Director's Works
Down Here Omer Ben Shachar
Omer Ben-Shachar is an award winning, Los Angeles based writer/director. His debut short film, TREE #3, won a Student Academy Award, Urbanworld’s Best Young Creator Award, Palm Springs’ Audience Award, and was nominated for a Student Emmy. His follow-up short, SINGLE RESIDENCE OCCUPANCY, won the Jury Award for Best Narrative Short at the Atlanta Film Festival and the Grand Jury Prize at Imagine Entertainment’s 'From Minutes to Movies' ShortFest. His latest film, HOUSTON, WE HAVE A CRUSH, won the Fanomenon Short Film Award at the Leeds International Film Festival and the Art Directors Guild Production Design Award at the GuadaLAjara Film Festival, with selections at SXSW Sydney, NewFest, and Austin. His short films have earned multiple Vimeo Staff Picks, been featured on 'Short of the Week', and screened at over 100 festivals around the world. His music videos and commercials have been featured in Rolling Stone, Billboard, Nowness, Directors’ Library and at the Hammer Museum’s Flux Series, earning a Webby Award and a Cannes Lions Young Directors Award nomination. A fellow of Film Independent's Project Involve and Screenwriting Lab, the Warner Bros. Television Directors Workshop, and Paramount's Directing Program, Omer is also a graduate of AFI Conservatory's Directing Program, where he received the Richard P. Rogers Spirit of Excellence Award. He is a member of the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences and a BAFTA Connect Member.
‘Down Here’, the visual piece from composer Claudio Olachea and director Omer Ben Shachar, depicts a nightmarish scenario where everyone wears identical masks to fit in. But when one young man’s mask begins to peel off, he questions if hiding his true identity is really worth it.
