Judges Bios

Phil Harder

Filmmaking background
Phil Harder has been in the filmmaking business for several years. He has directed over 150 music videos, many short films, and numerous commercial projects. His first MTV break was for a Soul Asylum music video clip in the mid-1980s. He has since directed music video clips for Incubus, Match Box Twenty, and the Barenaked Ladies. In 2001, Harder's "Drive" video for Incubus won MVPA's award for best alternative video.

In recent years, Harder has been creating commercials. His recent projects include Hewlett Packard's "Invent" campaign and Target spots featuring Tiger Woods, Macy Gray, and The Donnas.

Chris Werle

Advertising, Public Relations, & Marketing background
A senior strategist based in Weber Shandwick's Minneapolis office, Chris Werle works to implement nationwide and market-specific programs resulting in increased sales, stronger reputations and improved brand leadership for a variety of clients.

Werle counsels and consults with the office's senior leaders on marketing communications programs for clients including The Coca-Cola Co., Best Buy Co., General Mills, General Motors, the U.S Army, Microsoft, Alticor and Snickers. He has been recognized for his contributions to several industry-award-winning programs, including Creativity in Public Relations Awards (CIPRA), Sabre Awards, Silver Anvil Awards and an American Marketing Association Award.

Werle graduated magna cum laude from St. Cloud State University in St. Cloud, Minn. He received a B.A. in public relations and advertising, with additional emphases in marketing and political science.

Marco Yzer

Public Health background
Marco Yzer received his PhD. in Social Psychology from the University of Groningen, The Netherlands. He has been involved in media health interventions in the Netherlands and the United States since 1995 and has extensive experience in programs directed at HIV/AIDS prevention, smoking cessation, and prevention of illicit drug use.

Yzer was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania and served on the faculty of the University of Amsterdam's Department of Communication. He joined the University of Minnesota in January 2005 as an assistant professor at the School of Journalism and Mass Communication and an adjunct professor at the School of Public Health. His research focuses on the application of behavioral theory to understand the relationship between mediated information and health behavior, with a special emphasis on the factors that make health message effective... or not effective.