Joan Scheckel - Writer/Director

Writer/Director/Producer Joan Scheckel is the internationally renowned creator of The Technique, the most influential new approach to writing, directing and filmmaking craft in Hollywood today. Joan is known as the “director’s guru” and as a master teacher, whose work challenges our cultural addiction to conflict and calls for a new storytelling paradigm that embraces feeling and meaning. Her innovations inform every level of the mis en scene, from writing, acting, directing to visual style. She teams with directors to workshop and develop material from the ground up. including such iconic hits as Niki Caro’s Oscar Nominee Whale Rider, Dayton/Faris’s Oscar Winner Little Miss Sunshine, Mike Mills’s Oscar Winner Beginners (Executive Producer), Joey Soloway’s Emmy Winner Transparent (Consulting Producer), Soloway’s Golden Globe Nominee I Love Dick (Producer), Sarah Shapiro’s Peabody Award Winner UnREAL, Rupert Sanders’s Oscar Nominee Snow White and the Huntsman, Nick Jarecki’s Golden Globe Nominee Arbitrage, Sacha Gervasi’s Spirit Award Winner Anvil Story of Anvil, Karyn Kusama’s The Invitation. Miranda July’s The Future, (New Yorker Magazine Best of the Decade List) and many more.  Joan was co-writer on The Vintner's Luck, directed by Niki Caro (Mulan), starring Jeremie Renier and Vera Farmiga.   

Overall, Joan has worked on 84 feature films and television shows. 74 came to her with unfinished drafts, no financing or cast, and with first time or early career writer/directors at the helm. 83 have been released, earning over 800 nominations and 400 wins including major category nods at the Oscars, Spirits. Sundance, Cannes and Emmys, Golden Globes etc. This year alone, there are 15 graduates of the Technique with Sundance Official Selection films and 24 Emmy’s, Golden Globes and Oscar Nominations.

Joan has been profiled and featured for her work and her influence on a generation of directors in many articles and publications such as: NYTimes, LA Times, Marie Claire, Deadline, Indiewire, Vox, IF Magazine, California Sunday, The New York Observer and more

Trained as an actor, director, and classical singer,  Joan began her career as a performer in seminal works on the New York Stage directed by such groundbreaking theatre directors as Anne Bogart, Joanne Akalaitis, and Meredith Monk - as well as popular hits like Star Trek and Seinfeld. Her directing credits include numerous shorts and plays including Pirandello's I'm Dreaming But Am I, Gillian Plowman's Me and My Friend, and Strindberg's Miss Julie, (on a 35,000 sq ft soundstage).  She is a graduate of  NYU Tisch School of the Arts in Film and Theatre. 

Joan has recently completed her first book, 100 Questions, No Answers. Silenc e marks her feature directing debut.

Paul Young - Producer

Paul Young is an Emmy-winning producer who has produced more than 30 films and television shows, including iconic comedies like Reno 911, Married and Key & Peele. Paul also produced films like Jordan Peele’s Keanu and the indie film, Meet Me In Montenegro.

Jim Frohna - Director of Photography

Director and Emmy-nominated Director of Photography Jim Frohna has received critical acclaim for his intuitive, intimate storytelling and expression in cinematography,  featured on such projects as the award-winning Amazon series Transparent. He was DP on Season 2 of HBO’s lauded series Big Little Lies for director Andrea Arnold and the two-hour musical finale of Transparent as both DP and Co-Producer. 

 He just completed filming an HBO Pilot for Jay Duplass featuring Bridget Everett and an Apple+ series created by Sarah Bareilles & Jessie Nelson. 

Other recent work includes the Jim Carrey-produced Showtime drama I’m Dying Up Here as well as the Jill Soloway comedy I Love Dick with Kathryn Hahn and Kevin Bacon. 

Frohna has directed episodes on multiple seasons of Transparent and on I Love Dick. In addition to working extensively with Arnold and Soloway, Frohna has worked with over 25 DGA directors including Jay Duplass, Marielle Heller, Davis Guggenheim, Peyton Reed, Dayton/Faris, Kimberly Pierce, and Mike Mills.  In addition to episodic work, Frohna is known for his documentary, music video and commercial spots including Mill’s documentary Does Your Soul Have a Cold,  Dayton/Faris’ Red Hot Chili Peppers video Tell Me Baby, and the iconic Balls commercial for Sony. 

The TV pilot, It’s Not About Jimmy Keene, on which Frohna serves as executive producer, premiered as part of the 2019 Sundance Episodic program and marked Frohna’s 7th project at Sundance. Frohna and the Jimmy Keene team have joined forces with Louie and Better Things producer Blair Breard for an upcoming series pitch. Afternoon Delight, a 2013 Official Selection Film,  won the Best Director Award for Soloway. He was the Producer and Cinematographer on Susan Bay Nimoy’s short film Eve Official Selection Sundance 2018 as well as numerous other international festivals. 

Frohna attended New York University and received a BFA from the Tisch School of The Arts