"Insist upon yourself. "
S. Mohen's Reel 2009 from True Perfection on Vimeo.
Biography
Sarah "Sassy" Mohen is a 22 year old filmmaker living in Hollywood, California.
Originally born in New York City, she has since lived in Washington D.C., San Francisco and Orange County. At age six, her family moved to Washington D.C.. After numerous visits to see her father working at CNN in the early 90's, she expressed an interest in learning more about television and filmmaking. Soon she enrolled in a television production workshop and continued to take different levels of the program throughout high school.
Originally born in New York City, she has since lived in Washington D.C., San Francisco and Orange County. At age six, her family moved to Washington D.C.. After numerous visits to see her father working at CNN in the early 90's, she expressed an interest in learning more about television and filmmaking. Soon she enrolled in a television production workshop and continued to take different levels of the program throughout high school.
In 1997, she was accepted into H-B Woodlawn; a small school for grades six through twelve. At HB, the individual takes precedent over the masses, and S. Mohen attributes much of her artistic drive to her small school experience.
Upon entering seventh grade, she became more interested in directing than acting. At twelve years old she was given the opportunity to be the assistant director of the high school musical, "The Music Man" and "Camelot." Toward the end of eighth grade she directed her first play and continued to do so throughout high school, including: "Bell, Book and Candle," "The Diary of Anne Frank," "Moonchildren," and "Book of Days"(see above pic of BOD cast). While directing plays, she also started working for KIDZ Online; an online news production company geared towards teenagers.
After winning VICA awards for her news pieces, she decided to go bigger. At fifteen she wrote her first feature film titled, "Almost There."
During the summer of 2003, her principal gave her free reign over H-B where she shot another feature, "Everyone's Lie." For her senior project she wrote another feature film, "Trying." In addition to all of her film endeavors, she also organized and ran the HB Woodlawn Film Festival for two years in a row.
Sarah was accepted to Chapman University's school of film in Orange, CA. She began her studies in 2004 and after only a few months at school was inspired for the project that would change her life, "Happy Holidays". It was a feature script which Sarah devoted a great deal of free time to writing. For advice she passed it around to her peers and a few teachers, each one encouraging her to take on the challenge of making it. So in August of 2005 that is just what she did.
Sarah was accepted to Chapman University's school of film in Orange, CA. She began her studies in 2004 and after only a few months at school was inspired for the project that would change her life, "Happy Holidays". It was a feature script which Sarah devoted a great deal of free time to writing. For advice she passed it around to her peers and a few teachers, each one encouraging her to take on the challenge of making it. So in August of 2005 that is just what she did.
To the shock of the ever growing "HH" team, Chapman University initially denied the projects greenlight on the grounds that it was "Too Ambitious."
The team pressed on and displayed to chapman through organization and determination that the project was in fact possible. It consisted of 33 days of set over a period of six months. Everyone involved at the time were students between the ages of 17-22 who gave up their free time to shoot primarily on weekends. Somehow the crew managed to complete filming on the modest budget of $1,500.
While filming, Co-Producer/DP Dillon Morris and Sarah worked together in completing five behind the scenes podcasts. These provided the world with a special look at what it took to make a film. This began Sarah's work in the world of viral marketing and exploration of the internet. Through the podcasts and other behind the scenes snippets, the Happy Holidays myspace (www.myspace.com/happyholidaysfilm) grew to over 15,000 friends and website (www.happyholidaysfilm.com) has recieved over 60,000 hits.
While filming, Co-Producer/DP Dillon Morris and Sarah worked together in completing five behind the scenes podcasts. These provided the world with a special look at what it took to make a film. This began Sarah's work in the world of viral marketing and exploration of the internet. Through the podcasts and other behind the scenes snippets, the Happy Holidays myspace (www.myspace.com/happyholidaysfilm) grew to over 15,000 friends and website (www.happyholidaysfilm.com) has recieved over 60,000 hits.
Happy Holidays premiered in December 2007. A red carpet event, it was the first non-school related film to be showcased in Chapman's sparkling new theater. And it is because of Happy Holidays students at Chapman are now allowed to have large premieres for their hard work.
After the premiere, Sarah took Happy Holidays on the road, screening it in IOWA, DC and NYC. It was not so long after that she began her next project, a web series "On the Verge." The concept was simple, four girls, four dreams, can they make it happen?
Production began in Winter 2008 for On the Verge (www.youtube.com/onthevergeshow) and continued through the summer. Although the original series was short, the response online was overwhelming. Each episode clocked in thousands of hits and plenty of opinions. But the OTV team decided they wanted to go bigger.
Production began in Winter 2008 for On the Verge (www.youtube.com/onthevergeshow) and continued through the summer. Although the original series was short, the response online was overwhelming. Each episode clocked in thousands of hits and plenty of opinions. But the OTV team decided they wanted to go bigger.
With some re-casting, the web series was turned into a documentary. One of the main focus's of it, was the production of Sarah's next film: True Perfection.
A witty mockumentary, TP (www.trueperfectionfilm.com) was inspired by the struggles Sarah went through while trying to make Happy Holidays, Sarah held dozens of read through with the script, workshopping it with fellow filmmakers, actors and peers. It paid off. True Perfection is currently in the top 1% of the "First Cut Film Series" competition by Cyan Pictures. One of the only 100 scripts selected out of over 5,000 submissions. If won, Cyan pictures will give Sarah/her team a 1,000,000$ budget and supervision from an A-List producer
Not one to wait, Sarah decided to shoot a pilot of the film. Taking the first Act a team was formed and the pilot was shot on the newly released RED Camera. Only recently premiered, the pilot has started it's internet/DVD navigation around the world and specifically Hollywood. Even in the recession Sarah is pressing on to generate funding
Right now Sarah lives in the Hollywood Hills with her boyfriend Matt and cat Layla. She enjoys dancing, photography, traveling, writing, american history, reading spontaneous trips to Disneyland and of course, working hard.
Not one to wait, Sarah decided to shoot a pilot of the film. Taking the first Act a team was formed and the pilot was shot on the newly released RED Camera. Only recently premiered, the pilot has started it's internet/DVD navigation around the world and specifically Hollywood. Even in the recession Sarah is pressing on to generate funding
Right now Sarah lives in the Hollywood Hills with her boyfriend Matt and cat Layla. She enjoys dancing, photography, traveling, writing, american history, reading spontaneous trips to Disneyland and of course, working hard.
What's next for Sarah?
True Perfection, the full feature. Now that the pilot is shot, Sarah and her team are fund-raising for the full feature. Looking to get 50,000$ they plan to shoot in the winter of 2009.
On the Verge, the documentary. It stars actress, Actress: Ana Lopes, Fashion Designer: Daisy Gonzalez, Chef: Katie Coffman and Filmmaker: S.Mohen. To see pictures of the girls click below and stay tuned for how it turns out!
On the Verge, the documentary. It stars actress, Actress: Ana Lopes, Fashion Designer: Daisy Gonzalez, Chef: Katie Coffman and Filmmaker: S.Mohen. To see pictures of the girls click below and stay tuned for how it turns out!
