Judges – Jackson Doc Fest

Here are our 2025 season judges...

Our JACKSON Doc Fest volunteer judge panels are comprised of internationally acclaimed award-winning filmmakers and diverse industry of professionals around the globe.

Mr. Lee is an internationally acclaimed entertainment and educational content producer and award-winning film director/producer. He has over thirty years of multi-cultural and diverse industry experience in the fields of architecture, interactive media, visual effects, and animations as a director/producer and over twenty years of teaching and lecturing experience at prestigious colleges in both South Korea and the U.S. He has produced and directed many award-winning documentaries and films, including several others that raise awareness of history, culture, and current affairs that have been selected and screened at more than 150 international film festivals such as the Oscar, Golden Globe, and Cannes with over 60 best film and directing awards.

Mr. Trank is an Academy award-winning documentary writer/director for his feature The Long Way Home. Based in Los Angeles, he is also known for I Have Never Forgotten You: The Life & Legacy of Simon Wiesenthal, Against the Tide, and Winston Churchill: Walking with Destiny and 15 other feature and short documentaries as a writer/producer. Since 1984, he has served as the principal writer/director and Executive Producer of Moriah Films, the documentary film division of the Simon Wiesenthal Center as well as the Museums of Tolerance in Los Angeles and Jerusalem.

Throughout his film career, he has been privileged of to work with Brooke Shields, Michael Douglas, Edward Asner, Anne Bancroft, Michael York, Whoopi Goldberg, Christoph Waltz, Nicole Kidman and Morgan Freeman, among others, on numerous award-winning films. Most recently he worked with George Clooney, who narrated his upcoming film Never Stop Dreaming, a film biography of Shimon Peres, which will premiere as a Netflix Original Documentary in summer 2022.

Dr. Klein served as the director of the East Asian Library for 38 years at the University of Southern California Library since 1983 and he was recently awarded the Order of Civil Merit for this service and contributions.

George is a Heisman Trophy candidate and a former professional American football running back in the National Football League with Pittsburgh Steelers, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Cleveland Browns in the late 90s. He is also the author of The Present Dad and the proud dad of three children.

Mr. Spano is an award-winning writer and filmmaker with over thirty years of experience in film and television production, performing arts, arts management, and fundraising. His recent book, Midland Club, has received two awards and significant critical acclaim.

Ms. Oh is an award-winning television and documentary film writer in South Korea. She is also the president of the documentary film producers and directors association in Korea.

Ms. Goldfarb is an Academy Award-nominated two times Emmy Award winning documentary filmmaker. She has a unique portfolio of creative video and film productions for a diversity of venues, from museums and educational institutions to public and cable television.
Ms. Goldfarb’s documentaries use evocative story telling, penetrating archival footage, and visually compelling cinematography to put a human face on historical events, and to reveal the enduring spirit in stories that still have an impact on our world today.
She currently teaches documentary filmmaking workshops for a variety of programs including: The American Film Showcase in Bujumbura, Burundi; the American Center in Yangon, Burma; “Tom Bradley Intergenerational Leadership Summit and Video Training Program” for high school students, USC and Otis College for the Arts

Prof. Chang is a Leading Professor at SUNY Stony Brook in Korea since 2022. He spent 35 years as Professor of Marketing at Yonsei School of Business. He received his Doctorate from Harvard University, his MBA from Columbia University, and his BCom from the University of British Columbia. A former Dean of the Graduate School of International Studies at Yonsei University, he has held visiting faculty appointments at Helsinki School of Economics, Hong Kong University of Science & Technology, Australian National University, Singapore Management University, Nanyang Technology University, and was a Visiting Scholar at Columbia University, University of Vienna and University of St. Andrews.

Mr. Ross is a digital media executive with a career spanning four decades. He led George Lucas’ companies and in 1993 he founded, along with James Cameron and Stan Winston, Digital Domain, Inc., one of the largest digital production studios in the motion picture and advertising industries. Scott was also the general manager of Lucasfilm’s Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) and they earned five Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects with Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Innerspace, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, The Abyss, Death Becomes Her.
In early 90s, he was named senior vice president of the LucasArts Entertainment Company, which comprised Skywalker Sound, LucasArts Commercial Productions, LucasArts Attractions, EditDroid/SoundDroid and ILM. With Scott’s direction, Digital Domain garnered two Academy Awards and three nominations, receiving its first Oscar in 1997 for the ground-breaking visual effects in Titanic in addition to three Scientific and Technical Academy Awards for its proprietary software.

Aura is a multifaceted individual with a passion for renewable energy, environmental advocacy, and social justice. Originally from Colombia, she has a rich background in policies aimed at enhancing people’s well-being. Notably, she ran for the Los Angeles City Council and was appointed by Los Angeles Mayor to serve on the Board of Commissioners for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), the largest municipal utility in the nation. Additionally, she is the founder of Vasquez Solutions LLC, dedicated to helping businesses, organizations, and stakeholders embrace sustainability and make a meaningful impact on the world. Her expertise spans governmental relations and business development.

Gyubin Kim, North Hollywood High School
Grace Yang, Sage Hill School