AwardsWatch is always looking for fun and ambitious writers who want a place to call home and a platform for their charisma, uniqueness, nerve and talent. Ping Erik, Ryan, Tyler or Sophia if you think you have something great to offer and that we can offer you.
Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.
He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.
You can follow him on Twitter at @awards_watch. He can be reached at erik.anderson@awardswatch.com.
Ryan McQuade is the Executive Editor of AwardsWatch. He is a film-obsessed writer located in San Antonio, Texas raised on musicals, westerns, and James Bond, and his taste in cinema is extremely versatile. He’s extremely fond of independent releases and director’s passion projects.
Engrossed with all things Oscars, he hosts the AwardsWatch Podcast, alongside members of the AwardsWatch Team. He is also the co-host of the Director Watch podcast, covering director movie series of cinemas’ greatest auteurs.
Ryan covers multiple film festivals a year including Sundance, SXSW, Telluride, Toronto, New York, Middleburg, and AFI where he reviews films and interviews top talent.
When he’s not watching movies, he’s rooting on all his favorite sports teams, including his beloved Texas Longhorns. He is also a member of the Critics Choice Association (CCA), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), and the Houston Film Critics Society (HFCS).
You can follow him on Twitter at @ryanmcquade77. He can be reached at ryanm1714@yahoo.com.
Tyler Doster is the TV Editor for AwardsWatch.
He’s been obsessed with television and the Emmys since he was young. He reviews seasons and episodes, writes awards pieces, and interviews talent across television. The only thing he likes more than tv is a good romantic comedy.
When he’s not watching tv, you can find Tyler theorizing about how Beyoncé lost the Emmy to James Corden’s Carpool Karaoke. He is a rotten tomatoes approved tv critic and a member of GALECA. You can follow him on Twitter at @tylermdoster and reach him at tylermdoster@gmail.com.
Sophia Ciminello is the Associate Editor of AwardsWatch. She is a writer, podcaster, and lifelong film enthusiast who considers herself a scholar of Best Actress winners, the films of Paul Thomas Anderson, and 1970s cinema. In addition to her work as an editor, writing reviews and conducting interviews with talent and attending the Telluride, NYFF and AFI film festivals for AwardsWatch, she hosts and produces the podcast, “Oscar Wild,” where she celebrates her love of cinema with retrospectives, deep dives on all 23 Oscar categories, and interviews with creatives with co-host and AwardsWatch contributor Nick Ruhrkraut.
She thanks her mother for her love of Old Hollywood and Donald Sutherland, and her father for letting her stay up late to watch the Oscars when she was in preschool. She is a member of the Online Association of Female Film Critics. She is based in New York City where she enjoys checking out the city’s fabulous repertory programming. You can find her on Letterboxd at @sophiacim. She can be reached at sgciminello@gmail.com.
Daniel Bayer has been in love with movies all his life, in love with the theater since he could sit still, and in love with tap dance since seeing Singin’ in the Rain at nine years old. A nationally-ranked dancer in his teens, his theater credits are many and varied, both behind and on the stage. He now spends his days as a non-profit database manager and the rest of his time seeing, writing about, and talking about movies and theater. He is a proud member of GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics. You can find him on the AwardsWatch and Next Best Picture podcasts, and on Twitter @dancindanonfilm.
Catherine graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelors in Radio-TV-Film in 2012. She resides in Austin, Texas and is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved freelance critic.
She is a member of the Hollywood Critics Association (HCA), The Association of Female Film Critics and CherryPicks.
Jay Ledbetter is a finance manager by day, film critic by night living in Atlanta, Georgia. He began writing about film in 2013 and is not afraid to confront people of all ages if they are too loud in the theater.
In addition to his work at Awards Watch, Jay has written and hosted podcasts for Film Inquiry and InSession Film. He is an auteur obsessive, regularly diving deep into the filmographies of celebrated filmmakers.
Jay is a proud member of the Atlanta Film Critics Circle and the Georgia Film Critics Association. You can follow him on Twitter @MrJayLedbetter.
Kevin L. Lee is an Asian-American film producer, screenwriter, and critic. He has loved movies ever since he could read and over the years has brought that passion with him across the country, from San Jose CA to Austin TX to New York City.
A champion of the creative process, Kevin has consulted, written, and produced several short films from development to principal photography to festival premiere. He has over 10 years of marketing and writing experience in film criticism and journalism, ranging from blockbusters to foreign indie films. He has been interviewed by major outlets including BBC and NBC on various topics in the film landscape.He recently finished his MFA in film producing at Columbia University and is currently working in film and TV development for production companies. He is also developing screenplays of his own.
