Supporting Fresh Genre Talent

 

Disaster Capital Productions prides itself in discovering and supporting breakthrough filmmakers in horror, sci fi, and action as an homage to our lifelong love of genre. We are constructing a company with a pay-it-forward attitude where finished filmmakers mentor the next class of talent with their own debut films.

Disaster Capital aims to be an inclusive launching pad for emerging genre talent, providing the tools and connections needed for their immediate and future projects alike. Like Roger Corman - but with catering!

The inaugural slate features six projects helmed by Black, disabled, Indigenous, LGBTQIA+, Jewish, and female filmmakers examining gentrification, parenthood, climate change, racism, colonialism, and the US healthcare system through a horror lens. 

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Disaster Capital Presents 

Behind Disaster Capital

Jenna Payne rented Robert Wise’s “The Haunting” for her 2nd grade slumber party and has proudly creeped out friends, family, and colleagues ever since. She won an award for her first ever short film “Feline Frenzy” and has continued to challenge herself with each project. 

Jenna worked as a line producer prior to her disability, crafting miracles on a shoestring for many years. For the past few years, Jenna has been building this production company and incubator for emerging filmmakers in the genre space and is seeking collaborators who love horror, action, sci fi, and crime as much as she does. 

She worked with the 501c3 non-profit Cinefemme to support and promote women filmmakers in the industry. She founded and ran their dinner mentorship series called Dinner with Dames that put diverse women at the table with Hollywood movers and shakers for mentorship opportunities. The series hosted guests such as Paul Feig, Dean Cundey, and Zoe Bell. 

A storyteller at heart, Jenna’s scripts have placed in multiple industry contests, and she has since incorporated development into her work, polishing all Disaster Capital scripts in concert with the creative teams who love her notes. Jenna has a few award-winning short films that toured film festivals and has published a full color comic book from her madcap series “Zompire Vixens from Pluto!” Jenna is eager to make her mark and build a sustainable way for Hollywood to uplift diverse storytellers – with a bite.

Meet Our Filmmakers

Writer of CHILDREN OF THE SUN 

Miranda Bowden-Parker wrote her first story, about a mushroom invasion of earth, at age eight. Born second the last of six girls and one boy, writing became an outlet for Bowden, defining her creative spirit amongst her equally talented siblings. The native Angeleno’s stories have grown to include her debut novel, “Caitlin,” a thrilling story of family secrets, nightmares, and secret societies. She has just finished writing for Disney's new series, “Pretty Freekin' Scary,” and AMC ALLBLK's, “Partners In Rhyme.” These days she is currently a senior scriptwriter for Bentley Kyle Evans’ Bent Outta Shape Productions and a writer on the equally hilarious TV shows, “In the Cut,” “Family Time,” and “Hip Hop Squares.” Miranda is an industry veteran and has been a finalist in Color Creative’s ABFF Script-to-Screen, Charles D. King’s Macro Episodic Lab, Creative Lab’s Script-to-Screen, and Write in Color. Additionally, she has served as Story Consultant for TRUTV, and Story Editor for an Ali Leroy project.

Director of BLACK SHABBAS 

Cleo Handler is a director/writer/actor who loves horror/comedy, music/theater, and slashes/hyphens. She has created and directed several original films (The Living, Olympian, #LifeOnAir), and written several others (Bye Bye Baby, Out to Lunch, Moon Party, & the musical webseries Young Like Us). Her work has screened at Frightfest, Flickers Film Festival, Maryland Film Festival, Brooklyn Film Festival, Film Shortage, and more, and her screenplay GOOD GIRL was a 2022 Sundance Development Track/Sloan Grant Second Round Selection.

Her musicals From THE FIRE and GLASS ACT were featured in Broadway’s Future Songbook at Lincoln Center, winners of the Players Theater Off-Broadway Musical Production Program, and semi-finalists for the O’Neill National Music Theatre Conference. She’s worked in production for SYFY/USA’s CHUCKY and Showtime’s COUPLES THERAPY, and recently released an album called gold. She studied at the William Esper Studio and Yale, where she was an O’Neill Playwriting Fellow.

