About Us
KTOWN International Film Festival (KTOWN IFF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and an annual Los Angeles–based festival dedicated to connecting filmmakers with community, heritage, and new opportunities. Located in the heart of the entertainment capital and surrounded by Hollywood’s creative legacy and vibrant multicultural communities, KTOWN IFF embodies cross-cultural storytelling and global collaboration.
The festival was founded by accomplished film and media leaders with extensive experience in cinema, entertainment, and international cultural initiatives. Its advisory board includes world-renowned experts in film and technology, Hollywood executives, legendary directors and producers, as well as distinguished advisors from global partners and international production communities—bringing broad industry insight, innovation, and global perspective to the festival’s leadership.
Opening Night is hosted at the historic Gardena Cinema, launching a week of curated screenings, industry panels, and cultural programs. In partnership with the Cities of Torrance and Gardena, the festival presents special International Film Nights, including screenings of official Academy Award submissions from around the world.
Throughout festival week, KTOWN IFF collaborates with local theaters such as Regency Theatres for expanded programming, culminating in the Closing Night Screening and Awards Ceremony, where we proudly present the AI Film for Humanity Award, recognizing ethical, human-centered innovation in cinematic storytelling.
KTOWN IFF amplifies underrepresented voices, nurtures cultural identity, and fosters meaningful dialogue between independent cinema, Hollywood professionals, and international audiences. Rooted in Koreatown and strengthened by Los Angeles’ global diversity, the festival serves as a dynamic platform for filmmakers seeking visibility, collaboration, and lasting impact.
More than a festival, KTOWN IFF is a cultural bridge—uniting communities, industries, and generations through the power of film.
Executive Members:
- Christopher HK Lee – President/Festival Director
- Paul Rivas – Director
- Arnold Chun – Director
- Judy Kim – Director
- Minah Son – Event Producer/Workshop
- Daseul Lee – Event MC
Programming Committee:
- Judy Kim – Programming Director Gardena Cinema
- Paul Rivas – Documentary Film Programming
- Evgeny Subochev – International Program Director for Russian Films – > ABOUT EVENNY
- Zak Piper – Student Film Programming
- Dani Di Rosa – International Program Director for Paraguayan Films
- Yong-Jong Park – AI Film Programming
- Mark Spano/Megan Lisak – AI Film for Humanity
- Water Santucci – Animation Film Programming
Advisory Board:
Our advisory members are a distinguished group of industry professionals and trusted partners of the festival’s executive leadership. As members of the Advisory Committee of the KTOWN International Film Festival (ktowniff.org), they provide strategic guidance, industry insight, and mentorship, helping the festival explore new opportunities for growth while supporting its artistic vision and mission.
Ilya Salkind
Ilya Salkind is a Mexican-born film and television producer from a legendary multi-generational filmmaking family, best known for producing the groundbreaking Superman films (Superman 1978, Superman II, Superman III), which helped establish the modern superhero genre, as well as classics such as The Three Musketeers, The Four Musketeers, Supergirl, and Santa Claus: The Movie. Renowned for his visionary approach to international co-productions and large-scale storytelling, Salkind’s career has had a lasting impact on global cinema. In recognition of his lifetime contributions to film and cultural storytelling, he was honored as the Lifetime Achievement Award recipient at the 2023 Jackson Doc Fest.
Michael Schultz
Michael Schultz has enjoyed a five-decade career spanning theater, film, and television. A founding member of the Negro Ensemble Company, he earned an OBIE Award for Song of the Lusitanian Bogey and a Tony nomination for Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie?. He went on to direct landmark films including Cooley High, Car Wash, The Last Dragon, and Krush Groove, with Car Wash winning two awards at Cannes.
Schultz later discovered talents such as Denzel Washington, LL Cool J, and Blair Underwood, directed acclaimed television series including Ally McBeal, The Practice, The O.C., and Everwood, and helmed Woman Thou Art Loosed, which won Best Film at the American Black Film Festival and Santa Barbara International Film Festival.
Barry Sandrew, Ph.D.
Dr. Barry Sandrew is an internationally recognized serial entrepreneur, digital imaging innovator, and VFX pioneer with more than 39 patents. A former Harvard/MGH neuroscientist, he invented digital colorization in 1987 and later founded Legend Films and Legend3D, leading the restoration, VFX, and proprietary 3D conversion for all the major Hollywood studios on many of their highest-grossing films of the past two decades, collaborating with such filmmakers as Zack Snyder, Martin Scorsese, Robert Zemeckis and Michael Bay.