Josh Parham is a passionate observer of cinema and awards season, and has been from a very young age. He is a member of the Chicago Indie Critics and is also an established contributor to the website Next Best Picture. He has a love for all types of film, but is particularly an avid fan of the James Bond franchise and adores disaster movies with a devotion that confounds many. He also loves to indulge in any conversation that lifts LGBTQ perspectives in storytelling and excitedly advocates for them to be sought out. You can follow him on Twitter @JRParham.
Griffin Schiller is a Los Angeles based critic and the founder and host of FilmSpeak, a YouTube channel dedicated to providing more thoughtful insight and analysis behind the entertainment you love. He is also a regular contributor and podcast host at The Playlist and now the lovely folks over at AwardsWatch. A versatile media journalist Griffin has interviewed some of the industry’s leading creatives, reported on breaking news, and attended film festivals and other exclusive industry events. Griffin is the world’s biggest Nolan fan (eat your heart out Ryan), loves James Bond, and has some of the wildest takes out there…like seriously, he’s the weirdo who actually loves The Amazing Spider-Man 2. You can find Griffin on YouTube at www.youtube.com/@FilmSpeak, Twitter: @griffschiller, Instagram: @griffschiller.
Nicole Ackman is based in Raleigh, North Carolina. In addition to being a film, television, and theatre critic, Nicole works in arts administration and public history. She has a Bachelor’s degree from Elon University and Master’s degrees from City University of London and NC State University.
Having been raised on Turner Classic Movies, Nicole has been passionate about film — and storytelling in all its forms — from a young age. She is particularly interested in period dramas, book adaptations, and anything made by a female director. In addition to AW, she writes about all aspects of culture for FF2 Media and Culture Cabinet and about history for her Substack, A Historian in the Public Sphere.
Nicole is a Rotten Tomatoes and Cherry Picks-approved film critic and a member of GALECA, the Hollywood Critics Association, and the NC Film Critics Association. You can follow her on Twitter @nicoleackman16.
Jason knew the movies were his bag the second he saw that lawyer sitting on a toilet getting eaten by a Tyrannosaur, and he’s never looked back once since. Simultaneously a movie snob who watches Fassbinder for fun while also being a trash apologist prone to reenacting the death scenes in the Friday the 13th series through vivid pantomime, he’s got room for everything projected onto a big screen in his big roomy heart. He’s been covering the daily beat on his site My New Plaid Pants since 2005 and is a regular contributor to The Film Experience. He’s a member of GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics, and has been accredited to cover basically every New York City based film festival for the past ten years including NYFF and Tribeca. You can follow him on Twitter at @JAMNPP
Nate Adams is a Michigan based film, television, and theatre critic who’s appeared on FOX 2 Detroit, Civic Center TV and MovieShow Plus. He’s also a member of the Detroit Film Critics Society. You can find him on Twitter @TheOnlyCritic.
CARLOS AGUILAR
Originally from Mexico City, Carlos Aguilar was chosen as one of 6 young film critics to partake in the first Roger Ebert Fellowship organized by RogerEbert.com, the Sundance Institute and Indiewire in 2014. Aguilar’s work has appeared in prestigious publications such as Los Angeles Times, The Wrap, Indiewire, Vulture, RogerEbert.com, MovieMaker Magazine, Remezcla, Filmmaker Magazine, Variety Latino, Slate, Bustle, Americas Quarterly, among others. He is a member of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA).
DIEGO ANDALUZ
A Latinx writer with cerebral palsy, Diego Andaluz is the creator and producer of ClapperCast: The Global Film Podcast, and is currently writing for Awards Watch, Film Inquiry, and Clapper Ltd. A filmmaker as well, he has produced, directed, edited, and shot numerous award-winning short films (including the viral horror short, Dante: A Replication) in isolation. Currently, apart from covering the festival season, Diego is writing a feature length screenplay based on Dante: A Replication.
JEFF BEACHNAU
In a world where viewers are lost and confused, one man can show them the way. Jeff Beachnau is the symbol the moviegoers have been waiting for. With sarcastic wit and deadpan humor, if you weren’t aware he’s always joking you’d think he was a dick. When not watching movies or catching up on 1980s sitcoms he hasn’t seen yet, Jeff likes to ride his bike, go to the beach, and protect the people from the forces of evil. And, when he’s got the time, he works as a grip (to the extreme).
A devoted cinephile, Ali started his career as Communication and Ditribution Manager at Ali n’ Productions (Ali Zaoua, Casablanca Beats, Blue Caftan). He followed that resourceful experience by taking on the job of Head of Archives at the Cinémathèque de Tanger. Since 2021, Ali has been running a specialized film program on Radio 2M, one of the leading radio channels in Morocco. He is currently in the process of launching the Filmothèque, a traveling cinema project aimed at showing independent and classic films in Morocco in creative fashion. He writes about films in English and French Lioumness, International Cinephile Society and TelQuel.
JEFFERY BERG
Jeffery Berg is a writer who lives in Jersey City. His poems have been featured in various journals. He makes mix CD’s, blogs and writes film reviews at jdbrecords.com.
