Inside the Modern Silent Shorts Initiative

Back in July 2024, S/W alum Lindsay Calleran (What I See When I Look) reached out to tell me about a new project: a silent short, I’m Really Scared I’m Dying TBH, made as part of a new initiative that was about to premiere at Isabella Rossellini’s farm on Long Island.

That was how we first became aware of the Modern Silent Shorts initiative. Two years later, five S/W alums have participated in the program, and a conversation with co-founders and executive producers Lily Weisberg and Michael Bloom felt long overdue. We caught up with them to learn more about this incredible program.

The Origins of Modern Silent Shorts

Post-COVID, part of founder Boykin Curry’s neighbourhood routine involved attending silent film screenings accompanied by live music at Isabella Rossellini’s farm. Inspired by the communal atmosphere of these events, he wanted to find a way to modernize the silent film format while honouring its history. Enter Weisberg and Bloom. Although neither claimed to be an expert on silent cinema, both were excited by the prospect of “enabling the work” of emerging filmmakers through Modern Silent Shorts, recognizing the unique creative opportunity it could present.

A screening of the Modern Silent Shorts films at Isabella Rossellini’s farm. Photo by Gus Aronson

“The first year was an experiment”, the duo candidly confessed. In 2023, their mission was to scout the first cohort of four filmmakers for a screening on the farm in the Summer of 2024. They researched extensively, from festival short film programs to online curation (😉 😉), searching for filmmakers whose previous work demonstrated their ability to “tell a story visually, with a plot not solely dependent on dialogue”. Selected filmmakers were then invited to pitch ideas, including a financial plan that fit within a budget communicated in advance. According to Weisberg and Bloom, the only real mandate was “to get creative”, within those financial constraints. Alongside ensuring each project was realistically achievable, they also aimed to have a slate of films that would reflect a diverse range of genres, and ways of using the silent format.

“They become viewers to their own films”

In the summer of 2024, four films premiered at the farm, including the previously featured I’m Really Scared I’m Dying TBH. For the second cohort, the program expanded to six projects, all encouraged to experiment with the silent format in different ways. S/W alums Michelle Uranowitz and Daniel Jaffe (Sales Per Hour, co-directed by both, and The Ultimate (by Lou Fescano), directed by Jaffe), Sandy Honig (Pennies From Heaven, Caller Number Nine!), and Jessie Barr (Too Long at the Fair) were among those selected, premiering their films on the farm in the summer of 2025. Barr’s film Sylvia has since been featured on S/W.

Modern Silent Shorts: The Filmmakers

2024

2025

2026

Live Screenings & the 2026 Tour

The screening itself, accompanied by live music, remains a paramount part of the initiative – an “ephemeral” shared experience that gives the entire process added significance. Composer Kevin Donald crafts the individual scores of all the films independently, after an initial meeting with the filmmakers, making that first screening on the farm the first time they experience their films with music. “They become viewers to their own films,” Weisberg explained, describing how unique those nights felt. While the films have since found other exhibition opportunities through festivals or online platforms like S/W, this live experience was at the heart of the inception of the initiative and inspired them to organize a touring screening for the Summer of 2026.

Live music is performed to accompany the screening of the Modern Silent Shorts films. Photo by Gus Aronson

This year, with a smaller cohort of just two projects – a claymation film and a Paris-set crime/romance – the focus has shifted toward making the experience accessible to a wider audience. With screenings scheduled throughout the first half of August across the Tri-State area, the new films will screen alongside selections from previous years, each accompanied by its original live score. The tour promises to introduce even more audiences to the growing community of modern silent short aficionados. Most screenings are free or pay-what-you-can, and you’ll find the full list below:

Modern Silent Shorts: On Tour

The Future of Modern Silent Shorts

Weisberg and Bloom described the program as a “film school” that gives the agency to filmmakers to experiment creatively with very little at stake. It’s a rare professional opportunity that encourages artists to think differently about visual storytelling and to carry those lessons into their future projects. Calleran, for example, developed the picture-in-picture technique used in I’m Really Scared I’m Dying TBH, which they later adapted for their feature debut, Caity, which premiered at Tribeca in 2026.

Describing the in-person element of the project as “somewhere between a film screening, play, concert, and party,” Weisberg and Bloom explained that, in the long term, “the goal of Modern Silent Shorts is to make that experience free and accessible through public screenings around the country.” On the eve of the initiative’s inaugural tour, they shared their excitement: “This year is our first trial run of this travelling picture show model across a variety of venues – movie theatres, arts venues, and a state park preserve – and we’re excited to see how audiences respond!”