As the light shifts through Finland’s dramatic seasons, four women find meaning in the rhythm of ancestral craft. Their collective stories reveal a path to wholeness that bridges past and future—honoring unique expressions of the feminine while grounding cultural heritage in the realities of everyday life.
Craftwoman: Weaving Life Whole is a feature documentary. The film was completed in July 2026. We are currently developing an impact campaign to reach audiences, which includes creating the film’s website, devleoping an engagement guide, submitting to film festivals and planning community screenings. We are also looking for a sales agent, promotional and screening partners, and are open to collaboration on all fronts. If you are interested in supporting outreach and circulation of the film please reach out to the director, Madison McClintock at
innertidalcreative@gmail.com.
For a more comprehensive overview of the film and visual treatment please visit: www.craftswomanfilm.com
Luke and Emma is a feature film about a young half-Asian boy navigating love and life as he comes-of-age in a conservative, religious Mid-Western American town in the 1980s. He and his classmate Emma have crushes on each other, but the society they live in makes it impossible for them to be together.
With a trove of lost-and-found archival footage and a cast of characters endowed with the gift of gab, “The Catskills” journeys into the storied mountain getaway north of New York City that served as refuge for Jewish immigrants fleeing poverty as well as a lavish playground for affluent Jewish families. As bungalow colony proprietors, guests, waiters, comedians, hoteliers, and beauticians share colorful tales of Catskill farms, boarding houses, and luxury resorts, they paint a picture of vibrant American Jewish life and culture in the 20th century.
“Slide” The tale of a mythical cowboy showdown with eco-villains intent on paving over idyllic Sourdough Creek. Plympton’s wit and surreal animation takes on the fight for the wild west’s fading glory, peppered with swinging western tunes.
In “Slide”, a guitar-playing cowboy enters the lumber camp of Sourdough Creek to clean up the corruption wrought on the town by 2 obese twins, Zeke and Jeb. Most of the action occurs around the local dance hall/whorehouse, “The Lucky Buck Saloon.” One of the “hostesses,” Delilah, has ambitions to leave the sex trade and become a star singer in the club. At this auspicious moment, the town is attacked by an evil creature called the “Hellbug,” who haunts the town and attempts to end the ecological disaster caused by the greedy twins. To combat the bug, the evil twins enlist a battery of despicable assassins, each one worse than the other. And if that’s not exciting enough, a caravan of Hollywood movie-makers are arriving in Sourdough Creek to make their newest blockbuster feature, “Escape From Ecstasy,” starring the biggest movie star, Veronica Saltwater, who despises bugs. It becomes an epic clash of moral and cultural opposites drawn by only one person, Mr. Plympton. A truly handmade film.
“Slide” is also a wacky musical”. The songs are penned by my favorite musician, singer Maureen McElheron, with whom I performed in the late 70’s around the bars of downtown New York. She also wrote the beautiful music from “Your Face,” “The Tune” and the hit film “I Married A Strange Person.” The music for “Slide” is reminiscent of 40’s honky-tonk from such artists as Hank Williams and Patsy Cline, and performed by the brilliant Hank Bones and Maureen McElheron, who I still owe money to, and that’s why I’m using the wonderful facilitates of “Filmmakers.”
I’m now in the post-production phase of creating “Slide.” The design, animation, music, voices, backgrounds are all completed and it looks beautiful! It’s different from any other animated film I’ve ever seen. But now we have to put all the pieces together and pay off my numerous debts that occured because of the Covid epidemic. Plus, I need financing for my sales and publicity campaign. Fortunately “Filmmakers” makes this film a non-profit so all donations are tax deductible.
As with my earlier films, I hope to take “Slide” to the important market festivals to make sales to theatrical, TV, and digital platforms. Festivals such as Cannes (we’ve already had interest), Toronto, Annecy, Stuttgart, and numerous others. Also, I expect to do the comic-con circuit, where I’m very popular. I already have a sales deal with ED Distribution in France and I have substantial interest from Spain, Germany, South Korea, Brazil, and Argentina.
Bay Creek Tennis Camp
Writer/director Michele Meek’s forthcoming short film Bay Creek Tennis Camp is a timely and refreshing take on the cross-generation disconnect around gender inclusivity. In the film, Coach Charlie has been doing things his way for decades. But the Generation Alpha kids who join his camp this year won’t stand for being split by gender—and they decide to teach him a lesson in a charming and amusing way.