JONATHAN BOEHLE
Jonathan Boehle is a contributor to AwardWatch and a moderator of the AwardsWorthy forums.
NICK BROVENDER
Nick Brovender is a writer based in Los Angeles. He loves writing TV, writing film, writing theater, and writing about all three. If any of that interests you (and you aren’t opposed to hearing about his love for The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Nanny, and the fact that Ann Guilbert was in both), you can find him on twitter at @nickbrovender.
Though Zoë Rose Bryant has only worked in film criticism for a little under three years – turning a collegiate passion into a full-time career by writing for outlets such as Next Best Picture, AwardsWatch, and Loud and Clear Reviews – her captivation with cinema has been a lifelong fascination, appreciating film in all its varying forms, from horror movies to heartfelt romantic comedies and everything in between. Born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska, she made the move to Los Angeles in 2021 after graduating from college and now spends her days additionally working as a List Editor and occasional writer for Screen Rant (as she attempts to attend every screening under the sun). As a trans critic, she also seeks to champion underrepresented voices in the LGBTQ+ community in film criticism and offer original insight on how gender and sexuality are explored in modern entertainment. You can find Zoë Rose on Twitter at @ZoeRoseBryant.
BENJI BURY
From a young age Benji knew he had a passion for all things movies, being able to use a DVD player before he could talk. When he discovered a thing called the ‘Oscars’ on the radio one morning, it changed his outlook on film and made him much more aware of the business side of things. He would stay up all night to watch the Academy Awards, and now that same kid gets to meet the potential/already nominees and meet some great inspirations of his.
Andrew Carden is a contributing writer at Gold Derby and writes about all things Oscar on his blog, The Awards Connection. When he’s not on Twitter, lamenting Thelma Ritter’s 0-for-6 record in Best Supporting Actress, Andrew works in Massachusetts politics.
SARA CLEMENTS
Sara Clements has been a freelance film/TV writer since 2017. She’s from Canada and holds a degree in journalism. She has written for both print and online and is an editor for Next Best Picture. She likes to pressure everyone into watching Paddington.
VALERIE COMPLEX
Valerie Complex is a military veteran, movie nerd and an associate editor and film writer for Deadline. As a lover of Japanese animation, comics, and all things film, she is passionate about inclusion across all entertainment mediums. She has reported from the Sundance Film Festival and SXSW Film Festival.
DAVID CUEVAS
David Cuevas is a writer, reporter, and the official festivals editor (US/Canada) for FilmHounds Magazine. In his spare time, you can find him watching a bunch of movies while contemplating his own existence.
NATE DAY
Nate is an entertainment reporter with experience on both local and national levels. An avid fan of music, movies and television, he has been writing about such subjects for several years now with a degree in Journalism & Media Communications from Colorado State University. Based in Denver, Colorado, Nate always has something playing in the background — be it the latest pop hit or “Schitt’s Creek” for the 10th time.
K.B. DENIS
Hailing from Brooklyn, New York, K.B. Denis is a current student at Duke University and an alumnus of Collegiate School. K.B. has nurtured his passion for music and music journalism through New York University’s Future Music Moguls program and by managing his own music and entertainment website, Black Boy Bulletin. K.B. is also a member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc. Connect with him about music, politics, film, and culture on Twitter and LinkedIn.
DAVE EBERSOLE
Dave Ebersole has been an avid awards watcher since the late 90s, when he was still in high school, joined the community that eventually became Awards Watch / www.awardsworthy.org while in college, and never looked back. A lifelong Michigan resident, he currently works for Allstate. His shares his love of awards and Oscar movies with his wife, Emily. He’s also a classic Muppets fan and a member of the Barbershop Harmony Society, where he’s competed in and written arrangements for several prolific quartets.
MURTADA ELFADL
Murtada Elfadl is a culture writer, critic, and podcaster. Originally from Khartoum, Sudan he decided to move to New York City when he got a New Yorker subscription at the age of 15. Many years later, the city remains his favorite place; he just wishes more movies in Arabic played here. This year he was a member of the selection committee for NewFest, New York’s LGBTQ Film Festival. His writing has been published at The Film Experience, The Film Stage and Mediaversity Reviews. He hosts the Sundays With Cate podcast.
HUGO EMMERZAEL
Hugo Emmerzael is an Amsterdam-based film critic and curator. He’s an editor of Dutch independent cinema magazine De Filmkrant and a curator of the arthouse section of the Netherlands Film Festival. His bylines include MUBI Notebook, Senses of Cinema, Electric Ghost Magazine and Frame.Land.
JOSH ENCINIAS
Joshua is an entertainment journalist with bylines at The Film Stage, Out Magazine, Indiewire, and The Playlist. He is based in New York City and is a voting member of GALECA, The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics.
