The 2025 Matthew Harris Ornstein JxJ Short Film Fund
About the Fund
JxJ, the Edlavitch DCJCC’s film and music program is excited to announce the launch of a first-of-its-kind Jewish Film Fund. The Matthew Harris Ornstein JxJ Short Film Fund aims to create new opportunities for filmmakers in the United States to encourage and support the production and exhibition of short films on themes that engage with Jewish life, history, and culture.
The Fund will support two emerging filmmakers over the course of one year. This is a grant specifically for those who have not started any sort of production on their film. Applications are now open and the two winners will be announced in July. The winners will work with JxJ artistic leaders and mentors to finalize and produce their films over the span of September, 2025, through April, 2026. The two films will then premiere as feature screenings at the 2026 JxJ Festival.
Acceptable genres include narrative, documentary, or animated films. Submissions must contain an essence of Jewishness as represented by theme, history or culture. Two filmmaking teams will be awarded $16,000 each to make a short film under 15 minutes in length. Please present a proposal of a maximum of two pages detailing your project using the submission link below and ready full requirements below.
Please submit a PDF using the below file naming convention:
FirstName.LastName.SubmissionTitle.FileType
Your proposal should include:
- - Documentary film proposals should include a project synopsis/treatment
- - Narrative film proposals should include a 10 page script
- - Team Bios: please include an up-to-date filmmaker bio and headshot, as well as a bio for any other significant creative contributor/s to the project.
- - Additional materials that strengthen your proposal, such as storyboards, photographs, trailer, resume, past works etc. (optional)
Submission Deadline: June 20, 2025
Questions? Contact info@jxjdc.org
About our Filmmaker Mentor
Natalie Difford is an award-winning producer, script consultant, development executive, writer, creative coach, and program designer based in NY. She is most known for her work as the Head of Filmmaker Development at the non-profit film fund and production company, Cinereach where she worked with such notable talent as Terence Nance, Eliza Hittman, Bing Liu, Young Jean Lee, Zachary Heinzerling, and Barry Jenkins. Natalie’s first film as producer, Adam Leon’s Gimme The Loot (IFC Films), won the Grand Jury award at SXSW, had its international premiere at Cannes, before winning the Independent Spirit Award for Best Debut Feature. As a writer, Natalie has received a Jacob Burns Residency, and participated in the Cine Qua Non Lab with her script, What’s The Time, Mr. Wolf? Her latest development efforts will be seen in the upcoming series, Sasha Reid and the Midnight Order, by Nancy Schwartzman. Natalie is on the advisory board for SXSW and is a proud awardee of Jezebel’s ‘Amazing and Kickass Women’.
About our Panel of Judges
Alex Berger is an accomplished TV writer, known most recently for his work as writer / Executive Producer on NBC’s acclaimed drama Quantum Leap. He also served as Co-Executive Producer for Netflix’s soon-to-be-released murder mystery, The Perfect Couple, starring Nicole Kidman and Liev Schreiber. Throughout his career, Berger has demonstrated versatility in multiple genres, from broadcast to streaming, procedurals to character dramas to comedic half hour. He Executive Produced the hit NBC drama Blindspot as part of his overall deal at Warner Brothers TV. Additionally, he created Glenn Martin, DDS, a claymation comedy Executive Produced by Michael Eisner and starring Kevin Nealon and Catherine O’Hara. His extensive credits include notable shows such as The Mentalist, Franklin & Bash, The Assets, Covert Affairs, K-Ville, and Commander in Chief, as well as numerous developed pilots. In his spare time, he’s actively involved with the Los Angeles Metropolitan Debate League, a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing competitive debate to public schools throughout LA.
