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. Applications are now open and the two winners will be announced in August. The winners will work with JxJ artistic leaders and mentors to finalize and produce their films over the span of September, 2024, through April, 2025. The two films will then premiere as feature screenings at the 2025 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 up to 10 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.

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, 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, etc. (optional)

Submission Deadline: July 12, 2024

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.