Who Are We

Carmella Cardina

Artist, filmmaker, general malcontent, conservative flaming liberal, tech dweeb, best friend, twitter lover, writer, political geek.

[chaosfilms] principals include director/producer Carmella Cardina and producer Deb Spidell. Collectively, we’ve produced independent feature films, documentaries and television.

[chaosfilms] first project, written by Flint, was a short film, “…the fan!” Reminiscent of the films of Jacques Tati and a precursor to webisodes, this quirky short was screened at the 1998 IFFM, Kino Film Festival in Manchester, UK, Kent International Film Festival and the 1998 Spring FlixTour.

Ms. Cardina won the reelshort.com online film competition for “the fan…” and was honored during the New Directors Short Film Showcase presented by reelshort.com, the American Cinematheque and Universal Pictures.

In 2001, Ms. Cardina directed the indie feature, “The Tempest,” based on the play by William Shakespeare. The film artfully utilized race and gender to tell the story of a man who learns to quell the tempest inside.  The script maintained the language of the play, but was modernized by having Prospero, played by a African-American woman, and daughter Miranda, Caucasian, exiled to homelessness.   The film was shot in Skid Row and surrounding areas, most notably under the Fourth Street Bridge.

The short film, “Butterflies”, which she directed, screened at the Short Film Corner during the 2008 Cannes International Film Festival. She wrote and directed two additional short films, “When Night Falls,” and “The Scrapbook” which starred Kelly Carlin-McCall, George Carlin’s daughter.

Ms. Cardina was supervising producer on Showtime Networks’ popular comedy, “The Green Room with Paul Provenza.” In addition, she directed two episodes of the series that were produced in Montreal in conjunction with the Just for Laughs Festival.  In addition, she directed the Showtime special, “House of Lies-LIVE!” with the cast of “House of Lies.”

Ms. Cardina produced the live show “Set List: Standup without a Net” at the 2011 Edinburgh Fringe Festival and the Soho Theatre in London. She also produced the series of “Set List: Stand-Up Without a Net”, for Sky Atlantic Television.

MS. Cardina recently produced a pilot presentation for MTV and the web series, “Forever 31” with comedian Iliza Shlesinger for ABC Digital.

Ms. Cardina has volunteered her media services to Urban Possibilities, whose mission is to inspire the homeless and working poor striving to become contributing citizens with programs that help them thrive.

Prior to the creation of [chaosfilms], Ms. Cardina spent a number of years producing and directing corporate programs and industrials.

Deb Spidell   UPM/Line Producer/Budget Baroness/Consultant

Deb Spidell is an Executive Producer’s dream and a director’s best friend. An advocate for “more money does not necessarily mean a better film,” Ms. Spidell is able to massage even the toughest budgets with care and diligence. A graduate of the indie filmmaking school of hard knocks, Ms. Spidell began her career with Empire Pictures, home of iconic horror films such as Re-Animator, Ghoulies, Trancers, Zone Troopers and other late night fare. After working in the movie of the week trenches, Ms. Spidell produced a number of features including Erosion, Coney Island, Swallows and Bad City Blues.

Her producing skills helped bring Kevin Costner’s epic documentary 500 Hundred Nations to the public via CBS. Other documentaries include Home Land and Metal of Honor.

Ms. Spidell’s budgetary skills and management prowess led her to be sought out by television executives who brought her on to produce single camera episodics. These include Brothers Garcia, Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide, Just Jordan, Zooey 101, Sweet Valley High, and Big Time Rush.

Ms. Spidell produced two seasons of The Green Room with Paul Provenza at Showtime  and several episodes of Set List: Stand-Up Without a Net for Sky TV and Shine in the UK.  She also produced the Showtime special, House of Lies-LIVE! with the cast from House of Lies.

Ms. Spidell has also produced Loosely Exactly Nicole, Alone Together, and Everything is Going to Be Okay for Freeform.

Ms. Spidell is a member of the Directors Guild of America and the Producers Guild of America.