HFF 2025 Team

Christi Dodge

Co-Founder/Festival Organizer - Curation/Events

Filmmaker, Producer, CEO of Dodge Media Productions

Nik Whitcomb

Co-Founder/Festival Organizer - Venue/Operations

Casting Director, Actor, Producing Artistic Director of Bag&Baggage Productions

2025 Community Committees

The Hillsboro Film Festival is for the community and by the community!

Below are the heartbeat of the operation; community members that volunteer many hours to plan the dynamic festival activities and screen every film before it goes to the judges.

Planning: Julie Case, Cindy Cozenzo, Tammy Ellingson, Brian O’Connor, & Andrez Araquistain (Monty Video)

Screening: Adesina Cameron, Julie Case, Lucero Cortez, George DeGeer, Tammy Ellingson, Mike McMurray, Katie Rhyne, Nadia Shaik, Javier Sosa, & Jill Sughrue

2025 Festival Judges

Mark A. Burley is a director and producer known for GLOW (2017), Orange Is The New Black (2013), Weeds (2005), Murder, She Wrote (1984) and Simon & Simon (1981). He has also worked on a number of TV movies of the week including Mrs. Santa Claus (1996) and Hiroshima: Out of the Ashes (1990). Mark directed the series finale of Orange Is The New Black and has received four Emmy nominations and a Producers Guild of America award. He directed the multiple-award winning short film Moon Blood (2023) which screened at the inaugural Hillsboro Film Festival in 2024. IMDB

Cindy Cosenzo is a community-building consultant and founder of Just Create Community, LLC, a social impact business which has been cultivating compassionate workspaces and creating welcoming communities across California and Oregon for over 20 years. Prior to her mission-driven community work, Cindy worked internationally in television production and computer animation for 2 decades. She was a Production Manager on the War of the Worlds television series (Triumph Entertainment), Owner/Executive Producer of Calibre Digital Animation Toronto, Senior Producer at both Pizazz Animation Studios in London England and DreamWorks Animation in the Bay Area, and a Unit Production Manager on Pixar/Disney's Finding Nemo. Cindy was one of the early community volunteers involved with the Toronto Film Festival in the early 80’s and is thrilled to combine her passion for community with her love of film through the Hillsboro Film Festival! www.justcreatcommunity.com

Brian "Coach" Fleskes is a Former High School Teacher/Football, Track Coach (where the nickname and attitude come from). Portland area native and Pacific University graduate. Brian started Coach Sarge Cine (CSC) in 1993. CSC is a Grip and Lighting company built by a gaffer and a key grip that offers 5 trucks, 2 studios, and rental packages full of the best lights, tools, and toys they wanted to work with every day. Love the grip challenges and solving problems on set. https://coachsargecine.com/

Shelley Davis is a Teaching Assistant Professor of Film Production at Portland State University and a practicing documentary filmmaker. Her work explores lost histories, the land, and everyday life, blending activism, community, and social justice. She earned an MFA in Documentary Production and Studies from the University of North Texas, where she also taught film production and documentary courses. Shelley is currently directing her first feature documentary, Saba and Savta (2024), about an elderly Jewish couple preserving their culture and history. Her past works include Gatekeeper (2022), exploring rural South Florida's multicultural and ecological intersections, and Facing Fistula (2022), highlighting women's healthcare struggles and resilience. Shelley's storytelling draws on her Florida roots and narrative cinema background, with a focus on underrepresented communities, LGBTQIA+ voices, environmental issues, and women’s healthcare. Her films, rooted in cinema verité, have screened internationally, immersing audiences in meaningful, sensorial experiences.

Zeloszelos Marchandt is a dynamic artist, educator, and activist based in the Pacific Northwest. His interdisciplinary work spans music, circus arts, playwriting, journalism, and filmmaking, often exploring Black and Indigenous trans, gender non-conforming, and queer histories. As Artistic Director of T & A Grand Theater and Ten, Tiny, Talks, he fosters spaces for underrepresented voices. Zelos is the founder of Tauraro Film Festival, an annual celebration spotlighting Black and Indigenous 2sLGBTQIA films. The 5th Annual Tauraro Fest will be presented in partnership with The Hillsboro Film Festival and across the Portland area. Tauraro also supports emerging creatives through mentorship, microgrants, and technical resources. https://www.themarchandt.com/

Cynthia Whitcomb is a celebrated screenwriter, playwright, author and teacher of writing. She has had thirty full-length scripts filmed and six plays produced. She has been nominated for the Emmy, Edgar Allan Poe, Writers Guild of America and Oregon Book Awards. She has created roles Martin Sheen, Anjelica Huston, Gena Rowlands, Jason Robards, Ellen Burstyn, and many others. For more on Cynthia you can go to cynthiawhitcomb.com

Enie Vaisburd was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Her film work is often lyrical, integrating characteristics of experimental and documentary forms. Language, translation, cultural identity, and displacement are large themes in her work. She is an award-winning filmmaker and has been the lead filmmaker in community engagement projects, including the “Oregon Latino Video Project”. She is Associate Professor in film and video at Pacific University Oregon with an emphasis in studies and practice. and was Lead Faculty at the Northwest Film Center in Portland, OR, for more than a decade. https://www.evaisb.com/

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