Judges
Brock LaBorde is a writer and producer who’s developed films, TV shows, digital series, and commercials for Dreamworks, Sony, WWE, VENN, Quibi, MTV, Comedy Central, AT&T, and Intel. His recent projects include the award-winning gun violence doc, 91%; and the animated pilot, SpaceWorld (his third project with cult film icon Tommy Wiseau). Currently, he’s designing a video game, ARBO: Arena Tactics, and developing its IP into a graphic novel for ReBlink Studios. He served as a judge for the Southern Screen Film Fest for 3 years, and is honored to serve as a Comedy Film Fest judge for a second time.
G-Su Paek is a Korean-American actor known for his work in independent films like Somebody Up There Likes Me (2012), 7 Chinese Brothers (2015), Call Me Brother (2018), and Lucky Doug (2022). He has appeared in TV series such as Crunch Time and HBO’s The Leftovers. A writer and performer in the 2020 CBS Showcase, he also co-founded award winning improv troupe "Y’all We Asian". His work spans film, television, voice acting, and live comedy, with festival appearances at San Francisco Sketchfest, Dallas Comedy Festival, and more.
Tiernan O'Rourke is a seasoned film festival technician and event production specialist based in Austin, Texas. Over the course of the last fifteen years he has ensured that thousands of films have had stellar premiere experiences at theatrical venues across the capitol city. When he's not running or attending festivals, you can likely find him lending a hand on the set of an independent feature or trying to start up another very important podcast about sandwiches.
Alice Nelson is a student in Austin who’s passionate about TV-production and film editing. She is a writer who creates and edits horror/comedy shorts with her friends, does production gigs with TBN and A&E, and will continue involvement in local theatre projects. She spends her free time talking to her cat, recording outside noises, and watching comedy TV.
Panelists, Hosts, Special Guests
Yola Jean Lu is a comedian, actress and writer based in Austin, Texas. She has been lucky enough to have performed stand up in Seattle's Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival and Los Angeles' Comedy Comedy Festival. She is one of the co-founders of Texas' only all-Asian improv troupe, Y'all We Asian— who have won multiple honors, including at the B. Iden Payne Awards and the Critic's Pick in the Austin Chronicle's “Best Of”. Yola is also the 2022 Austin Chronicle Best Actress winner. When Yola isn't performing stand up around town, or improv with her all-female troupe, Garage, she is making and writing films. Yola is the creator & star of the web series, “uncomfortable”, which has amassed over a million views. She recently finished her short film, Patsy, which she produced, wrote and starred in.
Peter Pardini is a director and writer based in Austin, Texas. His 2017 film Now More Than Ever: The History of Chicago, about the legendary rock group Chicago, premiered on CNN and won best feature awards across numerous festivals. He has directed numerous commercials, shorts and several feature films including 2020’s Rolling Thunder starring Wes Studi and Joe Mantegna.
Chinwe Okorie is a writer-director known for witty, reality-rooted storytelling. Nominated for Best Austin Filmmaker in 2021, her films LOVEBITES (selected by Issa Rae’s Hoorae Media) and ELEPHANT! (Austin Film Festival 2022) earned her recognition as a Top Writer to Watch by MovieMaker Magazine. Her short film Cycles visited multiple festivals between 2025 and 2026, and was distributed by Omeleto. She’s currently preparing for her new short film, Help Is On The Way. Additionally, she’s developing ELEPHANT! as her feature debut.
John Gholson is an award-winning actor, writer, and cartoonist living in Austin, TX. His credits include Netflix's Bad Thoughts, Man Finds Tape, and F*** My Son! (which is still in theaters), and appearances on VH1 and Adult Swim. John spent ten years as a "Tomato-approved" film critic for various outlets, and received an Austin Chronicle Best of Austin nomination for his sketch comedy troupe The Voyagers. His illustration work includes Halloween Man, Richard Cheese album covers, Fandango.com, Esquire, and more. He can next be seen in the upcoming horror-comedy film Organonym.
Crew
Eric Rousseau is a filmmaker who splits time between Austin, TX & Charlotte, NC. He prides himself on being able to jump into any role on a set. His feature film, Lucky Doug, played at a dozen festivals between 2021-2023, and won numerous awards.
Rachel Wise is an award-winning journalist with a passion for telling stories and building products across multiple platforms. She’s a proud graduate of the Poynter Women’s Leadership Academy 2019 cohort.
JJ Pollack works as a freelance editor and director in Austin, with work featured on ESPN+, Gunpowder & Sky’s DUST channel, Film Shortage, and Seattle's Museum of Pop Culture. He was awarded a grant from the Other Worlds Film Festival to make his last short, Jettison, which premiered at the Austin Film Festival and made its LA debut at HollyShorts. JJ is currently in pre-production to direct his first feature, a two-hander chamber dramedy, after industry vets read his script and raved "Why is this a movie? Feels more like a play." and "This is the least marketable idea anyone's ever had."
Patrick Neese has directed, produced, operated Steadicam, edited, animated, written, and acted in short films, web series, podcasts, feature films, live shows, and so much more.
Graham Young is a filmmaker and part-time gameshow host working in the Austin area. He has worked on Austin area feature films such as Ultimate World and Lucky Doug, as well as the documentary short, The Superlative Light, which was a nominee for the Grand Jury Award at SXSW.
Born in rural Kansas, Graham's daddy was a rattlesnake, and his mama wore a six-gun.
