About the Fellowship
Fellowship Details and Application Information
Program Goals
Educating and cultivating the next generation of innovative and entrepreneurial leaders
Fellows gain valuable experience and hone their skills as they work to apply their academic training to real-world challenges to planetary, human, and economic health of our region. This theory-to-practice experience provides unique professional development for the fellows that will support development of career-readiness skills and prepare them to be effective professionals and leaders.
Building a broad, interdisciplinary network that supports and connects students and campus and community mentors
The Shaw Innovation Fellowship program is designed on principles of collaboration and shared investment of time, mentoring, and resources. We expect relationships among participants, alumni, the UNE community, and host organizations will grow and evolve over time to establish a shared understanding of pressing planetary and human health challenges and how to address them at local to regional scales. Our vision is to grow into a broader network across the region that drives change, impacts practice, and inspires regional collaboration and innovative problem solving.
Application Process and Instructions
Applications are due no later than Sept. 19, 2025.
Review program information
Review the program information, including program goals, compensation, expectations, and important dates.
Explore the Shaw Fellowship and Innovation Team Descriptions
Choose one or two fellowships that are of interest and that align with your skills and background.
Prepare all of your application materials
Before beginning the online application process, prepare a cover letter(s), resume, and one faculty reference. If needed, applicants can work with their academic and career advisor in the Academic and Career Advising Center to develop their materials.
- Cover Letter:Write a cover letter for each fellowship you apply for. Your cover letter should indicate exactly which project/organization you are applying for and outline your background, project ideas, and how the fellowship aligns with your academic or career goals. Good cover letters express enthusiasm for the project and topic and make a clear connection between your skills and interests as well as the needs for that project.
- Resume: Prepare a resume that highlights your background; make sure you craft a resume that is relevant to the fellowship(s) you are applying for.
- Reference: Please provide one faculty reference who knows you and is willing to discuss your specific skills, experiences, ability to work independently, collaborate, and adapt to new situations. Please provide their title, department, and preferred contact method (phone and/or email). Letters of recommendation are not required.
Assemble your application package
Please name your files using this format: FirstName_LastName_SF_2025. You will be uploading these documents into the application form.
Complete the online application form and upload all required documents. Applications for the 2025-26 fellowships will close Sept.ember 19, 2025 and can be accessed here.
Next Steps
The Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship fellowship team will review your application shortly after Sept.ember 19, 2025. Most applicants who are invited to interview for a fellowship(s) position will be contacted in late September. We plan to conduct interviews during the last two weeks of September and most offers will be extended by the last week of September or early October.
Contact
For any questions about the process, contact Rachel Tiedemann at rtiedemann@une.edu.
Fellowship Timeline and Deadlines
Date | Event |
---|---|
Sept. 19, 2025 | Deadline for student applications for 2025-26 fellowships |
Sept. 3, 2025 | Info Session in the Makerspace |
Late September/Early October 2025 | Fellowships offered to students |
Early October | Kickoff retreat |
Mid October | First monthly workshop |
Late October | POD meetings and one-on-one check-ins with Program Manager |
Mid November | Second monthly workshop |
Early December | Mid-year reflection and team check-in |
Dates will be finalized based on the availability of fellows.
The spring semester schedule will have a similar cadence, dates TBD.
Human Health Fellows
CellField Technologies: Biotechnology Research
Are you interested in cutting-edge biotechnology and preclinical research? At CellField Technologies, we are advancing drug development by creating more accurate preclinical testing models for joint diseases. As a Research Scientist Fellow, you will contribute to laboratory research and support the development of our Microphysiological Articular Joint In a Chip (MAJIC) platform. Your responsibilities will include conducting experiments, refining Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), analyzing data, and collaborating with our team on innovative preclinical research tools. You will also have the opportunity to engage with the biotech startup ecosystem by participating in networking events and university outreach.
Preferred Skills
Ideal candidates will be pursuing or have recently completed a degree in Biological Sciences, Biology, Biochemistry, Biomedical Engineering, or a related field. Hands-on experience with biomaterials or lab techniques such as mammalian cell culture, microscopy, drug screening, or tissue engineering is preferred but not required. Strong organizational skills, critical thinking, and attention to detail in experimental design and data analysis are highly valued. Candidates should be comfortable working both independently and as part of a collaborative team.