HANNA FLINT
Hanna Flint is a London-based film and TV critic, journalist and co-host of the Fade To Black podcast.
MICHAEL FRANK
Michael Frank is a film critic and journalist based in Brooklyn. He thinks the Before trilogy should be in the Louvre and once bumped into John Oliver at brunch.
He has bylines in RogerEbert, Film Inquiry, The Playlist, and AwardsWatch.
Abe Friedtanzer is a film and TV enthusiast who spent most of the past fifteen years in New York City. He has been the editor of MoviesWithAbe.com and TVwithAbe.com since 2007, and has been predicting the Oscars, Emmys, Golden Globes, and SAG Awards since he was allowed to stay up late enough to watch them. He has attended numerous film festivals including Sundance and SXSW, and was on a series of road trips across the United States with his wife, Arielle, which he hopes to resume when travel is safe again. You can also find him at YouTube at @movieswithabe and Instagram at @movieswithabe.
MARIA GARCIA
Maria Garcia is a New York City-based film critic and feature writer, and the author of two books, most recently Cinematic Quests for Identity: The Hero’s Encounter with the Beast (Rowman & Littlefield, 2015). She is the cinema columnist for Ambassador magazine, and a frequent contributor to Cineaste. Her reviews and features have appeared in many newspapers and magazines, including the LA Times, Film Journal International, The Brooklyn Eagle and The Progressive, and on Biography.com. Maria is a Rotten Tomatoes Approved Critic.
LIAM GAREAU
Liam Gareau is a writer whose work has gotten him into the Inside Out and Banff Media Festivals. And most recently, he’s been shortlisted for the Sundance Film Festival’s TV Lab. Listen to his podcast “Deep Feels” on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. You can find him on Twitter at @liamgareau.
CAROLYN HINDS
Carolyn Hinds is a freelance Film Critic, Journalist and Podcaster. Her published work can be found on ButWhyTho?, Observer, Atom Tickets and many other online publications, as well as in print as a contributing writer for the 2021 Canada Media Fund’s Annual Trends Report. She’s a member of the African American Film Critics Association (AAFCA), Time UP Critical, and obtained her Diploma in Paralegal Studies from Seneca College.
STEPHEN HLADIK
Stephen Hladik is currently pursuing a BFA in Cinema, Television, and Emerging Media and minors in Digital Journalism and Drama Therapy at Marymount Manhattan College. He has written for websites such as Affinity Magazine, The Executive Tea, The Film Stage, Primetimer, and is currently interning at Decider.com. He has previously interned at Film Forum and contributed to the podcast Little Known Facts with Ilana Levine. In addition to journalism and criticism, he is a member of SAG-AFTRA.
CHRISTINA IZZO
Christina Izzo is a writer-editor covering food and drink, travel, lifestyle and pop culture in New York City. Previously an editor at Time Out New York, Rachael Ray in Season, and Reveal, she can now be found discussing bad ’90s movies and Harry Styles’ abs over at My Imperfect Life. Catch her tweeting out inappropriate GIFs at @christinalizzo on Twitter.
KEVIN JACOBSEN
Kevin Jacobsen is a captioner and entertainment writer at such publications as Gold Derby and is stuck in an unhealthy relationship with the Oscars, the Emmys, and most other award shows. More of his intense feelings can be heard on his podcast, And the Runner-Up Is, which covers the likely runner-up in each Best Picture race at the Oscars. You can find Kevin on Twitter @Kevin_Jacobsen.
MATTHEW JENNER
Matthew Joseph Jenner is an avid part-time writer and full-time film obsessed millennial who has been following awards shows since he was in elementary school, waking up at ungodly hours of the morning to watch the live broadcast of the Academy Awards, never looking back since. If it has celebrities handing out shiny trophies, you know he’s watching. Other film-related interests include cult cinema, independent filmmaking and reviving the careers of long-irrelevant actors, rebranding them as Beloved Veterans™. He has been writing for his review site Movies Unchained since 2012.
LANDON JOHNSON
Landon Johnson is a writer and a film and marketing guru. Through his six-year career in media marketing and development, he has worked in New York, Los Angeles, and Hong Kong for a variety of entertainment companies. He can quote every line from Wes Craven’s “Scream,” and is a voting member of the Screen Actors Guild who has served on numerous awards nominating committees for both film and TV. When he’s not binge-watching independent films, he has a real passion for promoting untold stories portrayed on film that have a lasting impact on audiences.
DANIEL JOYAUX
Daniel Joyaux has been writing professionally about film and the Oscars since 2016, and his work has appeared in Vanity Fair, The Verge, IndieWire, MovieMaker Magazine, Filmotomy, The Detroit Free Press, NextBestPicture, and Backstreets. He has also worked for several film festivals, including three years as a publications editor for Sundance, two years as a screener for AFI Fest, and in various other capacities for Midwest festivals like Traverse City, Milwaukee, Freep, and Cinetopia. You can subscribe to Daniel’s twice-a-month newsletter of movie streaming recommendations at ThirdManMovies.com.
