9th Annual Animation and Film Festival

Gina Amico, Digital Producer

Gina is a digital producer with a demonstrated history of working in the media production industry for almost a decade. Her vast experience in unscripted television, documentary, and educational content has sharpened her skills across a variety of mediums including long and short form content. She has not only developed, cast, and produced shows for networks such as Bravo, Oxygen, Investigation Discovery, TLC, and The Food Network, but she has also created online courses at Strayer University, Capella University and Domestika. She is incredibly grateful for the opportunity to judge and admire the featured talent at NYIT's Animation and Film Festival.

Sean Donnelly, Animation Director

Sean Donnelly founded the animation company, Awesome + modest, which specializes in mixed media animation for documentaries, music videos and commercials. They recently did all the animation for the Duplass Brother's HBO miniseries, The Lady and the Dale, and he won a Clio award for the promo he directed for it. Sean has directed music videos and commercials for clients such as Scion, Netflix, Bo Burnham, The Spinto Band, Volbeat, Kirk Hammett, The Mountain Goats, and many more.

Taj François, Creative Director

Taj François was born and raised in South Jersey to Haitian parents and went to high school taking classes that focused on tv production and development. Following high school he moved to NYC to attend the New York Film Academy and follow his passions of being in "the industry". Since his move, he’s worked with multiple artists such as Frank Ocean, Lion Babe, Miguel, and Kwamie Liv to name a few. Along with musicians he also has worked with name brand clients like Beats By Dre, Adidas & Louis Vuitton. He also lends his talents to the medium of Photography, spreading across categories such as Fashion, Lifestyle, Street & Nature. He has a wide area of expertise covering many forms of execution & in each area, keeps true to what gives a sense of feeling & emotion.

Mark Reynolds, Independent Animator and Visual Effects Artist

Mark Reynolds is a New York City-based animator and visual effects artist who has created work for screens large, small, virtual, and live-projected. His recent work can be seen in HBO’s documentary The Lady and the Dale, and he is currently serving as a lead compositor for the animated feature documentary, The Conspiracy. He is also the perpetrator behind the odd animated short film “Baiser (Kiss)” playing in various film festivals around the world. In addition to his freelance work, he teaches at the New York Film Academy and serves as Secretary for the New York City chapter of ACM SIGGRAPH.