Judges
Since 2021, the Lux Mea Film Festival has been honored to have a distinguished panel of judges—industry professionals, filmmakers, and creative visionaries—who bring their expertise to evaluating each submission with care and passion. Their diverse backgrounds ensure a well-rounded selection process, celebrating both emerging talent and seasoned storytellers.
From thought-provoking narratives to groundbreaking cinematography, our judges have helped shape the festival’s legacy, recognizing films that challenge, inspire, and leave a lasting impact.
Explore the judges who have played a pivotal role in Lux Mea’s story below.
2025 Judges
Brian Osmond
Brian Osmond has over 30 years of filmmaking experience as a camera operator and cinematographer with over 90 credits in film and television to his name. His work on commercials, music videos, industrials, news, reality, TV and films has taken him to over 40 states and seven countries.
His recent work has been seen in such films as the Academy Award-winning “Mank,” “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” and the highly popular Netflix series “Mindhunter.” He began his career in Pittsburgh in the camera and electrical department as a camera loader (in the days of actual film, not digital) with the intention of working up to director of photography. “Silence of the Lambs” was one of his earlier film credits. His work has resulted in him being nominated for the Society of Camera Operators’ Camera Operator of the Year Award for “Mindhunter” in 2018, as well as for the British Society of Cinematographers’ Operators Award for “Mank” in 2020. Osmond is a 1988 graduate of Grove City College, where he majored in computer science and served as a lighting designer for several of the college’s theater productions. He became interested in media (theater, radio, video, film) along the way and pursued a career in film after college. Brian and his wife Laura (Davis ’89), also a GCC graduate, currently reside in Pittsburgh. They have four children, and their daughter Evelyn is a GCC alumna.
Danica Nedennien
With topics spanning human trafficking, true crime, and American folklore, Danica Neddenien has produced compelling documentary series for networks including MSNBC, Discovery, ID, Destination America, OWN, TLC, Animal Planet, Sundance, and Reelz.
In addition to her work in documentary television, she spent over a decade in news marketing in Richmond and Washington, D.C., where her multi-platform promotional campaigns earned her 11 Emmy Awards.
Now serving as a post-production manager for Homes.com—the fastest-growing real estate website in the U.S.—Danica leads a team of editors producing thousands of property profile videos across the Eastern half of the country.
Spencer Folmar
Spencer Folmar is an award-winning producer, director, and writer. He has been making independent feature films for over 15 years. He is the founder of American Talent Management. His 2017 theatrical debut “Generational Sins” made worldwide news with his new Hard Faith™ genre. His films and entrepreneurial endeavors have been featured in Variety, New York Times, New York Post, Newsweek, LA Times, Deadline, Hollywood Reporter, and more. Spencer has written and directed eight feature films and produced 13 feature films. Spencer’s life motto in art is “Telling Stories That Liberate” and runs the nonprofit “Hard Faith” Christian ministry.
2024 Judges
Erik Lokkesmoe
From entertainment to government, corporate boardrooms to start-up media ventures, Erik Lokkesmoe has led large-scale communications strategies and teams that deliver growth, impact, and momentum for over 20 years. Erik currently serves as the Senior Advisor, Strategy & Communications for the Tennessee Governor’s Faith-Based and Community Initiative. Previously, Erik served as Vice President of Marketing at Outback Presents, the leading independent, full-service promoter of live entertainment for more than 1,300 music and comedy shows, tours, and festivals annually. He led a team of 22+ marketing professionals — generating millions of ticket sales for live music and comedy shows and tours.
Erik’s career began in Washington, D.C. after graduating from Westmont College Santa Barbara, and earning a Master’s Degree from American University. Between 1994-2006 he served as a congressional press secretary, a campaign communications director, a communications advisor, a cabinet-level speechwriter, and as the head of communications for the National Endowment for the Humanities.
In 2006, the Anschutz Film Group & Walden Media asked Erik to serve as project manager for a major motion picture; later he was Vice President of Strategic Partnerships & Outreach in Los Angeles. After working on multiple studio movies, he co-founded Different Drummer, a marketing and publicity firm that supported more than 100 entertainment campaigns for major movie studios, television networks, publishers, and music labels. Expanding into distribution and executive producing in 2014, four investors and Erik built Aspiration Entertainment Ventures.
Erik and his wife, Monica, also an entrepreneur, have three kids – Kolton, Skylar, and Sydney. He enjoys fixing his 1991 Jeep Grand Wagoneer, watching his girls play lacrosse, cheering on University of Tennessee sports, reading non-fiction, collecting Tintin merchandise, and fitness.
Andrea Nasfell
Andrea Nasfell is a feature writer with over a dozen produced credits, including the television Christmas movies Every Other Holiday (Lifetime) and Holiday for Heroes (Hallmark Movies & Mysteries). She’s also the writer of theatrical comedies The Resurrection of Gavin Stone (Blumhouse) and Moms’ Night Out (Sony Affirm), which won a Dove award for Inspirational Film of the Year. Andrea is a member of the WGA and teaches screenwriting at USC and Asbury University. She earned an MFA in Creative Writing from Spalding University. She lives in Los Angeles with her producer husband and two talented children.