Navimental: Adolescent Mental Health Support
Join a lean mental health-tech startup helping parents prevent youth mental health crises.
Navimental connects struggling families with experienced and trained parent navigators who understand the journey. Our web platform offers one-on-one parent support, practical tools and resources, and a community forum—giving parents a space to organize their thoughts and feelings into action as they navigate mental health, learning, and social challenges for their children. Having just launched on Aug. 4, our highest priorities in the coming months are to gain traction and provide meaningful, evidence-based support to parents. You would be part of that with responsibilities focused on:
- Research and content creation for training materials and our marketing website, web platform, emails, and newsletters, (e.g., creating research summaries, identifying relevant evidence and evidence-based practices for specific youth mental health topics, synthesizing research into parent-centered text, video, or audio products, fact-checking, verifying references, etc.)
- Execution of our marketing strategy, (e.g., creating messaging for identified channels, scheduling and assisting with channel event planning, analyzing user feedback and site analytics to assess marketing success, creating content calendars, posting content on a prescribed schedule, moderating user questions, etc.)
Preferred Skills
- Computer (PC) and software-proficient (i.e., able to use Google applications, Slack, Microsoft Office Suite, major social media channels (e.g., Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Pinterest, etc. without training)
- Ability to conduct scholarly research into family mental health topics spanning health, education, legal/policy, and social systems and synthesize relevant findings into concise plain language summaries with sources
- Responsible use of AI large language models like Claude, or ChatGPT (i.e., Able to utilize the efficiencies of AI, but takes responsibility for verifying content accuracy, end user safety, and source attribution)
- Strong organizational skills
- Strong communication skills, especially written
- Ability to listen, think critically, and speak up with questions and ideas
- Ability to work independently and deliver work products on time or proactively
reschedule when contingencies occur - A plus: Ability to patiently introduce founder to unfamiliar social media platforms!
MaineHealth and UNE: Health Care Storytelling and StorySlam
We are all storytellers. Living in a body means having stories. Storytelling enables us to humanize the experience of illness and caregiving, and seek new and innovative ways to think about therapeutics and healing. How does empathy and listening to multiple perspectives open new pathways? The UNE Health Care StorySlam explores this critical question, one story at a time. Established in 2021, the UNE Health Care StorySlam brings together members of the health care community in an impactful evening of storytelling. Each annual event is organized around a theme. The theme for 2026 will be selected by the Shaw Innovation Fellow(s) leading the event; previous themes have included “adaptability,” “resilience,” and “empathy.”
Scope of Work
Working with students and faculty/staff mentors at UNE - including improv artist Tara McDonough and Professor of Public Health Courtni Jeffers - to organize and host the 2026 Health Care StorySlam event showcasing diverse perspectives on health. In the past, fellows have also organized additional, more intimate storytelling workshops and events leading up to the StorySlam.
Preferred Skills
The ideal candidate will demonstrate strong organizational talents and the ability to collaborate with individuals from diverse backgrounds and organizations across the community (UNE, MaineMedical, local clinics, etc.). Experience with event or program management is preferred but not required. Students with a passion for theater, improv, and/or storytelling, and curiosity about best practices in patient care, are particularly encouraged to apply.
Doula x Design: Creating Supportive Birth Environments
What if we take a designer’s lens and use it to solve something not typically seen as a “design problem” — childbirth? This is the unique mission of Doula x Design (“doula by design”), a Portland-based practice founded by architect and doula Kim Holden (AIA, CABD, CLC). Drawing on her extensive background in design and architecture, Holden created Doula x Design to help facilitate better birthing experiences and better outcomes for both maternal and infant health in Maine and across the country. By advocating for the creation of positive environments that support labor rather than inhibit it, Doula x Design is rethinking our relationship with where and how new life makes its entrance into the world. The Doula x Design Innovation Fellow will work closely with Holden to document the history and current status of birth centers to understand the impact that environment has on birth experiences, outcomes, disparities, and mortality, and will work to devise design and policy solutions to the Maine maternal health crisis. This fellowship combines research, creative practice, and community engagement. Storytelling — through narrative, media, and design — will be central to the fellowship’s mission of education, awareness, and advocacy.
