At Wavecrest Films, we have one mission: to create content that makes a positive social impact. It’s that simple. We consciously seek out brands, organizations and individuals who share our passion for spreading goodness around the globe.

Our speciality is creative, soulful storytelling – great nuggets of content that inspire audiences, move ideas forward and make a positive contribution to the media landscape. There’s enough noise already; we don’t care to add to it. We do, however, care about the messages we’re putting out there, and so we choose our projects carefully.

Whether we’re making films for clients directly, offering production services for foreign clients, or creating original content of our own, we put our heart and soul into the work we do, and we love doing it!

LATEST NEWS

Hello, friends, and happiest of new years to you all!

With the long, dark nights of Winter upon us, a quote from T.S. Eliot comes to mind:
“So the darkness shall be the light, and the stillness the dancing.”

On that note, we share our latest installment in our Mindful Shorts series, “Into Light” (click on title to view). The film features four high school kids who battle depression by using mindfulness tools they learned throughout a semester-long class in Mindful Studies – a curriculum designed by an incredible nonprofit in Portland, OR, called Peace in Schools. It’s a groundbreaking program, and we hope the film results in helping all teens and adults, everywhere, who struggle with Depression, and generates awareness for the need for Mindful Studies to be taught to all teens around the world.

Previous short films in this series include “Just Breathe” (dealing with anger & elementary school kids) and “Release” (anxiety & middle school), and we intend to produce three more shorts that will continue to span the various stages of life, with each film addressing a different emotional/habitual state of mind.

Concurrently, we are developing a feature-length documentary on the Peace in Schools program featured in “Into Light”, and are looking to partner with individuals, philanthropists, foundations and corporations who understand the value of this work and who want to help spread it far and wide. So, if you, your company, or your organization is as passionate about the need for more mindfulness education in our culture as we are, please contact us.

Alternatively,  you can donate directly to the work, here: https://www.patreon.com/wavecrestfilms. Together, we can make a much greater impact than any of us can do on our own.

In other news, we’re back in production for our friends at Sesame Street, shooting two different projects for them that we’re super psyched about – one on a teen environmentalist who advocates for our oceans and teaches little kids how to become ocean stewards themselves, and a second film on a phenomenal woman who has designed a methodology for foster care parents to better understand and work with their foster children. This is the kind of content that inspires us, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to have the opportunity to tell stories like these.

Meanwhile, we’re wrapping up a project for the Natural Resources Defense Council – another one of our favorite organizations. And…editorial is finishing on a doc that Josh shot for actor/director Tim Robbins on the work that his theater group, The Actors’ Gang, is doing with inmates in a maximum security prison. We’re really excited to see where that goes…

Lots of good stuff! Feel free to drop us a line, or call us directly (info on the website) – we’d love to talk to you.

Be well, everybody!

• All
• Documentary
• Branded Content
• Short

INTO LIGHT

The 3rd short film in our Mindful Shorts series, "Into Light" features 4 inspiring teens who use their mindfulness pract...

K is for KARATE – Directors’ Cut

The Directors' Cut for "K is for Karate", a film produced for our friends at Sesame Street. It aired on HBO on June 23, ...

G is for Grandparents

A tribute to the special role grandparents play in our lives, "G is for Grandparents" was produced for Sesame Street and...

Giusti Farms

Meet John Giusti, a 3rd generation farmer in Half Moon Bay, CA, and get a glimpse into the past, present and future of a family fa...

Release

The 2nd film in our series of Mindful Shorts, "Release" addresses Anxiety as experienced by middle school kids, and offe...

CETMA Cargo

We've been big fans of cargo bikes ever since we first saw them in Europe a few years ago, and we've been waiting to find an Ameri...

Just Breathe

The viral hit "Just Breathe" features kids speaking candidly about anger and how they use mindfulness techniques to cope...

A MAD(libs) SUMMER — Expedia

What started out as a fun idea for our son's preschool class turned into a piece for Expedia. ...

Time & Tide (trailer)

"Time & Tide" began in April 2000 upon reading an article about how the South Pacific nation of Tuvalu signed a deal...

Julie and Josh are storytellers. Their own story, and the spirit of their work, is driven by the power of vivid, creative filmmaking. Both self-taught photographers and avid environmentalists, they have combined their unique talents and experiences in film and video to pursue projects that give voice and visibility to the true stories of others. As co-directors and creative partners, they strive to craft distinct productions that tap into the issues of today, and the emotions of today’s audiences.

Julie Bayer

Filmmaker

A lover of powerful stories with rich imagery, Julie spent the first part of her career gaining a solid understanding of the nuts and bolts of commercial production. For over ten years, she produced and oversaw countless commercial campaigns for others before moving into writing and directing projects of her own.

She and her partner, Josh Salzman, made their directorial debut with “Time & Tide”, a documentary about the impact of globalization and global warming on the tiny South Pacific nation of Tuvalu. The film garnered numerous film festival awards, screened internationally, and was broadcast in the US on PBS.

Julie's sensitivity to subject and subject matter was fully realized and recognized in the widely celebrated short film “Just Breathe” - a film about the power of mindfulness to transform anger, as articulated by a group of elementary school kids. The unscripted piece was showcased on Oprah's Super Soul Sunday program in April 2015, plays internationally at children's film festivals and has so far been translated into Spanish, Italian, German and Hungarian.

Often with her hand in many pots, Julie is currently working on a series of short films about Mindfulness, while in development on a feature about mindfulness in education. She's also writing an animated screenplay based on the true story of the two homeless dogs she and her family adopted, and developing commercial projects centered on sustainable and progressive businesses. When she’s not working, you can usually find her wandering in the hills, camera in hand and dogs in tow; hanging out with her tribe; or just at home digging in the dirt. She puts a tremendous amount of heart and soul into everything she does, and believes that the joy and beauty of filmmaking (and life itself, really) lies as much in the process of creative collaboration as in the actual completed projects.

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Josh Salzman

Director/DP

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JUST BREATHE:

https://amysmartgirls.com/short-film-just-breathe-helps-kids-deal-with-emotions-1b4f91dac5ad#.1qfrrv41f

http://www.supersoul.tv/supersoul-short-films/what-children-can-teach-us-about-dealing-with-anger

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/05/22/children-mindfulness-emotions-anger-calming-

http://www.mindful.org/kindergarteners-talk-about-mindfulness-in-just-breathe-short-film/

http://www.upworthy.com/what-we-can-learn-from-6-kids-who-are-masters-of-their-anger

Audience’s Choice, Best Short, Providence Children’s Film Festival, 2015

TIME & TIDE:

http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2006/s1705128.htm

http://www.hiff.org/about-hiff/history/hiff-2006/

Golden Orchard Award, Best Documentary, Hawaii International Film Festival, 2006

Audience Award, Best Documentary, Sidewalk Film Festival, 2006

Best Documentary, Big Muddy Film Festival, 2006

ReelHeART Film Festival, 2006

RELEASE:

http://yogadork.com/2016/09/06/stressed-out-middle-schoolers-find-relief-through-mindfulness-in-release-short-film/

http://www.mindful.org/middleschoolers-tame-anxiety-release-short-film/