JUDGES 2025

Mark Hadlow | Film & Television Actor | New Zealand – JUDGE: FEATURE FILM COMPETITION

Mark is a multi-talented actor, writer, director, producer and singer who we all came to know and love as the dwarf Dori in Peter Jackson’s trilogy adaptation of The Hobbit. In 2018/19, along with his Hobbit co-star Jed Brophy, Mark starred in “Blue Moon,” a feature film shot entirely on an iPhone in New Zealand by Stef Harris. “Blue Moon” won the 2019 Best Film Award in the Global Mobile Film AwardsTM. Mark is one of New Zealand’s most prominent actors and entertainers, having performed in 130 plays, musical theatre, dozens of film appearances, television series, commercials and radio voice-overs in the thousands.

“The Hobbit” was Mark’s third Peter Jackson movie. In “Meet the Feebles” he played the voices of Heidi the Hippo and Robert the Hedgehog, and sang many of the songs. “King Kong” saw him performing the role of Harry in the vaudeville scenes opposite Naomi Watts and Bill Johnson.

Hadlow is renowned for his singing voice and has appeared in many musicals and concerts, with his all time favorite being “Little Shop of Horrors.”
Mark has been nominated for and won several awards, including Best Supporting Actor in a Television Comedy in a Television series “Willy Nilly,” playing the role of the challenged brother Harry in a three-season top rated sitcom. He won Best Theatrical performance of the Year in 1993 for the hugely successful one-man show “SNAG”, and ultimately went on to win Entertainer of the Year in 1995. He won Best Voice Over Artist in the Radio New Zealand Awards 2010. Mark is also a master narrator, his most recent work being narrator of the enchanting short film ‘The Story of Percival Pilts’ by Janette Goodey & John Lewis. He has also released an audio CD called “Tall Tales,” a collection of classic children’s stories.

IMDb | Instagram | Watch Blue Moon, iPhone Feature Film

Caroline Spence | Actor, Producer & Screenwriter | United Kingdom – JUDGE: FEATURE FILM COMPETITION

Caroline Spence is a multi award-winning producer and screenwriter at Raya Films. To date, Caroline has written and produced 8 feature films, with two – CYBERLANTE and SURVEILLED – being shot entirely on android smartphones. 

Her films have premiered in cinemas and at festivals worldwide and won multiple awards including Best International Feature and Best Screenplay. Her 5th feature film, CASTING KILL, shot in 6 days was nominated for Best Independent Film at the National Film Awards in London, UK.

For a full list of projects past, present and future visit their website or IMDb profile.

IMDb | Website | Watch Cyberlante, Smartphone Feature Film

Errol Trotman Harewood | Actor | Berlin, Germany | Photo by Jan Gessler – JUDGE: FEATURE FILM COMPETITION

A Global Force on Screen – British-born and Guyanese by heritage, Errol Trotman Harewood is an international actor based in Berlin. Since his 1992 theatre debut, he has built a 35-year career spanning stage, musicals, feature films, and television. His standout role remains in Deutschland ‘83, a celebrated Cold War series. Beyond acting, he’s a sought-after voice-over artist and acting coach.

A key cast member of Die Zweiflers, Cannes 2024 Best Series winner, Errol played the father of a lead actress, contributing to its global success and multiple nominations. Errol’s film career took off in 1998 with Straight Shooter. Since then, he has embodied a wide range of roles—from CIA Director (Blacklist) to Chief Justice—across South Africa, Morocco, London, and the Caribbean.

Thrilled to be back judging the International Mobile Film Festival 2025, after a brief hiatus due to filming. The IMFF has evolved from a niche experiment into a powerful movement, proving that storytelling thrives beyond big studios. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned in this business? Whether you’re playing a Chief Justice or a cowboy, great stories don’t need big screens—just bold storytellers.

IMDb

Levi Austin Morris | Writer, Actor & Director | Los Angeles, California – JUDGE: FEATURE FILM COMPETITION

Levi Austin Morris is a queer actor, director, writer, and independent filmmaker located in Los Angeles, California. His most recent feature film, PARALYSIS, was filmed on two iphones at the end of Covid lockdown and has appeared in fifteen film festivals, taking home ten awards. A reviewer from Film Threat stated: “Morris proves that a good movie can be made with a little money and a lot of effort without the need for expensive bells and whistles.”

Levi appears next in the upcoming Wallybird Productions independent feature, EASTER BLOODY EASTER being distributed by Gravitas Ventures on Amazon in March 2024. He is currently in pre-production for his next feature, a dark comedy about marriage, murder, and Minnesota. Levi is a passionate storyteller and believes that artists should not wait for gatekeepers to give permission: create and tell the stories you want to tell. Do it now!

IMDb | Watch Paralysis, iPhone Feature Film

Jed Brophy |Actor | New Zealand – JUDGE: SHORT FILM COMPETITION

Jed is an actor from New Zealand with a long association with fantasy entertainment. During the 90s he appeared in episodes of “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys” and “Xena: Warrior Princess,” as well as the films “Dead Alive” and “Heavenly Creatures,” both directed by a relatively unknown director at the time, Peter Jackson.