Fellowship Activities
The work plan of the Doula x Design fellow will be co-created by the student and Holden, but will likely include several of the following activities:
- Historical Research: Conduct archival research on the development and closure of birth centers in Maine.
- Data Collection: Collect and analyze statistics on Maine Maternal health policy and outcomes (including mental health) and correlate to the current maternal health crisis.
- Oral and Visual History Collection: Interview mothers, midwives, doulas, physicians, architects, policy makers, and community leaders, and capture visual documentation (photography, video, design plans/renderings) of birth environments.
- Design Prototype: Use human-centered design methods to reimagine a birth space. This could include architectural sketches, VR/AR models, or design toolkits informed by oral history and patient experience.
- Policy and Community Report: Compile findings into a policy brief or community resource report that highlights the role of birth centers in addressing maternal health disparities in Maine.
- Design and Innovation Workshops: Apply design-thinking and human-centered design to understand obstacles to the adoption of supporting birthing environments, and develop proposals for improved maternal care models.
- Exhibit or Installation: Develop a multimedia exhibit (text, images, audio, and design renderings) to be displayed on campus or in a community setting, highlighting the history of Maine birth centers and their impact on maternal outcomes.
- Dissemination: Present findings and creative projects through publication, grant applications, and/or at relevant conferences and symposia.
Preferred Skills and Interest Areas
The successful candidate will have strong oral and written communication skills, the ability to work independently (with guidance), and embrace opportunities to work creatively to solve problems. A commitment to health care advocacy is a strong plus.
This fellowship is open to students from any discipline, including but not limited to:
- Medicine, Nursing, Midwifery, Public Health
- History, Anthropology, Sociology, Gender Studies
- Architecture, Design, Human-Centered Engineering
- Journalism, Media Studies, Film, Creative Writing, Visual Arts
Planetary Health Fellows
UNE: Coastal Observation Fellow
Have you ever wondered what life is like on Ram Island? What about other places on or near campus? We want to build an integrated sensor network to monitor life and weather in our amazing coastal ecosystems from the ocean floor to the atmosphere. You will be responsible for engaging relevant UNE stakeholders in understanding monitoring needs around Ram Island, our surrounding community, and the new Saco River pier, designing a suite of sensors, deploying the sensors, data analysis, and dissemination of results to the UNE and broader southern Maine community. The sensors could include devices to measure temperature (air and ocean), salinity, humidity, rain, wind, water level, earthquakes/tectonics, visual changes (i.e., web cam), soil moisture, water quality, currents, waves, and/or any other variable that the UNE community finds important.
Preferred Skills
Students will ideally have a background in marine, environmental, biological, data, and/or computer sciences or a related field. Students will need to be able to synthesize community input to design and deploy a sensor network. Basic knowledge of computers, sensor design, and data analysis is desirable and/or a desire to learn these skills.
Biddeford Schools: Teaching the Science of Seaweed Farming
Have you dreamed of driving entrepreneurship in an industry that is growing in Maine? The Exploring the Science of Seaweed Farming, a program that started in three Maine middle schools and one county, is now in 20 schools in nine counties. In its eighth year, this program investigates the conditions in which seaweed grows and provides the basis for a longitudinal study of whether seaweed farming could be Maine’s next inland industry. This fellowship offers the opportunity to share your passion for aquaculture and innovation by partnering to develop curriculum for Middle School students in our community of Biddeford. The Executive Director of the Boothbay Sea and Science Center and a science teacher at Biddeford Middle School seek students committed to hands-on, experiential learning and sustainability to build a curriculum that integrates the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and explores their applications in the real world.
Preferred Skills
Students will have a background in marine and biological science and/or education. The ideal candidate will be familiar with NGSS or willingness to learn, motivated and collaborative, have strong communication, writing, and computer skills, be a problem-solver, and take initiative and pride in producing professional-level work.
Neighborhood Housing Trust: Community Outreach
We are looking for a person who shares our commitment to equitable housing to help us create and manage a communications campaign surrounding the partnership with Kennebunk Land Trust. We want to create engaging content for different social media platforms to help the public understand the challenges people face when trying to find housing they can afford, and we want to make sure that everyone who is interested in our new neighborhood has an equal opportunity to apply. We would also like to update our website to be more intuitive and to serve as a better resource for people looking to learn more about who we are and what we do. Finally, we see exciting potential to work with the UNE MakerSpace to create 3-D visuals of houses we build and/or to create interactive maps that show the importance to successful neighborhood planning of locating housing so that it supports employment and access to services including health care and education.
