About the documentary

THE MAYOR is a 68-minute stereotype-shattering documentary that reveals the humanity of seniors living life to the fullest in a retirement community in Texas. Through the 88-year-old Mayor back on the dating scene, a Southern dame devoted to her deceased husband, and a hilarious firecracker of a woman with sharp wit and tongue intact, the film intimately explores our eternal struggle for love and connection. The octogenarians of THE MAYOR defy cultural expectations and demonstrate how our golden years can be as meaningful, challenging, and triumphant a time as any other.
EDUCATORS & ORGANIZATIONS: Please contact Jared via Twitter or Facebook for licensing and DVD inquiries. We will be happy to meet you wherever works for you.

About the Filmmakers

Jared Scheib

Jared Scheib is an artist-entrepreneur from Dallas, Texas and a graduate of the University of Southern California, where he studied film production in the School of Cinematic Arts and neuroscience as an inaugural member of the Brain and Creativity Institute.

In late 2013 he debuted DOODU BOY, his second feature documentary stageplay to direct and dramaturge after WRESTLES WITH MACHISTA. His first feature documentary film THE MAYOR is currently in distribution after completing its festival run, and he is in post-production on WHAT LOVE IS, his second feature documentary. His commercial DO YOU BELIEVE IN A SECULAR AMERICA? won the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science’s social media contest. His films have been exhibited at the Directors Guild of America (Hollywood), Dallas Museum of Art, Tel Aviv Cinematheque, Auckland Art Gallery, and Roxie Theater (San Francisco), broadcast on television in Texas (PBS), Israel (Channel 8), and New Zealand (Sky TV Arts Channel), and distributed online via iTunes, Amazon, VHX, and SnagFilms.

In addition to film and theater, Jared manages friend and artist, Cecelia Webber, whose human bodies artwork has been seen worldwide.

Jared believes that content is king, and to that end he imbues his works with universality, authenticity, and intensity, striving to emphasize what makes art meaningful: honest emotion. See more at http://jaredscheib.com.


Ashley Michael Karitis

Ashley was raised in the foothills of the Cascade Range in Central Oregon. After childhood careers in ski racing, equestrian sports, classical piano, and summer jobs on a dude ranch, she emerged as a unique hybrid of adventuress, hobby farmer, and storyteller.

Ashley then attended the School of Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles earning degrees in cinema-television, history, and international relations. Although immersed in the studies of narrative filmmaking, she gravitated toward the process, deeper on-camera conversations, and scientific and human themes explored in documentary production.

Since graduating, Ashley has produced, directed, photographed, and edited feature and short film projects that have ruminated on octogenarian romance, followed grassroots peace activists, and depicted a myriad of characters and cultures. She has produced documentary and public broadcast series that have taken her to the pits of archaeology digs across the United States, the aisles of the Library of Congress, and to remote communities in the Americas, Africa, Central Asia, and more.

Ashley is in her “happy place” behind the camera while shooting in remote environments and challenging terrain. She revels in the rewards that come with editing together a meaningful, authentic story—especially when she has captured the footage! Ashley currently resides in Portland, Oregon, and when not on assignment, still finds time for skiing, hiking, horses, rock climbing, and water sports.

  • Cast

    • starringSam Berger
    • also starringCordy Frieze
    • also starringDorothy June Wyll
    • also starringCeil Schwartz
    • featuringEd Schwartz
    • featuringMarguerite Gulbis

    Crew

    • Director & EditorJared Scheib
    • Producers & CinematographersAshley Michael Karitis & Jared Scheib
    • Executive ProducersJack & Eileen Scheib
    • Assistant EditorsAshley Michael Karitis & Jared Scheib
    • Sound Editor & Re-Recording MixerArthur Baum
    • ColoristChris Hall
    • TitlesAndrew Chittenden
    • Production & Post-Production AssistantsAlan Michnoff & Alex Kleinman