Faloe

Est. 2026  ·  New York

Cinema is passed
down by hand.

Film workshops, location expeditions, and a production studio, led by working filmmakers.

Come with a story you need to tell.

[ 1.85:1  /  24fps  /  New York ]

The Work

I  /  The Labs

Faloe
Foundry

Focused workshops in New York and online, each built around one part of the craft and only as long as the work needs. You start making something in the first session. Some are taught by Jonathan Whittaker, and others by working filmmakers who designed their own programs.

II  /  The Expeditions

Faloe
Field

A small group travels to one place and makes one film together. You prepare online for two weeks, spend ten days on location, and finish the edit with feedback from the leads.

III  /  The Studio

Faloe
Studios

Faloe’s production company, ready to take on branded, commercial, documentary, and scripted work. Some productions will bring workshop participants onto the crew.

Foundry  ·  The Labs

The Lab
Intensives

You learn to make films by making them.

On set in Genoa, February 2026.

Each Foundry workshop focuses on one discipline: directing, cinematography, producing, editing, or sound design. You bring a story and start working on it in the first session, and the instructors help you shape it into something you’d put in your portfolio. Each workshop also teaches the business side of its discipline, so you leave knowing how to navigate the market and put the craft to work.

The work happens in a loop. You make something, figure out what isn’t working, and try again with an experienced filmmaker beside you. Repeated with good guidance, that loop is what builds your instincts, and your portfolio along with them.

Every instructor is working in the industry now and brings that practice into the room. Some workshops are taught by Jonathan Whittaker. Others are designed and taught by filmmakers who have built something worth passing on.

Groups are small, so everyone gets real attention. Sessions run in New York and online, and each workshop’s format is set by what the work needs. You leave with detailed feedback and a group of filmmakers who went through it with you.

In development

A calling card film

If you want to make a short film that can carry you onto the festival circuit, there’s a place for you at Faloe. We’re designing a program that runs for a few months with a small group of directors. Each director comes in with a rough draft and takes their own film through every stage of production, from script to final mix, made to the standard of a strong thesis film. If you’re starting from an idea rather than a draft, a private workshop can take you from that idea through the script to the final cut. Either way, tell us about the film you need to make.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR FILM

Beyond Do It Again

[ Waitlist Open ]

Also Under the Foundry Umbrella

Custom
Workshops

We also design workshops for companies, NGOs, nonprofits, and schools, built around what your team needs to learn. We plan each one with you directly.

ASK ABOUT A CUSTOM WORKSHOP

Field  ·  Expedition 001

Expedition 001:
Western Ghats

Forest ridge under monsoon clouds, Western Ghats, Karnataka.

I

Training that ends in footage worth showing

II

Footage for your reel

III

Time with the people and landscape of one region

Each expedition is built around one place, chosen for its landscape, its people, and its visual traditions. The group makes one film there together, working alongside the leads and a professional crew.

[ 01 ]

Virtual Lead-Up  ·  2 Weeks

Two weeks online with the full group, working on story, shot lists, research on the location, and logistics. By the time you land, you know what you’re making and how you plan to shoot it, so your days on location go to filming.

[ 02 ]

The Field  ·  10 Days

Of the ten days on location, seven or eight are production, and the rest go to orientation and travel. The landscape, the light, and the people you meet all shape the film. The decisions and the pressure are real, and so is the room to get something wrong, work out why, and shoot it again. You will feel unsure at some point. Everyone does, and the leads are there for exactly that.

[ 03 ]

Post-Production  ·  Supervised

Editing, color, and sound happen remotely, with scheduled feedback sessions along the way. If you’d rather finish the cut in person, we can set you up at a post-production house in New York, though housing isn’t included.

The first expedition is ten days in the Western Ghats of Karnataka, India, in October 2027, led by Amoghavarsha JS and Jonathan Whittaker. It’s limited to twelve participants.

[ Expedition 001 · Now Enrolling ]
SCHEDULE A CONSULTATION

III  /  The Studio

Faloe
Studios

Faloe Studios is a production company taking on branded content, music videos, commercials, documentaries, and scripted projects. We also do audience research for filmmakers who want to know who their film is for before they finish it.

On some productions, workshop instructors will serve as department heads, with participants working under them in crew roles for a credit and real set experience.

We work with post-production partners and rental houses across New York, and we put together crews that fit each project.

Within about five years, we plan to open a dedicated production space and artist residency in the lower Hudson Valley.

Inquiries from filmmakers, brands, and collaborators are welcome.

Audience Development
Research

This is for filmmakers with a project who need to know who it’s for, where to take it, and how to fund the rest of the way. We research the film, find the communities most likely to care about it, identify grants you can apply for, and lay out a festival strategy, all in one written report. It starts with an intake call, and once you’ve read the report, we meet again to turn it into a plan.

ASK ABOUT A REPORT
On set in Genoa, February 2026.

Here’s what this looks like in practice. A filmmaker came to me with no experience and a real love of cinema. We worked on his first short together, and he won Best Debut Director for it at the Rajasthan International Film Festival. For his second, I flew to Genoa to work with him on set, and he now has a feature in development.

On set in Genoa, February 2026.

Jonathan Whittaker  ·  New York  ·  2026

Jonathan Whittaker | New York.

Why I started
Faloe

I started Faloe because the program I was looking for didn’t exist.

I believe in the old master and apprentice way of learning, where you learn in the room from someone who is still doing the work. So everyone who teaches a Foundry workshop is working in the industry now, and that won’t change.

Groups stay small, feedback is specific, and the work you make is meant for your portfolio rather than a folder on your desktop. If that sounds like the right room for where you are right now, I’d like to hear from you.

— jrw

Talk with us

Book a
consultation.

A conversation with Jonathan about what you’re working on and whether Faloe is the right place for it. Open to individual filmmakers, production teams, and organizations with training needs.

SCHEDULE A CONSULTATION