Writer of PIONEERS 

Mary Iacono is a writer in Los Angeles. She recently co-wrote an episode of Disney’s MECH-X4 and has worked in writers rooms on many TV series including OCTOBER FACTION, ARROW, DEFIANCE, and NUMB3RS, where she wrote comic books, digital extras, and promotions. Currently Mary is focusing her efforts as an organizer with the Writers Guild and IATSE, as well as smaller, less publicized labor actions across the country. 

She currently has a scripted romcom podcast being shopped by Five-Fifty-Five and Rainshine Media. PIONEERS was written as a mea culpa after a late night argument with her neighbors highlighted her privilege, nearly bringing out the worst in her.

Co-writer & Co-Director of TRAP DOOR IN THE SUN 

Todd Jacobs (Tuscarora, Haliwa-Saponi, and Lumbee) worked in the IT field for twelve years before pivoting to the world of film. He has managed teams of over 300 people at the intersection of technology and creative content. 

He wrote and produced "Playtime's Over," a horror short which screened at over thirty film festivals (including Fangoria's Monster Fest in Australia), was nominated for best writing among other awards, and ended up hand-picked by Joe Bob Briggs for his Haunted Drive-In show. 

Todd also wrote the sci-fi short "Dandelion," which played at Dragon Con and won Best Sci-Fi Film at the LA Film Awards. He went on to co-write and co-produce the short film version of “Trap Door In The Sun,” which premiered at Vancouver Horror Show and LA Skins Fest. 

He currently writes and consults on scripts of all kinds and writes articles for multiple online publications about anything from films to sports to politics. He lives with Khaleesi, a cat in the body of a husky. 

Co-writer & Co-Director of TRAP DOOR IN THE SUN 

Jenna Kanell delivered a TEDx Talk on the experience of stepping behind the camera for the first time, alongside her neurodivergent brother. She has since written, first assistant directed, and produced features, directed and edited fundraising videos, and written and directed numerous award-winning short films with worldwide festival runs. 

One of her more recent projects as a director, “Bliss Is Orange,” garnered nearly 100k views thus far on Gunpowder & Sky’s DUST platform. She also co-wrote, produced, and directed the short film version of “Trap Door In The Sun,” which premiered at Vancouver Horror Show and LA Skins Fest. 

As an action actor, Jenna Kanell has performed while riding motorcycles, stunt driving cars, airborne in harnesses, underwater, with weapons, and in countless fight scenes. Horror fans may recognize her from TERRIFIER, THE BYE BYE MAN, RENFIELD, and many other projects. 

Still from MAX & THE MONSTER, Director: Jenna Kanell; DP: Joshua Cubas

Jenna is of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean descent and identifies as queer and gender non-conforming. She’s proudest of teaching her cat how to high five. 

Writer of BLACK SHABBAS 

Max Lehman is a New Yorker through and through. Unfortunately, he was actually raised in New Jersey by his neurotic Jewish parents. Though he always felt like he grew up on the wrong side of the Hudson River, Max managed to survive in a blue-collar, confederate flag waving part of the state no one seems to acknowledge. When with friends, he’s hoping someone will have a question about a movie, especially if it involves monsters, serial killers, or Mel Brooks. 

Max discovered his love for comedy and writing in high school and explored it further while studying Theater at Hofstra University. Max has studied acting, improv, and sketch, and developed his passion for screenwriting into a full-time pursuit. 

Max continues to write for the screen and performs stand-up in LA and is working to develop a new era of horror-comedy with impactful stories that have more than a run-of-the-mill-scary-monster-in-the-woods storylines. 

Director of CHILDREN OF THE SUN 

Wanjiru Njendu is an award-winning filmmaker originally from Kenya, whose creative imagination earned her the nickname 'Magic' at a young age. 

