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As a director, Sara Alize Cross has completed short form narrative and documentary films and is in post-production on Manhattan Lullaby, a NYSCA grant funded feature documentary about NYC cultural landmark, Colony Records. Sara's feature documentary producing credits include Murderball (Sundance Audience Award, Academy Award Nomination), The Order of Myths (Sundance Premiere, Peabody Award) and 21Up America (executive produced by Michael Apted as part of the American adaptation of the acclaimed 7Up series).
Sara has contributed to short form documentary style branded content and long form television docu-series as a field producer/shooter, real people casting producer, story producer, and researcher. She has over 10 years experience collaborating with top documentary and commercial directors to create high quality, authentic non-fiction content for brands including Dick's Sporting Goods, McDonalds, Pedigree, Blue Cross Blue Shield, AT&T, and Office Max. As a director of branded content, Sara has directed short documentaries on commission for small businesses, non-profits and major brands.
Sara studied directing in the MFA in Production program at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts. Her USC SCA Production II short film Big Star, the story of a closeted actor choosing between the role of a lifetime and the love of his life, has screened at multiple LGBTQ film festivals around the country. At SCA, Sara has contributed her time and skills as the student coordinator of the three day Visions and Voices Comedy Festival, as the student organizer of the Dinner for Eight program, and as a volunteer for the Media Institute for Social Change. She was the Spring 2017 recipient of the Jack Oakie Comedy Fellowship.
Sara was chosen to be one of 11 fellows (from over 3600 submissions) for the 2017 HBOAccess Writing Fellowship. Her short script Unreliable Narrators was a Finalist in the short script category of the PAGE International Screenwriting Awards and the Nantucket Film Festival's Showtime Tony Cox Screenplay Competition, a Semi-Finalist in the Cinequest Screenwriting Competition and the Nashville Film Festival Screenwriting Competition, and a Quarter-Finalist in the ScreenCraft Short Screenplay Contest. Her rom-dramedy, half-hour pilot script Get It was a Semi-Finalist in the Second City Training Center Original Sitcom contest.
Prior to her career creating theatrical film, television and digital content, Sara pioneered the field of mainstream green fashion with her eco-friendly, socially responsible clothing line coolnotcruel. Sara's story and the coolnotcruel brand were featured in such publications as W, Women's Wear Daily, TimeOut NY, Organic Style, The New York Times, USA Today.
In 2011, Sara founded the 501c3 non-profit Badass Brooklyn Animal Rescue after fostering one dog saved from death row in her one bedroom apartment. As President and Chairwoman of the Board, Sara has led the growth of the organization to an annual operating budget of $400,000. Staffed by dozens of volunteers, Badass has saved the lives of over 1800 dogs in 6 years. As the spokesperson for the organization, Sara has shared the Badass story with media including The New York Times, O, the Oprah Magazine, Huffington Post, Buzzfeed, Elite Daily, Yahoo News.
An avid traveler, Sara has independently traveled in over 20 countries on 6 continents. Sara earned her BA in Film Studies at Columbia University and a Masters in Women's Studies at Oxford, where she wrote her thesis on Screwball Comedy of the 1930s. Sara is a member of BAFTA LA, International Documentary Association, and Independent Filmmaker Project. Clips of Sara's work can be seen on her website.
