2025 Athens Film Festival Jury
Kelsey Schmitt
Kelsey Schmitt (MFA '23) is an Atlanta-based film writer-director, cinematographer, and photographer. She’s written and directed films for the University of Georgia’s M.F.A. film program, Georgia Film Academy, and independent film productions in and around the Atlanta area. Her creative work has been highlighted by the Athens Film Festival, the University of Georgia, and Flagpole Magazine. She has collaborated with acclaimed businesses such as Classic City Vintage Guitars, Peepal People, Bellows Film Lab, and with Atlanta/Athens-based bands such as Commune and Tattoo Logic, and with Brooklyn, NY singer-songwriter Keekai.
In 2023, she wrote, crowdfunded, and directed her latest short film, Between You and Me, which will soon screen at film festivals across the nation. She holds a B.A. from the University of Alabama and an M.F.A. from the University of Georgia. Most recently, her short film Chessboxer, for which she was the producer and director of photography, won Best Georgia Short at the Athens Film Festival in August of 2024. Kelsey currently teaches undergraduate film courses such as Intro to Screenwriting and Production Basics at the University of Georgia.
Mya-Breyana Morton
Mya-Breyana Morton is an award-winning writer, director, and cinematographer from Lithonia, GA, with a passion for using film to amplify marginalized voices. With an MFA in Film & TV Production from SCAD and a multicultural upbringing in Kuwait, Mya’s storytelling spans directing, cinematography, and screenwriting. Her work—including the acclaimed The Traveler, which was featured on WABE/PBS, and the Emmy-nominated, Webby Award-winning Because, I Love You—has garnered numerous accolades.
As the Co-Founder of The Production Circle, a community hub for independent artists, and the Founder & Creative Director of Unconscious Media, a boutique creative marketing agency, Mya is actively reshaping the cinematic landscape. Recently named to Forbes 30 Under 30, she is dedicated to empowering underrepresented voices and transforming the narrative in film.
Jayson Warner Smith
A dynamic force in independent cinema, Jayson Warner Smith has carved out a career defined by depth, versatility, and an unwavering commitment to storytelling. He has the honor of attending both the 2015 and the 2016 Sundance Independent Film Festivals as a cast member of four films screenings there; 2016 with Christine and The Birth of a Nation which won both the Audience Award and the Grand Jury Prize; and also, in 2015 with 99 Homes and Mississippi Grind. His festival pedigree extends to Tribeca, where he appeared in The Book of Love (2016) and Only (2019), as well as the Atlanta Film Festival, where The Devil to Pay (formerly Reckoning), featuring Danielle Deadwyler, won Best Georgia Film in 2019.
A proud Atlanta native, Smith is perhaps best known for his chilling portrayal of Wendall Jelks on Sundance TV’s Rectify and as Gavin on AMC’s The Walking Dead. His screen credits showcase a diverse range of roles alongside industry heavyweights, including American Made with Tom Cruise, Christine opposite Rebecca Hall, Tracy Letts, and J. Smith-Cameron, Where the Crawdads Sing , and Hulu’s acclaimed miniseries Candy. He can be seen in a major guest star role opposite Don Cheadle in NBC Universal’s Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist on Peacock.
Beyond acting, Smith’s passion for independent film extends behind the camera. He executive produced and starred in the multi-award-winning short film Chipper which screened at over 30 festivals worldwide. His experience as a filmmaker, judge, and seasoned festival attendee makes him a true champion of independent cinema, bringing both an artist’s eye and a storyteller’s soul to every role he inhabits.
Jayson lives in Athens, Georgia with his beautiful and amazingly patient wife Lisa and their two cats Simon and Walter.
Neil Landau
Neil Landau is an award-winning screenwriter, creative producer, author, and professor in the MFA in Film, Television & Digital Media Program at the University of Georgia. His screen credits include the cult teen comedy Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead (1991) and the 2024 remake; Melrose Place, The The Magnificent Seven, Doogie Howser, M.D., The Secret World of Alex Mack, Twice in a Lifetime, MTV's Undressed. His animated movie projects include Tad: Tad: The Lost Explorer (aka Las Adventuras de Tadeo Jones), for which he earned a Spanish Academy “Goya” Award for Best Adapted Screenplay (2014); Tad2 (Tadeo Jones and the Secret of King Midas), from Paramount, and Tad3 (Tadeo Jones and the Tablet of Esmeralda) from Paramount. He also co-wrote the Goya award-winning animated feature Capture the Flag (Paramount), and as Co-EP on Mummies for Warner Bros. (2023). Neil’s new projects include the award-winning animated feature Buffalo Kids (Artresmedia/Warner Bros,); Dreams for 4 Cats Pictures/Warner Bros.; and the live-action feature, Idols as Co-Executive Producer (for 4 Cats Pictures/Warner Bros.) for November 2025 release.