Daniel Ornstein is a digital media leader with deep experience across content, technology, and public policy that has spent 20 years working at the intersection of media and technology from within large media companies, startups, and the federal government. Ornstein was co-founder and CEO the digital media startup Bundler, which helped users save money and navigate the increasingly fragmented streaming and TV landscape and helped lead business development and digital strategy at Warner Bros., overseeing strategic initiatives including WB’s first simultaneous digital/theatrical release and its startup accelerator program, Media Camp. He was an Executive Producer of the Warner Bros. film Veronica Mars. He served as Advisor to the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission from 2009-2012, working on a range of policy matters including net neutrality, the National Broadband Plan, and the agency’s review of the Comcast-NBCU transaction. Prior to government, Ornstein worked on mobile content and distribution strategy at CBS. He began his career as employee #5 at an early streaming startup, Click.tv, which was acquired by Cisco in 2007. A graduate of Yale College, Ornstein lives in Los Angeles and remains engaged and outspoken on media and tech policy matters. He also works as an advocate for mental health policy reform through the Matthew Ornstein Memorial Foundation, created in 2015 in honor of his brother.
About our Advisor
Randy Ellen Lutterman is our Advisor to The Matthew Harris Ornstein Short Film Fund. Randy Ellen Lutterman is Vice President, Development and Arts & Culture at JCC Association of North America, engages with philanthropic and strategic program partners to drive impact and investment in JCC Association and JCCs. She created the Center for Arts and Culture at JCC Association, a continent-wide initiative to build a connected community of learners and practitioners, creating shared language and access to excellence among JCC arts and culture professionals. A champion storyteller, educator, and coach, Lutterman gathers people and resources to make art and community happen. She has more than 25 years of experience in nonprofit stewardship, strategic planning, fundraising, grantmaking, arts and events producing, and emerging talent development. As Senior Producer at Back Row Productions, Lutterman introduced British sensation Eddie Izzard to North American audiences in a series of three sold-out NYC seasons and “Dress to Kill”, a North American Tour which was filmed for HBO, winning two Emmy Awards. Lutterman was Executive Director of Musical Theatre Works, a NYC theatre incubator where she developed and produced new musicals, many of which went on to receive national recognition, including Tony Award nominations. Lutterman has also brought her leadership talents to The American Theatre Wing, Cancer Research Society, and New York City Ballet. She is a graduate of Brown University, where she serves as a Women’s LaunchPad Mentor on the Women’s Leadership Council.
2025 Inaugural Winners Spotlight
That’s How You Make A Torah
From scraping the flesh off deer-hide in the backyard to stocking up on medical-grade scalpel blades, the first generation of women Torah scribes are preparing for the ultimate quest – to sit alone in a room for hours on end and write a Torah.
- Dir. Lauren Greenhall | 10 min
Documentary Short | United States | 2024
English
Lauren Greenhall is a documentary Webby-nominated filmmaker whose work explores how joy is a catalyst for lasting social change and self-realization. Greenhall was a 2021 resident at the Jewish Film Institute for “ZELDA”–a documentary about an ultra-orthodox Jewish woman and her relationship with her wig–and was awarded the FY2024 Grant from the New York State Council on the Arts towards the completion of this film. She also received the 2024 DCJCC Matthew Harris Ornstein JxJ Short Film Fund for her documentary short about female Torah scribes and was selected as a 2025 participant in the New York Jewish Artists retreat, presented by Asylum Arts and the Neighborhood. Other short documentaries include “The Frock” (NYPost),“Abby Stein” (InsideEdition) and the “Muslims in America” series. (HuffPost) The virality of this series landed her the opportunity to speak at NYU about the relationship between religion and the media. She also directed Milk Riders, a short documentary that received international attention and was featured on the New York Times, Slate, Refinery 29, HuffPost, and Bust among others. Additionally, Greenhall has directed fiction feature films for hire, music videos, and branded documentary series as well as TV and video for NatGeo, The New Yorker, Matador Records, CBS Interactive, Vice TV, Amazon Originals, and Marvel among others.
Elijah
World Premiere
When a homeless man crashes a Passover seder, the tension between dark comedy and serious social issues erupts. Elijah explores the unexpected clash of humor and discomfort as the guests wrestle with their own assumptions and the complexities of charity, belonging, and identity.
Sam Roebling is a writer and director based in New York City. His debut short ‘Merv’, starring Renée Taylor and Hal Linden, premiered at Palm Springs ShortFest and won the audience award at the Hamptons International Film Festival in addition to playing at an array of Jewish Film Festivals including JxJ, the Miami Jewish Film Festival, and the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival.
- Dir. Sam Roebling | 14 min
Narrative Short | United States | 2024
English