LIGHTS, CAMERA, MAGIC!
LIGHTS, CAMERA, MAGIC!
From preserving the stories of those who endured, to celebrating those who dared to begin again — capturing the human spirit from its darkest moments to its most triumphant. 35+ Holocaust documentaries across the US and Canada. A feature documentary on lives radically reinvented. Music videos built like short stories.
From surviving to thriving — changing the frame, changing the viewer.
New York · Toronto · Nice
CINEMA WITH A CONSCIENCE
MAKE MAGIC, NOT WAR.
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NAMES NOT NUMBERS
Director & Editor of over 35 feature length holocaust documentaries, immortalizing over 200 survival stories over 12 years.
Winner of the prestigious Wilbur Award of Excellence and Award of Merit 2021, and Official Selection for the Miami Jewish Film Festival 2020.
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ROMANI
Immersive, eclectic short-film-style music video of collaboration between electric violinist Dr. Draw and guitarist Serge Nikol.
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LA LATINA
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more.
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WAGON
Director of Photography of music video for Brooklyn-based indie band Desert Stars. In collaboration with production company BTYB (BroughtToYouBy.TV)
AWARDS:
Winner — Mexico International Film Festival 2018
Official Selection — Holly Shorts Film Festival 2018
Official Selection — Evolution! Mallorca International Film Festival 2018
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NEMESIS
Dawn River opens on the familiar: a man grinding through his morning routine, swallowed by the noise and numbness of daily life. But when he crosses paths with Nemesis — the duo of violinist Eugene (Dr. Draw) and beatboxer Scott — his world cracks open.
In an instant, the city gives way to an enchanted forest, and our protagonist follows fairy-like visions of the musicians through a lush, trance-like landscape teeming with the intricate details of the natural world. Shot entirely in POV, Dawn River transforms a chance street encounter into a transcendent escape — a reminder that magic can find us anywhere, if we're paying attention.
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LEAPS OF FAITH
Set in the paradise town of Bocas del Toro, Panama, this documentary follows two former finance professionals who left behind comfortable but unfulfilling careers to pursue a more purpose-driven life. Their story is an inspiring lesson in overcoming fear — and a testament to how much further we can go when we dare to step into the unknown.
ABOUT
Sandra Stakic is a documentary director, screenwriter, and founder of Make Magic Media — a production company built on a single conviction: that the right story, told with honesty and intention, can shift the way people see the world.
Trained at the New York Film Academy and with screenwriting studies at NYU, Sandra spent the formative years of her career bearing witness to some of history's most essential testimonies — directing over 35 feature-length Holocaust documentaries across the United States and Canada. Her film Names Not Numbers went on to win the Wilbur Award of Excellence and Award of Merit in 2021 and was selected for the Miami Jewish Film Festival in 2020 — recognition that affirmed what the work always was: necessary, urgent, and built to last.
From there, Sandra's lens shifted — not away from the human spirit, but deeper into it. Her feature documentary Leaps of Faith followed ordinary people who walked away from security and status to chase a life with meaning, capturing the quiet courage it takes to begin again. It's the natural evolution of a career that has always asked the same question: what does it look like when a person refuses to give up?
That same restless curiosity extends to her music video work — immersive, director-driven films that treat every frame like it matters. Her video for Desert Stars' Wagon won Best Music Video at the Mexico International Film Festival 2018, with further selections at Holly Shorts Film Festival and the Evolution! Mallorca International Film Festival.
Born in Serbia, shaped by New York and Toronto, and now based in Nice, France, Sandra brings a distinctly international perspective to everything she makes. Through Make Magic Media, she continues to seek out the stories that sit at the intersection of survival, reinvention, and hope — stories that don't just document the human experience, but actively inspire it.
From the weight of history to the audacity of starting over — this is what cinema is for.
MAKE MAGIC WITH US
Tell us your vision. We’ll make it real—fast.