A still from “Six Feet Apart.” Photo: Bread Break Productions.

To quote Mark Duplass, “the cavalry isn’t coming” — and we can rest assured it’s definitely not going to come while we’re in quarantine.

Duplass, the filmmaker-actor, has always encouraged actors and filmmakers to take matters into their own hands, make their own work, and not wait on the sidelines for someone to cast them, give them a grant, or approve their project. This notion was the first building block that eventually formed Bread Break Productions, a female-led production company founded by us — two Israeli actor-filmmakers.

Having had a taste of what the acting world had to offer by way of female parts in film and TV, we were left wanting more — more stories to be told through a female lens, more female roles that represent us, not just as a side dish for the main male character, but as a fully-formed character. So, just like Duplass suggested, we opted to create it ourselves. And we haven’t stopped working together since.

For the better part of our collaboration, Lee was living in New York while Liri was in Israel; thus, our productions had to be done remotely. Ironically, this only helped to prepare us for this odd pandemic way of continued creation.

Our films have been featured in multiple international film festivals including Hollywood Screenings Film Festival, Grand Rapids Feminist Film Fest, and New Media Film Festival in Los Angeles. Our series, Interwoven, was selected as a finalist for the Blackpills’ international screenwriting competition, as well as chosen to be a contender to go into production by their digital company.

Being stranded in quarantine in New York and Israel, we put our remote filmmaking skills to the test and came up with a new series called Made in Quarantine. In each episode, we take a comedic look at life amidst the pandemic. The latest installment, a mock-horror trailer titled Six Feet Apart, is set in present-day Israel, during the coronavirus crisis. The short presents the reality of a movie filmed during the pandemic, keeping with COVID-19 regulations.

For the moment, we are currently both in Israel and are committed to continuing to tell stories that represent us as female artists.

You can watch Six Feet Apart below:

Liri Navon and Lee Bader are Israeli actors and filmmakers.