Savannah Bloch is an American/South African filmmaker and graduate of the USC school of Cinematic Arts. Her thesis film, No Time For Holiday, was distributed by Shorts International HD and ranked in the top ten films about teen angst in the United States. After graduation, Savannah started shooting and directing promotional content for non-profits and start-up companies around the world. This type of work led her to the townships of South Africa, interviews with natives Bolivians and to Jordan, where she filmed children of the Syrian war receive serious medical attention. Savannah also worked during this time as a freelance cinematographer, combining her love of travel, culture, cameras and storytelling into a unique and pivotal experience. After this glimpse into global affairs, Savannah returned to Los Angeles armed with a handful of stories and a new perspective to focus on narrative directing. In 2012, she directed Sister Cities as part of the Hollywood Fringe festival. There she met And Then There Was Eve co-writer, Colette Freedman. The show had four sold out performances and rave reviews demonstrating a new found talent for the stage. Subsequently, in 2014 Savannah moved to New York City to study stage directing at The Barrow Group and hone her skills working with actors. In early 2015, she returned to Los Angeles to be the cinematographer on the independent film, Quality Problems, and most recently she is excited to premiere her feature film directorial debut, And Then There Was Eve. Savannah co-founded and currently runs a weekly director’s workshop in Hollywood called The Sandbox LA. In addition to powerful storytelling, Savannah is passionate about social innovation, feminism, surfing and veganism. Savannah works locally in Los Angeles, New York, San Diego and Cape Town.
Colette Freedman, Co-Writer/Co-Producer
COLETTE FREEDMAN- An internationally produced playwright with over 25 produced plays, Colette was voted “One of 50 to Watch” by The Dramatist’s Guild. Her hit musical Serial Killer Barbie can be heard here. Her play Sister Cities was the hit of the 2008 Edinburgh Fringeand earned five star reviews: It has been produced around the country and internationally, fifteen times including Paris (Une Ville, Une Soeur), Rome (Le Quattro Sorelle) and Australia. It is next up in Chicago August 2016 and Sacramento September 2016. She wrote the film which is having its world premiere July 29th at the Traverse City Film Festival and stars Jacki Weaver, Alfred Molina, Jess Weixler, Stana Katic, Michelle Trachtenberg, Amy Smart, Troian Bellisario, Tom Everett Scott and Kathy Baker. She has co-written, with International bestselling novelistJackie Collins, the play Jackie Collins Hollywood Lies, which is gearing up for a National Tour. In collaboration with The New York Times best selling author Michael Scott, she wrote the thriller The Thirteen Hallows (Tor/Macmillan). Her novel The Affair (Kensington) came out January 29, 2013. The play of the novel earned both critical and commercial success as it toured Italy February through May 2013. It is next playing in Antwerp October 2016. Her sequel novel The Consequences (Kensington) came out January 28, 2014. Her YA novel Anomalies (Select Books) came out February 9, 2016.
Jen Prince, Producer
Jen Prince is an independent producer who hails from south Texas, where her love for music, theatre, movies and tableside guacamole began. Variety states, "Jen has a passion for small, character-driven films, and champions directors who are committed to crafting powerful performances.” Recently Jen produced the comedy feature, critically-acclaimed Quality Problems (dir Brooke & Doug Purdy). Jen is currently on the festival circuit with Savannah Bloch’s directorial debut feature, And Then There Was Eve, (Tania Nolan, Karan Soni, Mary Holland). She produced the micro budget indie-road feature, Eve of Understanding, which was distributed through Vanguard Cinema and screened at over twenty festivals worldwide, won Best Feature at AFI Dallas, Best Feature Beverly Hills HD Film Festival, Best Feature Female Eye Film Festival Toronto and Best Actress (Rebecca Lowman) at Boston Film Festival, Breckenridge Film Festival, among others. Her intensive making-of blog became required reading in the USC graduate film production program as a 'how-to-make-your-first-feature' primer. Other recent work includes producing work on the feature RIPE, and a partnership with the San Antonio Young Filmmakers Association to mentor and Associate Produce the narrative feature, Fields Afire. She recently completed a 35mm short, Farewell My King, written and directed by Christian Gossett. She is a graduate of the MFA Film Production Program at USC. She received her BFA in Acting and a BA in Liberal Arts in the Plan II Honors Program at the University of Texas at Austin. Jen’s theatre experience includes her award-winning one-woman show about the Russian poet Anna Akhmatova, Voice of the Swan. Jen also works in post-production television as a producer and editor. Credits include the Emmy Awards, The Contender (Mark Burnett Prods), and The Amazing Race (CBS). Jen is a mother of three boys and loves trying to keep up with them and, at times, watching the grass grow.
