As part of our Harry Potter 20 celebration series, Nitehawk has teamed up with The Strand to co-host an epic debate on the ye old question: which is better, the books or the films? Books versus Film: Harry Potter will see two teams face off in a battle royale to the finish line and you will help decide. There will be topics, there will be drinks, and there will be blood.

Please note that Matt Zoller Seitz (Film side has been replaced by Erin Whitney from Screen Crush).

BOOKS TEAM – THE STRAND
ALISE MORALES
Alise Morales is a comedy writer and performer based in Brooklyn, NY. She is an improviser on UCBT’s Lloyd Night, and a contributing writer for websites such as Betches and Reductress. You can see her performing all over the city and in festivals across the country.

ALIZA WEINBERGER
Aliza Weinberger comes to you from the Internet, where she does audience development and books coverage for Mashable.com. She spends her free time on the creative team of Mischief Management, a company that puts on fan conventions including the annual Harry Potter event LeakyCon. One time she wrote a full-length Potter fanfiction play for them about Teddy Lupin.

FILM TEAM – NITEHAWK CINEMA
MATT JACOBS
Matthew Jacobs is an entertainment reporter at The Huffington Post, where he primarily writes about film. A Louisiana native, Matt enjoys Mike Nichols movies, Julia Louis-Dreyfus sitcoms and Madonna minutiae. His favorite “Harry Potter” character is Dobby.

ERIN WHITNEY
Erin Whitney is the Senior Editor of ScreenCrush.com, where they write about film and TV. When not talking Game of Thrones theories or waiting for the next Terrence Malick film, Erin’s probably binge-watching Law & Order: SVU. Their favorite Harry Potter film is The Half-Blood Prince.