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Executive Producer
Joan Stein Schimke is an award-winning film director, screenwriter, and producer.
A member of the Directors Guild of America, Joan has directed for ‘Law and Order’ and has made numerous short films which have screened at over 100 film festivals worldwide. Her breakout short, ‘One Day Crossing,’ was an Academy Award Nominee and won the Student Academy Award Gold Medal, among many other awards and festival prizes. Joan’s script ‘The Buried Life,’ was accepted to the Hamptons International Film Festival Screenwriting Lab and the Sundance Screenwriting Lab, where it received a Sloan Foundation grant. The script is in development. She has also worked on feature films for directors Taylor Hackford (‘Ray’), Eric Mendelsohn (‘3 Backyards’), and Bette Gordon (‘Luminous Motion’).
Originally a consultant, Joan volunteered at a Hungarian refugee camp and developed close relationships with the refugees. This inspired her to quit her job and apply to the MFA program in film at Columbia University. She wanted to pursue her dream of storytelling, especially to share the stories of those who didn’t have the ability to do so. Today, Joan lives in New York City with her husband and son.