Feminist Filmmaker Misha Calvert Featured In The 2018 Tribeca Digital Creators Market

New York-based female filmmaker Misha Calvert is one of 25 creators invited into the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival Digital Creators Market, a private industry market that brings creators together with distributors, brands, and multi-channel networks to pitch and discuss their latest work. As a participant of the market, Ms. Calvert will be able to meet with dozens of industry representatives on April 25th in the hopes of securing a development deal.

Ms. Calvert is an actor-writer-director who creates female-driven narratives in both comedy and drama. She is currently developing nine projects, the centerpiece of which is Strut, a realistic comedy about a reclusive nerd who embarks on a journey to self-confidence by launching a successful escorting agency. The web pilot for Strut won Best Screenwriting and Best Comedy at the Hollyweb Festival in Los Angeles at the Avalon Hollywood April 8th, 2018. Strut's Margaret Judson (HBO's The Newsroom) is also nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the upcoming New York City Independent Film Festival. More information about the series, including the trailer, is available at www.strut.show.

One of Ms. Calvert's other shows is the award-winning web series Tinder is the Night (Emerging Voices Award, Brooklyn Web Festival 2017; Best Actress, Dublin Web Fest 2017). Tinder is the Night follows a young New York woman and her three best friends as they navigate the confusing intersection of dating and technology. Ms. Calvert's period comedy, Lusty Glances (Sundance/YouTube New Voices Lab Finalist 2018), is a disco soap opera that follows the drug and sex-fueled lifestyle of eccentric Studio 54-esque socialites in 1978 New York.

"I am so thrilled that female filmmakers are being given so many opportunities right now," said Ms. Calvert about her inclusion in the Digital Market. "As a woman, I still encounter sexism all the time from both peers and high-profile industry members. It's reassuring to see that Tribeca is committed to not only eliminating gender bias in Hollywood, but giving underrepresented voices like mine major industry exposure."

Strut features Misha Calvert in the lead role, with a supporting cast that includes Margaret Judson (The Newsroom) and Christina Toth (Orange is the New Black). Kimberley Browning (Executive Producer, HBOAccess) was a consulting producer on the series. After its premiere at Hollyweb, Strut will be screening the web series pilot this spring at New York City Independent Film Festival, Hollywood Comedy Shorts Festival in Los Angeles, Hoboken International Film Festival, New Haven International Film Festival, and Pilot Light Film Festival in Manchester, England.

Misha Calvert is an award-winning actor, writer, and director with projects spanning theater, film, TV and digital. She is a three-time finalist for the Sundance/YouTube New Voices Lab, and her award-winning short films Pee Sitting Down and Tinder is the Night are currently screening at festivals around the world. Her indie series Strut is premiering at festivals in the spring of 2018 and will be featured in the 2018 Tribeca Digital Creators Market. As an actor, she has appeared regularly on the Emmy Award-winning show A Crime to Remember. Off-Broadway writer/director credits include three Chekhovian satires set in a 1980's high school, and the original comedy A Seagull is Born. Off-Broadway acting credits include The Crucible, The Picture of Dorian Gray, and Psycho Beach Party. More at www.mishacalvert.com