Made by Hand / Short Films

A short film series celebrating the people who make things by hand — sustainably, locally, and with a love for their craft.

Made by Hand is a five-part short film series that spotlights a range of different makers in New York City. The series screened at the SXSW Film Festival and received four Vimeo Staff Picks honors. Additionally, it was featured in dozens of publications including: The Atlantic, Vogue, The LA Times, Dwell, GQ, Esquire, New York Magazine and Filmmaker Magazine. For the body of work, I was featured in Creative Review’s selection of next wave filmmakers for the web.

The inaugural episode showcased the first booze distiller in Brooklyn since prohibition. In the second film, The Knife Maker we meet writer turned knife maker Joel Bukiewicz of Cut Brooklyn. He talks about the human element of craft, and the potential for a skill to mature into an art. And in sharing his story, he alights on the real meaning of handmade—a movement whose riches are measured in people, not cash. The third film featured rooftop farmer Megan Paska as she discusses how beekeeping morphed from an illegal (and possibly crazy) habit to a sustainable, community-supported skill. For the fourth installment we meet Jesus Martinez, the son of a Dominican immigrant who has taken over his fathers small hand-made cigar shop, and continues the tradition of craftsmanship and community mixed with equal parts work and play. And in the final episode, we turn to bike maker Ezra Caldwell (Fast Boy Cycles), who was diagnosed with cancer. When the cancer threatens to shatter his love of bikes, Ezra survives by documenting his illness as thoroughly as his craft.

Team

Production Bureau of Common Goods
Director Keith Ehrlich
Directors of Photography Joshua Kraszewski, Adam McDaid
Production Designer David Gropman
Editor Editor Matt Shapiro
Composers Nathan Rosenberg, Alessandro Cortini, Roman Zeitlin

Next project