Beleeve
ENTERTAINMENT
SINCE 2012
Beleeve: (Bel)mont & R(eeve)
Chelese Belmont
Actress, Writer, Director, Producer
Chelese Belmont graduated with honors in three years from UC Berkeley with her B.A. in History while concurrently studying acting in the American Conservatory Theatre’s Professional Development program in San Francisco. After graduation, she began working as an actress in independent shorts and features in the Bay Area, where she also cut her teeth on independent film production. From various indie producers and directors, she learned about development, financing, and production, and gave notes on scripts. She then attended the MFA program in Acting at the Actors Studio Drama School in New York City.
She and Shannan Leigh Reeve started Beleeve Entertainment in 2012. Their first film was a collaboration with Cabrian Film Studios, THE RED HAIRED LADY, a short that Chelese wrote, co-produced, and directed and which played festivals in the US and Europe. Beleeve’s next production was PENUMBRA, played film festivals and was released on digital platforms. A short that Chelese produced, THE INVISIBLE BORDER, won third place (out of 650 submissions from 55 countries) in NASA’s CineSpace Competition; Beleeve was the only female and American team to place. Recent short films that she wrote and produced, SPEED DATE, CHROMO46 and THE OBITUARIST, played festivals before being released on digital platforms, as did the LGBTQ+ short that she produced and directed, HOLIDAY HELP DESK.
Chelese has also written the feature scripts, FALSE TARGETS, ALL THE LITTLE PIECES, and THE SUN RISES ON ANOTHER DAY, which have placed in numerous competitions. She is currently working on developing the first twelve episodes of a new digital series, SOMEWHERE SOMETIME.
She also recently honed her producing skills in a Sundance Institute Co//ab Course with Karin Chien, Summer Shelton, and Liz Nord.
WHAT BELEEVE MEANS TO ME/US:
See Shannan’s answer. She rocked it.
FAVORITE FILMS:
Contact, Fight Club, Girl Interrupted, Amelie, Mrs. Doubtfire, The Fighter, Hidden Figures, The Dark Knight, Interstellar, Good Will Hunting.
HOBBIES:
Photography, Mentoring high school students,
White Water Rafting, Yoga.
DREAM SHOOT LOCATIONS:
Paris, Prague, New York City
PERSONAL MOTTO:
“Enough talk. Let’s plan, prepare, and actually do it.”
Shannan Leigh Reeve
Director, Editor, Cinematographer, Producer, Actress,
Shannan Leigh Reeve is an award-winning filmmaker who has an unwavering passion for storytelling, which she largely credits to having been raised in multiple countries and gaining exposure to a variety of cultures and traditions. She moved from working in front of the camera, as an actress and a stuntwoman, to behind the camera when she co-founded Beleeve Entertainment, which produces stories highlighting underrepresented female and minority voices and focuses on topical issues like mental health, climate change, and LGBT stories. Among Beleeve’s achievements was the award winning feature, Penumbra, which followed a family struggling with the repercussions of addiction, and The Invisible Border, a short that Shannan directed, DP’d, and edited for the Houston Cinema Arts Film Festival CINESPACE competition; Richard Linklater awarded the film third place out of 658 submissions from 55 countries.
Shannan works regularly as field producer and lead content creator for Mission Hire Me, which aids veterans in their employment efforts by creating career profile videos aimed to help employers dispel the stigma of hiring veterans. She is also a freelance shooter/editor for the Los Angeles County of Education, which highlights outstanding educational programs and teachers. In addition to her work as a director, editor, and cinematographer, Shannan has worked as a 1st AD, 2nd Unit Director, Stunt Coordinator, Camera Operator, and Assistant Editor. She has worked repeatedly with 1:1 Productions, Steakhaus Productions, and Open Book Productions on the features films (Last Moment of Clarity, Clowning), documentaries (The Human Race), digital series (Boy Culture, Crazy Bitches: Spa Days, Emmy® winning Venice: The Series), short films (He Was Asking For It, When It’s Good, Remainder), and digital content for network shows (68th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, 495 Productions).
When not working in film and television, Shannan stage-manages for live events and awards shows, including the Didi Hirsch Erasing the Stigma Awards and the PEN America LitFest Gala. She graduated Cum Laude from California State University Northridge with a BA in Psychology.
WHAT BELEEVE MEANS TO ME/US:
“Beleeve” is literally a collaboration, 2 people Bel(mont) & (R)eeve striving for one common goal: to provide quality content with the utmost integrity to our clients.
FAVORITE FILMS:
Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Labyrinth, Black & White (1999), Sucker Punch, Total Recall (2012), Män Som Hatar Kvinnor
HOBBIES:
Taking Photos, Anything Outdoors (adrenaline junky!), Live Music, Fine Whiskeys
DREAM LOCATION SHOOTS:
Tropical Paradise (on land and on a boat), New York City (somehow involving an empty Broadway stage),
PERSONAL MOTTO:
“In the realm of ideas everything depends on enthusiasm...in the real world all rests on perseverance.” ~Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
