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Recombined

Recombined is a six minute proof of concept, written by Karen
Sandler and adapted from the world of her Tankborn Trilogy.
The YA Sci-Fi novels explore a futuristic society that has
established a caste system on planet Loka, maintained on the
backs of genetically engineered humans, born in gen-tanks.
GEN Kayla 6982 is the central protagonist through the three
books.

The title Recombined is a riff off Recombinant DNA and the
definition: to join together again.

The main theme addresses what it means to be human, as GENs rise up in a society that has become segregated on the basis of socio-economic status, the color of your skin, and the way you were born.

Logline: Kayla, a Genetically Engineered Nonhuman (GEN) unleashes an uprising against Trueborn enforcers, amidst destruction of a sacred union and the death of her best friend.

  • Regina Ainsworth
    Director
    The Project, Law & Order: The Musical!, Better Together, Red Dog & Bates, Perchance to Dream
  • Karen Sandler
    Writer
    Tankborn, Awakening, Rebellion, Time in a Bottle, Clean Burn, Just My Imagination, Table for Two, The Right Mr. Wrong, Chocolate Magic, Eternity, Unforgettable, Night Whispers + 18 more
  • Stacey K. Black
    Producer
    Co-Executive Producer/Director of Station 19. As Director only, episodes of: The Fix, Station 19, NCIS: New Orleans, Midnight Texas, Bull, Major Crimes, MacGyver, Trouble Creek, and The Closer. As Producer: Send My Mail to Nashville, Trouble Creek, The Truth is Underrated, and Blue Moon. 4 time Emmy nominated Hair and Makeup Artist, most recently for her work on Sharp Objects.
  • Shea Butler
    Producer
    As Producer: Finding Home, Trouble Creek, The Waystation, The Trial of Ben Barry. As Script Supervisor on the Following Series: Dolly Parton's Heartstrings, American Horror Story, Major Crimes, NCIS, Valor, The Client List, The Closer, True Blood, Criminal Minds, Crash, Medium
  • Luis Ramon Quintero
    Producer
    As Producer: Guiltless, KCET Outreach, The Piñata Chronicles, History, La hora del té, As Misc Crew: The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Catch and Release, The Third Nail
  • Naïma Hebrail Kidjo
    Key Cast
    "Kayla"
    TV Series: Chicago Med and Chicago P.D.
  • Glenn Stanton
    Key Cast
    "Gaddiel"
    The Walking Dead, The Son, 9-1-1, Simi Valley, Rosewood, Chicago Fire, Crisis, Sirens, Betrayal
  • Shay Ali
    Key Cast
    "Ved"
    Film: Lucy in the Sky, TV: The Big Bang Theory, Maiden Voyage, The Fosters, 9-1-1, The Middle, Life in Pieces, Lethal Weapon, Wisdom of the Crowd, Speechless, Jane the Virgin
  • Patrick McCarthy
    Key Cast
    "Ansgar"
    TV Series: Warigami, The Gallery, Piggy Bank Proposition, The Auction, L.A. Fadeaway, Crush, Rookie, Chloe and Theo, When Kings Battle, The Ring of Rimachi, Velcro Love Triangle, The Castle
  • Ronak Gandhi
    Key Cast
    "Devak"
    Tv Series: 2 Broke Girls, Lucifer Film: How to Be a Man, You are Here, Love Goes Through Your Mind, Age of summer, The Lie Game, Payal, Brosa Nostra, Midnight Queen Chasing Courage, Oceans Rising
  • Ursula Burton
    Key Cast
    "Tala"
    TV Series: Truth Be Told, Station 19, Speechless, The Dead Girls Detective Agency, Get Shorty, Secrets and Lies, K.C. Undercover, Code Black, Murder in the First, Hart of Dixie, Jane the Virgin, Scandal, Criminal Minds, Touch, Grey's Anatomy
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    6 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    June 6, 2020
  • Production Budget:
    15,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    RED Epic Helium (6K)
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Hollyshorts Film Festival
    Hollywood
    United States
    November 20, 2020
    North American Premiere
    Best of VFX Category Finalist
  • Alternative Film Festival
    Toronto
    Canada
    September 25, 2021
    Canadian Premiere
    Best Sci-Fi or Fantasy Short - North America
  • Hollywood Verge Film Awards
    Burbank, CA
    November 21, 2021
    Best Short Film
  • Vesuvius International Film Festival
    Campania
    Italy
    November 29, 2021
    Best Editing - WINNER, Nominee / Finalist Best Short Film
  • WPRN Women's International Film Festival
    Nassau, Delaware
    United States
    December 19, 2021
    Exceptional Merit in All Categories - Best Tight Short, Best Direction, Best VFX
  • South Texas International Film Festival

