Amanda Melby, a native Minnesotan, made her way to Phoenix via Los Angeles, Washington, DC and Cleveland. She has worked as a professional actress for over 10 years and is a proud member of SAG, AFTRA, AEA, and IFP. In addition to acting, Amanda also works as a producer and writer. Shortly after moving to Phoenix in 2004, Amanda was asked to serve on the advisory board of the Phoenix Film Project. She, and Julie Holman, were appointed as Co-Executive Directors in April, 2005. She served as Host, Writer and Supervising Producer of Screen Wars in its first season. She was nominated for an EMMY ® for her work as the Host in Season One. She returns for the Second Season as Executive Producer, Writer and Host.

Amanda can be seen in features Netherbeast Incorporated, REM, The Majestic, and The Language of Kickball and the independent shorts Bondage, Autumn Leaves, Deathbed Blues, Outlet (a 2000 Sundance Festival selection), among others. Her television credits include the “Screen Wars,” “Boston Public,” “Young and the Restless” and “AdTV.”

Her Los Angeles theatrical credits include understudying for Peri Gilpin in FRASIER GONE WILDE: THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST at the Mark Taper Forum, starring as Sonia in the LA premiere of LIFE x 3 at the Elephant Asylum, as Doris in SAME TIME, NEXT YEAR at the Long Beach Playhouse, and as Amy in the premiere of CHENILLE STEMS AND COCO MIDRIB at the Secret Rose Theatre. She also has numerous Regional theatrical credits.

In addition to performing, Amanda has worked in the non-profit world for many years at the Kennedy Center, Arena Stage, Cleveland San Jose Ballet and Concordia College Theatre. Amanda is also an accomplished cellist and holds a BA in theatre and English from Concordia College, Moorhead, Minnesota. She owns and coaches at Verve Studios (www.VerveStudio.net), a boutique music and acting studio in Scottsdale, AZ.

Julie Holman is an Independent producer, freelance writer and artist. Julie’s creative endeavors stem from her great-grandparents, who worked in Vaudeville; her grandparents met at Paramount Studios. Her father Butch, was a musician and her mother Sandy, was a performance artist. In 1980 Julie headed to New Orleans and was lead singer in the New Wave band AbuZe. Julie helped create experimental videos that were broadcast on MTV as well as nightclubs and lounges in New Orleans in the early 1980‘s.

While living in New Orleans Julie was involved with the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage festival, Tennessee Williams Festival, WWOZ /radio and WYES/TV when not working as a ER/Hospice Nurse.

In 1999 Julie moved to Phoenix and quickly became involved in the music and art scene. In 2001 as executive director of Artlink, Julie focused on helping promote the arts in downtown Phoenix. Passion for the arts led to affiliations with PAM, AZ Opera, Herberger Theatre, Metro Arts and Scorpius Dance Theatre. In 2002 Julie co-created/produced for broadcast “Living it up in AZ,” which aired on AZTV. In 2003 Naked Reel was created to meet the demands of her freelance productions. Clients include Herberger Theater Center, Phoenix Family Museum, Cajun Caviar as well as several others. Julie sits on the board of Scorpius Dance Theatre, AZSA, and IFP/PHX. Julie devotes her free time to creating documentaries, live music, writing, and travel. Her greatest creations are Ricky, an actor living in Hollywood, and Melinda, a dancer/artist living in Phoenix. Julie was appointed Co-Executive Director of the Phoenix Film Project (now IFP/PHX) in April 2005 and served as Supervising Producer of Screen Wars in its first season.

Paul DeNigris has 14 years of experience in professional film and television production. His digital feature film The Falls (which he wrote, produced, directed, and edited) played to critical acclaim in several nationally-renowned film festivals in 2003 and 2004, including L.A.'s "danceswithfilms" Festival of the Unknowns, the IFP Market (the event where Quentin Tarantino and Kevin Smith were discovered), and the Phoenix Film Festival. The film is currently in release worldwide on DVD and video by Pretty Dangerous Films, through Ardustry Home Entertainment.

Before making The Falls, Paul worked for 5 years at Phoenix-based Rainbow Studios as a Supervising Artist, overseeing digital animation projects for clients such as Sony Pictures Television ("Roughnecks: The Starship Troopers Chronicles"), Microsoft ("Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings"), and LucasArts ("Star Wars Racer Revenge").

Currently, Paul works as Senior Instructor of Digital Video at Tempe's University of Advancing Technology, where his knowledge in the field continues to grow while he trains the next generation of digital filmmakers. He is also pursuing a Master of Fine Arts degree in Digital Cinema and continues to freelance as a video producer, editor, and compositor.

Chris LaMont is a multitalented filmmaker who has produced, written and directed independent short and feature films in a variety of formats and genres, a sought-after industrial and educational director, and co-founder and leader of one of the fastest-growing Film Festivals in the United States.

He won an Emmy Award for Student Production in college for the sketch comedy series, “TV or Not TV,” then directed his first feature, The Best Movie Ever Made, featuring TV’s Batman, Adam West. It is being released on DVD in Fall 2005 (www.thebestmovie.com). His next feature Writer’s Block, was released to video stores nationally. The film is a Hitchcock-like horror-thriller that has been praised by critics, including a 3 1/2 star rating out of 5 in the Blockbuster Video Guide.

In 1999, Film Club, his seven-minute parody of Fight Club was bought by Revolution Studios and put on the George Lucas in Love DVD, one of the biggest short film compilation releases in history. The short film is one of the highest-rated short films on IMDB.com, and has won numerous Festival awards.

His debut 35 mm feature, Quality Time starring Nancy Allen, Corin Nemec and John DeLancie, a dysfunctional family drama set in pre-apocalyptic future, is in post-production. He also directed the feature-length documentary 14 Days in America, following British photographer David Gibbons as he crossed the United States taking still photos of everyday Americans.

In 2000, he co-founded the Phoenix Film Festival, which has become a staple of the cultural landscape of the Valley of the Sun. Over 15,000 attendees came to the 5th annual event. He is currently the President of the non-profit Phoenix Film Foundation, which he also co-founded. He founded the Phoenix Film Project, the first independent filmmaker community group in Arizona, and the Phoenix Film Society in 2004. (www.phxfilm.com) With comic book writer Brian Pulido, he co-founded the International Horror & Sci-Fi Film Festival, which debuted in October 2005.

Chris is a Faculty Associate at Arizona State University, teaching independent film classes since 2004. As a founding Board Member of the Arizona Film and Media Coalition, he fought for lower budget thresholds for state filming tax incentives that were signed into law by Governor Janet Napolitano in May 2005. He is currently producing several feature projects in various stages of development, all set in Arizona, to continue bringing the film industry to his home state.