The Award

Sensory Perceptions is proud to announce the inauguration of the New Directors Showcase. The festival programmers have selected films by first or second time directors that show an emerging talent for filmmaking. The films were selected based on their uniqueness of voice or style, quality of narrative, and overall craftsmanship. The jury has been assembled to choose the one film that best exhibits these qualities. That filmmaker will receive special recognition by the Portland LGBT Film Festival and a $500 cash award. In addition, a short film will be selected by the jury for recognition. That film will receive a $250 cash award.

Jury Members

Mike S. Broder

Michael S. Broder is the President of Small Planet Pictures, a fledgling independent film distribution and consulting company. Small Planet's first release will be Hilary Birmingham's Tully, starring Anson Mount and Julianne Nicholson. In addition, Mr. Broder and Small Planet will be assisting TLA Releasing with it's slate of theatrical releases, including Food of Love, P.S. Your Cat is Dead and KM.0. Prior to starting Small Planet, Mr. Broder served as VP, Domestic Distribution for Arrow Entertainment. During his tenure at Arrow, Broder was responsible for the acquisition and theatrical distribution of The Independent starring Jerry Stiller and Janeane Garofalo, Denis Villeneuve's Genie Award Winner Maelstrom and Atsushi Funahashi's Echoes. Broder's distribution career includes stints at Winstar Cinema as Head of Operations and Stratosphere Entertainment. Exhibition highlights include a post as Director of Marketing and Publicity with Florida based Art House chain Sunrise Cinemas and a brief run with United Artists.

Byrd McDonald

After graduating from the New York University Film Program, Byrd McDonald began work for Jonathan Demme’s production company Clinica Estetico. McDonald held various positions while working for Demme, including editing assistant on Mandela, story editor and finally Creative Executive. Byrd was actively involved in the development of Demme’s Beloved, Victor Nunez’ Ulee’s Gold, and Subway Stories, an omnibus movie directed by various independent filmmakers including Spike Lee, Ted Demme, Julie Dash, Abel Ferrara and others. McDonald was a founding producer of Phat Shorts, a short film festival held in New York City from 1995-2001. During it’s run, Phat Shorts garnered a reputation of excellence. McDonald is currently completing Haunters, a film he co-produced and co-directed with Brian Johnson. Haunters explores the lives and trials of people who work in the haunted attraction industry. McDonald moved to Portland in January 2001 and has no intentions of leaving.

Roger Paulson

Roger has been in the movie theatre business since high school. Beginning as a projectionist, he managed theatres in Salem and Portland before becoming Advertising Director of Tom Moyer Theatres. Later he was Marketing Director of Moyer Theatres where he managed and booked the 5th Avenue Cinema during the era of weekend midnight double features. He hosted local press tours for John Cassavetes, Peter Falk, Charlton Heston, Peter Bogdanovich, Joan Rivers, Harold Ramis, Cliff Robertson, Jamie Lee Curtis, Janet Leigh, Russ Meyer and others. Since 1989 Paulson has been an independent marketing consultant, representing Miramax Films, Fine Line Features, Sony Classics and other specialized studios. In addition to publicity, Paulson has booked the KOIN Cinemas and and the late Movie House since the mid-90s. Leaving publicity in 2000, he currently programs art screens for independent theatres as well as Regal Cinemas (Fox Tower locally) and Wallace Theatres in 35 cities from Miami to Honolulu. He attends film festivals in Palm Springs, Toronto, Seattle and occasionally the highly over-rated and excessively over-priced Sundance Film Festival.

Lisa Bradshaw

Lisa Bradshaw is the Arts & Culture Editor at Just Out, Oregon's only queer newsmagazine. She writes about everything from the gay softball league to Leather Pride Week, but lights up like a firefly for film reviews. She has a BA in Humanities from Washington State University and an MA in Women and Literature from the University of Hull in England. She's a lesbian who lives in SE Portland with her partner but, despite this, has NO dogs or cats.