Preferred Skills
The ideal candidate will be collaborative, imaginative, motivated, articulate, comfortable with various social media platforms, and committed to housing access as a driver of economic and community health. Previous website design experience using a Wix site is helpful but not required. Experience with and access to design software such as Adobe is desirable but not required.
Impact Storytelling Fellows
Maine Sound and Story: Oral Histories of Climate Change
Do you want to help give a voice to members of our community in southern Maine who are experiencing climate change? Are you interested in considering the perspectives of social scientists as well as environmental and marine scientists when learning about — and developing creative adaptations to — this “wicked problem”? As a Shaw Innovation Oral History Fellow, you will be mentored and advised by UNE faculty and professional historians to create content for existing oral history projects such as NOAA Voices, and Maine Sound and Story. You will also generate new social scientific research — potentially for publication — that advances our understanding of how people, infrastructure, and ecosystems within Maine’s coastal communities have responded to sea level rise, erosion, powerful storm events, and other climate change impacts. Fellows will interview community members to document their oral histories and experiences. In addition, archival work to locate photos and videos of coastal change in York County will help expand our limited record and inform UNE’s continued research and efforts to create a resilient coastline.
Innovation fellows will be responsible for gathering and organizing photos/videos, interviewing community members, and transcribing, cleaning, and sharing interview transcripts with participants. As a fellow, you will also be responsible for analyzing the interview data to pull out key themes related to historical changes and the scope of adaptation efforts in coastal communities in Biddeford and Saco. This is a unique opportunity to enrich our understanding of the past in order to amplify our efforts to develop solutions that will impact the future.
Preferred Skills
Candidates should have a background in marine, environmental, and/or history or a related field. Ideal candidates would also possess strong organizational skills, familiarity with Excel and Google Sheets, and be comfortable communicating with community members. Student fellows will be expected to work both independently and as part of a collaborative team. Experience conducting interviews and qualitative data analysis are desirable and/or a desire to learn these skills.
Heart of Biddeford: Indigenous Art Walk
The Heart of Biddeford (HOB) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with a working board of directors and more than 300 volunteers. As a Main Street organization, HOB fosters a vibrant, inclusive, and sustainable downtown, having earned the Great American Main Street Award in 2022. HOB builds an equitable entrepreneurial ecosystem and collaborates with the municipality and local organizations to address loneliness, food scarcity, and affordable housing.
With support from the Simons Foundation’s “Science Discovery on Main Street” grant, a UNE Summer Sustainability Fellow at Heart of Biddeford explored our community’s interest in local science assets. Following eight community outreach events and 20 interviews of local experts, Miranda Carrabba narrowed the project down to the Saco River, and our human connection to this waterway. This month, Heart of Biddeford is utilizing the results of Miranda’s work to apply for the Implementation phase of the grant, with hopes to install Indigenous-created artwork along our River Walk that sparks curiosity and wonder about Western and Indigenous scientific ideas. The Shaw Fellow would work with HOB to finalize details of the grant and/or to seek other grant sources, and then implement the steps to put out a call for art that leads to the installation of this science-inspired art on the River Walk.
Preferred Skills
To succeed in this project and within Heart of Biddeford, the Fellow should have strong research and analytical skills, with an interest in environmental science or sustainability. Experience with storytelling — whether through writing, video, photography, or social media — is valuable for engaging the community and sharing findings. Strong interpersonal and communication skills are essential, as the Fellow will be building relationships with local historians, Indigenous artists, and tourism professionals. An interest in visitor experience development (or a willingness to learn through resources like Planeterra) will help shape recommendations for public programming. Additionally, the ability to manage a project budget, track work progress, and work independently while collaborating with the Executive Director will be key to ensuring the project's success.
UNE: Community News Hub
The School of Arts and Humanities seeks a student partner to help position UNE as a Maine leader in a nationwide effort to involve college students in reporting local news. Local news reporting has collapsed across much of the country, including in Maine. The University of Vermont’s Center for Community News tracks this crisis and advocates for the role that college and university communities can play in meeting this challenge through academic-community news partnerships. The School of Arts and Humanities launched the first Maine partnerships in 2023, and UNE students have already contributed to reporting on nearly 50 stories that ran in local news outlets.
