The Oscar-qualifying Cleveland International Film Festival welcomes Chicago filmmaker / actor Clare Cooney for the world premiere of her short film After: A Love Story, an intimate story of a couple trying to bridge the space that has emerged between them after surviving a violent event, this week. Cooney previously wrote, directed, edited, and starred in Runner, a chilling short film that played at 15 film festivals, collected six awards, and garnered her a “Filmmaker to Watch” nomination from the Oscar-qualifying Atlanta Film Festival. Her followup Pick Up made its festival premiere at the Oscar-qualifying Indy Shorts Film Festival  last year after already having received a half a million views on Omeleto. Detect a pattern?

The 15 minute short, filmed with a skeleton cast and crew, is about ex-lovers who reconnect on a car ride during the pandemic. Then their masks come...

American media magnate, internet entrepreneur, and philanthropist Mark Zuckerberg wants to help you make the movies you want to see. Known for co-founding the social media giant Facebook, Zuckerberg has acquired WMM through parent company Meta Platforms. We Make Movies will now operate under the moniker We Make Metaverse, as the team prepares to implement innovative strategies envisioned by Zuckerberg, ushering in a new generation of technological advances to enhance the essence of community. 

What exactly is the nebulous concept of the metaverse? The term can can be traced back to Neal Stephenson and his canonized 1992 dystopian cyberpunk novel Snow Crash. "Like any place in Reality, the Street is subject to development. Developers can build their own small streets feeding off of the main one. They can build buildings, parks, signs, as well as things that do not exist in Reality, such as vast hovering overhead light...

Congrats to WMM members, producer/director Fiona McDougall and writer/interviewer Jonathan Villet of OneWorld Communications for landing a special selection designation at the Sonoma International Film Festival! Their short documentary Finding Snow White screens at the festival (celebrating its 25th anniversary!) from March 23rd until March 27th. The film is an incredible contribution to the field of mental health. A powerful message around resilience, the human spirit, and the ways in which we can train ourselves to live life in the face of adversity. Beautiful and poignant.

We had a moment to catch up with the filmmakers - take a read, watch the trailer at the bottom of the piece, and catch the film at the festival if you can. 

WMM: What compelled you to make this film?

JV: I was compelled to make this film for a few reasons – the amazing personal journey of Ditta Oliker after the tragedy of her son’s murder, demonstrates how people can...

Every actor who comes to Los Angeles believes themselves as having well-rounded expertise in various artforms and the natural ability to shapeshift into any character. There are few who actually possess such versatility, and even fewer who successfully manage to showcase their range. Actor, stuntwoman, and prolific producer Amy Rose Schumacher is one such actor, who in a sea of blondes, humbly punches through the crowd demanding to be seen. Her comedic work has been featured on such prestigious platforms as WHOHAHA, her action reel could command reverence from the most seasoned athlete, and her productions have collectively garnered acceptance and accolades from top niche festivals from around the world. 

Schumacher brings her pragmatic sensibility to We Make Movies as our premier Covid Compliance Officer, and most recently Production Coordinator for the Creative Services division of the company. She applies the same grace under pressure...

What Level of...