Brian Osmond
Brian Osmond has over 30 years of filmmaking experience as a camera operator and cinematographer with over 90 credits in film and television to his name. His work on commercials, music videos, industrials, news, reality, TV and films has taken him to over 40 states and seven countries.
His recent work has been seen in such films as the Academy Award-winning “Mank,” “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” and the highly popular Netflix series “Mindhunter.” He began his career in Pittsburgh in the camera and electrical department as a camera loader (in the days of actual film, not digital) with the intention of working up to director of photography. “Silence of the Lambs” was one of his earlier film credits. His work has resulted in him being nominated for the Society of Camera Operators’ Camera Operator of the Year Award for “Mindhunter” in 2018, as well as for the British Society of Cinematographers’ Operators Award for “Mank” in 2020. Osmond is a 1988 graduate of Grove City College, where he majored in computer science and served as a lighting designer for several of the college’s theater productions. He became interested in media (theater, radio, video, film) along the way and pursued a career in film after college. Brian and his wife Laura (Davis ’89), also a GCC graduate, currently reside in Pittsburgh. They have four children, and their daughter Evelyn is currently a senior at GCC.
2023 Judges
Tyler Hisel
Tyler Hisel is a writer and producer working in both film and television. His recent television writing includes “Elizabeth Street” which is in the works at TriStar Television, “Treadstone” on USA Network, “Lore” on Amazon Prime and “Wayward Pines” on Fox. Hisel’s announced high-profile film work includes writing “The Fixer” at Paramount Pictures with director Ron Howard and producer Bradley Cooper attached, as well as adapting “The Corporation” with Benicio Del Toro attached to star and Leonardo DiCaprio serving as producer.
Katherine Ootsman
Katherine Oostman is a writer and director of films, commercials, theatre, novels, articles and the occasional poem. Her conceptual eye combined with her grounded sensibilities create visceral, character-driven stories that comment on the human condition.
Her graduate thesis film, “The Stranger,” a psychological thriller, screened at San Diego Comic-Con, the TCL Chinese Theater, the Atlanta Film Festival and the Florida Film Festival. “The Stranger” was the winner of several awards, including the 2018 bronze Telly Award for Directing and the 2019 Gasparilla Film Festival Grand Jury Best College Short Film award, among others at the Top Shorts Film Festival (Film of the Month, Best Narrative Film, Best Director, Best Ensemble and Best Editing with an Honorable Mention for Best Actress and Best Score). Oostman also won two Awards of Excellence for the categories of Direction and Women Filmmakers from Accolade Global Film Competition for her short film. Additionally, the feature script, based on the short, was a 2018 American Zoetrope Screenwriting Competition quarterfinalist and a 2020 Final Draft Big Break Screenwriting Contest quarterfinalist.
Brian Osmond
Brian Osmond has over 30 years of filmmaking experience as a camera operator and cinematographer with over 90 credits in film and television to his name. His work on commercials, music videos, industrials, news, reality, TV and films has taken him to over 40 states and seven countries.
His recent work has been seen in such films as the Academy Award-winning “Mank,” “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” and the highly popular Netflix series “Mindhunter.” He began his career in Pittsburgh in the camera and electrical department as a camera loader (in the days of actual film, not digital) with the intention of working up to director of photography. “Silence of the Lambs” was one of his earlier film credits. His work has resulted in him being nominated for the Society of Camera Operators’ Camera Operator of the Year Award for “Mindhunter” in 2018, as well as for the British Society of Cinematographers’ Operators Award for “Mank” in 2020. Osmond is a 1988 graduate of Grove City College, where he majored in computer science and served as a lighting designer for several of the college’s theater productions. He became interested in media (theater, radio, video, film) along the way and pursued a career in film after college. Brian and his wife Laura (Davis ’89), also a GCC graduate, currently reside in Pittsburgh. They have four children, and their daughter Evelyn is currently a senior at GCC
2022 Judges
Brian Osmond
Brian Osmond has over 30 years of filmmaking experience as a camera operator and cinematographer with over 90 credits in film and television to his name. His work on commercials, music videos, industrials, news, reality, TV and films has taken him to over 40 states and seven countries.
His recent work has been seen in such films as the Academy Award-winning “Mank,” “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” and the highly popular Netflix series “Mindhunter.” He began his career in Pittsburgh in the camera and electrical department as a camera loader (in the days of actual film, not digital) with the intention of working up to director of photography. “Silence of the Lambs” was one of his earlier film credits. His work has resulted in him being nominated for the Society of Camera Operators’ Camera Operator of the Year Award for “Mindhunter” in 2018, as well as for the British Society of Cinematographers’ Operators Award for “Mank” in 2020. Osmond is a 1988 graduate of Grove City College, where he majored in computer science and served as a lighting designer for several of the college’s theater productions. He became interested in media (theater, radio, video, film) along the way and pursued a career in film after college. Brian and his wife Laura (Davis ’89), also a GCC graduate, currently reside in Pittsburgh. They have four children, and their daughter Evelyn is currently a senior at GCC.
