Judges 2021
PAUL J. WRIGHT, ESQ
is an English Barrister and California Attorney. In 1990, he formed Paul J. Wright & Associates, a law firm based in Malibu, California specializing in domestic and international transactional and litigation matters. He has successfully represented many companies and individuals in the US and UK in the business and entertainment communities, from the negotiation of contracts and business investments to the protection of intellectual property rights, to the successful prosecution of many complex business disputes.
Mr. Wright is on the Board of Britweek and serves as its General Counsel. Britweek focuses on the British contribution to film, fashion and music in southern California. In 2011, he co-chaired the BritWeek Gala Dinner, which honored Timothy J. Leiweke, President & CEO of the Anschutz Entertainment Group Worldwide, and in 2012 he co-chaired the same Dinner, honoring Piers Morgan, CNN Presenter and Host.
Mr. Wright has organized, chaired or co-chaired many prestigious events and conferences. He is extensively consulted on legal and business matters and has been a speaker in a number of distinguished international forums.
CHANTAL RICKARDS
Has just stepped down as the first CEO of BAFTA in Los Angeles after nearly five years in post and has returned to the UK. Around 20% of all the members of The British Academy of Film and TV Arts live and work in California and the organization represents people from the Film, TV and Games industries. It was Chantal’s role to spearhead modernization, grow its impact in Hollywood and create a solid bridge between the production communities in the USA and the UK, working closely with the UK’s Dept. for Trade and Industry. BAFTA in LA is also well known for its red carpet parties and the Britannia Awards which take place annually; it is a registered 501c3 non-profit arts’ education organization and survives solely on local members fees, sponsorship and donations.
Prior to her role at BAFTA LA, Chantal was Head of Programming and Branded Content at WPP’s GroupM media agency MEC, where she oversaw the newly formed content creation unit, specializing in brand funded television with clients as diverse as Visa, Specsavers and Chevron. She brought to MEC a wealth of TV production and management expertise having spent the early part of her career as a researcher, producer, executive producer and director of Factual Entertainment programs such as Through the Keyhole, This Morning, Masterchef and Countdown. She was also Channel Director at the Carlton Food/Taste Network and was Commissioner and Executive Producer of Lifestyle programming for the BBC’s UKTV suite of channels for five years.
A seasoned public speaker, she talks frequently on how to commercialize content, how content and philanthropy can be the perfect match and how to tell a story good enough to make it Hollywood. She has also interviewed anyone in Hollywood worth talking to including George Clooney, Robert De Niro and Meryl Streep. Her expertise lies in media, communications, sponsorship and fundraising, with a particular emphasis on brand positioning, Board restructuring, governance and change management.
Kim Wise
is a Senior Vice President Marketing executive for InvestCloud, a leading global financial technology company. Kim is responsible for driving InvestCloud’s global marketing agenda with a metrics driven mindset.
She works closely with product and sales teams to advance the company’s revenue, brand recognition and reputation, helping to grow InvestCloud to over 700 clients and $2 Trillion in assets on their platform within an 8-year period.
Kim has 25 years of experience in sales and marketing within the financial services and technology industries and thrives in a changing, highly complex, collaborative environment.
Sharlette Hambrick
is the CEO of Y-Tulip Productions with a successful career as an entertainment industry executive, who is credited with shifting the landscape of entertainment television and the cultivation and expansion of all emerging platforms.
Recently, she helped produce Earth by Lil Dicky, one of the most popular videos on YouTube in 2019, which was nominated for an MTV VMA award last year.
She is most well-known for her Emmy award-winning tenure at Entertainment Tonight. From her start as a segment producer, to her eventual status as Senior Producer, she successfully helped restructure the show’s entire focus, elevating its coverage and prominence. Her efforts led to her being an integral part with the launch of the movie review show Hot Ticket with Leonard Maltin, followed by the launch of The Insider, a visionary growth product of the Entertainment Tonight brand. She was the primary executive liaison in the international distribution and marketing departments in major studios such as Paramount, Sony, Universal, and Walt Disney.
She earned a degree in Broadcast Journalism from Pepperdine University. She did post graduate work in Cologne, Germany and at Stanford. She is a guest lecturer at the USC Annenberg School of Journalism and frequently participates in technology related content conferences.
VIKTORIJA PASHUTA
Viktorija Pashuta is the Editor-in-Chief and the CEO of BASIC magazine, a quarterly luxury magazine based in Beverly Hills, CA. She had received a Rising Media Star Awards by Folio in New York for her accomplishments as Editor-in-Chief of BASIC. Viktorija is also an internationally published and award winning fashion photographer and filmmaker. Her photography work is known for so called ‘color therapy’ – where she uses saturated and vibrant colors to achieve the effect of fashion surrealism.
