Industry Panel ▪︎ Comedy Documentary Filmmaker’s Sneak Peek: Mitch Hedberg Project
Your $20 Industry Panel Ticket also includes 1 Complimentary Ticket to an Almost Midnight Screening of your choice (subject to availability).
75 minutes @Asylum NYC
Take a behind the scenes look of the upcoming documentary that explores the singular genius, creative process, and offstage world of the late comedian, Mitch Hedberg. Through intimate stories and behind-the-scenes insights, the panel examines his unmistakable voice, enduring influence on stand-up comedy, and the legacy he left on popular culture.
PRESENTED BY
Moderator ▪︎ Paul Mecurio
Paul is an Emmy & Peabody Award winning comedian for his work on "The Daily Show w/Jon Stewart," “The Late Show w/Stephen Colbert,” making recurring appearances on “The Late Show,” other national shows and his own comedy specials. He is also an accomplished actor, hosts the critically acclaimed podcast “Inside Out w/Paul Mecurio,” an award-winning writer and appears regularly as a commentator on news and sports outlets including, CNN, MSNBC, “CBS Sunday Morning,” Fox News, HLN and ESPN.
Panelist ▪︎ Jeff Siegel (Director/Producer)
Jeff is an Emmy award-winning filmmaker. A graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Jeff began his career with internships at Late Night with Conan O’Brien, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and Saturday Night Live. Jeff developed, produced, filmed, and edited the four-part Netflix Original Documentary Series This Is A Robbery (2021) at Barnicle Brothers and directed the feature doc Zack Hample vs. The World (2022). Jeff won a Primetime Emmy award for his contributions to the CBS Special Billy Joel: The 100th – Live At Madison Square Garden (2024). Most recently he’s been part of the creative teams on the Emmy award-winning Netflix sports series The Comeback: 2004 Boston Red Sox (2024), the Marc Maron documentary Are We Good? (2025) which premiered at SXSW, and the HBO Original two-part documentary Billy Joel: And So It Goes (2025), which opened the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival.
Panelist ▪︎ Michael Blieden (Producer)
Michael is a filmmaker, show runner, and Emmy award-nominated writer. He directed the comedy documentaries The Comedians Of Comedy (2005) for Netflix and Super High Me (2007) and episodes of Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll for FX, Brooklyn Nine-Nine for FOX, Broad City for Comedy Central, Children’s Hospital for Adult Swim. He was on the writing staff of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, wrote the feature film Melvin Goes To Dinner (2003) (which was directed by Bob Odenkirk) and served as EP, head writer, and director of Comedy Central’s South Side. He has also produced and directed comedy specials for Zach Galifianakis and Joe Rogan as well as music videos for Fiona Apple and Kanye West. Michael filmed with Mitch Hedberg for an unaired pilot presentation for Comedy Central just three months before Mitch’s death.
Panelist ▪︎ Julie Seabaugh (Producer)
Jule is a documentarian and author who chronicles the world of stand-up comedy. She produced and hosted 2020 SiriusXM special Hope On Top: A Mitch Hedberg Oral History, directed the 2021 feature Too Soon: Comedy After 9/11, and is creator, producer, and story editor of 2025’s Are We Good?, a SXSW and Tribeca documentary on Marc Maron. As a professional journalist for more than two decades, Seabaugh covered the art form for publications including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Rolling Stone, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, The A.V. Club, and numerous alt-weeklies. Her expertise on modern roasting culminated in the 2018 book Ringside at Roast Battle, while 2022’s 50 Years of the Comedy Store vinyl boxed set features her liner notes. The comedian memoir The Hardest Part of Schizophrenia Is Spelling Schizophrenia, with Byron Bowers, releases from Grand Central Publishing in summer 2026.
Panelist ▪︎ Rob Guillermo (Executive Producer)
Rob is a veteran content executive with 25 years of experience shaping premium film and tv. He co-founded Indus Valley Media, a new indie studio that finances, develops, and produces scripted & nonfiction projects for global audiences. Previously, Rob was VP, Head of Nonfiction, Business & Legal Affairs at Netflix, where he was one of a few execs dedicated to launching the Netflix Original Documentary & Stand Up Comedy initiatives. During his nearly 10 years at Netflix, Rob handled dozens of Oscar, Emmy, and Grammy-winning productions, and Rob executive produced over a dozen Netflix Original Comedy Specials with comics ranging from Chris Tucker, to Ali Wong to John Mulaney. Prior to Netflix, he handled business affairs at Comedy Central for 9 years supporting many notable projects, including Mitch Hedberg's Do You Believe in Gosh? on Comedy Central Records.