Hiroaki Takeuchi

Animation Producer | JAPAN

Hiroaki Takeuchi is a leading Japanese anime producer of the“The Animatrix” (anime version of “The Matrix”) amongst many other hit anime titles.
Over 20 years ago he established CoMixWave Inc., and produced early work of famous director “Makoto Shinkai” and “Shuhei Morita” With his rich experience including having been a contributing writer for the Japanese edition of "WIRED", Takeuchi lectures at various universities in the field of digital animation, and serves as council member for animation related committees run by the Japanese and Tokyo Metropolitan Governments.
He is an award-winning anime producer with many titles to his credit, such as“TEKKON　KINKREET(CG pilot)”, “Voices of a Distant Star”, “Cencoroll”,“Wake Up Girls!”, “BERSERK”, “Sing yesterday for me”.

Betsy Bauer

Editor | New Zealand

Betsy Bauer is an award-winning editor who has worked professionally in the industry for more than ten years. Equal parts storyteller, creative problem-solver, and bona fide pop culture nerd, Betsy’s passion lies in long-form drama editing: telling powerful, immersive stories that impact audiences long after the lights come on.
For the past five years, Betsy has applied her expertise as the resident editor for creative powerhouse, Weta Workshop, where she gets to sink her teeth into a wide variety of creative projects: among them, behind-the-scenes content for films Thor: Ragnarok, Blade Runner 2049, and Mulan. She’s also edited content for mixed reality trailblazers, Magic Leap, and multimedia behemoth, Tencent.

Derek Zemrak

Festival Founder, Filmmaker | USA

Derek Zemrak’s 30-year career in the entertainment industry includes acting, producing, directing, and commentating. He is a member of The Screen Actors Guild and The Producers Guild of America. His credits, as a producer, include Bongee Bear and the Kingdom of Rhythm (animated film), King Cobra (James Franco, Christian Slater, Alicia Silverstone), Hercules Saves Christmas (Movie of the Week for Animal Planet) and Fallen Angels (Warner Bros).
He founded the California Independent Film Festival Association in 1997, and has screened thousands of independent films from around the world.
Zemrak has prepared movies reviews for KTVU FOX 2 in San Francisco for the past five years. He has been a film critic at four radio stations in Northern California: KKIQ 101.7FM, KKDV 92.1FM, KAHI 101.4FM and 950AM.
He has interviewed Hollywood legends and Oscar winners including Rita Moreno, Martin Landau, Cloris Leachman, Tony Curtis, Richard Dreyfuss, Louise Fletcher, Tab Hunter and Helen Hunt, just to name a few.
Zemrak is the owner of the historic Orinda Theatre in Orinda, CA built in 1941.
Zemrak’s book “50 Movies You May Not Have Seen, That You Should” will he released in December 2020 by Bearmanor Media.