Christine Swanson
A visionary filmmaker from Detroit, Michigan, Christine Swanson most directed the record-breaking, smash-hit film The Clark Sisters: First Ladies of Gospel, which was 2020’s Best TV Movie award recipient from the African American Film Critics Association and nominated for a Critics Choice Award for Best Movie Made for Television as well as five NAACP Image Award Nominations including Outstanding Directing. Her other celebrated movie credits include All About You, The Miki Howard Story, and For the Love of Ruth, for which she also earned an NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Directing in a Television Motion Picture.
Christine has directed numerous television shows including All American, All American Homecoming, P-Valley, Chicago PD and more. Christine received her Master of Fine Arts degree in Film from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and her Bachelors of Arts degree from the University of Notre Dame. She lives in Los Angeles with her Studio Executive husband, Michael Swanson and their four amazing children.
Jeff Day
Jeff Day is an award-winning screenwriter/director/producer with over 30 years of experience on stage and screen and is the co-founder of Lucky Day Studios, a company that has produced three feature length films and has multiple film and TV projects in development. Jeff co-wrote, directed and produced Midway to Love, starring Rachel Hendrix, a film that premiered on the Hallmark Movies and Mysteries Channel in the US in June 2020 to excellent ratings. That film was sold for release on television in Canada, France, Spain, Italy and the Middle East.
Before that, Day co-wrote, co-directed and produced Unrequited, starring Michael Welch, Justin Baldoni, and David Keith. Unrequited sold to Lionsgate for US distribution and sold in eleven additional international territories. Jeff Day was also co-writer, director, and producer on the coming of age faith-based film, Faith, Love and Chocolate, starring Rebeca Robles. That was one of the featured projects on Pure Flix and has been viewed with solid ratings (3.5 stars) on Amazon Prime.
Day received his MFA in Directing at the University of Utah in conjunction with Robert Redford’s Sundance Institute. He spent three years at the Sundance Institute working with critically acclaimed directors, Moises Kaufman and Craig Lucas. In addition to the feature films described above, Jeff has directed multiple short films, a television sit-com pilot, reality TV pitch footage, and more than 75 stage plays for professional, collegiate, and community theatre. He is a four-time winner of the Directing Award of Excellence from the Kennedy Center’s KCACTF and was recognized as a Marcom Award of Excellence recipient for writing and directing the mini-feature, Stolen Moments. Jeff Day is a member of the Writers Guild of America East, the Screen Actors Guild, and the Actors Equity Association. Jeff spent 16 years as the Director of Theatre & Cinema Performance at Asbury University before leaving that position in 2020.
“As an actor, I trained in the Meisner method and I utilize those principles as a Director. When directing, I am committed to a truthful portrayal in acting and in characterization. I allow for the discovery of emotion found through truthful moments and in the action of each actor working off the other. It is critical for the cast to trust in the vision of the director and his/her understanding of the story they tell. Frank and honest discussions of subtext and motivation drive my passion and process. We must allow truth to come forth and create an atmosphere of trust in an environment that encourages creativity. I believe in the power of story and its ability to inspire and impact lives. That is, I believe, in the higher calling of the arts.”
2021 Judges
Spencer T. Folmar
Grove City alumni, Spencer T. Folmar, shot into the spotlight when his theatrical debut, “Generational Sins,” spurred a national debate surrounding the interplay of faith and film. FOX, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, Washington Times, CBN, Christian Post, and more have all joined the conversation about the film’s release. At 19 years-old his second feature film, “Guilt & Sentence,” received critical acclaim, winning festival awards and premiering to a sold-out audience.
Folmar’s films are now released under his Los Angeles production company Hard Faith™. Folmar also has an extensive career in corporate and commercial and non-profit video production around the world.
D.T. Slouffman
Emmy Award winner, DT Slouffman is the creator of six digital sub-brands for Sports Illustrated and is the executive producer for more than 600 episodes of the brand’s daily digital series. While acting as a series producer for CNN with Rachel Nichols, Slouffman helped bring sports back to the news giant. He has produced and directed short documentaries on Super Bowl III and the Phillie Phanatic.
His first full-length documentary for Lifetime television, “Scandal on Thin Ice,” launched him into work for Discovery and TLC. Slouffman has won six Emmy Awards and seven International Television and Film World Medals for his efforts. Slouffman currently acts as a writer and consultant for Circle Country Countdown for Circle Network, produces reporters for the NBA on TNT and MLB on TBS, and is in pre-production on a new feature-length documentary.
Kate Sweeney
Kate Sweeney launched her professional career as an associate producer for National Geographic Television & Film. She served as the supervising producer on the creative team that launched Smithsonian Channel, a joint venture between CBS/Showtime and the Smithsonian Institution. She was also the executive producer for TPI, an international producer and distributor of fiction and nonfiction films.
Kate’s productions have taken her from Bangkok to Burbank and aired all over the world on networks including, History, MSNBC, Showtime, CBS, Al Jazeera, National Geographic, and Smithsonian Channel. Kate also regularly serves as a News & Documentary Emmy Award judge. Today, Kate manages the journalism concentration at George Mason University, outside Washington, D.C.