He currently serves as Managing Director of the Innovation Hub at Westcliff University, where he leads entrepreneurial initiatives and applies his latest AI innovations to reimagine 21st-century education.
Christina July Kim
Christina graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in the acting program at the University of Southern California. In addition to acting, Christina has worked in the Tech sector for the past 15 years working closely with C-Level executives and tech professionals. It is through her day job that Christina is able to pay for the film projects that she takes on through her production company, Selah Pictures which she started to tell the stories that she wanted to tell as an underrepresented minority woman in the Entertainment Industry.
In 2016 she also started the Silicon Valley International Film Festival that is the only networking event that connects people who work in tech with filmmakers with the objective of filmmakers getting their next film funded.
Walter Santucci
Walter Santucci is an animator, puppeteer, and filmmaker who has created work for and with such luminaries as Monty Python’s Graham Chapman, Cedric the Entertainer, Ice Cube, Ice T, and Margaret Cho. He recently produced animation and puppet segments for Attention Deficit Theater for the CW Network and Radical Cram School with Kristina Wong.
For over ten years Walter has taught animation at various colleges and universities. He is the author of The Guerrilla Guide to Animation (Bloomsbury Press) and has created animation for Disney, Fox, MTV, Nickelodeon, Sesame Workshop, and many more. He recently finished directing an animated feature starring the voices of punk rock legends Jack Grisham (TSOL) and Keith Morris (Black Flag, Circle Jerks) called I’d Rather Be Turned Into Cat Food.
Cathlyn Choi
Cathlyn Choi is a culinary artist and TV host dedicated to promoting healthy Korean cuisine and culture. As the host of PBS’s Cathlyn’s Korean Kitchen, she has introduced authentic Korean cooking to audiences nationwide and led 300+ culinary demonstrations across Southern California. Her work has earned recognition from the California Legislature, the former First Lady of Korea, and the Asian Hall of Fame, and she currently serves as Executive Director of the San Diego–based nonprofit Asian Culture and Media Alliance.
Dae Ryun Chang
Prof. Chang is currently a Visiting Professor at IESE Business School in Barcelona, Spain. He is also a Leading Professor at SUNY Stony Brook in Korea since 2022. He spent 35 years as Professor of Marketing at Yonsei School of Business. He received his Doctorate from Harvard University, his MBA from Columbia University, and his BCom from the University of British Columbia. A former Dean of the Graduate School of International Studies at Yonsei University, he has held visiting faculty appointments at Helsinki School of Economics, Hong Kong University of Science & Technology, Australian National University, Singapore Management University, Nanyang Technology University, and was a Visiting Scholar at Columbia University, University of Vienna and University of St. Andrews.
Ken Klein, Ph.D.
Dr. Kenneth Klein is Head Emeritus of the East Asian Library at the University of Southern California, where he led the library for nearly four decades. During his tenure, he played a central role in building one of the most significant East Asian and Korean studies collections in the United States, including the USC Korean Heritage Library and major digital archives preserving Korean and Korean American history.
In addition to his academic and archival leadership, Dr. Klein has served for many years as a judge for Jackson Doc Fest, bringing a deeply informed perspective on documentary storytelling, historical context, and cultural authenticity. He has been honored by the Government of South Korea with the Order of Civil Merit for his lifelong dedication to advancing Korean studies and cross-cultural understanding. He brings this breadth of experience in scholarship, archives, and documentary evaluation to the KTOWN International Film Festival Advisory Committee.
Thomas Sanghyun Hong
Thomas is a Tokyo- and Seoul-based film producer, critic, festival coordinator, and Korean–Japanese translator, widely recognized for his expertise in Japanese and Korean cinema. His critical writing and industry insight have been featured in leading publications including CoAR, the Japan Foundation’s JFF+, and Hitocinema by Mainichi Shimbun.
Beginning his career in 2004 in advertising as an Account Executive, Thomas was later appointed as a private expert to Korea’s Presidential Committee for the Creation of a Cultural City. This role led him to develop cultural initiatives and produce television documentaries for major Korean broadcasters, bridging public policy, media, and cultural storytelling.
