Annette Helson Earns Accolades with Her Directorial Debut ‘Hatched’

TV Actress and Tony Nominated Producer Rachel Annette Helson makes the leap to directing with “Hatched,” a short film starring “Teen Wolf” series regular Melissa Ponzio. The film was a Daily Pick on Film Shortage last week and for her work on the short, Helson was honored by Shoot Online Magazine as one of their 2019 New Directors to Watch. “Hatched” tells the story of Kay, a woman who suffers a personal loss and whose grief turns to obsession as she desperately searches for clues to help her make sense of why 41 children have vanished in a national forest.

“I have always wanted to direct,” said Helson. “On-set, I found myself sitting near video village as often as I could watching how the director was taking the story from script to screen, and the more I watched, the more I wanted to learn. I picked up Robert Rodriguez’s book ‘Rebel Without a Crew,’ and started to learn the technical aspects of filmmaking by doing what I could with the tools that I had. I tested out sequences on my DSLR and taught myself how to edit. After five years of experimentation and study, I felt confident that I had the skills to begin directing, and I loved every minute.”

Helson, who grew up in Louisville, Ky. has worked professionally as an actress and producer for over a decade. She guest starred on shows like “Power,” “Law & Order: SVU” and Steven Soderbergh’s “The Knick,” and made a name for herself as a producer on Broadway when she was nominated for a Tony Award at age 20 for her work on Neil LaBute’s “reasons to be pretty.” Additionally, Helson is the co-owner of JORA Creative, a bicoastal production company that produces branded content, advertisements and narrative films.

She and her work have been featured in the New York Times, Variety and Backstage amongst others. She was also profiled in the May/June 2019 issue of Shoot Online, and a clip of “Hatched” was shown at the Director’s Guild of America in New York City as part of Shoot’s New Directors Showcase.

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