BREAKTHROUGH SERIES

IFP - MADE IN NEW YORK MEDIA CENTER
7:30-9:30PM

Filmshop’s Breakthrough Series showcases a curated selection of our members' films in an intimate setting with festival programmers, distributors, and executive producers. Our goals are to facilitate distribution of their work and to provide a forum for the filmmakers to explore the next stages of their careers.

We’re proud to announce that our inaugural Breakthrough Series will feature Oscar-nominated Beau Willimon, creator of Netflix’s hit show House of Cards, in conversation with the filmmakers. The conversation with Beau will be hosted by Emmy award-winning documentary journalist Tom Jennings.

BreakThrough Artists

Beau Willimon, playwrighter and screenwriter, is an Academy Award nominee for his work on The Ides of March (adapted from his play Farragut North), and the creator of the Emmy and Golden Globe winning House of Cards, a Netflix original series starring Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright. Through his company Westward Productions, he is currently producing several documentaries. 

Tom Jennings has been producing for FRONTLINE since 2009, when the show’s executive producers paired him with the investigative news group ProPublica. His resulting film, Law and Disorder, took a hard look at civilian deaths by New Orleans police after Katrina. It was made in collaboration with ProPublica reporter AC Thompson, won the prestigious George Polk Award and was nominated for an Emmy Award. Jennings has also won two national Emmy Awards, the duPont-Columbia Silver Baton Award, the Edward R. Murrow Award and three Writer’s Guild of America Awards.

FEATURED FILMS

"SELMA" BY: YOSSERA BOUCHTIA

When Selma becomes a target of bullying at her high school, her family feels compelled to protect her by taking away her hijab in order to keep their Muslim identity private. Going against her family's wishes, Selma finds a way to remain true to who she is in the end.

"A HINT OF DISORDER" BY: BEN DONNELLON

An inquisitive high school math teacher catches a contagious mental disorder.

"THE FESTIVAL" BY: TAYLOR STANTON

Each June, a small Michigan town is over run by amphibious insects called fishflies. Fishflies live only 24 hours, before dying and leaving a rotting fishy smell. Determined to make the most of their short lives, the town celebrates them in an annual carnival, the Bay-Rama Fishfly Festival. “The Festival” is a portrait of this celebration and those who come to visit — human and insects alike.

"I WANNA BE IN ALL YOUR MOVIES" BY: JOSH FREED

On again off again couple Joey and Aaron come together on the set of Aaron's first feature film soon after their umpteenth breakup, and art and life, past and present, dreams and reality, collide.

BREAKTHROUGH CURATORS

Scott Anger is an award-winning journalist and documentary filmmaker whose work focuses on international conflict, food security and the natural environment. He has helped produce nine films for the documentary program FRONTLINE (PBS) in addition to six feature-length films for theatrical release.

Shannon Walker is co-founder and Festival Director at The Lower East Side Film Festival, which will be celebrating its 6th year of showcasing independent films in June of 2016. Shannon is also a two-time WGA (Writers Guild) nominated writer for the comedic web series VICKY & LYSANDER, which she also produced and acted in.The series was sold to the network LOGO and was based on a sold-out stage show that was named “Best Borderline Performance Art 2010” by the NY PRESS.

Marco Luca, always passionate about film and design, studied film in Montreal and then moved into graphic design work. After being away from the camera for a while, Marco was compelled to dig up an old script and make a short film. The project sparked the idea for Film Shortage. Marco noticed a lack of space online dedicated to the short film form and in 2012 combined his two passions of film and design to create FilmShortage.com - which is today one of the leading websites for short films.