Jhennifer Webberley, Producer
A native Angelino, Webberley is a founding member of Metamorfic Productions LLC, which has produced several award winning shorts and music videos as well as micro budget indie features including the award winning BREAD & BUTTER and RIPE, which was featured as the closing night film at the Women’s International Film & Arts Festival. Currently, Jhennifer is on the festival circuit with the comedy feature, Quality Problems, which she co- produced and edited. Webberley holds a MFA (Magna Cum Laude) in Film and Television Production from the USC School of Cinema-Television and a MBA (Magna Cum Laude) from Pepperdine University in Marketing and Strategy. While at Pepperdine, Webberley participated in Shanghai’s Fudan University’s global extension program in management strategy in China. At USC, Webberley worked on numerous short films as director, producer and editor including the documentary IN BETWEEN DAYS, which won the Best Short Documentary award at the SxSW. She also produced and edited the festival favorite 35mm short film WINDED, which gained distribution through the MindIgnite Australian television series. Webberley is a producer/cowriter on the award winning graphic novel THE RED STAR (Christian Gossett), which is currently in development as a television series. The Red Star has sold over a million units worldwide, was voted among the Top 100 graphic novels of all time by Wizard magazine, and is one of the most critically acclaimed independent comics’ series of the decade.Her comprehensive film experience is matched by her diverse work in theatre where her love for the arts began. She has produced and directed several independent productions including SEBASTIAN AND THE TATTOOED LOVE LIBRARIAN, PERCEPTIONS, and SEARCH AND DESTROY (Jeremy Renner) at the Tamarind Theatre.
Johanna Coelho, Director of Photography
Johanna was born and raised in France where she studied the craft of cinematography at a technical school, followed by filmmaking classes at the University La Sorbonne Nouvelle in Paris. Outside of her studies, she has worked as a cinematographer on a number of projects, including short films, music videos, festival interviews and documentaries.Seeking to enrich her European approach with the American perspective, she moved to Los Angeles in 2011 to complete her MFA in Cinematography at AFI - American Film Institute. She has been passionate about creating and experimenting with meaningful images since a very young age. Inspired by the Impressionist and Surrealist movements, she is always trying to find a way to communicate real life ideas in an original way. She loves the challenge of giving life to a story, defined by the resources available. She strongly believes that there is always a solution to every problem and that’s when creativity plays at its best.
Robert Lydecker, Composer
Robert Lydecker is an Emmy-nominated composer. He currently scores the Fox TV show Sleepy Hollow along with composer Brian Tyler and the ABC series Designated Survivor with Sean Callery. The 2017 Paramount film xXx: Return of Xander Cage also featured an original score by Lydecker and Tyler. Lydecker has worked with Tyler and other composers including Trevor Morris and Mark Isham on film and game projects such as Avengers II: Age of Ultron, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Iron Man 3, Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, The Expendables II & III, Olympus Has Fallen and The Crazies. He also penned the theme for PBS’s Just Seen It. In contrast to his work on large-scale studio scores, close collaborations with independent filmmakers have produced more eclectic work. One score might be a few sparse notes or sounds while another might be an eccentric, yet hummable, collage of instruments. Outside of film, Lydecker plays drums in a punk band and likes to bike, garden, and participate in food and environmental justice activities. He holds a B.M. in composition and a graduate certificate in film scoring from the University of Southern California.
Helen Boyd, Consultant to the production
Helen Boyd is the author of My Husband Betty (Thunder’s Mouth, 2004) which was nominated for a Lambda Literary Award and is now in its 7th printing. Her second book, She’s Not the Man I Married: My Life with a Transgender Husband (Seal Press, 2007), has been called “the (im)perfect modern love story” and “a postmodern reflection on transness”. Her blog (en)gender can be found online at www.myhusbandbetty.com. Boyd has been running an online group for couples since 2000, and has spoken at many trans conferences, including the IFGE, First Event, Fantasia Fair, Southern Comfort, the Chicago Be-All, and also at special events, like Trans Issues Week at Yale University. Helen and Betty spoke about GLBT marriage on PBS In the Life. Her writing has also appeared in anthologies edited by Matt Bernstein Sycamore and Vern Bullough. She also got to teach Dan Savage something on his podcast, Savage Love. Helen Boyd is a nom de plume for the otherwise bookish Gail Kramer. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from The City College of New York with a degree in literature and a few other awards in tow. Her other interests – a love for the films of Buster Keaton, punk rock, writing fiction, and the history of anthracite coal mining in the U.S. – have taken a backseat to her study of gender. Originally from Brooklyn, she currently teaches gender studies at Lawrence University in Appleton, WI.