The Shaw Innovation Fellow would help to reinforce and strengthen a growing network of community news partners, seek out willing faculty collaborators at other Maine colleges and universities, help to organize a Fall 2025 Community News - Academic Partnerships Conference, and assist in positioning UNE as the clearinghouse for a Maine Community News Service to which student reporters from across the state would contribute.
Preferred Skills
The successful candidate will have strong oral and written communication skills, the ability to work independently (with guidance), and a readiness to work creatively to solve problems. An interest in journalism is a strong plus.
Happy Planet Capital: Sustainable Entrepreneurship
Happy Planet Capital provides seed funding, business support, and advice to founders with problem-solving technology ventures that make our planet and its people happier and healthier. We invest in multiple verticals including, novel materials, energy, food, health and wellness, as well as infrastructure and coastal resilience. We currently have eight portfolio companies from three different countries and are actively considering two more that are Maine-based.
Happy Planet Podcast is a biweekly podcast that showcases startups from around the world that are engaged in the Happy Planet mission. We have aired 65 episodes with over a dozen countries represented. The podcast is sent to a mailing list of over 1,500 people, and we are on Spotify, Apple, and most other places where one listens to podcasts. We are currently looking to start video podcasts and to amplify our online presence on LinkedIn, Instagram, and possibly other apps.
Happy Planet is looking to improve and expand its podcast and explore opportunities for new revenue streams for the brand.
The fellowship opportunity will focus primarily on the podcast. Responsibilities would likely include:
- Identify and book new guests from around the world
- Build and manage mailing list
- Leverage social media to boost listenership
- Sponsorships - who sponsors up? Who do we sponsor?
- Explore grants to support podcast
- Edit and post podcasts
- Tweak look and feel
- Brainstorm and implement evolution of podcast regarding frequency and content
- Brainstorm adjacent activities for Happy Planet to foster community
- A secondary initiative might explore new revenue stream opportunities for Happy Planet
Preferred Skills
- Organizational acumen
- Strong writing skills
- Social media skills
- Creativity
- Familiarity with Canva
Innovation Teams
The Shaw Innovation Teams are composed of students from diverse backgrounds and interests who have demonstrated creative thinking, curiosity, and teamwork. These students receive training in design thinking and real-world problem-solving, learning how to generate wild ideas, prototypes, and experiments and how to use empathy to become more innovative thinkers and doers. Each receives a $1,500 stipend, and collectively they work as a team to apply their change-making skills to select capstone projects.
UNE: SeaMade Bar Innovation Team
The SeaMade nutrition bar project led, by UNE North, with student fellowship support through the UNE Office of Innovation, offers students unique opportunities for learning and skill-building as innovators, entrepreneurs, and collaborators. Students work in interdisciplinary teams mentored by faculty, professional staff, and community partners. In 2024–25, the SeaMade Innovation Team made significant advances in a number of areas of the project, primarily bar production, branding, and ingredient sourcing — particularly the harvesting and drying of sugar kelp from UNE’s sea farms. In this coming academic year (2025–26), the team will focus on scaling up production, assessing the current sourcing strategy, identifying options for sustainable packaging, and planning for bringing the bar to market on campus and across the state.
Student Opportunities
Suitable for advanced students interested in entrepreneurship, sustainability, and/or applied nutrition; experience with project management software, design thinking, and/or student team projects preferred. Responsibilities include collaborating with Project Sponsors on project organization, certification and contract review, customer discovery, product market fit, budgeting and cost control, resource allocation, and variance and value analysis.
Suitable for students with knowledge of/passion for nutrition, food services operations and management, culinary arts, material sciences, and/or food production methods. Primary responsibility will be to evaluate the current production model and assess opportunities for scaling and improving efficiency while maintaining customer satisfaction and financial accountability.
Suitable for students with an interest in sustainable food systems, aquaculture, marine and environmental sciences, beekeeping, and/or business/supply chain management. Students will research and make recommendations for commercial certification and sourcing of seaweed and honey from UNE, as well as explore sourcing of other ingredients as time allows. Primary responsibility will be to explore the logistical and design engineering opportunities and challenges inherent to this project, particularly around permitting, scalability, and sustainability.