Her award-winning short film “Boxed” which played over 200 film festivals, with numerous wins and nominations. “Boxed” was selected by the Académie des César for their 2021-2022 Nuits en Or program. The film was also honored with the Abraham Lincoln Award for Best film on Liberty and Equality by the Chicago International Indie Film Festival. Her other films have played in over 100 Festivals. 

Still from BOXED, Director: Wanjiru Njendu, DP: Bongani Mlambo

Wanjiru was honored by the Roxbury International Film Festival with the 2021 Rox Vision Award. Wanjiru directed a horror short “Stray,” which was acquired by 20th Digital Studios with a feature option. She was the shadowing director on the Netflix series DAYBREAK. During the pandemic, she filmed a docs-series “Built for Good Africa” on Green Buildings in Africa. 

Still from STRAY, Director: Wanjiru Njendu, DP: Bongani Mlambo

Wanjiru is developing several scripted film and television projects. Wanjiru is repped by M88, Gersh, and ITG and is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). 

Writer & Director of HYSTERIA 

Jenna Payne has a penchant for dark content, buckets of blood, and fast talking. She won an award for her first ever short film, “Feline Frenzy,” and her scripts and short films have been recognized and featured in multiple contests and festivals. 

For the past few years, Jenna has battled the US healthcare system in addition to autoimmune disease and has channeled her rage into a feature-length dark comedy/medical revenge called “Hysteria.” The script has rave reviews and a short proof of concept - directed mostly remotely during Covid-19 lockdowns - depicts some of the barriers to diagnosis and care and toured film festivals including 2023’s disability-focused horror festival Access: Horror. She is now working with Production Designer, VFX specialist, and miniature maker Fon Davis (NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS, INTERSTELLAR, MARVEL) to create miniature sets for the feature version of HYSTERIA and a sequestered production plan to keep cast and crew safe as someone who is at high risk. 

Still from HYSTERIA, Director: Jenna Payne

Jenna was selected for Female Filmmakers Festival Berlin's Resource Lab directing incubator for 2022, and her prognosis for Ankylosing Spondylitis, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, and more have thankfully improved over the course of this project - as has her sharp sense of humor. 

Writer & Director of MALACOSTRACA  

Charles Pieper is a Los Angeles based writer/director. He's directed numerous short films and has written several feature screenplays. He recently sold his script DESTROY ALL NEIGHBORS to RLJE/Shudder starring Alex Winter and Jonah Ray in 2023. Charles comes from an animation background, specifically stop motion, but works most frequently in live action production. 

His short film “Malacostraca” played in over 30 festivals across the world including top horror fests such as Overlook, Beyond Fest, and Motel X, before premiering online at Director’s Notes and then ALTER. The feature length screenplay expansion of it was a horror semi-finalist in the 2021 Austin Film Festival. 

Beyond the script sale, he recently produced the new stop motion animated short “Everybody Goes to the Hospital” which is currently making the fest rounds. He attended Emerson College in Boston as well as studied film and animation at FAMU, NCSA, Calarts, and MassArt. 

Director of PIONEERS 

Puppett is a non-binary queer filmmaker who focuses on character-driven genre and comedies with a social impact lens. Born in Washington DC, they grew up in suburban Maryland and rural Pennsylvania, feeling perpetually out of place. While placing female, queer, and trans characters in leading roles, Puppett's stories include themes around identity and belonging. 

Still from RAZOR TONGUE, Director: Puppett, DP: Ava Benjamin Shorr

Their work has been featured on USA Today, HuffPost, and Out.com, and screened in 55+ film festivals around the world, including Academy Award Qualifying festivals Slamdance and Outfest. They directed an episode of the Emmy-Nominated series "Razor Tongue," which also garnered a Special Recognition Award from GLAAD. Puppett's professional directorial debut, "Wedlocked," penned by Guinevere Turner (American Psycho, Charlie Says), collected festival awards and secured SVOD and AVOD distribution (starring Beth Grant, Sally Kirkland). Puppett is currently developing several projects, ranging from a suburban goth drama to an urban horror comedy, all of which center female and LGBTQ+ protagonists.