NATALIA KEOGAN
Natalia Keogan is a Queens-based writer who covers film and all things culture, with a particular interest in depictions of sexuality and gender across genres. You can read her work in Paste, Filmmaker Magazine, Narratively and elsewhere. See what she’s watching at letterboxd.com/cyandie and follow her on Twitter @nataliakeogan
JACK KING
Jack is British film journalist, exhibitor and screenwriter. He currently resides in South East London but spends at least an hour per day wishing he was in the Italian Riviera – and no, not just because he watched Call Me By Your Name twenty-six times, thank you very much. He has attended all of the major festivals other than Venice but he’s hoping to knock that off later this year. He sees himself much like his film taste: unashamedly queer and far tackier than he’d like to admit. When not writing the next great indie flick, or sat in a barely-lit art house auditorium, he can typically be found in a gay bar ranting about Ronald Reagan.
DAN KINSLEY
As a child and budding Indiana Jones cosplayer, Dan dreamed of one day becoming a writer. Now, he just plays one on the internet. Dan can be found shouting into the void on Twitter @vote_pennywise.
KEVIN KUPS
Kevin Kups (he/him) is a graduate of the University of Iowa with a degree in Cinema. An aspiring screenwriter and member of the church of Toni Collette, he can be found on twitter @kevinkups.
TOMRIS LAFFLY
Tomris Laffly is the chief film critic of The Wrap and is based in New York. A NYFCC member, she regularly contributes to Time Out New York, Variety and RogerEbert.com, and her byline has appeared in Indiewire and Vulture, among other outlets. She has a special interest in the awards season and women in film, covers various film festivals throughout the year including New York Film Festival, Sundance and Telluride and tweets from @TomiLaffly.
SHADAN LARKI
Shadan Larki became captivated by awards ceremonies at the age of four when she watched Roberto Benigni climb his way to the Oscars stage. She attended The University of Texas with the dream of becoming an entertainment journalist. Her work has since appeared in numerous local and national publications. She also serves as a social media and marketing manager for non-profits and small businesses in Houston, TX— that’s where you can find her ferociously binge-watching movies & TV. And always on the hunt for her next great read.
CALVIN LAW
Calvin Law is a film enthusiast based in Hong Kong, with an undergraduate degree in English literature and a master’s in Film Studies from the UK. He has been covering a broad range of cinema and awards seasons across the years, mainly on his personal page Reel and Roll, as well as writing for outlets such as AwardsWatch, Next Best Picture and The Asian Cut. You can find him on Twitter (@reelandroll), Instagram (@reelandroll_films) and Letterboxd (CalvinLaw).
Zach Laws is an independent filmmaker and journalist with a lifelong passion for all things cinema. He has previously covered the Oscars and Emmys at Gold Derby and has had bylines published at Looper. He earned his BFA in film directing at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts School of Filmmaking. His short film, “Calzone’s Pizza,” was a First Runner Up at the 2021 Russo Brothers Italian American Film Forum. Special skills include being able to name every film nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars in a given year. You can follow him on Twitter at @zachlaws.
Nguyên Lê is a freelance film writer currently based in Houston, Texas. He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic who is a member of the Houston Film Critics Society and Online Film Critics Society. His works can be seen on InSession Film, The Young Folks and Houston Chronicle. He likes to cook as well. Follow him on Facebook (nguyen.le.334) and/or Twitter (@nle318) — he always needs friends.
BRIAN LINDSAY
Brian is a film and theatre historian from Australia with a PhD from the University of New South Wales. He is therefore qualified to confirm that Best Actress is indeed the most important category at the Academy Awards. An Oscar enthusiast, tragic and completist, the only thing that gets Brian out of Sydney’s cinemas is an opportunity to fly to the other side of the world and into a Broadway or West End theatre. You can follow him on Twitter at @Brian_Lindsay72 and find his film history and awards reference books from Amazon.
ASHER LUBERTO
Asher Luberto is a film critic for L.A. Weekly, The Playlist, The Progressive and The Village Voice.
TONY MADIA
Tony Madia is a filmmaker and writer from Chicago, IL.
EMILY MASKELL
Emily (she/her) is a freelance writer whose main focus is film. Originally from the flatlands of Norfolk in the UK, she is often found wearing oversized jumpers and cradling the biggest mug of tea she can find. Her bylines include Little White Lies, NME, The Quietus and she is a staff writer at Flip Screen. You can witness her sleep-deprived ramblings on Twitter: @EmMaskell
MANISH MATHUR
Manish Mathur is a writer and podcaster based in New York. He hosts two podcasts: It Pod to Be You, covering romance movies, and Queer and Now, which tracks queer cinema decade by decade. Manish loves old Hollywood, international cinema (especially Bollywood), and writing about all kinds of movies. You can find Manish at @TheManish89 on Twitter and on Letterboxd.