She has been published in numerous fashion publications worldwide including Vogue, L’Officiel, Harper’s Bazaar, GQ, Essence to name a few. Known for her highly acclaimed viral projects like What if Cars Were Supermodels and What If Guys Were Social Media Viktorija’s work gained millions of views and shares online with reposts on Ads of The World, Bored Panda, BuzzFeed, Complex magazine, Billboard and more where these viral projects were translated to more than 10 languages worldwide.
She had an opportunity to work with Hollywood celebrities, musicians and style icons like Dita Von Teese, Paris Hilton, Kat Graham, Michelle Rodriguez, Sofia Richie, David Guetta and many more. Additionally to photography she has established herself as a creative director, writer, producer and a fashion film director. Some of her recent awards include BEST DIRECTOR at Bokeh Fashion Film Festival in Cape Town, BEST PICTURE and BEST COSTUME DESIGN at La Jolla International Fashion Film Festival (aired worldwide on FashionTV Channels) and BEST FASHION Award At Bokeh South Africa Fashion Film Festival by Mercedes Benz.
LISA WAYNE
Lisa Wayne; Senior Writer for Basic Magazine, delivers compelling interviews of the most recognizable names and influencers in the fashion and music industry. Since its inception in 2016, Lisa Wayne has been a part of Basic Magazine’s rise as one of the most internationally acclaimed fashion books on the newsstands and online to date. As specialist in the health and beauty industry and much sought-after Beauty Editor, her endorsements have helped a myriad of new brands get their start.
No stranger to fashion, Lisa began her career in beauty working as a model for notable designers and fashion magazines in New York, Milan and Paris. While in Paris she attended the Sorbonne University and resided for over 10 years. Her penchant for travel has taken her to over 23 countries instilling in her a fascination and deep appreciation for the real-life stories and cultures of the peoples she has encountered.
Lisa is also the founder of Beverly Hills Inside Out, a luxury hair care brand focusing on the specific problems facing women’s hair. Beginning in the laboratory with meticulous formulation and assiduous testing on diverse focus groups, Beverly Hills Inside Out has solved many of the difficulties that afflict women’s hair today. Listening to and delivering what women of all hair types need and want is the primary concern of the brand. The entire process of formulating, packaging and marketing is done by an all women team devoted to creating healthy, glowing, and luxuriously cared for hair.
PRiOR JUDGES
Steve Doctrow
Steven Doctrow; Executive Vice President of Partnerships & Alliances at Rogers & Cowan/PMK is a diversified entertainment marketing executive with vast agency experience working in public relations, digital media and branding sponsorships. Since his arrival to the agency 24 years ago, Steven has created and managed strategically targeted campaigns on behalf of global brands, luxury goods and services, major non-profit organizations, television shows, producers/production companies, international and national award shows. Steven has a strong British connection through his representation of BAFTA LA which includes year-round public relations, management of all red carpet events with media, as well as creating and activating third partner alliances.
Prior to joining Rogers & Cowan, Steven was Senior Vice President at Premiere Radio Networks where he was responsible for the creation of promotional marketing campaigns for Fortune 500 companies from the consumer electronics, entertainment and packaged goods industries.
Before this association, he was Vice President of Promotional Marketing at Chiat/Day Inc. Advertising where he created high profile marketing campaigns for client companies in personal computer, automotive, spirits and lifestyle brands.
Steve began his career in the promotion industry at United Artists Corporation where he was responsible for the advance promotion and publicity of all UA/MGM motion pictures throughout the Western United States.
Robinne Burrell
has been at the forefront of technology and emerging media for the last decade. Having worked with brands spanning digital, interactive, mobile and social experiences. Robinne led product development and strategy at Amazon/IMDb, myspace during its peak and Match.com/Tinder. She has built digital products for NBC’s The Voice, Comedy Central and Steven Spielberg’s The VR Company, to name a few. In addition to her work as an innovator and leader, Robinne was also an on-air correspondent at the Presidential Inauguration of Barack Obama, covering the logistical technology used during the ceremonies. Standard and Poor’s identified her as part of the “Society of Industry Leaders” and Hollywood Reporter named her “The Next Generation of Industry Execs”. She has been featured on CNN and NBC and is an Executive Chair of the Interactive Peer Group for the Television Academy, the most influential board of influencers determining excellence in digital media.
Prior to her leadership positions at top tech and media companies, Robinne also held management positions at Universal Music Group, Sony Electronics, and was an early member of Jimmy Iovine’s start-up Inside Sessions, a digital curriculum designed to introduce young musicians on how to break into the business of music. Robinne would later go on to be an Ambassador of Goodwill and Peace in Mexico, where she launched a non-profit program for kids to learn arts and humanities. In 2016, Robinne authored the virtual reality user experience for “Take Back the Mic: The World Cup of Hip Hop” for Oculus which was an Emmy finalist in 2016.
Robinne holds a B.A in Cinema/Television from USC and completed the Leadership Strategy Program at MITs Sloan School of Business. Earlier this spring she was named in the top spot as “Five People Pushing Technology You Want to Work With Now” in Forbes Magazine. More at www.robinneburrell.com