For anyone feeling overwhelmed this holiday season ❤️ find your breath.
Video description: White text centered in the center reads "reminder: your breath is always here. come back. be here now." The video shows pink and orange skies. The video pans to follow a leaf falling from a tree. The last frame shows the moon in a light blue sky.
Hard to believe it'll be 13 years since I began filming for my debut feature documentary The Rebound.
I sat down for my first interview having blocked thirty minutes for a deep conversation with Ricardo Lucien. He just had received a college scholarship to play wheelchair basketball based on how hard he had pushed to improve over the last year. His story fascinated me. Ricardo had an endless amount of positivity; this meant even more given that he had survived a gunshot wound that caused him to be paralyzed. I wanted to know everything - about his story, the sport...anyone who knows me now would laugh in my face if I told them I was aiming for a thirty minute interview 🤣Two hours later, my let my generous interviewee off the hook. My curiosity was flourishing and flowing.
Have you seen The Rebound? DM me and I will send you a free rental code to watch it :)
#documentaryfilmmaker #reboundthefilm #filmdirector #curiosity
Video Description: White text on the screen reads "pov: fresh out of collect you make your first documentary". Behind the text, various shots of Shaina holding a camera and filming a wheelchair basketball team play.
Started the year focused on JOY, ending the year focused on JOY. What a blessing it is to be alive. Thank you to everyone I have joyfully connected with this year here and in the real world. I am grateful for your energy and presence in my life.
#findyourjoy #grateful
Video description: A car passes, Shaina crosses the street in Asheville, North Carolina. The shot is focused on an archway on a building, then Shaina walks in, she turns around and smiles.
This video is from late last year, but one that my mentor recently said is not only his favorite but it also reminds him of the unique joy I bring.
So, I wanted to share it again in hopes that it brings you the same joy that it brings my mentor.
How do you prioritize joy?
#findyourjoy #prioritizejoy #joyfull
Video Description: The video opens with Shiana standing inside her home wearing a red shirt with a black jacket. She is speaking directly to the camera as she walks out her front door. She shows the blue sky with white fluffy clouds and the lush green trees. The video transitions back to Shaina speaking directly to the camera and she continues her walk, with another transition the showing the lush trees and blue skies. Shaina is seen opening her mailbox and showing the mail she recently received to the camera while then walking back to her home, showing herself walk through the grass. The video ends with her speaking directly to the camera.
Do you know the power of your own story?
Each chapter of our journey teaches us lessons
We cannot always see it in the moment.
#FilmDirector #Storytelling #MoviesThatMatter #StoryMatters
Video Description: The video opens with Shaina speaking directly to the camera with her hand on her chest, over her heart. The video transitions to a series of photos all showing her being the camera on different shoots. The photos transition to video and photo of Shaina when she was a child and teen, some video includes family home video footage and footage from Shaina when she was in highschool. The photos and video then transition to present day with photos and video on set of Shaina's most recent shoot of an Heirloom Documentary that includes interviews with the family. The video ends with Shaina speaking directly to the camera.
I have been giving myself this reminder lately and wanted to share with those who need it.
#Film #Filmmaker #Documentary #Documentarian #FilmDirector #Storytelling #MoviesThatMatter #StoryMatters #Journaling #TellYourStory
Video Description: Video opens with a behind the scenes shot of a film set, in a clients home, panning to a laptop screen. Shaina shakes a bag of coffee beans before she makes fresh coffee in her apartment. There is a transition to a room being taped off before a painting project begins. Shaina is recorded playing a game of pool and the camera panning to follow the ball. Shaina sits on a rock at the oceanfront, looks out the window of a plane, and pictures shared of Shaina filming behind the camera on set. The video ends with Shaina drinking a cup of coffee and clinking her cup with the camera.
Our work, our art, it will outlast us.