JAKE MAURIELLO
Jake Mauriello is a cultural reporter in-training, with a specialty in the movies, shows and music that make gay people turn their heads in public. His bylines include Bandsintown and Hudson Valley Magazine, and he takes pride in being a Capricorn sun/Alexis Rose moon/Swiftie rising. You can find him on Twitter @carlyraejakesen.
MYLES MCHALE
Myles McHale is a Broadway actor who has been furloughed and now has all the time in the world to indulge in his unhealthy obsessions! These include the Oscars, the Emmys, the Tonys, decidedly NOT the Grammys, 80s/90s cult movies, and petitions to have the Fonda’s declared the new Kennedys. Follow him on Instagram – @meelays – you won’t regret it!
Amelia Merrill is a New York-based journalist and theatre artist. Her writing can be seen on Shondaland, American Theatre magazine, Bright Wall/Dark Room, and more.
You can follow her on Twitter @Miajmerrill.
Eddie Mouradian is a consultant and entertainment writer living in New York. He has written for Newsday, Urban Daddy, Moviefied NYC, among other publications. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram where here is likely talking about Survivor, ranting about a 20 year old Oscar snub or seeking attention with a series of not-at-all staged selfies.
PADDY MULHOLLAND
Paddy Mulholland is a 28-year-old movie blogger originally from Belfast, Northern Ireland, now living in London, England, where he’s currently studying for a BA(Hons) in Journalism. He first got into movies 15 years ago, and loves nothing better than sitting front row at a press screening of a movie he knows he’ll probably never get a chance to see again. He also enjoys the queerest of queer culture, eating way too much, and being a dirtbag on Twitter.
REYZANDO NAWARA
Reyzando Nawara is a passionate film and TV writer based in Indonesia. He’s a big fan of Mia Hansen-Løve, Alex Ross Perry, and Noah Baumbach. When he’s not busy telling people to watch Halt and Catch Fire, or at work, he likes to spend his days making sorbet and cooking.
JON NEGRONI
Jon Negroni is an author and Film/TV critic currently residing in the Bay Area for reasons not even he understands. He’s also the host of the Cinemaholics podcast and a writer for The Young Folks, The Spool, and a few other outlets you might find agreeable. You can find him on Twitter at @JonNegroni.
CHRIS PEPPER
Chris has been a member of AwardsWatch July 2013 but his interest in Oscar prediction extends back much further on both the GoldDerby and IMDB forums. He doesn’t remember the specific point where he became interested in AwardsWatching but his interest in film in general started when his father finally decided it was time to introduce him to a man named Stanley Kubrick when I was roughly ten years old, with 2001, and I’ve been an avid film fan ever since.
SAVINA PETKOVA
Savina Petkova is a Bulgarian freelance film critic based in London. Her bylines include MUBI Notebook, photogenie, Electric Ghost Magazine, Girls On Tops and Screen Queens.
Savina is a premiere foreign correspondent for AwardsWatch, covering the Berlin, Cannes and Venice Film Festivals year to year.
VERONICA PHILLIPS
Veronica Phillips is a film, television, and culture writer. She is a regular contributor to Film Daze and Film Cred, with previous pieces appearing in Catapult, Polygon, and Girls on Tops among others.
MICHAEL-MICHELLE PRATT
Michael-Michelle Pratt is a college student and freelance writer who specializes in cultural criticism centered around Blackness, Black womanhood, film, television, beauty, spirituality, mental health. She has been featured in publications such as Vogue, Teen Vogue, ELLE, Harper’s Bazaar, and NYLON.
Tariq Ra’ouf is a Palestinian-American entertainment freelancer based in Seattle, who’s been writing about fandoms in TV and film for 10 years.
They’re a member of queer critic group GALECA, and AMEJA, and outside of AwardsWatch you can find their work at Empire Magazine, The San Francisco Chronicle, Nerdist, IGN and more. (they/them)
Ben is a film and television journalist, who is based out of London, United Kingdom. As the Senior film critic at DiscussingFilm, Ben regularly writes reviews, features, interviews and attends film festivals.
Also, Ben runs the DiscussingFilm Critic Awards that have been running since 2019 and is a Tomatometer-approved critic.
Nick Ruhrkraut is a dentist by day, avid moviegoer also by day, and night. He enjoys discussing all things Oscar related on his podcast, “Oscar Wild,” including conducting interviews with nominated talent, predicting current awards seasons, and recapping past award ceremonies and winners. In 2020, he became the only person to ever correctly predict all 24 categories for the Oscars on Gold Derby, where he is also a contributing writer and has moderated film and television talent interviews for major studios. He has also written multiple film and television critiques for AwardsWatch. You can find him on Twitter @sauerkraut27.
