2023 Final Jury

René Araneda
René Araneda is a Chilean Director/Producer developing the natural history film production in South America for the past decade by telling stories, building connections and working alongside many international teams, production companies and multiple platforms. Almost 30 hours of content developed over the last 12 years -many of them award winning films- exploring different formats from Blue Chip to presenter driven with himself being on camera for some (Animal Planet, Smithsonian Channel, CuriosityStream or CNN). René has specialized in Patagonia and South America, always finding new fascinating stories, usually working on remote and tough locations.

He has garnered several nominations, awards and recognitions (including Jackson´s Emerging Talent Award back in the day), and recently helped launch South America´s first wildlife film festival Santiago Wild in Chile (a partnership between Jackson Wild & Ladera Sur, along with other supporting partners).

Pippa Ehrlich
Pippa Ehrlich is a journalist and filmmaker specialising in stories about conservation, science and the relationship between people and the natural world. She is the co-director of My Octopus Teacher – South Africa’s first Netflix Original documentary. The film garnered attention from celebrities, conservationists, and scientists all over the world, and has won more than 20 international awards, including an Oscar and a BAFTA, as well as the prestigious Jackson Wild’s Grand Teton Award and Wildscreen's Golden Panda. Pippa has just completed her second feature documentary and is currently in development on her third.

For the last seven years, she has been a part of the Sea Change Project, documenting and exploring the underwater forests of Cape Town to capture stories that will assist in its long term protection.

Rita Mullin
Rita Mullin is the former EVP and General Manager of Science Channel, which produced such core science series as Through the Wormhole and How the Universe Works and brought a new, younger audience to the genre with Outrageous Acts of Science. During her career at Discovery, she developed and oversaw programming for many channels, including Discovery Health, TLC, and the Oprah Winfrey Network. As Senior Creative and Content Director at Vulcan Productions, she oversaw a team that produced Body Team 12, which was nominated for an Academy Award for short form documentary in 2016, and The Ivory Game, which was short-listed for an Academy Award in 2017.

John Smithson
Academy Award® Nominee, BAFTA, Emmy, Peabody, and Grierson winner, John Smithson is one of the most respected and influential executives in worldwide non-scripted content.

His work includes multiple award winning films such as Touching the Void, 127 Hours, Deep Water, Thriller in Manilla, Falling Man, Sherpa, and River .

He is Creative Director of London-based Arrow Pictures and specializes in premium feature documentaries and series.