    February 20, 2022
    Official Selection
  • Mammoth Film Festival
    Mammoth, CA
    February 4, 2022
    Official Selection
  • Paris Women Festival
    Quebec
    Canada
    January 9, 2022
    Quarterfinalist
  • Vancouver Independent Film Festival
    Vancouver
    Canada
    January 21, 2022
  • Shockfest Film Festival

    December 10, 2021
    Honorable Mention
  • Studio City International Film and TV Festival
    Studio City, CA
    November 18, 2021
    Official Selection
  • Los Angeles Sci Fi Film Festival
    Los Angeles, CA
    January 13, 2022
    Official Selection
  • Boston SciFi Film Festival
    Somerville, MA
    February 16, 2022
    Official Selection
  • Los Angeles Women's International Film Festival
    Los Angeles, CA
    March 24, 2022
    Official Selection
Director Biography - Regina Ainsworth

Regina Ainsworth is a DGA Director, filmmaker, artist, and activist, dedicated to telling stories that inspire positive social change.

Regina started in theatre as an actor, dancer, and writer earning her B.A. in Theatre Arts from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, and continued her education with a two-year immersive conservatory program, the Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts. She spent a year observing West End productions in London, and upon returning stateside she began directing for the stage. After becoming fluent in theatre direction, she dove into creating in the digital world. With an eye toward directing episodic television, she landed a job at Warner Bros. Television in the Labor Relations department and began to rise through the ranks.

During her tenure she worked with over 120 productions, including Arrow, The Leftovers, Blindspot, Pretty Little Liars, and Westworld. It was after auditing the Television Director’s Workshop (a program she helped launch) that she transitioned into content creating and directing full time. Under her company's banner, Regina has made two independent spec pilots The Project and Law & Order: The Musical, a dramatic short Better Together, a supernatural horror short Perchance to Dream (which landed her a pitch at Fox 21 Studio), and TV / Streaming Series proof of concept Recombined (based on the YA Sci-Fi novels the Tankborn Trilogy). As a writer-director, she has workshopped DREAMERs a Latina lead TV Show through Evette Vargas and the Writers Room 50/50, along with Tankborn, currently being taken to market. Recombined is the short proof of concept for the Tankborn pilot and series. Tankborn's pilot (which she co-wrote with Karen Sandler) was recently awarded Second Rounder in the Austin Film Festival, a Semifinalist in Filmatic's TV Pilot Awards, and a Quarterfinalist in ScreenCraft Sci Fi Fantasy, Genre Screenplay, Scriptapalooza Television Writing, and Emerging Screenwriting Festivals.

Since joining the Directors Guild of America, Regina was selected out of over 100 established directors to participate in the career workshop for the Director’s Development Initiative, the DGA’s answer to a fellowship / craft training program. In 2016 Ainsworth was appointed to coordinate both the DGA’s Women's Steering Committee Proposal’s Subcommittee, and the Latino Committee’s Events Subcommittee. In July 2017, Regina was elected to Co-Chair the Latino Committee (one of a handful of Latinas to ever have the honor in their 30 year history) and she was re-elected to serve her second term in June 2019. That same month she was elected to be a Director member delegate, representing the entire membership body, for the Biennial DGA National Convention. Most recently, her strong leadership skills and past studio experience enabled her to guide her fellow Co-Chairs in a Summit that reshaped Inclusion at the DGA.

Ainsworth is also a proud member of the Alliance of Women Directors, the Chicana Directors Initiative, NALIP, Women in Film, Women in Media, and Women of Color Unite. She regularly volunteers, mentors, and appears on panels, and has been a judge for the Hollyshorts Film Festival, the DGA Student Film Awards, and was just invited to judge the NAACP Awards. She's co-hosted the first ever WGA-DGA LatinX Mixer and is very active in her community.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Regina co-founded los directores, a Guild-level collective of LatinX directors and director’s team members who are dedicated to making the invisible visible, via equitable employment. She is committed to gender parity and helping people of color find their paths and elevate their craft.

Regina is THRILLED that Recombined premiered at the Oscar Qualifying Hollyshorts Film Festival, in the Best of VFX Category, to have WON best Short in North America for Sci-Fi or Fantasy through the Alternative Film Festival and is just getting started with Recombined's and ultimately Tankborn's journey.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Recombined is one of those special films that combines social justice with genre, achieves gender parity in front of and behind the camera, and is highly inclusive of people of color. The path of Recombined pairs veteran novelist and WGA writer Karen Sandler with DGA auteur on the rise Regina Ainsworth. Recombined is the short proof of concept which will be utilized to translate Karen's YA Sci-Fi novels to an episodic digital streaming platform. Regina and Karen believe in the power of storytelling to inspire positive social change and know that the elements of The Tankborn Trilogy novels are an echoed reflection of today's society.

We hope you will join us on this journey and see what we, the mostly television based cast and crew, Warner Bros. Studios, and Canon Burbank has seen, and support us on this journey (as they have) to bring Recombined to as wide an audience as possible, and translate a meaningful set of novels to the golden age of screens.