Jesse Newman is currently a humanities major at the University of South Florida and employee at The Apple Store in Tampa. He has produced a library of short films over the course of 7 years; many of which have been sent to and received awards from film festivals around the country. Such awards include “Best Overall Film” at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival, “Best Screenplay” at the Daytona Beach Film Festival, and “Best Drama” from the Tampa Film Review. Jesse has written, directed, shot, and edited the majority of his films, and has taken acting roles in several. Jesse has aspirations to direct major motion pictures for the theaters.

“Focus” was a collaboration between Jesse and Sarah Wilson, who received a Florida Choice Award for her film, “Feet.”