Jackson later cast Jed in several parts in “The Fellowship of the Ring” and “The Two Towers,” and tapped him with the starring role of Nori in his epic adaptation of “The Hobbit.” Jed has also had roles in other well known genre projects including “King Kong,” “District 9,” “Legend of the Seeker” (on which fellow LockDownCon speaker André Bormanis was the supervising producer), and “The Shannara Chronicles.”

In 2019, Jed co-starred along fellow Hobbit actor Mark Hadlow in “Blue Moon,” a feature film directed by Stef Harris. It was shot entirely on an iPhone in New Zealand. Most recently his acting roles include the 2022 series “The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power” on Amazon Prime.

Jed Brophy attended IMFF 2023 in San Diego, California.

IMDb | Website | Watch Blue Moon, iPhone Feature Film

James Smith | Cinematographer | United Kingdom – JUDGE: SHORT FILM COMPETITION

James Smith was born in Surrey, England and raised in the USA and South Africa before his family returned to Essex in the late 1970s. In 2004, he teamed up with screenwriter-producer Caroline Spence, shooting sports promos and documentary films in 2004. It was then that he developed hand-held techniques melded with striking static compositions that hallmark his style today. 

You can find many of James Smith’s films streaming on Amazon Prime, TUBI, AppleTV+, etc. His female-led thriller Agent Kelly (2020) , a ‘run and gun’ experimental project shot on zero budget, won the Best Experiment Film at the Swedish International Film Festival 2022, and continues to be seen by millions of people online today.

James Smith adopted smartphone technology shooting two full length feature films: cyber-crime thriller Cyberlante (2020) and horror-whodunnit Surveilled (2021). 

The Hitchcockian ‘smart horror’ Casting Kill (2023) was nominated for Best Independent Film at the National Film Awards (UK) 2023; Best Director and Best Cinematography at Scorpius (Utah), and Love & Hope IFF (Barcelona) respectively in 2023. Comedy feature Best Geezer (2023) won Best Original Screenplay and Best International Feature at the Skiptown Playhouse International Film Festival in Hollywood, Los Angeles. Next in line for the Raya Films team are the mystery-thriller Daggers Inn, suspense-thriller Cult Night, and Spanish-set thriller The Finca.

IMDb | Website | Watch Surveilled, Smartphone Feature Film

Shola Ajayi | Producer, Filmmaker & Instructor | New York & Nigeria – JUDGE: SHORT FILM COMPETITION

Olubusola M. Ajayi, “Shola”, splits her time between New York and Nigeria and continues her work as a part-time lecturer, screenwriter, and filmmaker while co-running pan-African spaces UR4Africa and Public Art Africa in Lagos, Nigeria. Shola studied Photography and Screenwriting at the University of Central Florida and went on to pursue an MFA in Film Production at Boston University as well as a Masters in Media Studies at The New School.

UR4Africa is an organization that sets out to build bridges between people of African descent, living on the continent and abroad; through media projects, social development projects, and cultural exchanges. Public Art Africa is a youth-led organization that seeks to create a platform for young people in Nigeria and Africa to express themselves, have access to art and media education resources while learning about important social topics such as Human Rights, The Environment, and Health Empowerment.

Shola’s primary focus has been to create films and new media projects that explore social issues amongst people of color while also developing stories and images that present Africa and Africans, specifically Nigerians, in new and innovative ways. She enjoys exploring storytelling from the format of documentary and also fiction.

IMDb

Jeremy Gladen | Actor | Los Angeles, California – JUDGE: SHORT FILM COMPETITION

“With 20+ years in the industry as an actor and creative in the showbiz space, Jeremy is thrilled to be joining his first ever panel as a film festival judge and to support IMFF. He can’t wait to see the stories told and the art that’s shared right from the palm of everyone’s hand. So cool!” (IMFF 2024)

Jeremy Gladen is attended IMFF 2024 in person.

IMDb | Website

Jack Lugar | Writer, Director & Producer| Fishers, Indiana – JUDGE: SHORT FILM COMPETITION

Jack Lugar spent more than a decade working as a television writer and producer in Los Angeles prior to relocating back to his hometown of Indianapolis, Indiana. He is credited for the sitcom Wanda at Large from Warner Bros./FOX; From the Top for Family Theater Productions; Several projects under comedian Louie Anderson’s company, Louzell Productions, the Katz Pajamas middle-grade book series, the Sessi Nilsson young-adult book series, and most recently his feature film This Train which premiered at the Heartland International Film Festival in Indianapolis and the Golden State Film Festival at the historic Chinese Theatres.

He holds the distinction of being selected to the Warner Bros. Comedy Workshop and has received recognitions from the Disney/ABC Writer’s Program, Slamdance, Scriptapalooza, and the PAGE Awards. Jack has also been a panelist and jury member for the Heartland International Film Festival, Indy Shorts, and International Mobile Film Festival. He joined the full-time faculty at Anderson University in the fall of 2016 and teaches screenwriting, storytelling, cinema studies, directing, and producing for film and television.

IMDb | Website

Ant Pruitt | Photographer, Content Creator & Podcast Host, Model and Actor| California – JUDGE: SHORT FILM COMPETITION

“I am a freelance digital content creator focusing on photography and videography.”

Ant Pruitt has been a supporter of mobile filmmakers and photographers, and a judge for the short film competition for a few years and we are truly honored he’s back in 2025.

IMDb | Website