LGBTQ+ youth are on the rise in the United States, and in a 2021 study by the Trevor Project, approximately one in four youth identify as nonbinary. These increases have provoked more awareness and dialogue within academic, parenting, medical, and educational communities. At the same time, anti-LGBTQ+ bills are being put through local legislatures at an alarming rate, and most target youth—including their rights to play sports and use bathrooms based on their gender identity.
Bay Creek Tennis Camp gently poses a provocative question—what if gender is not the ideal way to divide youth?
By presenting a story about a group of Gen Alpha kids, played by several nonbinary youth who come together to advocate for themselves and each other, Bay Creek Tennis Camp can be used to entertain, educate, and inform adults and youth. By screening the completed film at festivals, schools, camps, and other venues, our hope is that Bay Creek Tennis Camp can help spark compassionate conversations about youth, gender, and sports.
FUNDRAISING UPDATE
Bay Creek Tennis Camp is currently in post-production having wrapped an August 2022 shoot on a RED camera. Our cast includes a diverse group of nonbinary youth actors alongside professional actor Paul Kandarian as Coach Charlie. Director Michele Meek has seeded the project with $3,000 and is seeking another $2,700 in donations/contributions to the film.
Founded in 1997, NewEnglandFilm.com provides an essential online resource for the local film community, enabling members to find share and film gigs, promote themselves, and keep informed about the local industry. But NewEnglandFilm.com urgently needs your support to keep these services going.
For over 20 years, NewEnglandFilm.com has provided free membership to its users that offers free benefits such as a section to view and post jobs, volunteer gigs, and partnership opportunities; the ability to create industry directory listings for individuals and businesses; and access to updated industry news, interviews, profiles, and how-to articles. And in 2009, they launched the Online New England Film Festival, a collaborative festival that showcases short local films.
All of these services have remained and will remain free to the thousands of people who use them every month.
NewEnglandFilm.com operates on an incredibly lean budget. Our core expenses include site hosting, software and maintenance; email management software; our trademark and business licenses; and the stipend for our small freelance team including writers (yes, we pay them) and our Associate Editor/Site Moderator, who approves every single new account by hand, which ensures our site is always completely spam-free.
We need to raise $5,000 annually from our community. So, we ask those of you who regularly use and love NewEnglandFilm.com, please support us today with a tax-deductible donation through Filmmakers Collaborative. It could be $5. It could be $30. It could be $300. Every dollar will help.
We want to keep NewEnglandFilm.com going for another 20 years. But we will not be able to do it without your support.
Has Dream of Italy or Under The Tuscan Sun inspired you in your life? Has a trip to Italy changed your life? Here’s a chance to give back and pay it forward by supporting public television and the new special Dream of Italy: Under The Tuscan Sun.
The book and movie Under The Tuscan Sun – Frances Mayes true story of renovating a villa in Tuscany – have captivated millions around the world. Mayes’ real life second act in life is the quintessential dream of Italy…Tens of thousands travel each year to the hilltop town of Cortona just to catch a peek at Bramasole, perhaps the most famous home in all of Italy. In this half-hour special, Dream of Italy host Kathy McCabe visits with Frances and her husband, for an exclusive tour of Bramasole, including the rarely seen interior. Ed even takes her into the olive grove for the harvest! Then Frances introduces Kathy and viewers to her Cortona, a place where visitors can feel an authentic sense of community in just a few days. The best thing about Cortona, the locals – Frances introduces Kathy to chef Silvia for a cooking lesson with local ingredients and master jeweler Sebastian demonstrates Tuscany’s gold-smithing tradition.
Fans love Dream of Italy and Under the Tuscan Sun and Mayes and McCabe make a powerhouse duo inspiring the traveler or just any viewer who aspires to make a dream come true, even later in life. This will be a cherished special for years to come as it will air and repeat on PBS/Create TV/online for at least four years.
Public television programming is made possible by YOU, corporate sponsors and individual donors. We can’t create this inspirational and informative programming without your support. Your tax-deductible donation of at least $2,500 will be acknowledged on-screen before and after every airing.
