I had the great pleasure of speaking with producer Tara Sheffer on her timely Academy Award nominated short film “A Lien.” The film is directed by Sam and David Cutler-Kreutz, and is nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Live Action category. WILLA is leading the impact campaign and creative distribution.
Tara is an award-winning filmmaker from Arkansas with an MFA in filmmaking from NYU Tisch School of the Arts. She has produced over twenty-five short films including “A Lien, “Trapped” (SXSW Official Selection and Jury Award Winner), “Flounder” (Clermont Ferrand Official Selection and Vimeo Staff Pick), PLAISIR (SXSW Official Selection and Searchlight Short), and she line-produced “The Letter Room (nominated for the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film). Tara’s directorial work includes “My Dear God” (New Orleans Film Festival Official Selection and winner of the Sara Driver Award) and “Scratch-Off” (winner of the Marlyn Mason Grand Prize at the Rhode Island International Filckers Film Festival and winner of the NYU Tisch King Screenwriting Award). Her previous positions include coordinator at the Department of Motion Pictures and assistant to Scott Rudin. Tara is a 2024 The Gotham/Rotterdam Producing fellow, a 2024 Sundance Producing fellow, a 2024 Film Independent Fast Track fellow, and the 2021 recipient of the Robert Oberman/Gregory Pickert Media Services award for excellence in creative producing at NYU.
“A Lien” is about Oscar and Sophie, an immigrant husband and his American wife. They find themselves under intense scrutiny by an officious immigration officer. What begins as standard paperwork soon escalates into a harrowing ordeal, testing their relationship and unraveling hidden fears. With their future in the U.S. at stake, they discover the painful realities of a system designed to separate rather than unite. “A Lien” captures the raw emotional toll of the immigration process, set against a backdrop of love,
vulnerability, and a relentless bureaucracy.
How did you become a producer of short films, and what draws you to certain projects?
I’m someone who is obsessed with telling stories. It’s important to me as a filmmaker to champion and bring stories to audiences that have emotional resonance and a grounding in truth. I started producing short films in my MFA program at NYU Graduate Film, championing the stories of my fellow classmates and long-time friends like Sam and David.
“A Lien” is a great film, how involved were you with the impact campaign around the film? What’s that looked like for you as a producer? How did you connect with WILLA?
Thank you! “A Lien” is tragically an incredibly topical film today, even though we made it a few years ago. As a producer, I am always very involved in every step of the filmmaking process, from development to production to post-production to festivals, but an Academy Awards campaign is a new one for me! When we began planning our awards campaign it was incredibly important to me that we also seize the moment to generate attention around the issues raised in the film by engaging in an impact campaign, and to find partners with a proven track record of success like WILLA. Elizabeth Woodward is a dear collaborator and friend, and it was natural and logical for her to join “A Lien” as an Executive Producer focused on impact strategy. We have produced multiple projects together but this is the first time I have been in collaboration with her on the impact side of things. From the jump, I was very passionate about partnering with an organization that is engaging everyday in real-life work to address the issue that “A Lien” endeavors to capture in 14 minutes. Together, Elizabeth and I championed and established a partnership between the film and the ACLU and continue to engage with other organizations that are focused on immigration reform. It is wonderful to bring these previously separate parts of my professional life together on this impact campaign for “A Lien”.
I saw that you were a producer on “The Letter Room,” love that film! What draws you to working with certain directors?
Yes! I was the line producer on “The Letter Room, and it was an incredible feat what we achieved — I’m so proud of that film. Working with Sofia Sondervan, my producer, and Elivra Lind, our director, along with the cast and crew was an absolute pleasure. Sofia is a mentor of mine and she trusted me with the full scope and breadth of the production. There were many moving parts, and many locations (including a real prison). It was a joy bringing that film to the screen. As a producer, I am drawn to directors who are passionate about the story they want to tell. Directors who feel it in their bones, who have to tell this story no matter what, and have something to say. I think all art is such a conduit, and I am motivated by shepherding and harnessing that conduit and bringing it to audiences. There is no greater pleasure than to watch an audience experience your film for the first time.
What do you hope people see in your film?
A hope for our team is that the film encourages conversation around immigration. It’s easy to depersonalize immigration as numbers and statistics on a broad level, but at the end of the day, immigration (and “A Lien”) is about family. We want to remind people that, while part of the story of immigration is the horror of paperwork and the complex bureaucratic maze, ultimately it’s about people trying to spend time together and be with their loved ones. Right now, in this country, where immigration is front and center in the news cycle, it is an important moment to push for a system of immigration that is humane and people-centric. It is about keeping families together, something our film and team is advocating for.
Congratulations on having the short be Oscar nominated! Anything to add about your team?
Yes! We had an incredible team on this film, many of whom are my long-time collaborators. It’s important to me to keep working with people who are as motivated and passionate as I am. Sam and David are part of my family at this point, and it is such a joy to be at this stage with them along with Rebecca Eskreis, my co-producer on the project. Our stars Victoria Ratermanis and Will Martinez brought the characters of Sophie and Oscar to life with such talent and grace. Our Executive Producers Adam McKay, Darren Strowger, and Elizabeth Woodward, and her team at WILLA: Sara Ghadimi and Marina Hunt. Andrea Gavazzi, our DP, is a tour de force who brought this film to life, along with the beautiful work of our colorist, Dante Pasquinelli. Caitlin Carr, our extremely talented editor, cut the film to capture the tension and anxiety of our characters — we have now worked together on many projects. Our production designers, Hallye Webb and Megan Elizabeth Bell took our locations and transformed them into a Kafkaesque nightmare that pairs horrifyingly with Eli Cohn’s work in sound design. Blair Maxwell, who Sam and I have both known since our days at Bard College, grounded the costumes in reality and gave our characters specific personalities. We could not have pulled this off without our small but mighty crew: line producer Amandine Thomas, assistant director Alex Morsanutto, sound recordists Yves Armand Albaret, M. Louis Gordon, Keven Hastings, and Jack Sasner. The incredibly talented Camera department: Shuyao Chen, Oliver Finley, Mason Fox. Gaffer John Izarpate, Key Grip Jonathan Saavedra. And our PAs Nina Benashvili, Robert Benun, Jacob Friedman, Daniel Pimenel, and Li Silar — some who also are extras in the film. And our incredible PR teams at David Magdael & Associates PR, The 2050 Group, and London Flair PR have been working with us on the campaign with our international sales partners at Salude Morissett. It takes a village!
Learn more about Tara Sheffer: www.tarasheffer.com