Trace Sauveur is a freelance film critic, against his good sense and better judgment. He lives in Atlanta and loves David Lynch, John Carpenter, the Fast & Furious movies, and all the same bands he listened to in high school. He has bylines at Awards Watch, Paste Magazine, Austin Chronicle, Dread Central, and is also an Atlanta Film Critics Circle member. He is @tracesauveur on Twitter where you can allow his thoughts to contaminate your feed.
DONNY SHELDON
Donny Sheldon is a Philadelphia-raised, Los Angeles-based, WGA-award-winning writer. He studied Film & Cinema Studies in college at American University and earned his MFA in Dramatic Writing from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.
He’s followed the Academy Awards race since he was 10 years-old when his (once) beloved “Titanic” swept the Oscars that year — although now he’s of the opinion that “Boogie Nights” probably should have done that. You can find Donny on Twitter and Instagram at @dtfinla
Dewey Singleton has been reviewing movie and television releases for seven years. He’s excited to have finally found a way to turn his passion for watching things on the big or small screen into a career direction. Dewey is a proud member of the BFCA and his work can be found on bleedingcool.com and eatbreathewatch.com. You can find Dewey on Twitter at @eatbreathewatch.
SHANE SLATER
Shane is a passionate cinephile whose love for film led him to creating his blog Film Actually in 2009. Since then, he has also written for AwardsCircuit.com, Awards Radar, That Shelf and The Spool, in addition to appearances on podcasts, radio and TV. Based in Kingston, Jamaica, he relishes the film festival experience, having covered NYFF, Sundance, SXSW and TIFF among others. He is a proud member of the African-American Film Critics Association (AAFCA).
Catherine is a shameless child of the ‘80s who discovered her passion for movies when she was 12 and has never looked back. As the daughter of an American diplomat, she spent the first 18 years of her life as an international nomad, but, when it came time to choose a college and set down roots, there was no other option than Los Angeles, a true industry town where movies touch and flavor everything.
You can find Catherine on Twitter at @crspringer9.
ADAM SOLOMONS
Adam Solomons is a critic and journalist who currently combines his love for films with a News Reporter role at British tabloid The Daily Star. A Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic with bylines at Sight & Sound and The Quietus, Adam has also been a political journalist. His favourite movie is Toy Story 2.
Matt is a New England-based freelance journalist who lives and breathes the world of cinema and has been an Oscar watcher since the age of eight. His writing can be found on outlets such as The Film Experience, Roger Ebert, Digital Spy, and Slashfilm. He is also a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic and a Gay & Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association member. You can follow him on Twitter @filmguy619. (He/They)
SAM STONE
Sam Stone is a writer and actor based in Brooklyn, New York. He writes humor, culture, and travel among other things, and spends his free time reading about all those things.
You can find him on twitter @sam_the_stone or on Instagram @samstone000.
Mina is a foreign correspondent for AwardsWatch and the co-founder of The Syndicate, an online news agency that offers original content services to several film brands including Empire Magazine’s Middle East edition and the Dubai Film Festival. Takla has attended, covered and written from over 10 film festivals online including the Dubai International Film Festival, Abu Dhabi Film Festival, Cannes, Venice and Annecy Film Festivals.
He has been following the Oscar race since 2000 with accurate, office-pool winning predictions year after year. He writes monthly in Empire Arabia, the Arabic version of the world’s top cinema magazine and conducts press junkets with Hollywood stars in the UK and the US and is only the second Arab-based critic on Rotten Tomatoes. He holds a Master’s degree in Strategic Marketing from Australia’s Wollongong University and is currently based in Dubai, UAE.
You can find Mina on Twitter at @mnm.
DANIEL THEOPHANOUS
Daniel Theophanous is a London based film critic.
Jacob Throneberry has always had a love of film and a desire to write. He first became fascinated in the Awards season thanks to Brie Larson’s 2016 Best Actress win, and now follows along every year. He is currently a member of the Music City Film Critics’ Association and the North American Critics’ Association.
You can find him on Twitter at @Tberry57.
CARSON TIMAR
Carson Timar is a writer and podcaster based in Southern California who has been covering the wild world of film since 2015. He has a love for anything Ozu or Mamma Mia! related and can be found at @BP_MovieReviews on Twitter or under Carson Timar on Letterboxd.
JOSH THOMPSON
Josh considers himself a political nerd first, then a movie lover. Therefore, it makes analysing the awards season a perfect hobby. His love of movies began with Tim Burton’s Batman in 1989, at the age of six, transitioning to 1991’s JFK, which remains his favourite film. He acknowledges the story is “utter twaddle”, but the film is still a masterclass of all the film arts. Josh started at Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), run by Sasha Stone, during what he calls ‘The War of 2001’ and now happily resides at Awardswatch.
