For Jesica, film financing, international sales and producing all serve a passion she’s held on to since childhood: the art of telling a captivating story.
A native of the Philippines, Jesica’s obsession with storytelling began at the age of two when she would orate tall tales from atop a bench at the local market.
She spent her childhood between the Philippines and California. After graduating from university, she went on to film school, where she developed her passion for producing.
Her love of producing took her to her first job at Academy Award Winning production company GK Films (The Departed, Hugo) followed by Lionsgate (The Hunger Games), where she worked with their international sales teams at both companies.
The opportunity to move into production presented itself at Arclight Films (upcoming Jungle, Reclaim, Crash), where she is currently Manager of Creative and Operations. At Arclight, she’s learned first-hand, from development to release, how various market forces, creative elements, and producing partners cooperate, and oftentimes compete, throughout the lifecycle of a film and more importantly, how to overcome challenges as they arise.
She puts that knowledge to practice. Jesica also produces projects that best represent her tastes; she’s always on the lookout for fearless talent and riveting content.
Dawn is a member of the Producers Guild of America, SAG/AFTRA, and #WeAreWITI. She is an Award Winning Writer / Director / Producer. Her directorial debut, “The Usual,” was an Official Selection at Festival de Cannes American Pavilion Emerging Filmmakers and screened at ShortsCorner at the Cannes Market, as well as many others (with Producers Sharen Davis, Renee O’Connor and Kumari Bakhru).
Currently she is in development on the feature films “Passing Through” (with Co-Owner / Producer Brooke P. Anderson at Cordova Pictures and with Sharen Davis), “Shanghai Nirvana” and “Sleepers” (with Sharen Davis, Bill Killgore and Richard Lu), and in prep on “Fatherhood” which she wrote, and will be directing and producing.
As a writer, Dawn has written several screenplays, including “Off The Ledge” (starring Brooke P. Anderson (The Perfect Host, Lost) and Andrew Pinon (Singled Out), who co-wrote the film; Zosia Mamet (HBO’s Girls), Jenny Mollen, Nectar Rose, and Anne Ramsay (League of Their Own); “Diamonds & Gun” (starring Renee’ O’Connor and Ted Raimi); and the upcoming “Passing Through” (Cordova Pictures).
She has produced several distributed feature films and projects including; “Diamonds & Guns,” “Off The Ledge,” ”Night of the Templar,” “You Are A Star,” “Outside My Window,” “Infinity,” “Words Unspoken,” etc.
She went on to direct “Last Chance” (starring & executive produced with Renee O’Connor, and executive produced by Sharen Davis) and “The Hub” (starring Brandon Gibson, Paul McKinney, Derrex Brady, Raymond O’Connor, and with executive producer Sharen Davis), “DreamWorks 3D Animation with Valerie Lettera Spletzer” for BSTEM Hall of Fame Films, and is currently in editing on her latest documentary series “#wefilmLA.”
For more details please see:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0383307/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1
For more information please contact us at
info@morningpersonpictures.com
I know most folks are still on Hoiday mode so this is a super quick check in episode and an update from fellow tribe member Michelle Muldoon:
Please support Last Stand To Nowhere:
Last Stand to Nowhere does something no Spaghetti Western has ever done; put women at the forefront of an iconic gunfight, the Gunfight at the OK Corral. Women rule action films these days but there's one genre missing; the Western.
We aim to solve the dearth of female Western roles with a stellar cast and crew of women including our award-winning Cast, Director of Photography and the best Stunt Coordinator in Vancouver.
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/last-stand-to-nowhere-film
Free Training from The Kickstarter Guy! Before you launch your fundraising campaign, listen to this because Justin Giddings is not only an award-winning actor, writer and filmmaker, but he's also known as "The Kickstarter Guy" for his work in helping independent filmmakers fund their dreams through crowdfunding.
In the last 24 months, Justin has help over 75 campaigns raise $3 million dollars and currently boasts an unequaled 97% success rate.
Focusing on an approach that relies on attractive outreach that doesn't alienate friends and family, Justin travels the world to teach and coach on crowdfunding.
He teaches at Film Independent and Seed&Spark and is listed as one of Kickstarter's Experts, an elite group of coaches and agencies that have been personally vetted by the Kickstarter Staff.
He is based in Los Angeles where he lives with his super-awesome wife, rambunctious son, cranky dog, and a daughter on the way. You can find him through his website:
Keena Ferguson a Multi-artist whose love for all things creative (dancer/choreographer, actress, VO artist, writer, producer, director) has led her to fully accept all of her many talents and Keena now calls herself a multi artist.
Keena’s latest projects are; starring as Crystal on the hot Golden Globe winning show Atlanta, S.W.A.T on CBS opposite Shemar Moore, and recurring on Amazon’s Gortimer Gibbons Life of on Normal Street.
She also is the voice of many popular video games and can be heard at Disneyworld for the brand new Pandora World of Avatar and in the video game Star Wars playing the new character Jedi Master Ranos.
She has danced for many notable artists such as Kelly Rowland, Gloria Estefan, Marc Anthony and so many more, she has been seen in commercials for Coca-Cola, Direct TV and Bud light to name a few.
