Silent Cal is a whimsical portrayal of President Calvin Coolidge's life and the people who shaped him into a hardworking and altruistic leader. The short film focuses on Calvin's first date with his future wife, Grace, and will draw audiences into reimagined moments from his  childhood in  Vermont.

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Meet the awesome creatives behind our film!

Claire McKey Berkman (Writer/Director/Producer)

Claire McKey Berkman is the Writer/Director of Silent Cal. She received her BA in Creative Writing and Theatre from Pitzer College, after which she entered the TV and Film production world of Los Angeles. In 2016, she moved to London to complete an MFA in Advanced Theatre Practice at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, for which she wrote and produced an immersive musical. As a co-founder of Taproot Creatives (a collective of female writers and actors), Claire has participated in developing and producing multiple new works, including her most recent short film Therapy Won't Kill You which has been selected by multiple film festivals and screened five times last year. Since its first annual event in 2023, Claire has been a co-director of the Vermont Film Festival through which she encourages the collaboration of filmmakers in Vermont. She wrote Silent Cal to share the beauty of Vermont on-screen, educate others about a historic leader that positively influenced the American people, and honor Coolidge’s legacy within the centennial window of his presidency. To learn more about Claire’s work: https://clairemckey.com/

Louis Brennan (Assistant Director/Producer)

Louis Bronson is a Burlington based filmmaker that has Assistant Directed on films such as The Butterfly Queen (2021) and The Shelburne Museum collaborative production of Tom Dacey Carr's The Scarab's Curse (2021). Louis has worked on several independent shorts and features around the state in a variety of different crew positions, taking any opportunity he could to be on set and to learn. He is excited to be part of the Silent Cal production team and to share the story of growing up in Vermont with a wider audience.

Kiersten White (Producer)

Kiersten White’s passion is to be equitable and representational in making impactful and informative visual entertainment. She has directed and produced films independently and with production companies for the last 8 years. The last documentary she produced, Dennis E. Thomas: Center Stage, won a 2023 Silver Telly Award. Kiersten’s independently-produced short, A Differently-Curated World, won Best Story at the Los Angeles LGBTQ+ Film Festival. She has had the opportunity to guest-lecture at the University of California, San Diego in an introduction to filmmaking course. She has a BFA in race and gender studies from Spelman College and a MFA in Film from Savannah College of Art and Design. Kiersten currently lives in Southern Vermont where she teaches film at the Putney School for their acclaimed summer arts program, she will be returning for her third summer in 2025.

Red Vault Productions

Red Vault Productions is an end to end film production studio crafting one of a kind stories with dominant brands, environmental organizations, and other Vermont filmmakers. They champion quality over quantity, committed to the finest frames above and below sea level. Through their non-profit, Planet Axis, they’ve created films that not only educate a wider audience about the environmental crisis, but have supported the Vermont community . Their documentary, The Forgotten , screened all over the state and raised funds for towns affected by the 2023 and 2024 floods, including Proctorsville and Plainfield VT.  From Red Vault, Stefan Beaumont will be the film’s Director of Photography with Wendy Reynolds as Assistant Camera and Drone Cinematographer. https://redvaultproductions.com/