"I Do" Contest Judges

GLAAD is honored to announce the celebrity panel of judges who will decide the winning commercial spot from a group of finalists. Not only are these exceptionally talented individuals much lauded and highly regarded in the entertainment world, they are all active in championing and bringing greater visibility to LGBT issues at large. We thank our judges for their time and support.

We will be announcing more celebrity judges in the coming weeks. Stay tuned to this site.

"I Do" Contest Judges are:

JANE ANDERSON
Director, Screenwriter & Playwright
Multiple-award winner Jane Anderson has created some of the most thought-provoking television, theater and film in the last decade. She most recently wrote and directed the HBO film, Normal starring Jessica Lange and Tom Wilkinson which was nominated for 6 Emmys. Her other credits include the CBS biopic of tennis champion Billie Jean King, When Billie Beat Bobby, starring Holly Hunter; a critically acclaimed segment of HBO's If These Walls Could Talk 2, and the controversial Showtime film, The Baby Dance, which she adapted from her own play. Anderson's screenwriting credits include How to Make an American Quilt and It Could Happen to You.

PARIS BARCLAY
Director, Producer & Writer
Paris Barclay stands as not just a premiere African-American director, but one of the most diversely talented forces in entertainment. After successfully writing and directing commercials and music videos, Barclay established himself as a director and producer of many of the most of the acclaimed dramas on network television. He has directed episodes of The West Wing, ER, The Shield, Cold Case and Sliders among many others. Nominated for the Emmy five times, Barclay won two years in a row for directing (NYPD Blue). He also created, co-executive, wrote and directed City of Angels - winner of the 2001 NAACP Image Award for Best Dramatic Series. For his charitable and community service work, Barclay has received the Stephen F. Kolzak Award from GLAAD, and the Founder's Award, the highest honor from Project Angel Food.

MARGARET CHO
Comedian
Margaret Cho, born and raised in San Francisco, made her stand-up debut at the age of 16. Subsequent comedy awards and critical raves landed her the short-lived ABC sitcom, All-American Girl. In 1999, Cho's Off-Broadway show, I'm the One that I Want - chronicling that ill fated sitcom - was made into a concert movie as was Notorious C.H.O., her 37-city North American Comedy Tour. Margaret's third sold-out tour, Revolution, grossed record sales, was nominated for a Grammy and will premiere on the Sundance Channel on June 19, 2004 and be out on DVD in August, 2004. Always incorporating activism in her comedy, Cho has been honored by the National Organization for Women, GLAAD, and the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund for her efforts to promote equal rights for all. You can visit her official website here: www.margaretcho.com where you can read from her award winning blog and watch an episode of her internet show. She also has started her own website on marriage equality: www.loveisloveislove.com. Her newest comedy show to tour in the fall, State of Emergency, will address the political state of our nation.

BRUCE COHEN
Producer
Producer Bruce Cohen is known for his critically-acclaimed films and his generous volunteer activities for the LGBT community. Cohen began his film career as the DGA trainee on Steven Spielberg's The Color Purple. Forming the Jinks/Cohen Company, with producing partner Dan Jinks, the duo's first picture, American Beauty, went on to win 5 Academy Awards including Best Picture. Their subsequent features were Down with Love, starring Renee Zelwegger and Big Fish, starring Ewan McGregor and Albert Finney. Cohen is the Co-Founder of OUT THERE, a collection of gay and lesbian entertainment industry activists and has worked closely with GLAAD and the Human Rights Campaign. He is the proud recipient of awards and honors from the LA Gay and Lesbian Center, LAMBDA Legal Defense Fund and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.

HEATHER JUERGENSEN
Actor, Writer & Producer
Multi-talented Heather Juergensen started out as a theater actress and morphed into a screenwriter and film producer with the indie hit Kissing Jessica Stein in which she also starred. The film won numerous audience awards at film festivals and was nominated for a prestigious Independent Spirit award in 2001. In addition to her acting endeavors, Juergensen has written screenplays and teleplays for Miramax, VH-1 and ABC, among others. She recently developed a half-hour comedy pilot for Warner Bros. Television and CBS, and is currently working on the film adaptation of Patricia Volk's memoir Stuffed. Her film roles include the Haunted Mansion starring Eddie Murphy and the soon to be released Red Roses and Petrol with Malcolm McDowell. She is a native New Yorker and graduated from Montreal's McGill University.

JUDITH LIGHT
Actor, producer & activist
Two-time Emmy-winner Judith Light continues to balance her esteemed acting and producing career with her ongoing support for the LGBT community and the fight against AIDS. Best known to worldwide audiences as "Angela Bower" in ABC's hit series, Who's the Boss?, Light has proven her versatility as a performer on screen and on stage. A veteran of the theater, she received a Helen Hayes Award for her lead performance in the Pulitzer-winning Off-Broadway play, WIT, in 2000. Having starred in dozens of television movies, it was her portrayal of the mother of a teenager with AIDS in The Ryan White Story that inspired her to begin working with several AIDS charities. Today, Light is one of Hollywood's most active figures in this cause. A recipient of awards from the Lambda Legal Defense Fund, HRC, GLAAD and many others, Light also sits on the board of the L.A. Gay Lesbian Service Center which named a library for her in 1998. She lives in Los Angeles and will soon be seen again on series television in CBS' The Stones.

JAMIEL TERRY
Activist
Jamiel Terry is the 24 year old son of Operation Rescue founder and anti-gay activist, Randall Terry. Until coming out in a very public way in Out Magazine and many other publications in April of 2004, Jamiel Terry was thought to be on his father's side. Since coming out, Jamiel has been a sought after speaker and writer on the issue of gay rights. He is now residing in Washington D.C. and works to extend the civil rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people across the world.

KEVIN WILLIAMSON
Writer, Producer & Director
Kevin Williamson is at the forefront of cutting-edge television programs and feature films. His rise into the spotlight began in 1996 with his tongue-in-cheek screenplay that became the modern cult-classic Scream. With the success of Scream 2, Williamson established the highest grossing horror franchise of all time. His hot-streak continued with projects that often launched the careers of some of our best-known young actors. Williamson wrote the thriller I Know What You Did Last Summer introducing Sarah Michelle Gellar and Ryan Phillipe. Williamson made his directing debut with Teaching Mrs. Tingle. In 1998, Williamson created the hit television show, Dawson's Creek, starring Katie Holmes and James Van Der Beek, which was the first show on the WB Network to feature an openly gay teen.

CRAIG ZADAN
Producer
Craig Zadan is one of the most prolific producers in entertainment. All totaled, his films and television movies have garnered six Academy Awards, five Golden Globes, ten Emmy Awards and two Peabody Awards. His feature film, Chicago starring Renee Zellweger, Richard Gere and Catherine Zeta-Jones won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 2002. Zadan's vast body of work includes acclaimed television movies The Reagans starring James Brolin and Judy Davis, Meredith Wilson's The Music Man with Matthew Broderick, The Three Stooges and the television musical Annie starring Kathy Bates. Along with Barbra Streisand and longtime producing partner, Neil Meron, Zadan produced two historic lesbian dramas for television, What Makes a Family starring Brooke Shields and Whoopi Goldberg and Serving In Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story starring Glenn Close.