About First Encounter Productions
Jacob Okada is an Emmy nominated documentary filmmaker. Carylanna Taylor is an applied anthropologist turned filmmaker. They teamed up to create the New York City based First Encounter Productions in order to tell stories inspired by science, anthropology, and people’s encounters with the unknown. CurtIs (documentary short, 2004, Sundance) is Jacob’s first film. Together, Jacob and Carylanna have created Painting the Way to the Moon (documentary feature 2015, documentary short 2014), Every Other Weekend (narrative short, 2016), and ANYA (narrative feature, 2019).
Visit our YouTube Channel to explore trailers, clips, & BTS.
General Inquires, Screenings, Q&As
Interested in hosting a screening or Q&A - in person or virtual?
Drop us a note at info@1efilms.com or fill out the form below.
About the Team
Producer/Writer/Anthropologist
LinkedIn | IMDb | 813-951-7328 carylanna@1efilms.com
Carylanna is a producer and anthropologist with an MFA in Producing from the AFI Conservatory. (Watch her AFI producing reel.) She currently manages sales and distribution for The Film Sales Company and has worked in development with Oscar-winning production companies including Bona Fide, ImageMovers, and The Population.
Originally from southwestern Pennsylvania, she spent over twenty years teaching and researching in Latin America and the US with a focus on migration, environment, and development. An applied cultural anthropologist (PhD, University of South Florida), Carylanna is passionate about sharing her deep appreciation for cultural and human diversity and for scientific understanding. Her work received recognition through National Science Foundation, Environmental Protection Agency, and Fulbright grants.
In 2012, Carylanna partnered with Jacob Okada in First Encounter Productions to apply her anthropology and experiences through film. With Jacob, she produced the documentary feature PAINTING THE WAY TO THE MOON (2015) and the narrative feature ANYA (2019). At AFI she produced six short films, including DUST (2022) and I THOUGHT THE EARTH REMEMBERED ME (2022).
Jacob Okada
Writer/Director/Producer
LinkedIn | IMDb | jacob@1efilms.com
Born in Manhattan to a Japanese-American photographer and Jewish-Romanian author, Jacob is no stranger to culture crossing.
After earning his BFA from NYU, Jacob worked as a producer, editor, and director of photography on over a dozen documentary films and network series that have aired on HBO, PBS, Netflix, and National Geographic. He currently freelances as a story producer on Nat Geo Wild’s DR. K’s EXOTIC ANIMAL ER and SECRETS OF THE ZOO.
He has directed, shot, and produced two documentaries, CURTIS (2004, Sundance Honorable Mention in Short Filmmaking) and PAINTING THE WAY TO THE MOON, as well as three narrative shorts. Jacob shot and co-produced the Emmy nominated documentary OFF AND RUNNING (2010 Tribeca Film Festival, PBS), about transracial adoption in the United States. He was associate editor of NEW YEAR BABY (PBS), about a family’s survival of the Khmer Rouge. Jacob is committed to telling stories that have social impact and artistic integrity. ANYA (2019) is his first narrative feature.