About First Encounter Productions
Jacob Okada, PGA was an Emmy nominated documentary filmmaker whose directorial debut CurtIs (2004) won an honorable mention in documentary filmmaking at Sundance. Carylanna Taylor, PhD was an applied cultural anthropologist with a focus on migration and conservation in Latin America. In 2012, our paths crossed in while freelancing, respectively, as a story producer and instructor/researcher. We soon joined forces as spouses and producing partners. Their NYC-based First Encounter Productions creates stories inspired by science, anthropology, connection, and people’s encounters with the unknown.
Together, Jacob and Carylanna created Painting the Way to the Moon (documentary feature 2015, documentary short 2014), Every Other Weekend (narrative short, 2016), ANYA (narrative feature, 2019). At AFI Conservatory (MFA 2022), Carylanna produced and Jacob supported six short films, including Dust and I Thought The Earth Remembered Me (AFI FEST 2022). Visit our YouTube Channel to watch full films and trailers.
CURRENT SLATE: We are developing Thanksgiving Break, a dramatic comedy about a father who must save his daughter an out-of-this-world episode by partnering with her secretive grandfather, and Involuntary Departures, a female-driven revenge fantasy inspired by stories from Carylanna’s research in rural Honduras.
We also offer consulting and workshops. Past full-day workshops include: “Filmmaking for Anthropologists 101” for the American Anthropological Association and “Working with a Sales Agent” for The Gotham.
For more info or just to chat, drop us a note.
More About the Team
Carylanna Taylor, PhD
Anthropologist /Producer / Indie Sales Rep
LinkedIn | IMDb | carylanna@1efilms.com
An applied cultural anthropologist, producer, and film sales representative, Carylanna is passionate about sharing stories through film.
Originally from southwestern Pennsylvania, she spent over twenty years teaching and researching in Latin America and the US with a focus on migration, environment, and development. Her academic work (PhD, University of South Florida; MS, Cornell; BA, Penn State) received recognition through National Science Foundation, Environmental Protection Agency, and Fulbright grants.
In 2012, she met filmmaker Jacob Okada and began applying anthropology through film. Alongside Jacob, she produced the documentary PAINTING THE WAY TO THE MOON (2015) and wrote and produced the genetics and anthropology inspired feature ANYA (2019).
In 2020, at the height of the pandemic, they moved to LA for Carylanna to pursue an MFA in Producing at the AFI Conservatory (2022). At AFI she produced six shorts and interned in development with Oscar-winning production companies including Bona Fide, ImageMovers, and The Population.
Carylanna currently serves as Director of Sales & Acquisitions for the NYC-based The Film Sales Company. Through FSC and her work as an Impact Producer for films like BAD FAITH, she helps indie filmmakers bring their stories to audiences around the world. She enjoys mentoring interns and new filmmakers through panels and workshops, including her popular six hour GOTHAM course on working with a sales agent.
In her free time, Carylanna continues to develop new films and volunteers as a presenter with the National Alliance on Mental Health’s Ending the Silence Program.
Jacob Okada, PGA
Writer/Director/Producer
LinkedIn | IMDb | jacob@1efilms.com
Born in Manhattan to a Japanese-American photographer and Jewish-Romanian author, Jacob is no stranger to culture crossing.
After earning his BFA from NYU, Jacob worked as a producer, editor, and director of photography on over a dozen documentary films and network series that have aired on HBO, PBS, Netflix, and National Geographic. He currently freelances as a story producer on Nat Geo Wild’s DR. K’s EXOTIC ANIMAL ER and SECRETS OF THE ZOO.
He has directed, shot, and produced two documentaries, CURTIS (2004, Sundance Honorable Mention in Short Filmmaking) and PAINTING THE WAY TO THE MOON, as well as three narrative shorts. Jacob shot and co-produced the Emmy nominated documentary OFF AND RUNNING (2010 Tribeca Film Festival, PBS), about transracial adoption in the United States. He was associate editor of NEW YEAR BABY (PBS), about a family’s survival of the Khmer Rouge. Jacob is committed to telling stories that have social impact and artistic integrity. ANYA (2019) is his narrative debut as writer, director, and producer.
Jacob is currently diving deep into his long-term love of medicine as well as co-writing the mental health inspired THANKSGIVING BREAK.