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Shorts Competition   |   Cutting the Edge   |   FIPRESCI

    

JAIE LAPLANTE 
Jaie Laplante is currently Programming Director
of the Miami Short Film Festival and
Associate Director of the Food Network’s
South Beach Wine & Food Festival. A native
of Canada, he has worked on projects with
American independent directors Gregg Araki
(The Doom Generation, 1995) and Todd Verow
(Frisk, 1995) and also co-wrote the screenplay
for John Palmer’s Sugar, nominated for a
2004 “Genie,” the Canadian Academy Award.
He has called Miami home since 1998 and has
been involved in the Miami film scene since
2001. Laplante has a BFA in Film Production/
Screenwriting from Toronto’s York University
and his favorite thing to note about cinema is
that “as we watch films, the films also watch
us!”

KEVIN SHARPLEY
Kevin Sharpley is the president and CEO of Kijik
Multimedia, a full service production company
with specialties in integrated, branded
and convergent media. He is also Executive
Director of CineVisun, a non-profit organization
that supports the independent film industry.
Sharpley has produced and directed
many films, documentaries, television, event
and multi-media projects, as well as supervising
the production of numerous music videos,
commercials, and short films. He has a bachelor’s
degree from the University of Miami with
a dual major in filmmaking and psychology
and has been involved in the film and entertainment
industry for over 16 years. Sharpley
writes poetry, short stories, novels and scripts
based on his travels, and commits much of
his time to giving back to the community and
mentoring youth based on his experiences
worldwide.
MOE CHARIF
Filmmaker Moe Charif graduated with honors
from the University of Florida holding a
bachelor’s degree in Visual Arts. With a keen
eye for photography, he started his filmmaking
journey in 2003 with small projects until
he directed and produced Hunted in 2005,
a short film action-thriller that successfully
screened at over 18 film festivals worldwide.
The short was nominated for a number of
awards including “Best Short Drama,” “Best
Thriller” and “Best of Festival,” and ultimately
won “Best Horror” and “Best Short Drama.”
Charif’s strengths include a fastidious attention
to detail, strong story sense, cutting
edge visual style, savvy business mentality,
and a talent for utilizing stunning visual effects.
He currently has an out-of-competition
short in this year’s MIFF, Never Winter (2009).