About the film

From auction to second chance

Unbridled Hope is a documentary short about the hidden world of American horse auctions, the pipeline that pushes thousands of horses toward slaughter each year—and the people fighting to rewrite their fate.

Why We’re Making This Film

Unbridled Hope will serve as an important tool in educating and mobilizing audiences to act through emotional storytelling that humanizes the issue. This critical film will provide advocates and educators with resources for reform and civic engagement and strengthen links between awareness, compassion, and legislative change. 

Meet The Team

Betsy Schechter

Director

Betsy Schechter is an award-winning filmmaker and media executive with over two decades of experience creating and producing high-impact film, television, and branded content. She is the founder of Storyville Entertainment, where she has developed and sold original programming internationally, produced award-winning documentaries, and led major campaigns for brands including Match.com, Jeep, and The Gap. Her directing credits include Gloria Gaynor: I Will Survive, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and secured global distribution. A member of the Television Academy, Betsy is known for her creative leadership, strategic vision, and ability to tell powerful, character-driven stories that resonate across platforms.

David Zieff

Editor

David Zieff is an award-winning editor and filmmaker whose work spans documentary, feature, and television across music, culture, and social issues. Most recently he edited Gloria Gaynor: I Will Survive and Matthew Heineman’s The First Wave, which earned seven Emmy nominations and three wins, including Best Editing. His credits include the Tribeca-opening Time Is Illmatic, Sundance Audience Award winner Alive Inside, ESPN’s Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs. The New York Knicks, and the acclaimed Metallica: Some Kind of Monster. Zieff won a Peabody Award for Black Magic and serves as a Creative Advisor at the Sundance Institute Documentary Edit & Story Lab and adjunct professor at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.

Ron Davis

Producer

Ron Davis is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and the founder of Docutainment Films, established in 2010. Known for compelling, character-driven storytelling, Davis directed and produced the box-office hit and the NYTimes Critics’ Pick Harry & Snowman. He also directed and produced the critically acclaimed HBO feature documentary Miss You Can Do It, the award-winning Life in the Doghouse, ParaGold, I Am We, and the documentary short, Dawn: A Charleston Legend. His work has reached global audiences through major platforms, including Netflix, HBO, Apple TV+, and Amazon Prime Video. Davis’s films are recognized for their emotional depth, inspiring subjects, and powerful human stories.

Meghan Bazaar

Producer/Creator

Horses have shaped Meghan's life for as long as she can remember, grounding her in trust, patience, and quiet connection—values that guide her approach to Unbridled Hope. A vegan and lifelong animal advocate, she spent over a year documenting horse auctions and working closely with Penny Parker of Horse Angels Rescue, gaining rare access to a hidden world marked by urgency and compassion. Meghan holds an MFA from The Actors Studio at The New School and previously worked in film and theater in New York before relocating to be closer to horses and raise her three daughters around them. She shares her home with two rescued ponies who embody the film’s belief that nothing is ever truly beyond saving.

LAUREN GELLERT

Producer

Lauren is a producer and creative executive focused on character-driven, culturally resonant storytelling. She brings a rare blend of hands-on creative fluency and narrative leadership to documentary work. As lead Creative Programming Executive at WE tv, she developed and oversaw the network’s documentary and unscripted slate, collaborating closely with directors and production teams to bring intimate, impact-driven stories from development through delivery. Lauren is currently producing a feature-length documentary and scripted series centered on a young social media star with an extraordinary real-world story. She is deeply committed to philanthropy and female storytelling, founding Taste & Talk to build community through curated conversations in support of women-led causes .