DANIEL TRAINOR
Daniel Trainor is writer, podcaster, son and friend from Los Angeles, California. Originally from Michigan, his love for all things pop culture started early, once using pancakes to bribe his way onto the Oscars red carpet bleachers with his mother.
In addition to writing for AwardsWatch, he is an huge sports fan and hosts the LGBTQ sports podcast “Same Team.” One day, he hopes Jane Krakowski will win an Emmy.
CAROLINE TSAI
Caroline Tsai is a film critic and screenwriter by day, meticulous watch-list curator by night. (Seriously—she might have a problem.) When she’s not daydreaming about Oscars season and working out as an excuse to rewatch “Succession,” you can find her interning for Janet Yang Productions, writing newsletters for her Substack (cahier.substack.com), and publishing occasional fiction at carolinetsai.com.
SYDNEY URBANEK
Sydney Urbanek is a Toronto-based writer on movies, music videos, and things in between. She wrote her MA thesis on Jonas Åkerlund’s film and music video work. She also writes a newsletter called Mononym Mythology about mostly pop divas and their (visual) antics. You can find her on Twitter and Instagram @sydurbanek.
MEL VALENTIN
Mel Valentin hails from the great state of California by way of New Jersey and New York. His passion for all things cinema began at the age of three when he caught “King Kong” (1933) in the original Spanish. His work has appeared in numerous, mostly defunct online publications.
JACKSON VICKERY
Jackson is a marketing professional in Dallas, Texas, who is a film connoisseur and lover of all things pop culture. His love of the Oscars dates back to high school, where Oscar night was like Christmas Eve. He hosts a podcast called The JV Club, where he interviews a wide range of guests who focus on the inner workings of all things film and television. He can be found on Twitter @jackson_vickery.
JORDAN WALKER
Jordan Walker has been a television lover all his life and is thrilled to be able to write and podcast about television, movies and the entertainment industry across multiple platforms with other like-minded entertainment addicts. Bona fide “Frasier” addict! You can find more of Jordan on Twitter @TVTalkWithJWalk
NANCY WANG YEUN
Nancy Wang Yuen is a sociologist and pop culture expert. She is the author of ‘Reel Inequality: Hollywood Actors and Racism’ and co-author of ‘Tokens on the Small Screen: Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in Prime Time and Streaming Television.’
She has appeared on PBS, BBC World TV, Dr. Phil, New York Times, Washington Post and Los Angeles Times among others. She is a guest writer at Newsweek, Elle, HuffPost, and Self.
BRIAN WHISENANT
Brian Whisenant is a writer, actor and filmmaker living in Los Angeles. Brian loves movies and television and has been completely obsessed with the Oscars since he was 11, when he watched Cher win Best Actress for Moonstruck.
SARAH WILLIAMS
Sarah is a freelance film writer who loves Portrait of a Lady on Fire, empathetic foreign cinema, experimental films that give you headaches, but mainly just Portrait of a Lady on Fire. She is currently directing her first feature film, which feels like it’ll never be finished (still isn’t), and will be the first to reclaim New French Extremity classic Martyrs as a feminist film (ironically or not, we shall not know). You can find her on Twitter @newsfrmhome.
Zofia resides in Los Angeles and is a film and television critic. She has previously written for The Mary Sue, First Showing, Film Threat, In Their Own League, Film Inquiry, and more. She loves the Scream movies, Carol, American Horror Story, and Schitt’s Creek.
You can find her on Twitter at @thefilmnerdette
KYLE WILSON
Kyle Wilson is a writer who lives in Brooklyn and is happiest when he’s writing about film, television, or his insatiable obsession with Joe Pesci’s performance in The Irishman.
He co-hosts the podcast Insert Movie Here: The Musical, and his work has appeared at Polygon, The Ringer and Screen Rant and you can follow him on Twitter at @icanvalk.
KATHIA WOODS
Kathia Woods is a movie critic/entertainment journalist out of Philadelphia, PA. She’s the creator of Cup of Soul Show, an online outlet that covers minority creatives in film, television, and music. She’s a contributor to Mark and Denise in The Morning on 860 A.M WWDBAM.Com, and has covered Sundance, SXSW, Tribeca, and Philadelphia Film Festivals. Kathia was born in Munich, Germany but is of Brazilian descent. She is fluent in five languages and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Temple University.
CLINT WORTHINGTON
Clint Worthington is a Senior Writer for Consequence of Sound and the founder and editor-in-chief of The Spool. He also co-hosts and produces the podcasts More of a Comment, Really… and Hall of Faces for The Spool, as well as Travolta/Cage with Nathan Rabin. He lives in Chicago with his wife, his cat, and too many Criterions.
TOM ZOHAR
Tom Zohar is an actor, graphic designer, sometimes-playwright and theatre enthusiast living in San Diego. As specified in this article, this is indeed his first time interviewing a celebrity, and yes, Patti LuPone really did tell him he was good at it.
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