Guest Judge Panel
Friday, April 24
3-5 PM
Art B 102 at Cal Poly Humboldt
Free admission!
Passions & Paychecks: Finding the Balance
HIFF’s three guest judges share how they navigate multiple jobs to support their filmmaking passions. This panel explores how filmmakers sustain their careers in the independent and commercial industries by balancing the roles they love with the work that pays the bills.
The conversation will include a showcase of the guest judges’ work, followed by a discussion and audience Q&A.
Moderated by Danica Frey
Latajh Weaver
LaTajh Simmons-Weaver is an Oakland-based screenwriter, director, and producer, named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s 25 New Faces of Independent Film. Their work employs humor and irony to highlight underrepresented Black queer narratives. They have produced films for The Guardian, the Museum of African Diaspora, and the SF Queer Arts Foundation. Their films, Budget Paradise (SFFILM) and Hold Me Close (Sundance), premiered in 2025. They also served as associate producer on Earth Mama (A24), which premiered at Sundance in 2023 and won a BAFTA.
Julian Doan
Julian Doan is a writer/director preoccupied with the mundane, ironic, and absurd. His short films RASPBERRY (Sundance 2021) and LONG’S LONG LOST & MINI MART (Tribeca 2025), are the first 2 of his “dead dad trilogy”, to be completed with his 1st feature HALF SWEET (Gotham Project Market 2021): a Tati-esque satirical tragicomedy about a family keeping a dying father alive against his will. Together, these films all explore the commodification of grief. He’s also an editor and assistant editor with credits such as THE SYMPATHIZER, IN TREATMENT, MAINSTREAM, and WILD WILD COUNTRY. He’s a recently converted cat daddy.
Kat Ball
Kat Ball is an animator originally from New York City, currently living in Los Angeles. She is a character designer on the Netflix animated series Long Story Short and seasons two & three of Tuca & Bertie. She is the founder & curator of the animation screening series Loose Frames, which aims to uplift independent animators locally and internationally. She is also on the board and the Fellowship Program Director of the 501(c)3 non-profit Silver Lake Shorts.
Presented by:
