Meet Tina - Writer, Director, Producer

Tina Chapman DaCosta has been called a “renaissance woman.” As a filmmaker, community building educator, and former IT professional, Tina’s unique set of skills enable effective cross discipline and business unit collaborations to create and implement engaging experiences that bring people together.

 Following a rewarding career as an IT professor, Tina attended the School of Film and Animation (SOFA) at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) to further develop her love of story, writing, directing, and acting.

Tina founded the Diversity Theater program at RIT and became its director. Diversity Theater is a college wide program for RIT’s, 23,000 faculty, staff and students from over 100 nations that uses film and theater to advance community building within the Division for Diversity and Inclusion. https://www.rit.edu/diversity/diversitytheater

Tina began producing short films based on her MFA thesis feature length script “Brick by Brick” in partnership with Diversity Theater. “Brick by Brick” is the story of Tina’s father, Elza “Buddy” Cannaday, Cleveland’s first African American licensed contractor, and his magnanimous life from homelessness during the 1930’s Great Depression era to building homes for others through the 1970’s.

  • DEAR ELEANOR is the second short film in the series. The first film was Brick by Brick - a young brick mason comes to Cleveland to reconnect with the father he thought he knew in 1941 Ohio. Brick by Brick won Best Short at the San Diego Black Film Festival 2020, selected for 14 film festivals before the COVID pandemic shutdown, and nominated for an Academy Award for Best USA Diaspora Short at the Africa Movie Academy Awards 2020. Trailer: https://vimeo.com/361673626

Tina’s degrees include an MFA in Film & Animation, RIT College of Arts and Design; MS in Engineering, RIT College of Engineering; and BS in Mathematics, minor in Computer Science, The College at Brockport, graduating with a 4.0 GPA.

Tina’s other film credits include:

  • The Mystery of Her (Tammy), Actor, Faith Street Films, feature film, 2022

  • King’s Faith, The Trailer (Vanessa), Actor, feature film, Faith Street Films, 2013

  • MINUS 25 Betty Tyson, Production Sound, short film, 2014 

  • Remembering the Pythodd, Writer, Director, Producer, Editor, short documentary, Women of SOFA selection, High Falls Film Festival,  2013

  • The Release (Wife), Actor, Writer, Director, Producer, Editor, short film, 2012

  • Fun Size, Writer, Director, Editor, short film, 2011

  • Clay Face, Assistant Camera, short film 2011

  • Sticks and Stones (Dolores/Mother), Actor, award winning short film, 2006

Meet Micky - Producer

Micky Levy is an Israeli, North-African award-winning screenwriter. Micky immigrated to the United States at the age of 17. Arriving in Los Angeles with only $700 to her name, she immersed herself in her passion for filmmaking and television. That dedication paid off. Micky caught the eye of Alison Eastwood and Warner Bros. with a script she wrote, RAILS & TIES. Directed by Eastwood, the film starred Kevin Bacon and Marcia Gay Harden. It premiered domestically in the Telluride Film Festival and overseas at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Since then, Micky has completed several book adaptations, including Lifetime’s AMISH GRACE for which she received a Humanitas Prize nomination. Micky’s directorial work in film includes the award-winning short PAGE’S GREAT AND GRAND ESCAPE, distributed by Virgin Produced, and UNION, starring Sean Patrick, available on Shudder, AMC’s horror streamer.

Selected Awards and Recognition:
Wscripted's Annual Cannes Screenplay List 2022; Humanitas Prize nomination (90-minutes category); Movieguide Awards’ Epiphany Prize; Columbus Award; Top Ten Tony Cox Showtime Screenplay Competition; 1st Place Scriptapalooza Television Writing Competition.

Meet Marina - Co-Producer

Marina Viscun is an award-winning Moldovan-American filmmaker and storyteller. Her range of experience includes television, film, digital, branded entertainment, and music videos. Marina's approach toward filmmaking combines her personal and professional experiences as an immigrant, US Navy veteran, higher-education instructor, and long- and short-form content creator. As a producer, she has been honored with two Telly Awards: PBS-released "Big Voice" documentary in 2018 and "Journey to Safety" PSA in 2012. In addition, "Big Voice" has also garnered other awards, like Best US Documentary Premiere by Heartland Film Festival 2015, Best Documentary of 2015 by NewFilmmakers LA 2015, and Best Family Feature from South Dakota Film Festival 2015, while "Ode to Los Angeles" received Grand Jury and Audience Awards from NewFilmmakers LA in 2011. Marina's writing has also seen success: her feature "Seeds" was 1st round finalist at the Sundance Screenwriting Lab in 2016 and semi-finalist at The Athena List 2018, and her TV pilot "Dress Blues" was named quarter-finalist in the Big Break Final Draft 2017.

Marina is the President of Pingvin Productions, Founder of #WeAreWITI, and is a former member of the Producers Guild of America, Alliance of Women Directors, Women in Media, and Veterans in Media and Entertainment. She has served as a member of the Diversity and Education Committees and Women Impact Network with the PGA West, Newsletter Editor and Communication Committee member with the AWD, Chair of the Events and Programming Committee with NewFilmmakers LA and Operations Co-Director for San Pedro International Film Festival. She likes chocolate, animals, traveling, good company, and is a US veteran.

RIT Diversity Theater is a university wide program that advances diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives for faculty, staff, students, and community partners using theater-based methods. Professional facilitators and performance artists engage participants in meaningful experiences within the context of diversity and inclusion education. Live theatre, forum theatre, reader’s theatre, film and other forms of visual and performance arts are produced. DEAR ELEANOR is the second film produced in partnership with Tina Chapman DaCosta. https://www.rit.edu/diversity/diversitytheater

Meet RIT Diversity Theater -
Production partners

Meet Raquel - Line Producer & Assistant Director

Raquel Estrada Since graduation from the Rochester Institute of Technology’s School of Film and Animation, Raquel has been able to exercise her wide skill set in several different film production roles. 

She began her journey writing and directing RIT Honors Show Select "Listen" as a young freshman. Following the success of her first film, she assisted the Production Office on Amazon Prime Video Feature Film "The Night House" (dir. David Bruckner). She continued growing her own body of work, writing and directing short coming-of-age drama "The In Between," and produced and directed a short documentary about her autistic brother titled "La Familia of Trust". It was then that she found her strength in Screenwriting and Production Management, serving as Producer for IndieX and Independent Short Awards Select "The Gestalt Shift" (dir. Logan Michelle), short biopic "Victorian" dir. Alexandra McDonald, and short family drama "Bond" (dir. Simon Yahn).

On larger budget productions, she served as the Line Producer/Assistant Director for "Dear Eleanor" (dir. Tina Chapman DaCosta) which advanced to win the Diversity in Cannes Short Film Showcase Best Score Category, and has experience in ever facet of production, including Camera Assistant and G&E roles on Slamdance Best Feature Winner "Tahara" (dir. Olivia Peace), "Mabel" (dir. Nicholas Ma), Golden Globe Best Performance by an Actor - Feature "The Inspection" (dir. Elegance Bratton), and Netflix Special "The Hall" (prod. Marty Callner, etc.).

Her experiences on set allowed her to meet motivated, tough, and passionate female filmmakers like herself, encouraging her to pursue her dream of writing stories about hardworking, independent, powerful women taking the world by storm.

She currently lives in Los Angeles, California, where she writes day and night bringing these ideas to life.

  • Dallas Calkins

    Director of Photography

    Dallas is an up and coming LA based freelance Cinematographer from RIT’s school of Film and Animation. She’s been in the industry for 5 years working on projects anywhere from narrative to commercial filmmaking. With traditional practices at her core Dallas adopts new technologies with ease, as she concentrates on Virtual Production cinematic storytelling, while maintaining a background in shooting on 16mm film

  • Catherine Kirk

    Production Designer

  • Fraaz Kahn

    Editor

    Fraaz Khan is a film editor based in New York and Los Angeles. He received an MFA in Film and Animation from the Rochester Institute of Technology. With a focus on storytelling, Fraaz weaves together stories that transcend audiences into breathtaking experiences and emotions. Fraaz was also the editor for the award-winning film BRICK BY BRICK, the prequel to DEAR ELEANOR.

  • Max Di Carlo

    Composer

    Max Di Carlo is an Italian composer of music for film, TV, commercials and games

    Classically trained in Rome Italy, Max has composed for Walt Disney Films, The Discovery Channel, National Geographic, Fox Sports and countless other film and TV companies. Prior to film composing, Max was credited with composing and producing numerous Pop hits in the International market.

    As a film composer, Max composes music in literally all styles and his natural gift for melody has created a stellar reputation with film directors and producers alike. Max thrives on the challenges and creative expression that is presented while composing for motion pictures. https://www.maxdicarlo.com

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Dear Eleanor Film