Animated Shorts Jury

Octavio Rodriguez is a Director at DreamWorks Animation on an unannounced project in development. Prior to joining DreamWorks Animation, he served as head of story on the highly-anticipated upcoming animated feature, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Rodriguez was the co-director of the animated feature Ron's Gone Wrong, from Locksmith Animation, and worked at Pixar Animation Studios on a handful of features including Monsters University, Coco and Incredibles 2. Rodriguez has past experience at various animation studios, including Starz, Rough Draft, Sony Pictures, Warner Bros., Cartoon Network, Disney, Nickelodeon, Mass Animation, and Lucasfilm Animation.

A California Native --- literally! Karissa grew up between sunny San Diego and the Santa Ynez Chumash Reservation. Studied English and Communication at the University of San Diego and then pursued a graduate degree in Television and Film at Syracuse University. Karissa is passionate about animation and has written for preschool favorites such as Disney Junior’s Vampirina, Doc McStuffins, T.O.T.S and The Chicken Squad. She is currently the Showrunner and Executive Producer of Netflix Animation’s upcoming preschool series, Spirit Rangers, which follows the fantastical adventures of a modern day Native American family.