Suitable for students interested in sustainable product design, branding strategies, and/or art and graphic design. Primary responsibility will be to create sustainable, shelf-stable, UNE-branded packaging with great consumer appeal.
Suitable for students familiar with advertising and marketing theory and practice. Primary responsibility will be to assess traditional and digital marketing strategies to develop a robust and effective marketing plan. Students will explore the creative process, sales promotion, segmentation, storytelling, product sampling, public relations, and more.
Impact History Lab: Innovation Team
The Impact History Student Innovation Team will work closely with faculty mentors and professional staff with expertise in history, business, media arts, archaeology, and library science to work on historical projects tied to Maine-centered topics and themes. During the 2025–26 academic year, potential projects include:
Biddeford’s Pepperell Mills were some of the nation’s earliest and most significant textile mills, impacting every aspect of the growth of the area including immigration, the economy, tourism, and changes to the natural and built environments. Students who choose this project may decide to:
- Document and tell the stories of the people who worked in the mills and the businesses that ran them
- Uncover the relationship between the mills and the natural environment of the Saco River
- Interview and share the experiences of living people who worked in the mills
- Expand the ability of the Mills Museum to tell its stories through the design and education of engaging exhibits
Monuments to the Civil War can be found in the middle of many American towns and cities. When erected, these monuments were intended to tell a story about American identity and the meaning of the war, but in recent years, some of these monuments have proven so controversial that they have been torn down, while others are virtually forgotten. Students who choose this project may:
- Recover the stories of the original erection of monuments in Maine and other parts of the country, and in some cases, the removal of the monuments
- Use digital tools to create maps and images of monuments and tell the stories of the soldiers commemorated on them
- Interview people and share their perspectives on both Union and Confederate monuments
Past Shaw Innovation Fellows and Teams

2024–2025 Shaw Senior Fellows
- Ruth Ellis, Environmental Science, Geographic Information Systems, ’26
- Hailey Haynes-Davis, Marine Biology, ’27
- Tyler Janik, Aquaculture and Aquarium Science, Geographic Information Systems, ’27
- Cloey Parlapiano, Environmental Science, Aquaculture and Aquarium Science, ’25
- Isabel Ryan, Environmental Science, ’27
- Grace Sprague, Communications and Media Arts, Psychology, ’25

2024–2025 Shaw Innovation Team
The 2024–2025 innovation team worked to bring a nutrition bar to market that uses ingredients such as seaweed and honey sourced from UNE’s campus.
- Ryan Garrant, Aquaculture and Aquarium Science, ’25
- Vaughn Jennings, Marine Entrepreneurship, ’28
- Cloey Parlapiano, Environmental Science, Aquaculture and Aquarium Science, ’25
- Sarah Rossignol, Nutrition, Public Health, ’27
- Jayden Schoppee, Nutrition, Athletic Training, ’28
- Jasmin Townsend-Ng, Marine Biology, ’26

About David Evans Shaw
The Shaw Innovation Program, launched in 2021, is made possible through the generosity of David Evans Shaw. Through the program, Shaw, a prominent business and social entrepreneur and resident of Maine, seeks to supplement demand for education and research in the fields of entrepreneurship, science, technology, business, and leadership in order to help build a network of student innovators across several New England universities.
With extensive global leadership experience in science-based companies, investment management, and social impact NGOs, David Evans Shaw has helped build more than a dozen successful technology companies as a CEO or board member. These companies, employing more than 15,000 people worldwide, harness modern science to address important needs in health care and other markets. Early in his career, Shaw helped build a leading consulting firm in food and agriculture.
Shaw’s career has included extensive public service in science, arts, conservation and public policy. He has served on the faculty of Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and the advisory board of the Center for Public Leadership. He is a founding director of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Museum, chair-emeritus of The Jackson Laboratory, and treasurer emeritus of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He has also been a global leader in science-based conservation of nature as a trustee of the National Park Foundation, founding chair of the Sargasso Sea Alliance and Aspen High Seas Initiative, patron of nature to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, member of Ocean Elders, and as founder of Second Century Stewardship for America’s national parks.
Shaw supports his many interests with the production of short films.