American Documentary, UFO (Untitled Filmmaker Org), and Chicken & Egg Films, announced today the filmmakers participating in the new work-in-progress initiative, “Shorts In-Session,” which will present short documentaries in-production and post-production to a panel of industry experts at the 2024 Camden International Film Festival (CIFF). The working committee responsible for planning and managing the “Shorts In-Session” initiative are Sean Weiner, Arno Mokros and Martha Gregory (Co-Directors) for UFO; Kiyoko McCrae (Program Director) and Tobi Phang-Lyn (Industry & Artist Development Manager) for Chicken & Egg; and Opal H. Bennett (Senior Producer / Executive Producer) for American Documentary.

“We’re so excited to return to CIFF for the second year in a row on a shorts initiative with our friends at Chicken & Egg,” said Opal H. Bennett, Senior Producer and Executive Producer, for American Documentary. “This year, we were lucky to also collaborate with the shorts masters at UFO and focus on projects which are a little further along in production. This panel is an opportunity for filmmakers to get some key insights from industry and for decision makers to connect with standout projects while still in the production pipeline.”

“Given our core commitment to coalition-building across the filmmaker support ecosystem, UFO is thrilled to collaborate with such values-aligned partners as American Documentary and Chicken & Egg,” said Sean Weiner, Co-founder and Co-director of UFO. “So much of our work is about seeking out and addressing gaps in available support for independent filmmakers, and we’re uniquely invested in the under-resourced shorts space. With ‘Shorts In-Session,’ we are providing a new platform for short filmmakers to receive guidance and build meaningful relationships with industry experts.”

“We are thrilled to continue working with American Documentary/POV in supporting short-form documentaries with this new initiative and to officially partner with UFO for the first time,” said Kiyoko McCrae, Program Director of Chicken & Egg Films. “We all share a deep commitment to provide artist-centered support for filmmakers to fulfill their creative visions and to reach wide audiences. We look forward to bringing these talented filmmaking teams to Camden International Film Festival, which showcases some of the most inspiring and groundbreaking films and is beloved by filmmakers and industry alike.”

The Shorts In-Session Participating Filmmakers:

Katie Heiserman

Katie Heiserman is a public historian and filmmaker passionate about preserving and publicizing overlooked histories. In her media-making practice, she uses archival material to examine collective memory and urban histories of resistance. Katie has worked at museums and media companies including the Museum of the City of New York, the New-York Historical Society, BRIC Arts Media, and Best Case Studies. She was the recipient of New York University’s 2022 Urban Public Humanities Fellowship and currently serves as a fellow at the New York Preservation Archive Project. She graduated from NYU’s Master’s program in Archives & Public History in 2023.

Elana Meyers

Elana Meyers is a documentary editor from New York City. Her work has screened on various streaming platforms, on PBS, and in major film festivals. She edited the feature, No One Asked You, which premiered at DOC NYC. Elana has worked on projects supported by ITVS, Tribeca, and the New York Foundation of the Arts. Her work has also been exhibited at the University Museum of Contemporary Art (Mexico City), the Pérez Art Museum (Miami), the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space (New York) and more. She was granted the Carole Fielding Award for her thesis film in the Northwestern Documentary MFA program. Elana is drawn to political stories that are overlooked by mainstream media. Her work spotlights personal narratives to convey how societal structures intersect with human experience.

Paloma Martinez

Paloma Martinez is an award-winning non-fiction filmmaker and educator from Houston. She first picked up a camera as a labor organizer in Texas. Her short documentaries, Enforcement Hours, Crisanto Street and The Shift, have been distributed in The New York Times Op-Docs, The Guardian and The Atlantic, respectively. Crisanto Street was also broadcast nationally on POV Shorts on PBS. Paloma holds an MFA in Documentary Film from Stanford University and a BA in Economics from Boston University.

Bree Nieves Robert

Bree Robert is a producer and creative specializing in unscripted Series, digital, and documentary. She has worked on a number of series, longform, digital and short-form projects for premium networks, streamers and stations, including CNN, Soledad O’Brien Productions, Hulu, VICE, and PBS.

She was selected for the SFFILM House Residency (2023), the Sundance Uprise Fellowship (2022), NBCUniversal Producer’s Award for the Asian American Journalist Association (2022) and the Center for Asian American Media Fellowship & Documentary Grant (2021 & 2020).