Celebrating Excellence in Storytelling: Meet the Visionaries Nominated for the 16th New Media Film Festival®

The 16th New Media Film Festival® is proud to showcase an extraordinary lineup of talented creators whose works exemplify the festival’s dedication to groundbreaking storytelling and innovation. From Telly, Peabody & Emmy® Award winners to celebrated actors and filmmakers, this year’s nominees continue to push boundaries across film, TV, games, digital comics, and more. www.newmediafilmfestival.com

Their creativity and unique voices have led to the nominations of projects that span a variety of genres, themes, and formats. Whether exploring historical narratives, thrilling adventures, or cutting-edge game design, these individuals are an integral part of what makes the New Media Film Festival® a true haven for creativity.

Kids Choice Award Winner & Days of Our Lives Heartthrob Louis Tomeo is an American actor from Orlando, Florida and most known for his series regular role as Robbie Miller on Nickelodeon’s Every Witch Way. The middle of three kids, he was passionate about performing from a young age. He started working in commercials at age 9, and it wasn’t long until he began booking television and film roles. Louis stars in The Crest nominated for Best TV

Damien C. Haas (Beyblade X, Sky of Tides, Date Everything!) was age 15 when he got his first movie role in The Marc Pease Experience (2009), alongside Ben Stiller and Jason Schwartzman. Damien is in Sky of Tides nominated for Best Game

4 X Telly Winner Natalie Schwan is an award-winning director, writer and producer. She is constantly drawn to historical narratives and adventure stories. Natalie’s slate includes a Montana-based Western, a period-era Ellis Island narrative series, a stylized high-action dramatic thriller feature, a Holocaust-era story of the Jewish Resistance, and a female-driven scripted global anthology series. Her heart is in travel and exploring, and you can often find her planning her next international adventure. The Last Stand at Butte City is nominated for Best Script.

Todd Haberkorn (Sakamoto Days, Sky of Tides, Megamind) is an American voice actor and voice director who is known for his English-language dubs of anime and video games. He voiced Natsu Dragneel from Fairy Tail, Android 19 from Dragon Ball Z Kai, Ebony Maw from Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3, Grey Matter, Tetrax, and Slapback from Ben 10 and Hiroshi Tameda from My Hero Academia. Todd is in Sky of Tides nominated for Best Game.

Jackson Rathbone (Hybrid, The Island, Twilight) As an actor, Jackson has appeared in over twenty motion pictures, including two international franchises, and appeared in multiple television shows as leads, guest stars, and in recurring roles. Jackson has produced several indie films (such as Gotham award winning “Girlfriend”), as well as Warner Brothers backed Webseries (“Aim High”). Jackson stars in Hybrid nominated for Best Short.

Peabody Award-winning film producer and five-time Canadian Screen Award nominee, Jason Loftus’ (Sky of Tides, To Kill a Tiger, Storyville) work spans documentary, docuseries, virtual reality, narrative games, and animation. Jason is Executive Producer on Sky of Tides: Alta nominated for Best Web Series.

EMMY Winner Ricard T Wilson to date, he has had over 70 of his plays and films produced and seen some of this same work featured on ABC World News Tonight, National Public Radio, PBS and The Independent Film Channel. Aside from his ‘Halloween Girl’ related projects, Wilson is probably best known for creating the Emmy® Award Winning teen drama series, ‘Maple Ave’. Richard’s Halloween Girl is nominated for Best Digital Comic.

• Allan Wasserman (Nobody Wants This, Disability in Focus, Hunters) Allan’s Disability in Focus is nominated for Best Short.

• 2 X WGA Nominee Jonathan G Haller writer of The Scorpion Dance nominated for Best Script.