Meet The Judges (& Event Organizer)
These folks will decide the winner of Best film and a number of other awards!
Courtney Fly is a Memphis native and graduate of the University of Memphis, where she earned her degree in Communications and Fine Arts. A lifelong lover of film and music, Courtney has dedicated her career to uplifting the Memphis arts community.
During her time at Crosstown Arts, she brought her creative vision and passion to the forefront, co-creating and curating the weekly Crosstown Arts Film Series with colleague and local filmmaker ,Justin Thompson. The series featured a diverse array of independent, international, historically significant, experimental, cult, underground, and documentary films. She also curated special live-score screenings, pairing films with performances by local musicians such as The Memphis Concrete Scrap Metal Orchestra, Cloudland Canyon, Optic Sink, General Labor, The Pop Ritual, 1000 Lights, and more. Courtney helped create a dedicated space for Memphis cinephiles to gather, discover, and engage with thought-provoking and entertaining cinema.
Courtney recently joined the Memphis Youth Symphony Program as Operations Manager, where she supports the organization’s mission to foster growth and inspire the next generation of young musicians in Memphis.
An active member of the local music scene, Courtney enjoys DJing and spinning records in her spare time. She lives in Midtown Memphis with her two beloved cats, Jojo and Murphy.
Joseph Carr is a Memphis-based film producer and production manager with a strong focus on independent, Southern-rooted storytelling. He holds a BA in Communications with a concentration in Film & Video Production from the University of Memphis and was a finalist in the Directors Guild of America’s Assistant Directors Training Program.
Over the past two decades, Joseph has worked across a variety of narrative and documentary projects, both shorts and features, with a particular interest in stories that highlight distinctive aspects of regional history. He collaborates closely with the team at Last Bite Films, where he helps shepherd projects from development through post-production. His most recent film, Shine On: The Story of Tom Lee, explores the legacy of a Memphis hero and is currently airing on the PBS affiliate WKNO.
In addition to his production work, Joseph brings over ten years of experience in the film festival and arts organization world. He previously served as Managing Director of Indie Memphis, a nonprofit dedicated to cultivating the independent film community in the Mid-South.
Billups Allen has worked in seven different record stores around the country and currently lives in Memphis, Tennessee where he works for Goner Records, publishes Cramhole zine, contributes music and movie writing regularly to Razorcake, Ugly Things, and Lunchmeat magazines, and writes fiction. His most recent books 101 Films You Could See Before You Die and I Exhibited Films for a Year. I Lost Money, but I Think I Made My Point are available from Goner Records.
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101 Films You Could See Before You DieA film guide for the disenchanted by Billups Allen
Available at Goner Records