Keena is also the writer, producer and star of the short film Kai that went on to screen in more than 35 film festivals internationally and was picked up for television distribution.
She expanded her talents again and directed the HBO nominated short Lindon Passing that was also written and stars Keena. All of the multifaceted roles she’s played has prepared Keena for her most challenging, but most accomplished feeling as an actress; when she performed her NAACP Award winning one-woman show Keena UnBranded.
Playing over 10 different characters intertwining dance and live music, Keena UnBranded confirmed to Keena (and her audiences) that the power of honest artistry was a way to not only entertain, but also inspire.
Please visit : KeenaFerguson.com and for Keena Unbranded:
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/keena-unbranded-heads-to-north-carolina#/
In Lawrence's words:
From October of 1992 through August of 2002, I was incarcerated inside the Federal Bureau of Prisons for the crime of armed robbery. For a decade of my life, I was lost to my friends, my family and even myself because of a horrible and irresponsible decision I had made. My inmate number was 22855-086 and I was only one of many 100’s of angry, disconsolate and wholly uncertain souls I would encounter in the tombs of federal prison system.
I share this not to elicit sympathy or comfort from any quarter. I did the crime and it was justly and fairly my lot to serve the time handed to me under the federal laws and by the federal courts of these United States.
I share this solely for one reason: So others who have made horrible, seemingly insurmountable and unbearable mistakes will know that there is a path forward, that if we are willing to do the work and commit to inside out and top to bottom transformation, there isn’t a single thing circumstance that the truly determined individual can’t come back from. Period.
As of this writing, it’s been 15 years since I walked out of the maximum security federal facility in Florence, Colorado and since that time, I’ve started my own business, published to literary works of fiction, and have been an employee in good and respected standing at some of the biggest corporations in the world. I learned the lessons of hard time and while it hasn’t been easy for me, I want others to know they can come out and still make something of themselves, that they can have a life and that it is possible to walk in the light of substantitive change rather than in the shadow of a horrible mistake.
Lastly, while I will be speaking to inmates in adult detention facilities about turning their lives around, to society at large for the purpose of educating them on the American Penal system and the effects, for better or worse, it has on its inmates, my main focus will be on at-risk youth and the young men and women incarcerated in Juvenile Detention Facilities all across this country.
The reasoning for this focus is straightforward: The young mind is still fertile to the seeds of positive change and the young heart is more receptive to the possibility of a bright and productive future. Again, not that we won’t speak to adult offenders but we believe strongly that our resources, at least at least in this stage of the execution of our mission, are best deployed by reaching our youth.Thank you for taking the time to read this.
Producer Alexandra Boylan has taken three independent films from conception to completion and has gone on to sell all of them to major distribution companies, including Universal Home Entertainment and Image Entertainment.
All three films have been on the shelves of Walmart, released world wide, and continue to sell in Red Box, Amazon, iTunes and pretty much everywhere else DVD's and Vod is sold.
To learn more about Alexandra, her classes and films:
www.soyoumadeamovie.com
http://mustardseedent.com
www.wishforchristmasmovie.com
www.catchingfaith.com
Jason Brubaker is a Los Angeles based film distribution executive specializing in direct to consumer distribution strategies. He consults with media companies, rights holders and content creators to develop strategies to source content, maximize distribution, grow audiences, build buzz and create community around each title.
Previously Brubaker served as the Manager of Content Acquisitions for Chill, a direct-to-consumer video on demand platform funded by Kleiner Perkins and William Morris Endeavor (WME). While at Chill, Brubaker was responsible for sourcing and acquiring content.
Brubaker also serves as the Vice President at Distribber, a film distribution company that delivers content to Netflix, iTunes, Hulu, Amazon Prime, while allowing the filmmaker to keep 100% of the revenue.
Additionally, Brubaker is a contributing author of The Independent's Guide to Film Distributors, he is the founder of Filmmaking Stuff, a professional resource for independent filmmakers, and his articles on independent movie marketing and distribution have been featured in Film Slate, The Independent and Movie Maker Magazine.
As a speaker, Brubaker has lectured at the UCLA Film School and has spoken or participated in panels at numerous film festivals, including Sundance, Action On Film Festvial, Broad Humor Festival, DV Expo, Filmmaker Summit, FirstGlance Film Festival, HollyShorts Film Festival, Idyllwild CinemaFest, LA Post Production Group, New Hampshire Film Festival, Nosotros Los Angeles, Maine Media Workshops, Santa Monica Film Festival, Showbiz Expo LA and WestDoc.
To learn more about Jason visit:
The top 2 takeaways from our screenwriting episodes w Pilar Alessandra, Michelle Muldoon, Hilliard Guess and Lee Jessup!
In this solo episode we discuss:
#1 The work ethic of a screenwriter
#2 To submit to screenwriting competitions or not to submit?
Also a few updates from:
- Emmy nominated producer John Halbach
- Singer songwriter Goapele
- Award winning actor Brianna Brown
- Casting director Jeannine Fisher!
PILAR ALESSANDRA started her career as Senior Story Analyst at DreamWorks SKG. In 2001, she opened the Los Angeles-based On the Page Writers’ Studio, dedicated to teaching and consulting with screenwriters and TV writers at all levels.