serene meshel-Dillman
A New York native and dancer with a passion for the visual arts, Serene attended The School of American Ballet, Tenafly High School then The University of Vermont.
Post graduation, she opted out of law school and worked at an advertising agency in New York, founded a company that imported baskets from Haiti, then moved to Los Angeles to work in production on television commercials. Commercial production stuck and she worked her way up to producing.
In 2012 Serene conceived and directed the documentary film, “Getting to The Nutcracker”, (Gettingtothenutcracker.com) a behind the scenes look at what it takes to produce the classic ballet from auditions to final performances. The movie garnered 7 major festival awards, including a Grand Jury Prize, Audience Award, Best Direction, and Best Feature Documentary.
Her second documentary, “The 5th Dementia” (The5thDementia.com) is about a Los Angeles-based band whose members live with Alzheimer’s, dementia and Parkinson’s. They are able to sing and play music despite their neurodegenerative diseases.
Serene’s most recent project, "Take Me Out Feet First” (Outfeetfirst.com) is a six part documentary series currently streaming on Amazon Prime. The series is a personal one, motivated by her own mother and father's courageous choices to end their suffering from cancer (5 years apart) by using medical aid in dying. The episodes tell the stories of terminally ill people who advocate for the humane right to control their own destinies.
The hope is that by sharing these stories, there will be a groundswell to enact legislation for medical aid in dying in states where it’s not yet legal.