Sean Mewshaw - Director

Sean grew up as the son of a novelist in Texas, Italy, and Virginia. He earned a degree in English Literature and Theater from Princeton University, studied acting at the New York Shakespeare Festival, then spent a decade working in feature film production, where he was lucky to be mentored by some of his heroes.

Among his favorite experiences were shooting 16mm footage for DP Philippe Rousselot on Remember the Titans, assistant directing for Martin Scorsese on Gangs of New York, and his apprenticeship to DP Michael Ballhaus on Something’s Gotta Give. While working on that set, Sean shared with Frances McDormand a short story by James Salter, “Last Night,” then went on to direct her in the short film version.

Founding his own production shingle in Los Angeles, Sean has directed, shot, and edited commercials, shorts, webisodes, and behind-the-scenes features for clients such as Think Film, IBM, the United Nations, and Indian Motorcycles.

On stage, Sean assistant-directed the Mark Taper Forum premiere of iWitness; a production for which he edited video sequences that won the LA Drama Critics Circle Award for Projection Design. Theater productions in Portland, Maine include Sam Shepard’s True West, Nick Payne's Constellations, Rajiv Joseph's Gruesome Playground Injuries, Tracy Letts’ Killer Joe, and Stephen Karam’s Speech&Debate.

Desi Van Til - Writer

A native of Farmington, Maine, Desi studied English Literature at Princeton University, enjoyed a post-graduate cinema-intensive fellowship in Paris, then moved to Los Angeles to work as a producer. She learned the ropes assisting her mentor Greg Silverman at Revolution Studios and Warner Brothers. She went on to spend five years as VP of Development for Donna Roth and Susan Arnold at Roth/Arnold Productions where she associate-produced 13 Going on 30, directed by Gary Winick, and the Judd Apatow-produced comedy Drillbit Taylor. Desi adapted and produced the short film Last Night, starring Frances McDormand, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival.

Tumbledown was her first feature screenplay, a love letter to her hometown.