$2500 Tax-Deductible Donation Includes Your Name on Screen Before/After Every Airing
BONUSES:
Copy of Under The Tuscan Sun book signed/personally dedicated by Frances Mayes
Bottle of Bramasole olive oil
One-year digital membership to Dream of Italy
Exclusive online preview screening months before special airs on broadcast.
Invitation to premiere party if one is thrown (each season we have had one so very likely).
Your name will appear something like this
$15,000 Tax-Deductible Donation Includes Six Seconds Total of Messaging Before/After Every Airing
BONUSES:
Copy of Under The Tuscan Sun book signed/personally dedicated by Frances Mayes
Bottle of Bramasole olive oil
One-year print membership to Dream of Italy
One-hour travel consultation with host Kathy McCabe
Exclusive online preview screening months before special airs on broadcast.
Invitation to premiere party if one is thrown (each season we have had one so very likely).
Your message will appear like one of these messages or simply as your name on screen for six seconds total.
If you would prefer to remain anonymous (no name on screen) with your donation, you may. If you would prefer to make your donation by check, email kathy@dreamofitaly.com for details.
Don’t Take That Receipt! is a public health and environmental justice campaign based around a humorous 3 minute video about BPA in receipts. Our mission is to educate vulnerable populations — those who work in stores and restaurants – and the general public, about the presence of bisphenol-A (BPA) (and bisphenol-S (BPS) in receipts. We also provide tips and assistance for reducing exposure and creating systems changes that benefit the health of workers and customers.
BPA and BPS are used to coat thermal receipt paper and rubs off onto skin with contact. Counterintuitively, using hand sanitizer increases the rate of absorption. These phenols can interfere with hormonal regulation and are associated with nearly a dozen health problems; they are most harmful to women, pregnant women, teens, and kids. Our goal is to educate about this widely unknown issue that affects nearly everyone. After creating a humorous video, an educational website and handouts, and an outreach strategy, we are now launching our campaign.
We will be addressing several audiences through this campaign:
- Our regional store-to-store outreach will focus on having face to face conversations with cashiers and store/restaurant managers, beginning in Holyoke this summer and expanding to regional towns throughout the fall, winter and spring. We will be providing bilingual tip-cards to cashiers and managers, and will be tracking and evaluating tangible steps that are taken to make employees and stores safer.
- Our online outreach to share our video and informational website will strategically reach Massachusetts-based nonprofits, environmental health groups, businesses, unions, schools, activists, cashiers, fast food workers, healthcare professionals, bank tellers, librarians, and customers, as they have a vested interest in understanding and sharing this information. Our social media outreach aims to garner over 100,000 views of the video in the state and nation-wide.
- Our online outreach in collaboration with our partners will also focus on two specific state and national corporations, TJX Company which has over 40 stores in MA and is headquartered in Framingham, and Target, which has nearly 20 stores in the state. Our joint efforts with Safer Chemicals, Heathy Families, Ecology Center, Green America, and Mamavation will engage the public to sign petitions and share social media messages to encourage these companies to switch to phenol-free receipts and paperless POS technology. An early adopter of these better protocols, in response to this group pressure, is Trader Joe’s, which also has nearly 20 stores across MA.
- We aim to garner regional and statewide print, radio, television, podcast, and online media coverage of our campaign and video, our messaging for how to reduce exposure, and our campaign success stories.
Video and website: www.bpa-free.me
On the morning of April 22nd, 2008 two U.S. Marines, LCpl. Jordan Haerter and Cpl. Jonathan Yale, were standing gate watch in Ramadi, Iraq when a suicide truck bomber barreled toward their post. Haerter and Yale had six seconds to act, firing their weapons until the driver was brought to a halt. The truck exploded, killing both men, while sparing the lives of 150 Marines and Iraqi Police.
Less about glorifying warfare or the true event itself, the film aims to provide context to the unimaginable: to show these young men as everyday people put in extraordinary circumstances, and explain why there was never doubt in their actions and decisive sacrifice that fateful morning.
Can he become the first Muslim governor in U.S. history?
This feature-length documentary film follows the journey of Abdul El-Sayed, a 33-year-old American Muslim doctor who decided to risk it all by running for governor of Michigan, a state key to Donald Trump’s stunning victory.
With exclusive behind-the-scenes access along with full editorial control, the documentary tracks the campaign through triumph, disappointment and danger as Abdul and his team try to reshape the public imagination of what’s possible in American politics.
