Brenda Keesal's Page

Name

Brenda Keesal

Profession

Female

Company

Writer/Filmmaker

Location

Montreal

Website

http://www.burnsthefire.com

Resume (Position, Network/Production Company, Year, Location, & Description) - you can cut and paste your resume here

Writer/Filmmaker Brenda Keesal follows her own road. Her wickedly funny, emotionally-charged work introduces a bold, new voice to the web, the big and the not-so-little screen. Brenda’s first film WANKER: the story of a compulsive masturbator looking for a life- won a Silver Plaque award at the Chicago Film Festival, was the Closing Film of the New Orleans Film & Video Festival, garnered cult status and rave reviews, and was voted one of the best movies of the year in Canada.

Her second, the polarizing, critically-acclaimed JACK & ELLA: a Jewish woman and a Black man win a house and are invaded by their neighbors - played in festivals all over the world, enjoyed sold-out art-house runs in Toronto and Montreal, and plays in regular rotation on Canada’s top movie channels. JACK & ELLA’s DVD is being released in 2008, in consultation with independent film maverick Peter Broderick (Paradigm, Next Wave), and will be available on JackandElla.com.

Her third film as writer/director is BE HAPPY: a depressed happiness guru’s latest bestseller turns her rich, gated community inside out. It explores self-help, the pursuit of happiness, and what really makes us feel good, and is the most ambitious and uplifting of her cinematic fables.

Voted one of Montreal’s favorite filmmakers, Brenda is currently developing A FINE FAMILY; a brave, new TV sitcom with an internet tie-in about a nouveau-riche Jewish family, busting it out with her signature style. She graduated from Montreal’s Concordia University with a BFA in Film Production, a minor in Creative Writing, and a vision all of her own.

Projects Currently In Development (Title, Film/Television, Status, Budget)

BE HAPPY; feature film
A FINE FAMILY; TV series with internet tie-in
BURNS THE FIRE; blog