/  by Katherine Yaksich

Our short film, Across the Pond, a finalist for Tropfest NY 2013, the world’s largest short film festival.

Last Saturday our film premiered in front of tens of thousands of people and it was an incredible, surreal, unforgettable experience. It will go down as one of my most memorable moments in NYC. Liev Schreiber was the host and some of the judges included Malcolm Gladwell and Academy Award winning producer, Fisher Stevens (The Cove). It was an honor to be a part of such a large festival and share the stage with a talented group of filmmakers. One of the highlights for me was meeting Malcolm Gladwell, my favorite author!

Tropfest NY! /  by Katherine Yaksich

Tonight our short narrative film, Across the Pond, will premiere at Tropfest NY, the world’s largest short film festival at Prospect Park. It will be hosted by Liev Schreiber and some of the judges include Malcolm Gladwell and Academy Award winning Producer Fisher Stevens (The Cove).

I just want to say how incredibly proud I am of our writer/director/producer, Jessica Thompson, and our producer, Carlo Velayo. The 3 of us began this filmmaking journey together over 3 years ago, when we set out to follow our dreams, make films, and tell meaningful stories together. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine us being on such a large stage, showing our film on the big screen to tens of thousands of people. I’m pretty sure Jess has dreamed about this moment ever since she was a kid, and for it to become a reality is so remarkable. There is so much beauty to be found in that. Carlo took a big leap of faith and moved to NYC months ago to pursue filmmaking full time. We started preproduction for Across the Pond before he even moved to NY, and I was actually in South Africa at the time. I’m practically crying thinking about how far we’ve come.

We have a team of incredibly talented, hard working dreamers, and I feel extremely lucky and fortunate to be a part of that. Last night, we had the opportunity to meet John Polson, the director of Tropfest who hand selects all the finalists, and he told us how much he enjoyed our film and our lead actor. It was a pretty special moment.

We hope you will join us tonight at Prospect Park to see our film on the big screen!

For more info visit: http://tropfestnewyork2013.eventbrite.com/

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/  by Katherine Yaksich

6:00 AM this morning filming the Oakley Women’s 10K. I normally hate waking up early but it’s moments like this that make me appreciate early mornings and my job. It was a very inspiring morning for many reasons. #oakleywomen #goldenhour…

6:00 AM this morning filming the Oakley Women’s 10K. I normally hate waking up early but it’s moments like this that make me appreciate early mornings and my job. It was a very inspiring morning for many reasons. #oakleywomen #goldenhour #oakley #centralpark (at Central Park)

/  by Katherine Yaksich

We are incredibly happy to announce that our short film, Across the Pond, has been selected as a finalist for Tropfest NY, the world’s largest short film festival! Join us at Prospect Park on Saturday, June 22, to see it on the big screen alon…

We are incredibly happy to announce that our short film, Across the Pond, has been selected as a finalist for Tropfest NY, the world’s largest short film festival! Join us at Prospect Park on Saturday, June 22, to see it on the big screen along with 40,000 people. Liev Schreiber will be hosting and the judges include Malcolm Gladwell and Academy Award winning producer Fisher Stevens (The Cove). Tickets are free and are available here: http://tropfestnewyork2013.eventbrite.com/.

Official press release:
http://tropfest.com/ny/files/2013/06/Tropfest-Finalist-release-FINAL-1.pdf

Why I Decided to Work for Myself and Move to NYC /  by Katherine Yaksich

A lot of people ask me why I decided to move to NYC. Ever since the first time I visited NYC, I told myself I had to live there. I was incredibly inspired by everything it had to offer, and it became a long time dream of mine. I’m actually back in CA writing this, and a lot of people ask me if I like NYC and are surprised when I say I absolutely love it.

Now that I’ve lived in NYC for nearly 2.5 years, I’ve realized that it has allowed me live the lifestyle I want to live. Don’t ask yourself what kind of job you want, but what kind of lifestyle you want to live. When I was working full time in CA and only had 2 weeks of vacation each year, I knew I had to figure out a way to get more time off each year. And the way to do it is to work for yourself. Thankfully, NYC has given me the opportunity to make a living doing what I love to do. On top of that, I’ve been able to take off around 2 months each year, which has been absolutely fantastic. My first year, I spent over a month traveling through Egypt, Jordan, Malta, and Italy. Last year I spent 6 weeks in Australia and New Zealand, and checked 4 things off of my bucket list. This year I spent a month filming in London, South Africa, and India and I’ll be living in Paris for a month in the fall, which has been another dream of mine. As great as NYC is, it’s also great to take regular breaks from the chaos and the hustle and bustle. But I’ve truly been able to thrive in NYC and live out my dreams, as cheesy as that sounds. I was even able to pay off my last college loan this year and become debt free finally (a long time goal)! I encourage my CA friends to join me in NYC and I think they’re sick of hearing it. Honestly, I truly think they would enjoy and love it.

NYC is an incredibly dynamic, creative, exciting, and fun place. There is never a dull moment and it will never cease to amaze. Last month I had the opportunity to meet my favorite artist, JR, at Times Square. I joined his global art project, Inside Out (the largest participatory art project in the world), and pasted a large 3 ft X 4 ft portrait of myself on Times Square. I saw one of my favorite documentary films of the year at TriBeCa Film Festival, Cutie and the Boxer, and met the main characters afterwards. They are such a cute couple! New Yorkers are working on all sorts of exciting projects all the time. I have a friend filming a documentary about break dancing in the developing world, and he’s been following incredible stories in places like Yemen and Uganda. I have another friend doing photography work in the Arctic and Antarctica. Hopefully I’ll be joining her in Antarctica in Feb 2014!

NYC is home for now, indefinitely. I can’t say for sure where I’ll be in 5 or 10 years. But for now, I’m very happy, content, passionate, and extremely grateful. Let’s grab a cup of coffee together in NYC or Paris!

Carpe Diem,
Reuben