T.J. Collins(I)
- Producer
- Writer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Mr. Collins is an award-winning filmmaker with over a dozen films produced including short and feature narratives. His debut feature "Willets Point" received the Audience Award at the Long Island International Film Expo and was theatrically released with positive reviews in the New York Times. Mr. Collins has served as a peer judge for the New York Emmy Awards and is a member of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, New York Chapter. He is a NALIP Producers Academy and Screenwriters Lab Fellow 2009. Additionally, his screenplay "The Driven" aka Eli Moran was one of ten nationally selected projects for the NALIP Screenwriters Lab sponsored by The Walt Disney Company, NBC Universal, FOX and HBO. Mr. Collins completed the narrative feature sports drama "The Driven" serving as writer, director, and producer. The film features veteran actor David Zayas (Dexter, The Expendables). "The Driven" held a World Premiere at the 25th Dances With Films Festival - NYC edition in 2022.
Since 2016 Mr. Collins has also worked on a feature documentary project about the war in Ukraine titled "A Rising Fury" as a Producer and Co-Writer. The film reveals the true untold story of how the Russo-Ukrainian war began in 2014. This is a unique film that explains how we arrived at this point in history through events and personal accounts on the ground. The film team followed several people for nearly 10 years from the Revolution of Dignity in 2013 to the battlefields in Eastern Ukraine, and during the full-scale invasion in 2022. It's a story about love, revolution, betrayal, and war told through intimate verité material. A Rising Fury premiered at the 2022 Tribeca Film festival and screened at numerous international film festivals. The film is directed by Ukrainian American filmmaker Lesya Kalynska and Ukrainian filmmaker Ruslan Batytskyi. Film Threat gives A Rising Fury a perfect 5 stars and says it's "A masterclass of documentary filmmaking... brilliant on every level. One of the best films of the year." FILM INK gives it 4.5 stars and says it's a "Wake up call... a powerful statement as to what the Ukrainians are fighting for. Filmmaker Magazine says it's "A breathtakingly cinematic explainer of current events".
The film was nominated for best documentary and other top awards in nine international film festivals including Stockholm IFF (Bronze Horse nominee), Warsaw IFF (Best Documentary nominee), Odesa IFF (Golden Duke nominee), Cleveland IFF (Greg Gund Standing Up award nominee), and won three top awards at the 2023 Melbourne Documentary Film Festival including the Supreme Jury Award. A Rising Fury has been longlisted in the best feature documentary category for the 96th Academy Awards.
Since 2016 Mr. Collins has also worked on a feature documentary project about the war in Ukraine titled "A Rising Fury" as a Producer and Co-Writer. The film reveals the true untold story of how the Russo-Ukrainian war began in 2014. This is a unique film that explains how we arrived at this point in history through events and personal accounts on the ground. The film team followed several people for nearly 10 years from the Revolution of Dignity in 2013 to the battlefields in Eastern Ukraine, and during the full-scale invasion in 2022. It's a story about love, revolution, betrayal, and war told through intimate verité material. A Rising Fury premiered at the 2022 Tribeca Film festival and screened at numerous international film festivals. The film is directed by Ukrainian American filmmaker Lesya Kalynska and Ukrainian filmmaker Ruslan Batytskyi. Film Threat gives A Rising Fury a perfect 5 stars and says it's "A masterclass of documentary filmmaking... brilliant on every level. One of the best films of the year." FILM INK gives it 4.5 stars and says it's a "Wake up call... a powerful statement as to what the Ukrainians are fighting for. Filmmaker Magazine says it's "A breathtakingly cinematic explainer of current events".
The film was nominated for best documentary and other top awards in nine international film festivals including Stockholm IFF (Bronze Horse nominee), Warsaw IFF (Best Documentary nominee), Odesa IFF (Golden Duke nominee), Cleveland IFF (Greg Gund Standing Up award nominee), and won three top awards at the 2023 Melbourne Documentary Film Festival including the Supreme Jury Award. A Rising Fury has been longlisted in the best feature documentary category for the 96th Academy Awards.