Lighthouse International Film Festival

Lighthouse International Film Festival was an incredible experience and is hands down one of my favorite film festivals. I had the opportunity to meet and learn from Guy Nattiv, Oscar winning director of Skin, and numerous other talented filmmakers and industry people. Some friends and fellow Filmshop members screened at LIFF and it was fun seeing so many familiar faces. My family also enjoyed attending the festival and my 8 month old daughter ate lobster for the first time, thanks to Charlotte and the rest of the crew at the hospitality house. I highly recommend the festival and will definitely be coming back. Thanks to the entire team at Lighthouse Intl FF for such a memorable and wonderful experience!

Q&A with Guy Nattiv, writer/director of the opening feature film, Skin, and some cast members

I met Guy Nattiv and attended his filmmaking masterclass. Guy won the Oscar this year for best live action short film for his short, Skin.

My 8 month old daughter Leuca enjoying the view and lobster at the filmmaker hospitality house

Q&A following the screening of my short film, Settling Up. Photo by Clayton Dean Smith

Lisa and I in front of the Long Beach Island Historical Museum

Congrats to all of my fellow Filmshop members that screened at LIFF!

Favorite Patient Film Wrapped

We just wrapped the latest narrative short film I directed starring Barbara Miluski and Isabelle Pierre. We were fortunate to have Jackson Eagan as the director of photography, and this was very much a Filmshop collaboration. Hats off to our talented and hard working cast and crew. Below are some behind the scenes photos by Monica Kapoor and we look forward to sharing our film soon. Stay tuned…

Filmshop Presents Unfinished Business

This past spring season I was accepted as a member of the Filmshop collective, a supportive community of filmmakers that regularly collaborate, workshop, and provide constructive feedback on works in progress on a weekly basis. Filmshop members actively support each other to help bring each other’s projects to life. Filmmaking can sometimes feel isolating, so joining a likeminded community of creatives has been one of the best things for my professional growth. It has forced me to do more and work on passion projects more regularly. Each week we share a creative goal and try to hold each other accountable on a consistent basis. This has been one of my most productive seasons as a filmmaker, and being part of the Filmshop community is one of the best ways to get a film completed. There are a tremendous amount of resources available through Filmshop.

This upcoming Saturday, July 21st at 7 pm, is Filmshop's yearly showcase of short films at Rough Trade NYC in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The latest film that I directed will screen this Saturday along with other Filmshop films on the big screen. Our film was written by Brady Evan Walker, and edited and colored by Patrice D. Bowman, so it is truly a collaborative Filmshop effort. Our lead, Jonathan Randell Silver, played the lead in a Sundance short film this year and it was a joy to work with him along with the rest of our cast and crew. Some behind the scenes photos are below. We look forward to sharing our new film with you on the big screen! Tickets can be purchased in advance here, and use code "Filmshop" for 20% off.

If you or anyone you know is interested in becoming a Filmshop member, we are hosting an open house for prospective members tonight from 7 - 9 pm (Monday 7/16) at the Made in NY Media Center by IFP (30 John Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201) in Dumbo. Applications for the 2018 fall season are due next Monday, 7/23 and can be found here.

In other news, I am also in the middle of developing an exciting and immersive virtual reality project that I have workshopped at Filmshop. My team and I are currently applying for grants and will hopefully have some news to share soon. More on that later...

BTS photo by Nikolai Basarich

BTS photo by Nikolai Basarich

BTS photo by Lars Fuchs

BTS photo by Lars Fuchs