Judges

While we have some lovely volunteers here at the festival who are eagerly anticipating watching  your films and getting involved in the judging process, we thought you might appreciate getting a much more critical eye cast over your submissions. With that in mind, we’ve gone out and asked some wonderful people with years of excellent experience and knowledge to join in. We may even get some more in later, so keep your eyes peeled for more!

Tim McInnerny – Actor

Tim McInnerny is an actor probably best known for his role as Percy in Blackadder and Blackadder II, and as Captain Darling in Blackadder Goes Forth. While he did not appear in Blackadder the Third as a regular cast member, a guest appearance in the series made him the only person other than Rowan Atkinson and Tony Robinson to appear in all four series of the show; he subsequently appeared in the one-off special Blackadder: Back & Forth. He has also appeared in Spooks and the Doctor Who story “Planet of the Ood”.

Aside from many television appearances, Tim has acted on stage in numerous productions, and has a lot of great film credits including “101 (and 102) Dalmatians”, “Notting Hill”, “Severance”, “Black Death” and “Johnny English Reborn”. Tim’s vast experience of dramatic and comedic roles will be a great asset during the selection process.

Bernard Hill – Actor

Bernard Hill is a British actor of film, stage and television. In a career spanning thirty years, he is best known for playing Yosser Hughes, the troubled ‘hard man’ whose life is falling apart in Alan Bleasdale’s groundbreaking 1980′s TV drama, Boys from the Blackstuff. He is also known for a number of iconic roles in blockbuster films, including Captain Edward John Smith in Titanic, King Théodenin The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, and as the Warden of San Quentin Prison in the Clint Eastwood film True Crime.

Hill is the only actor to have appeared in more than one of the three films awarded 11 Oscars, and one of only three actors to have starred in more than one film grossing more than $1 billion USD. Now living in Suffolk, Hill has ties to the region, and will be bringing the benefit of his vast knowledge and experience to the role of patron and judge to this year’s festival.

Jim Field Smith – Writer / Director

Jim Field Smith is a movie director, producer, writer and actor based in London, where he runs Idiotlamp Productions, the company he established with old friend and collaborator George Kay. He recently completed his second feature film, the ensemble comedy “Butter” for The Weinstein Company, starring Jennifer Garner, due for release in 2011. Prior to that he directed his debut feature, “She’s Out of My League” for Dreamworks/Paramount, which opened Spring 2010 and has grossed over $50m worldwide.

As a writer/director, Jim is currently developing several movies in the US, including a family adventure comedy for Paramount Pictures, and a feature version of his short film “Where Have I Been All Your Life?” for Columbia Pictures, both with co-writer Kay. Back home in England, the two of them are steering an adaption of the novel “All Quiet on the Orient Express” which Jim will direct. His previous credits include the acclaimed shorts “Goodbye to the Normals” and “Missing Moscow,” as well as several award-winning international commercials for clients such as Burger King, Smirnoff, Boots and MINI. With Jim’s vast and varied background in writing and directing, we will get a much better insight into what makes a good film tick.

Steve Furst – Comedian / Actor

Steve is one of the best known comedy faces in Britain, having starred in nearly 30 ‘Gold Spot’ commercials for Orange alongside some of the most well known names in movies. He was a regular supporting actor all three seasons of the hugely successful “Little Britain” with Matt Lucas and David Walliams. As his alter-ego Lenny Beige, Steve wrote and starred in “The Lenny Beige Television Show” on Channel 4 and 2 series of “The Lenny Beige Variety Pack” for BBC.

His television credits include; Rock Profiles (BBC), My Dad’s The Prime Minister (BBC), Annually Retentive (BBC), Armstrong & Miller (C4),  The Bill (ITV), Born and Bred (BBC), Wuthering Heights (ITV). Steve is currently appearing as the wizard Manitol for BBC1 and CBBC in The Legend of Dick and Dom.

 His film credits include; How It’s Done, The Piano Tuner, The Clap, Graham and Alice, Medium Rare, St Trinians  and St Trinian’s II, Malice in Wonderland and the forthcoming Noel Clarke film The Knot.

 In addition to a host of radio credits he has written the book The History of Radio Comedy for Virign and has contributed to many TV shows as a panelist. He is still a regular on The Wright Stuff (Channel 5). Steve’s brilliant knowledge of sketch based comedy and comedy writing in general will really hone in on the funniest and best written shorts.

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