Ambassador
festival Ambassador
Meet The Festival Ambassador
Festival Ambassadors 2026
Passionate advocates who represent the spirit of the Compton Film Festival.
Jared "J." Snow
Ambassador
Jared "J." Snow is a filmmaker, stand-up comedian, and writer from Compton, California whose work blends grounded humor with emotional realism. His debut feature documentary, You Look Fine, earned the Unstoppable Feature Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award, and secured a theatrical distribution offer from Utopia. His award-winning short film Flawd. won Best Director and Best Cinematography at the Micheaux Film Festival in 2020, establishing his visual style and character-driven approach to storytelling. Snow served as Head Writer for the 2024 BET Hip Hop Awards and wrote for the 2025 BET Awards hosted by Kevin Hart. His independently released stand-up special Life Is Funny and its accompanying clips have collectively surpassed 3 million views, reflecting his ability to translate deeply personal themes into broadly resonant work. Across documentary, narrative, and comedy, his projects explore resilience, masculinity, and living with sickle cell disease using humor not as deflection, but as access.
Festival Ambassadors 2025
Passionate advocates who represent the spirit of the Compton Film Festival.
Van Elder
Ambassador
Mr. Van Elder: Ambassador. Van's journey is a true inspiration, spanning diverse platforms from BET to Showtime and Amazon Prime! As a filmmaker, storyteller, and screenwriter educated at Cal State LA & Long Beach, Van has brought us compelling feature films like "I Left My Heart in Colombia" (2024), "Kings of L.A." (2023), "Perfectly Single" (BET Network), and thought-provoking works such as "DWB: Dating While Black," "Divine Intervention," and "Issues." His supernatural comedy series, "Spook Hunters" (Amazon Prime), and award-winning shorts, including "Truth Among Men" (NBC), “A Tale of Two Sisters,” “Out-of-Body Experience” (Showtime), and “Sigmund the See Monster,” showcase his incredible range. Join us in celebrating Van and the power of cinema at the Compton Film Festival!