John Wildman, Founder and Editor-in-Chief
John Wildman is a multi-faceted presence in the entertainment world, known for his work as a film and film festival publicist, consultant, filmmaker, journalist, and critic. Currently, Wildman is the publicist and consultant for independent films and national regional film festivals. He has also been a host on The Daily Buzz NPR broadcast reporting from Sundance, Toronto, and Cannes and co-host of the Fog of Truth Documentary Film podcast. His feature film directorial debut, the grindhouse art-horror thriller Ladies of the House was released to critical acclaim in 2015, The comedy short, SWEAT OF HIS COW is currently winning awards as it makes the festival rounds around the world in 2022.
Wildman was formerly the Senior Publicist for the New York Film Festival, New Directors/New Films, the Chaplin Award Gala, and the Director of Press and Public Relations for the American Film Institute. As a journalist, he was formerly a contributor to Film Comment.com, Film Threat, Movie City News, Beyond Cinema, Fangoria.com, Moving Pictures Magazine.com, and Festworks.com. Wildman also wrote and produced the Vision Awards for several years, which aired on the ION and PAX Networks and benefitted Retinitis Pigmentosa International.
Justina Walford, Managing Editor
Justina Walford loves to start things. Most recently, Walford was the founder and festival director of Women Texas Film Festival, which celebrated a successful 5-year run from 2016-2020. Earlier in her career, Walford served as the founder and artistic director of Split.Id Stage Performances in Hollywood and was writer/producer of the LGBTQ horror thriller, Ladies of the House and her two-person dramatic play, Evolution of Sunday. Justina is dedicated to promoting storytelling in all of its forms. As such, she has served on a variety of boards over her career, including Sunday Assembly NYC, Women in Film Dallas, and Asian Film Festival Dallas. Walford has built a reputation for bringing diverse groups of people together to work collectively in shining a light upon the stories that shape our world, real or imagined.
THE WRITERS
Jason Rogers
Jason sold his first screenplay in 1995 when he was fifteen. Since then, he has written screenplays for numerous foreign studios, indie horror studios, visual artists, and directors with unconventional visions. His romantic comedy, Take Me To Banaue, is now available with limited distribution. Jason judges a great movie by its ability to be watched repeatedly in any mood. With three MA degrees in Literature, he is capable of analyzing films in-depth, yet he also appreciates them simply for their entertainment value. Sometimes, movies are just meant to be enjoyable and fun.
Luke Y Thompson
Luke Y. Thompson began the year 1999 hand-photocopying his movie and pop-culture opinions in zines. By the end of that year, he was a critic and assistant arts editor for New Times Los Angeles. Since then, he set the standard for modern Comic-Con coverage under Nikki Finke at Deadline, and has contributed to most major L.A. outlets, including the L.A. Times, L.A. Weekly, CityBeat, E! Online, OC Weekly, Forbes and more. In addition to film, he writes voraciously about toys and fast food, having been a toy blogger and photographer for sites like FreakSugar and Superhero Hype. A former editor-in-chief for Voice Media’s Topless Robot site, and editor at Nerdist, he has also acted in low-budget horror movies, and contrary to stereotypes, enjoys consuming and analyzing all forms of cinema.