#Film #Filmmaker #Documentary #Documentarian #FilmDirector
Video Description: The video opens with Shaina, as a child, talking directly to the camera and also showing home footage when she was a child. The video changes to a black-and-white film countdown on the screen that then transitions to clips from the films Shaina is speaking about in voice-over. The video transitions to more recent projects. One of a pregnant woman embracing her belly while wearing a shirt that read 'Athlete', with another video of a man in a wheelchair leaving a house, a woman speaking to the camera while laughing. Additional clips of the pregnant woman doing pushups, teammates on a wheelchair basketball team embracing each other in celebration, and photos of Shaina standing behind a camera filming on location and speaking at events. The video ends with Shaina speaking directly to the camera.
We are not meant to create art. We are meant to create the best environment around us.
#FindYourJoy #PrioritizeJoy #Joyful #Film #Filmmaker #Documentary #Documentarian #FilmDirector
Video Description: Video footage of Shaina at various locations including the beach, a rooftop movie theater, working behind the scenes, and art galleries.
I want to stop apologizing for my dreams.
I want to stop apologizing for having a big vision for myself.
#Travel #EuropeanSummer #Film #Filmmaker #Documentary #Documentarian #FilmDirector #Storytelling #MoviesThatMatter #StoryMatters
Video Description: The video starts with Shaina speaking directly to the camera, wearing a black tank top with her brunette hair down. The video transitions to a selfie recording of Shaina walking down the street in Europe, jumping off a boat into the water, spinning around while holding the camera facing her at a rural farm, and behind-the-scenes clips of filming and with her crew. The video included footage of Shaina and her friend Jen exploring Spain in a quick-change video format. Video ends with Shaina speaking to the camera, the same in which the video started with additional clips from the Spain chapter of her adventure.
My crew is small, but oh are we mighty. Working on a documentary with us is truly a one of a kind, intimate experience.
#Film #Filmmaker #Documentary #Documentarian #FilmDirector #Storytelling #MoviesThatMatter #StoryMatters #Heirloom #legacy #ancestors #heirloomfilm #legacyfilm #grandparents #elderwisdom
Video Description: The video starts with clips from a recent film project, including a closet of an older woman placing her hand on a man's check, the woman and man sitting in a church pew, the woman dancing, and walking with a younger woman. The video transitions to a photo montage including the crew jumping in front of a marquee, and pictures of Shaina behind the camera in behind-the-scenes photos. The video then transitions into the introduction of the crew being spoken about with a slide show of photos.
We are grateful and honored to present the trailer for a project over a year in the making, Legacy of Love. This trailer is a sneak peak of the two hour Heirloom film that will be shared and passed down to the next generation.
This project started when @tionnavangundy reached out about filming a 90th birthday party, but evolved into something deeper. Our team captured so many powerful moments - several dance performances with @fadswellington, the Idaho Sugar Project farm Geniel was raised on in Idaho, a family celebration at the property where she raised her eight hard-working, kind children, Geniel's radiation treatment at @baptisthealthsf for pancreatic cancer, and finally with the family at the end of her life. It has been a beautifully heartbreaking journey to share life and moments with the family over the last couple years.
The story | Geniel Fife, a devoted mother and grandmother, finds new purpose in dance until an unexpected diagnosis puts everything at risk. Her children rally around her, uncovering her remarkable life story and drawing inspiration from her resilience.
The incredible team that made this happen:
Executive Producer - John Fife
Director | Producer | Writer @shaina_koren
DP | Cinematographer | Lighting @chadandreophoto @andreostudio
Assistant Director | Camera Operator @tehronroyes
Sound | Drone @basileye
Editor | Post Supervisor @annakaperska
Colorist | @colorfictionorg
Sound Editing @martin_taskov_
1st Assistant Editor @breathe_in_pictures
Lead Planner & Detailer - @thetionnamarie
@fueledevents Planning Team - @giovanna_danno, @kflens, @camille.turley, @alexisaguirre
Family History Author - Mary Johnston
#Heirloom #Legacy #Ancestors #HeirloomFilm #LegacyFilm #Grandparents #ElderWisdom #Film #Filmmaker #Documentary #Documentarian #FilmDirector #Storytelling #MoviesThatMatter #StoryMatters