First wave of judges announced for shots Awards The Americas 2026
The first wave of judges has been announced for the shots Awards The Americas 2026, celebrating work from across North and South America, and Canada.
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With entries now open for the shots Awards The Americas 2026, the first wave of judges has been announced.
Open to work from across North America, South America and Canada, the awards celebrate standout creativity and craft across advertising, branded content and production.
Submissions are being accepted now via the online entry portal, with the final entry deadline set for 13 February 2026. The shortlist will be revealed on 19 March 2026, ahead of the awards ceremony taking place at the Avalon in West Hollywood, Los Angeles on 23 April 2026.
Above: Avalon in West Hollywood, the venue for the awards.
The first wave of judges announced for the 2026 shots Awards The Americas are:
- Aryan Aminzadeh, Group Creative Director, West BBDO
- Cass Surina Austin, Production Designer & Art Director
- Sole Bottaro, Executive Producer, Labhouse
- Gabrielle Blackwood, Director/Cinematographer, Winnie Pictures
- Agustín Claramunt, Director of Photography, Freelance
- Chinwe Chong, Editor, Consulate
- Corey Cho, Video Editor
- Richard Cureton, Executive Producer, Revolver Films
- Luísa Dalé Silva, Cinematographer
- Rami D’Aguiar, Senior Editor, Cabin Edit
- Marc André Debruyne, Director, Open Swim
- Rocio Gastaldi, Film and Creative Director, Landia
- Sophie Gold, President & Executive Producer, Eleanor
- Erin Goodsell, Head of Production, Mother LA
- Richard Hama, Director of Photography
- Gina Harrell, Head of Video Production and Content Development, Epic Records
- Emily Harris, EP, Development & Representation, OPC
- Andrew Hayes, Casting Director, Powerhouse Casting
- Emma Higgins, Director and Writer, Fela
- Fabiano Higashi, Creative Director, Media Arts Lab
- Jules Hotz, Artist, Director of Photography, IATSE Local 600 Camera Operator
- André Inácio, Director, Anonymous Content Brazil
- Aasttha Khajuria, Executive Producer/Service, Spy Films
- Edward Khoma, Editor and Co-Founder, Abandon Editorial
- Eva-Maria Kuehlmann, VFX Supervisor, ARC Creative
- Tina Lam, Head of Production, Terri & Sandy
- Nicholas Lam, Director, Asymetric
- Mike Lobikis, Head of Sales/Executive Producer, Partizan
- Zaldy Lopez, Editor, Exile Edit
- Cristian Nicolas Morales Hernandez, Chief Executive Officer, Crinimo.tv
- Jessie Nagel, Co-Founder, Green The Bid / Hype
- Michael 'Middy' Ofori-Attah, Senior Editor, Cartel
- Ezequiel Ortiz, CEO & Partner, Rebolucion
- David Ozier, Writer & Director
- Dante Pasquinelli, Senior Colorist, Ethos Studio
- Kamila Prokop, Managing Director, division7
- Michael Refuerzo, Global Head of Production, Beats by Dre, Apple Inc.
- Bee Reynolds, Group Creative Director, EP+Co
- Miranda Romero Fuentes, CEO and Founder, Brotes
- Nathan Scherrer, Founder/Producer, Freenjoy
- Arianna Shining Star Smaller, Colorist, Arianna Shining Star
- Mark Snelgrove, Production Designer, Snelgrove Design Group
- Charlie Tyrell, Filmmaker
- Morten Vinther, ECD, Harbour Picture Company
- Keith Wager, Costumer/Stylist, Gents inc
- Patrick Wood, Executive Producer, ProdCo
- Natalie Wozniak, Head of Editorial, ARC Creative
Above [l-r, from top left]: Sara Worthington, Joanna Manning, Fuliane Petikyan, Sara Eolin, Diego de la Maza, Shawn Lacy, Amado Stachenfeld, Tomás Becú, Erin Sarofsky, and Michael Sagol.
As previously announced, the Head Judges for the 2026 shots Awards The Americas are:
- Animation & VFX: Erin Sarofsky, ECD & Owner, Sarofsky
- Casting, Production & Styling: Michael Sagol, Managing Director, Caviar
- Charity: Sara Eolin, Partner & Executive Producer, Tinygiant
- Use of Music & Sound Design: Tomás Becú, Partner, BAMBA LLC
- Concept & Copywriting: Sara Worthington, Executive Creative Director, Grey
- Cinematography: Amado Parame Stachenfeld, Cinematographer
- Direction: Shawn Lacy, Founding Partner, Biscuit Filmworks
- Editing: Joanna Manning, MD & Senior Executive Producer, Whitehouse Post
- Music Video: Fuliane Petikyan, Managing Partner & Executive Producer, Fela
- New Director: Diego de la Maza, CPO, Omnicom Production
The shots team will also be hosting another edition of shots Out of the Box on 22 April at the Bike Shed in Downtown, bringing together the community for a day of creative exploration ahead of the ceremony.
Full details on categories and entry criteria can be found here, with submissions available via the online entry portal.
