Enjoying all that summer has to offer!
I’m excited to not only inform y’all of the exciting stuff that happened in June, but everything that we have planned for July and beyond!
Attend our NYC community mixer event on July 26th!
This upcoming July, we will be hosting a mixer event for our local New York community in Brooklyn!
It’s been a while since our last in-person community event this past January and I’m stoked to be seeing everyone again soon.
To attend, please RSVP at the link here! The event is 21+ and all are welcome to attend. Capacity is limited to 50 people, so be sure to sign up before it fills up!
The event runs from 7:00-10:00pm on Sunday, July 26th and the address is available on Partiful via the RSVP link!
Stay tuned to our Instagram to receive updates and learn more about our event!
Meet the spotlighted artist of June 2026: Ella Janes!
To kick off the new monthly ‘1716 Artist Spotlight’, we’re introducing writer-director Ella Janes, the driving creative force behind production company ‘ur girlfriend’s favorite films’.
Ella was inspired to become a first-time director at the age of 7, and as a big childhood fan of the TV show “H2O”, made a home movie with a mermaid tail and her friends at the beach…
After it received 2.8 million views on YouTube, she realized that directing films was her calling.
In 2021, Ella was named a YoungArts Finalist in Film, and in 2022, was awarded the ‘Rising Star’ Award at the National Film Festival for Talented Youth (NFFTY) and ‘Best Experimental Film’ at the All-American High School Film Festival for her coming-of-age short The First 280 Honest Words of My Life.
Since then, Ella has seen her work screen and win awards at various festivals across the country, including at the 2023 Seattle International Film Festival and 2024 Rhode Island International Film Festival.
A Merit Trustee Scholar at the University of Southern California, the city of Los Angeles is where Ella has continued her brand ‘ur girlfriend’s favorite films’ with fellow student, filmmaker, and frequent collaborator JJ Klein-Wolf.
A proud local of Oklahoma City, Ella harbors a small-town humanity that shines through her as a director, as an artist, and as an individual.
Interested in watching her work? 1716 just released her latest short film…
Amos Waters released on our YouTube channel!
The Thrilling Adventure of Amos Waters — the award-winning, coming-of-age narrative short film from production company ‘ur girlfriends’s favorite films’ — has released on our YouTube channel!
It’s been a ton of fun and a massive privilege to have worked so closely with writer-director Ella Janes, and production company co-head JJ Klein-Wolf, on this rollout.
You can also log your viewing experience and share your thoughts with us and the filmmakers here on Letterboxd!
ANOK! is coming to our YouTube channel on July 16th!
We’re excited to announce that we’ll be partnering with filmmaker Sophia Wilson this July to distribute her narrative short film ANOK!, which made it’s world premiere last year at the Cannes Indie Shorts Awards.
ANOK! is a fast-paced coming-of-age roadtrip movie about an all-girl British punk band whose plans to perform in Paris are derailed by a house fire.
I had the privilege of meeting Sophia this past winter in New York City — around the time that ANOK! made it’s latest festival appearance at the 2025 Liverpool International Film Festival — and have enjoyed every opportunity I’ve gotten to chat with her since!
As the writer, the director, and the editor of the project, her passion for the piece comes through in every conversation…
Not to mention, being a Texas-native filmmaker who directed a British cast while attending film school in France, her journey creating the piece is one that I find incredibly unique and inspiring!
ANOK! will be releasing on our YouTube channel this upcoming July 16th and we can’t wait to share it with y’all!
Keep an eye out for more projects releasing this summer!
In addition to Amos Waters and ANOK!, we have an awesome slate of short films planned for release this summer and fall and can’t wait to announce more on our Instagram and YouTube channel soon!
See you soon, and stay posted for next month’s update!
Stay tuned for more details as they become available, and don’t forget to follow along at @1716digital on all platforms!