: Taylor Anderson, Bianca Franco, and Natalie Snodgrass. “Feeding the Future of Chicago.” Young Filmmakers attend Oak Park & River Forest High School, Oak Park; Maine South High School, Park Ridge; and Lake Forest High School, Lake Forest, Ill., respectively.

College level: Patrick Thomas Keen. “Tossed: Waste and Recycling Quiz.” Young Filmmaker attends Columbia College Chicago.

Felice Bassuk, a screenwriter and film producer, is currently working on an immigration film.  Her short dramatic anti-smoking film, “The Call,” was screened at festivals across the country and is being distributed to schools, health departments, and youth clubs.

Katie Brennan is a small business owner and trademark/copyright attorney. She is a Trustee for the Village of River Forest, and has also served on the River Forest Sustainability Commission. Katie and her daughter, Emily, work hard to reduce their carbon footprint and their use of plastics every day.  

Amy Brinkman is a retired board member for The Nineteenth Century Charitable Association. She has been a volunteer/assistant for Wicker Park DIY Landscape Design Class and a "Kids Grow" program that helps young people develop a relationship with the environment and an appreciation of the arts.

Laurie Casey has been a professional communicator for more than 25 years, as well as a passionate advocate for nature. She has written more than 200 articles on the urban forest and enjoys native plant gardening in her free time.

Steve Cohen is the Co-Founder and Board Chair of Chicago Media Project (CMP), the innovative, multifaceted, philanthropic community of documentary film lovers who believe in the power of media to bring about social change. He is also the Co-Manager of Chicago Media Project Invest/Impact (CMP I/I), the equity fund side of CMP that invests in documentaries. Steve has been involved in more than 40 documentaries, including the Oscar winning, “Icarus” and the recent Oscar shortlisted movies, “The Apollo” and “One Child Nation.”

Kelly Doss has worked as a marketing executive for over 20 years creating commercials and video content for major brands globally.  Most recently in film, she was a producer for the highly acclaimed 2017 indie film Princess Cyd which premiered at over 50 film festivals globally.

Monica Fox has worked in the film and video industry for over 35 years, She has produced films shown on PBS and Discovery Networks, has worked with Kartemquin Films, and has worked on documentaries that span a wide range of subjects, including sustainability living, farm-to-table healthy eating, and histories of ground-breaking social justice institutions.

Paula Froehle is a producer, director, visual artist, educator and entrepreneur based in Chicago, Paula is the Co-Founder and CEO of Chicago Media Project (CMP)—the innovative, multifaceted, philanthropic community of documentary film lovers who believe in the power of media to bring about social change. Within CMP, Paula guides over 50 members in the philanthropic support of social impact films and filmmaker sustainability. She also co-manages CMP’s equity fund, Chicago Media Project Invest/Impact (CMP I/I), which invests in commercially viable documentaries.

Bill Gee has worked in the food industry for over 25 years and has supported the One Earth Film Festival since its inception. He is a board member for the Sugar Beet Food Co-op, Chicago Public Media (WBEZ) and MOMENTA Dance Company. 

Jennifer Maiotti has written and produced documentaries for National Geographic, Discovery, and History channels. She recently produced Cooking for Life with Kartemquin Films on the healing power of healthy, natural foods.

Julie Moller is Chair of the River Forest Sustainability Commission. Her area of focus is resource management, specifically single-use plastics. Julie is an ambassador for 5 Gyres, a not-for-profit studying the effects of micro plastics in our environment. She is also trained as a Climate Reality Leader by former Vice President Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project.

Jim Rohn co-directs the animation program at Columbia College Chicago. Formerly, he worked in the video game industry and also developed and illustrated comic books. Jim teaches computer and traditional animation production classes.

Alicia Sams is an award-winning producer and director with over 30 years of experience in both non-fiction and fiction films. Her work has been released theatrically by multiple distributors, and has appeared on HBO, PBS, IFC, The Sundance Channel, AMC, Amazon and Al-Jazeera among others.

Annie Speicher is a documentary filmmaker and sustainable food advocate in Evanston, Illinois. Her film, Sustainable, screened at One Earth Film Festival in 2016 and is now available on Netflix. Annie also works as a digital media specialist at Northwestern University, telling stories about innovative research and the university's newest discoveries.

Risé Sanders Weir produced the documentary series America To Me and has produced and directed documentaries for MSNBC, PBS, History, National Geographic, CNBC, A&E, The Weather Channel and others. Her work has been recognized with Cinema Eye, Emmy, Hugo and Telly awards and nominations for an MPSE Golden Reel and an NAACP Image Award.

Lauren Travers Wall is an animator, art director, art assistant, and production designer in the film industry. She and David Arthur Wall recently created the official Claymation stop-motion music video for, “Fanger,” by The Kickback.

Matt Wechsler is an award winning documentarian, sustainable food activist and urban gardener from Evanston, Illinois. His latest film, Sustainable, is now available on Netflix and received the 2016 Accolade Global Humanitarian Award for Outstanding Achievement. Matt will judge elementary and middle school only this year.  

Marc Wellin is a video producer/director and the founder of Mothlight Pictures in Chicago. He's done documentary, music video and advertising work for business clients, television networks and not-for-profits. A 20-year industry veteran, Marc has won Gold and Silver Hugos at the Chicago International Film Festival, as well as Addy and Telly awards for his work.

Angelo Williams is a filmmaker and documentarian from the west side of Chicago. His latest work Black Che The Panther, was mentioned in Ebony magazine. He is an active vegan and admirer of nature and earth.