JUDGES
2025 EDITION
Adrian Wills
In 2024, Adrian Wills released A Quiet Girl with the NFB, earning a DGC Allan King Award nomination and becoming one of the year’s most-viewed films on NFB.ca. He then released Leonard Cohen: If It Be Your Will (CBC, SBS Australia), which was nominated for both the Canadian Screen Awards and the Banff Rockie Awards.
With Telefilm Canada’s support, Adrian is adapting Jennie’s Boy (Stephen Leacock Award winner, CBC Canada Reads finalist) with Panoramic Pictures and Sherry White (Maudie). He also co-created the WWII docu-series Zero Hour with CSA winner Eric Sabaag (The Detectives), partnering with Attraction Media.
An alumnus of TIFF Talent Lab and CFC Directors’ Lab, Adrian is known for immersive storytelling. His 13-year collaboration with Cirque du Soleil includes the Grammy-winning All Together Now: The Beatles LOVE (Showtime), Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour, and Touch the Sky, a cinéma vérité film with NASA on Cirque founder Guy Laliberté’s space journey. He also worked with James Cameron’s Lightstorm on Avatar: Toruk and directed the filmed version of Luzia for a U.S. release.
In fiction, Adrian directed TV movies Crisis Point and The Surrogacy Trap (Amazon Prime) and co-created CBC’s 21 Thunder, later sold as a Netflix Original and now on Peacock. His true crime work includes Deadly Secrets (ID), Broken Trust, and Somebody’s Hiding Something (Crave).
Holding Canadian, Australian, and EU citizenship, Adrian studied Media at RMIT (Australia) and earned a BFA/MFA in Film Production from Concordia University, where he also lectures.
Tony Parnis
Tony Parnis is a prominent television producer and director with a diverse and accomplished career in both Canada and Malta. He began his journey in the media industry by undertaking film studies in Canada. While there, he produced and hosted "Servizz Xandir Malti" on Graham Cable TV in Toronto, a Maltese-language program. His early career achievements include winning four Graham Awards for drama in Maltese, being named Producer of the Year by Graham Cable Television, and receiving the Canada Birthday Award for Achievement from the Government of Ontario.
In 1984, Tony returned to Malta and joined Xandir Malta’s Newsroom as an editor and director. His career progressed significantly when he became Head of Drama at PBS, where he directed and produced a variety of television drama serials and documentaries. Independently, Tony wrote and directed the feature film Operation White Dove, which was shown in both Malta and Australia. He also directed Bawxati The Movie and Pawlu ta’ Tarsu, both of which were screened in local cinemas.
In 1990, Tony joined One Productions as Head of Drama, where he continued to produce and direct drama series as well as numerous award-winning documentaries. Additionally, he worked independently for NET TV, delivering high-quality productions across various genres. His work has been recognized with multiple Broadcasting Authority Awards for both drama and documentaries, along with the BPC Award for Journalism (TV). Notably, he won the Best Cultural Programme Award for producing the Malta International TV Short Film Festival with Joyce Grech, which aired on TVM.
Tony’s expertise has made him a sought-after judge at prestigious film festivals, including the Short-Shock 2007 International Film Festival in Anapa, Russia, the Golden Knight Film Festival in Malta (organized by the Malta Cine Circle), and the Malta Journalist Awards. He has also served as a judge at several international festivals, including the Amarcort Film Festival in Rimini, Italy (2017-2020), the Alexandria Film Festival in Egypt (2019), and the Cartoon Club Film Festival in Rimini, Italy (2021).
Since 2009, Tony has been the Festival Director/Producer of the Malta Short Film Festival, a role he continues to hold until 2024. His recent projects in 2024 include being Assistant Director for PRN (a 13-episode series for GO/TOKIS), directing the documentary drama Fid-Dell Tal-Forka (6 episodes for ONE), and contributing to Teatru Malta with KAZIN 60+. Additionally, from 2013 to 2024, he has served as a Committee Member for Zararti, a Malta Cultural Association focusing on drama for the third age.
Tony Parnis has had a significant impact on the Maltese television and film industry through his extensive work in drama, documentaries, and film festivals, both locally and internationally.