NEWS
Feature Film HIS ONLY SON Wraps!
His Only Son team, filming out in the deserts and mountains of Southern California have wrapped production! The content we captured is breathtaking and I can't wait until we finish post production to share it with everyone!
Stay tuned and follow on our progress on hisonlysonfilm.com and social media!
Watch Room Progress
Just wanted to put out there a bunch of the progress that has been made by Watch Room.
We have premiered exclusively online on Dust.com! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=th5uJNB7VU8
Futurism.com is licensing Watch Room on their site and doing an article as well! Stay tuned for more info.
Below is a list of the festivals Watch Room has and will be featured in! Highlights are screening at Oscar Qualifying Cleveland International Film Festival and winning Best Dramatic Short at Sonoma International Film Festival!
Cleveland International Film Festival (Oscar Qualifying)
Sonoma International Film Festival (Winner of Best Dramatic Short)
Cordillera International Film Festival (Winner of Best Director)
Sci-Fi London Film Festival
The Lower East Side Film Festival
Hollyshorts Film Festival
Sidewalk Film Festival
Norwalk Film Festival
Pittsburgh Shorts Film Festival
Hell's Half Mile Music and Film Festival
Deep Focus Film Festival (in Brooklyn!)
European Union Commission just hosted event JUST to screen Nana Documentary
The European Jewish Congress partnered with the European Commission to host a screening of the film NANA on Wednesday, January 24 2018 at the Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels (BOZAR). Last year, they screened Denial starring Rachel Weisz.
NANA is a feature-length documentary dealing with the important issue of transmitting the memory of the Shoah to the next generation.
The Producer and Director of the film, Serena Dykman, retraces the story of her grandmother, Maryla Michalowski-Dyamant, a woman with an extraordinary personality and remarkable strength, who survived Auschwitz and dedicated her life after World War II to fighting intolerance and inequality.
In her opening remarks, EJC Executive Vice-President Raya Kalenova welcomed viewers to the screening and noted: “We can only fully commit to remembering those who were taken from us if we stand up against today’s injustice, including the many attacks on Jewish life in Europe. It is shameful that in today’s Europe, Jews are still being persecuted and killed for being Jewish.”
The screening was followed by a panel discussion featuring First Vice-President of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans, renowned historian Prof. Simon Schama and the producer and director of the film, Serena Dykman. The panel was moderated by Chief Executive of the Board of Deputies of British Jews (BoD) Gillian Merron.
Among other things, the panel discussed the common responsibility of Europeans to never forget the lessons of the Shoah: “The European Union was born in Buchenwald. Hatred of Jews is today exploited for political gain. If we stay silent on that, the European project will fail.” said First Vice-President Timmermans. “We need to teach people at a young age. This is not only the story of the Jews, it belongs to humanity as a whole”, added Serena Dykman.
Addressing the issue of the proliferation of fake news, Prof. Schama stated: “You have to shout ‘Lie!’ as loud as you possibly can […] Tearing down the fabric of sinister mythology is not easy.”
This is the second consecutive year that EJC partners with the European Commission in order to present important films on the topic of Holocaust remembrance. Last year the film that was screened was Denial starring Rachel Weisz.
You can watch footage of the panel discussion here.
Watch Room is Officially Camera-Wrapped!
We finally shot our final dates on Aug 23 and 24 at Coast Dairies State Park, south of San Francisco. We had a blast working with such hard-working, talented California crew and we saw some incredible sites out on the coast. Learn more about our awesome crew on our recently updated IMDb page at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6849534/.
Now we are in the trenches of post, racing to make the Sundance deadline!
Moving Forward with June Shooting Dates for Watch Room
Watch Room, the short film Julia is currently producing is moving forward with the NYC unit in Ridgefield, CT. The dates will be June 16-18.
Watch Room is about three longtime friends and scientists NATE, BERNARD, and CHLOE having coming thus far after countless nights of problem solving. Collaborating from Nate’s ramshackle garage, the trio has blazed a trail to the frontier of Artificial Intelligence - to KATE, a self-aware AI designed to behave like a human, contained to and tested within the safety of a computer program that interfaces with the real world via bootstrapped virtual reality technology. When Kate fails a key experiment, Bernard and Chloe insist they shut her down and go back to the drawing board, but Kate has other plans. She states that they, not she, exist within a computer program, and if they refuse to set her free, then she will end the simulation - and thus their lives.
“Watch Room” is a twisting, high-concept thriller that respects its audience, appealing to fans of “Primer”, “Ex Machina”, and grounded science fiction.
It was written by Michael Koehler (They Came at Night) and will be directed by Noah Wagner. Cinematography is by Nick Walker and the Production Designer is wonderful Nick Tong. Also producing is Mike Kaney II and Lamar Manson.
Just recently they brought on Mamoudou Athie to play NATE and Alice Kremelberg to play CHLOE!
They currently have product placement from companies such as ZEISS Cinemizer OLED, ErgoDox EZ and Gest. More likely to come soon.
Location Scout for Watch Room in San Francisco
Watch Room's creative team, producer Julia Elaine Mills, director Noah Wagner (noahwagner.com), cinematographer Nick Walker (nickcinewalker.com) and production designer Nick Tong (nicholas-tong.com) had a very productive weekend in San Francisco on their scout at the Point Bonita Lighthouse for the Virtual Reality simulation in their artificial intelligence sci-fi short film. For more updates, check out Watch Room's social media sites:
Documentary Nana Progress
Nana (documentary shot by Julia Elaine Mills) has been making wonderful progress in the film festival circuit. Nana had it's world premiere at the St. Louis International Film Festival where it won the Leon Award for Best Documentary Film. It also screened at the Anchorage International Film Festival where director Serena Dykman was asked to screen and speak about the film at University of Alaska Anchorage by a professor.
Nana is also screening at the Irvine International Film Festival and more to come!
"I am pleased that I had an opportunity to view your documentary, which I found to be very well done, as well as, very interesting. NANA must have been proud of your work and determination to preserve her legacy.”
-Robert Ogrodnik, Consul Emeritus
Polish Consulate in Saint Louis
The most recent trailer can be viewed here: https://vimeo.com/195393921
Watch Room's Successful Kickstarter
We have made our goal for production funds on Kickstarter! This means we can begin pre-production! If you missed your chance to donate to our Kickstarter, it isn't too late. We still need to raise funds for post-production and marketing. We are a non-profit and you can still donate at our Fractured Atlas.
To view our Kickstarter, go here:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/382487876/watch-room-a-short-film