Virginia Film Festival

Matt Paul is the founder and principal of Loose Cannon Pictures, an independent film production company. They produced Violet, the directorial debut of Justine Bateman starring Olivia Munn, Justin Theroux and Luke Bracey, featured at 2021 SXSW Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival. Previously Paul was a U.S Navy SEAL, serving eight years in military special operations while participating in cross-functional intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance teams during two Middle Eastern deployments.

After leaving the military, Paul traveling the world making short films. Using his BA in Theater and Film Directing from Bates College and New York Film Academy training, he wrote, directed, and produced two shorts in China and Italy. From there he joined the History Channel show Six under the tutelage of renowned director Kimberly Peirce. Breakwater is his second film produced under the Loose Cannon banner.

Film: Breakwater

James Rowe wrote and directed the HBO-released feature Blue Ridge Fall and Breakwater, which stars Dermot Mulroney. As a student Rowe made the jazz-inspired short film Sax Man, which was bought by PBS and he was invited to join the American Film Institute (AFI) as a Directing Fellow. At AFI, Rowe set up his first feature screenplay at Oliver Stone’s Illusion Entertainment, which became Blue Ridge Fall. The film starred Peter Facinelli (Twilight, Nurse Jackie), Chris Isaak, and Academy Award nominee Amy Irving (Traffic, Zero Hour). Rowe wrote the screenplay (as Samuel Tilsen) for the internationally acclaimed film Ijé: The Journey, starring African movie icon Genevieve Nnaji (Lionheart). Rowe has taught directing and screenwriting at the Colorado Film School, CU-Denver, and the New York Film Academy, and led workshops in Moscow and Florence. He lives in Los Angeles.

Film: Breakwater