JURY & AWARDS

THE JURY

Each year, our jury watches every selection and decides who earns the Jury Awards: the film that gets craft, performance, and scares all working together, while telling a story the genre hasn't heard enough of. We ask them to bring real judgement, not politeness. And we ask them to look for the same thing we look for in every film we program: voices, bodies, and stories that don't usually get the room.

JURY MEMBERS 2026

Jeremy Macomber-Dubs
Kristen Lopez
Sarah Flores
Heather Taylor (she/her)
Sruti Lodha

JURY PROFILES

Jeremy Dubs (he/him)

Jeremy Dubs is a musician, actor, disabled activist and City Councilor who has been flying by the seat of his wheelchair his entire life, learning how to navigate inaccessible and ableist environments since childhood. In 2004, at the age of 27, he moved from central Pennsylvania to western Massachusetts to dedicate his time to performing with his rock band. His creative pursuits throughout the years led him to singing on the first new Pixies album in 20 years (Indie Cindy, 2014), and acting in the lead role of “Aleister Budd” in the independent comedy film Tallywacker, loosely based on his life as a touring musician with a disability.

Recently, Jeremy released a new album called Horror Spectrum with his psychedelic-prog band Bunnies. As an activist, he co-founded the anti-ableist organization the Disableist Movement with his friend Olivia Marshall. On 23 April 2022, the two led a march through Northampton, Massachusetts, demanding greater accessibility. On 7 November 2023, Jeremy became the first wheelchair user elected to Northampton’s City Council. He is currently serving his second term, still making music with Bunnies, and Tallywacker is available on digital streaming services worldwide.

Kristen Lopez (she/her)

Kristen Lopez is a writer, editor and disability advocate whose work has been published at Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, MTV and Turner Classic Movies. She was the Film Editor at TheWrap and was previously the TV Editor at IndieWire, where her writing on disability in media garnered nominations at both the SoCal Journalism Awards and National Journalism Awards by the LA Press Club.

Sarah Marie Flores (she/her)

Sarah Marie Flores is a creative producer and co-founder of Anarchists United Studios and Foundation. Sarah holds an MFA degree from UCLA’s Producers Program. Prior to her transition to Hollywood, Sarah worked for over a decade in film production, exhibition, publicity, and with film-based non-profits including The Roxie Theater and Frameline Film Festival in the Bay Area.

Heather Taylor (she/her)

Heather Taylor is a writer, creator and director of TV, film and audio projects about messy, complicated family relationships, chosen and otherwise, often told through a genre lens. Her work strives to destigmatize mental illness, disabilities and poverty. She was a co-producer/writer on the Syfy/Peacock series REVIVAL, an award-nominated story editor on season two of THE HARDY BOYS (Hulu/Disney+), and her second feature film, LETHAL LOVE, is streaming on Netflix. Heather recently co-wrote KNOW YOUR NEWLYWED (Simon & Schuster) and co-hosts BRAAAINS, a podcast exploring the portrayal of mental health and disabilities on film and TV. Her career started as a playwright in England, where she authored three poetry collections. Heather is a former journalist and ad executive, an idea machine, and the Indiana Jones of research. See more at HeatherATaylor.com.

Sruti Lodha (she/her)

Sruti is a producer and development lead at Storiculture, based in Goa, India, where she works across fiction and non-fiction projects, stewarding ideas from early development to pitch and building creator labs that support emerging voices. Her work is anchored in feminist perspectives and underrepresented narratives, with a particular focus on stories that sit at the intersection of community and culture.

Sruti has worked on films such as Auto Queens (World Premiere at IDFA, 2025) and Humans in the Loop (Sloan Grant winner, 2024). She is currently producing a comic anthology centered on stories of emotional well-being and lived experiences. Across her slate, she brings a dual commitment to rigorous story development and meaningful real-world impact, shaping projects that resonate both on screen and beyond it.