Thomas has served as a program advisor and producer for prominent film festivals in Korea and Japan, including the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival and the Takasaki Film Festival. He currently serves as an advisor to the Jeonju International Film Festival. In addition, he is a judge for the Mainichi Film Awards—Japan’s longest-running film awards—and has previously served as a juror for the Digicon 6 Asia short animation festival.
As both an experienced producer and a respected critic, Thomas brings a rare combination of practical filmmaking experience and deep cinematic scholarship. He is also a key advocate for international cultural exchange and plays a central role in leading Korean Night programming during KTOWN International Film Festival events.
Robert Grasmere
Robert Grasmere is an internationally recognized filmmaker and visual effects supervisor with decades of industry expertise in action filmmaking, cinematography, and large-scale production. His background includes work on major studio films such as They Live, Prince of Darkness, Predator 2, Demolition Man, Clear and Present Danger, and Salt, collaborating on productions directed by John Carpenter and Phillip Noyce and featuring actors including Angelina Jolie and Harrison Ford.
As CEO and Creative Supervisor of Temprimental VFX in Culver City, he has overseen complex visual effects projects including Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar and The Unholy. Most recently, he completed international productions in Portugal, Thailand, and Saudi Arabia, serving as Action Director, Director of Photography, VFX Supervisor, and directing the feature thriller The Watchful Eye.
Yong-Jung Park
Yong-Jung Park is a leading Korean CGI and VFX artist, AI artist, and director with nearly three decades of industry experience since 1997. As CEO of Kinomotive, he has led high-end visual effects production across Korea, Hong Kong, China, India, and Southeast Asia for major feature films, television dramas, and global commercial projects. Known for delivering large-scale CGI with exceptional speed, precision, and realism—often indistinguishable from live action—his work stands out for integrating advanced technology research with a strong creative vision. His expertise spans motion graphics, 2D/3D animation, compositing, stereoscopic 3D, and generative AI, bridging cinematic storytelling with next-generation production workflows.
Mark Spano
Mark Spano is a prolific writer, filmmaker, television producer and lecturer. His documentary “Sicily: Land of Love and Strife” was released in the U.S. and Canada, was presented at the Toronto Italian Film Festival and aired in the U.S., Canada and Europe. He has produced multiple programs for public television. He is presently Area Chair for Performing Arts for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at Duke University where he teaches Film and Writing. Over his entire career he has published f iction, poetry and book reviews. He has taught writing at Northern Virginia Community College and has been a visiting lecturer in Media at East Carolina University and North Carolina State University. He has lectured around the U.S. and Canada and for several OLLIs. He holds an M.A. in Literature with a focus on Creative Writing from the American University in Washington DC and an MBA in Marketing from Marymount University in Arlington, Virginia.
He also served as a judge at Jackson Doc Fest and contributed to the festival’s early development, supporting its growth and mission during its formative years.
Zak Piper
Zak Piper is an Emmy- and PGA-award-winning documentary producer with over 25 years of experience in nonfiction storytelling. His work spans acclaimed feature films and docuseries premiering at major festivals including Sundance, SXSW, Tribeca, and Cannes, and broadcast on platforms such as ESPN, PBS, NatGeo, CNN, MTV, and Netflix-adjacent distributors.
Zak’s producing credits include City So Real, Life Itself, The Interrupters, All These Sons, and The Luckiest Guy in the World, among many others—projects recognized by the Primetime Emmys, Independent Spirit Awards, Cinema Eye Honors, and the National Board of Review. His films are widely regarded for their social impact, cinematic rigor, and deep engagement with contemporary issues.
A longtime member of the Kartemquin Films community, Zak previously served as Director of Production and has collaborated extensively with leading filmmakers and institutions in the documentary field. In addition to independent films, he has produced documentary-style work for major cultural and commercial clients.
Now based in Western New York, Zak continues to develop new documentary projects while contributing his experience, mentorship, and curatorial insight to festivals and educational initiatives.
David Quinn
David Quinn is an American entertainment attorney with decades of experience working across the United States, UK, Russia, and Korea in international film and television. He has been involved in major Russian film and television projects, offering expertise in financing, production management, and distribution for complex cross-border productions. His work also includes collaboration with Korea on one of the most ambitious film color-restoration projects for Russian television, as well as professional experience in London’s film and media industry. He brings a global legal and production perspective to the KTOWN International Film Festival Advisory Committee.