About Us
Burn it Down is a filmmaking collective with an emphasis on learning by doing in a scrappy, supportive, collaborative environment.
OUR STORY
Jessica and Jean met as dreamy-eyed youth who had just transferred into NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.
Jessica remembers cheering Jean on at an NYU fencing match. (Fun fact: Jean's a fencer!) Jean remembers muddling through a super dense class on British theatre with a totally fun and sweet Jessica.
Fast forward to 2016: Jean invites Jessica to a meditation event at the Rubin Museum. Afterward they catch up, and both share what they’ve been learning as indie filmmakers over the past few years. Jean suggests doing something to “burn through” the 10,000 hours it takes to learn something. Jessica suggests a film collective where they can learn by doing. And thus, Burn it Down is born.
Since then Burn it Down has evolved as a resource for emerging filmmakers, with an ever-growing community of collaborators. After two years of running the Burn it Down workshops, Jean and Jessica expanded Burn it Down's programming with the Production Wing in 2019.
Jean Goto
Jean Goto is a NYC based, hapa (half Japanese, half Caucasian), actress. She's a graduate from NYU's Tisch school of the Arts and The Maggie Flanigan Studio, a founding member of theater company The Anthropologists, and has recently ventured into filmmaking. She recently screened her short film AndLIFE at the Queens World Film Festival, was nominated for Best Director and won the Brooklyn Fireproof Stages Special Jury Prize. Acting highlights include: working on The Blacklist, Law and Order: SVU, and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt; meeting Sarah Jessica Parker on Blue Night; playing a cyber crimes fighting badass in Ghost Source Zero; and getting to see Bruce!! have it's theatrical release with AMCi. She feels so lucky to be involved such a challenging, rewarding, and collaborative art form. jeangoto.com
Jessica O'Hara-Baker
Jessica is a California-born, New York-based theatre and film maker. Over the years she has had the joy of wearing the hat of actor, director, producer, writer, and voiceover artist. Jessica has a penchant for performing in and developing new works. She has worked on new pieces at Second Stage, Signature Center, EST, The Lark, Drama League, Primary Stages, LAByrinth, Cherry Lane, and Prospect Theater, among others. She is a graduate of Tisch School of the Arts and a member of AEA. Recent film directing credits: Mouna R’Miki’s award winning short The Green Lotto, and the web series What Am I Doing Here? Recent theatre directing credits: Barrymore nominated production of Anna Moench's Birds of North America, Jan Rosenberg's Janie Wants a Dog and Gusher!, Ying Ying Li's Dance Moms. Recent performing credits: Anna Ziegler's The Wanderers (The Lark); Ming Peiffer’s Usual Girls (EST’s Bloodworks); Callan Stout’s you do not look (Columbia MFA Showcase/Signature); and the title role in Jessica Bashline’s Wickedest Woman (Strange Sun/WP Theater). jessicaoharabaker.com