Meet The Faculty Advisor
Nicola S. Waugh
FESTIVAL FACULTY ADVISOR
​
Nicola Waugh is an independent producer, film programmer and communications expert working between Arcata, California and Calgary, Canada. She is co-owner of Kino Sum Productions, and has produced several short and feature films including Events Transpiring Before, During, and After a High School Basketball Game, which premiered at the Vancouver International Film Festival and is currently streaming on major platforms in the US and Canada. Her recent feature documentary projects include Borrowed From Nature and Orphaned, produced for CBC Television. Nicola holds a Master's Degree in Communication and Culture from Ryerson University in Toronto, and has a background in film programming and criticism. She has worked with several film festivals and artist-run centres, including the Calgary Society of Independent Filmmakers, Artifact Small Format Film Festival, Calgary Underground Film Festival, Calgary Cinematheque, Regent Park Film Festival, and Reel Asian Film Festival, and is the co-founder of the online film and media art publication LUMA Quarterly.
Meet The Co-Directors
Richard Shilts
CO-DIRECTOR, 55TH HUMBOLDT INT’L FILM FESTIVAL
​
Richard is a Film Major and Studio Arts minor at Humboldt State University. Richard specializes in graphic design and video editing through Adobe Photoshop and Premiere, and loves to edit and create digital art in his free time. Richard's love for film started when he was very young while doing work as an extra on a TV show set. He found out he had a incredible fascination with the behind-the-scenes work that went into making a show, learning all he could about movie productions. Now in Cal Poly Humboldt film program, they often find themselves doing camera work and video editing on school productions. He enjoys learning all about the ins and outs filmmaking and immersing himself in the films they watch. He is very excited for his first year as Co-Director for the 56th annual Humboldt International Film Festival.
Ralph Valle
CO-DIRECTOR, 55TH HUMBOLDT INT’L FILM FESTIVAL
​
Ralph is a Film Major with a passion for understanding and developing the necessary skill set to display the human experience through the lens. Life is a mystery and the transferable knowledge that films carry through their records easily display these lessons incorporated by those with ageless wisdom. Growing up, films were a major catalyst for his hopes and dreams. Moved by this ability films can invoke, he seeks the knowledge and ability to move the world with compelling work. He hopes to make the 56th Humboldt International Film Festival as timeless and historical as the space and time contained within film.