About

Be Forward Productions

Be Forward Productions is a production company working across the film and theatrical landscape.

We believe in telling honest stories about issues of national and global concern. With each of our projects, we strive to shed light on the way our shared communities can hurt, heal, celebrate, and grow.

From brainstorm to funding to distribution, Be Forward Productions supports bold creative endeavors that not only meet the moment but propel us forward from it.

Mara Burros Sandler (Founder)

Mara Burros Sandler is a dedicated activist, producer, and philanthropist with a passion for fostering healthy communities, strengthening educational and artistic institutions, and fighting bigotry. Drawing on her extensive experience in the philanthropic sector, Mara founded Be Forward Productions to advance compelling storytelling in the fields of theater and film. She is committed to seeking out stories that have the power to change & improve the world.

Some of Mara’s earliest philanthropic endeavors were motivated by personal loss. Her focus on women’s health was born of the loss of her mother to ovarian cancer at the age of 57 after a five year battle with the disease. Mara co-founded the Janet Burros Memorial Foundation in her mother’s honor and served as the foundation’s director for 15 years. Over the years, Mara has held governing positions at The Women’s Division of Albert Einstein College of Medicine (Director & Co-President), The Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance (Board Member), and, currently, the Basser Center for BRCA (Board Member).

After losing family members to and having many others close to her struggle with addiction, Mara has dedicated her work to actively fighting this horrific disease. She has sat on the boards of Casa Columbia and Facing Addiction, and now supports films that shed light on this issue.

Beyond her work targeting these two issues, Mara has also served on the boards of The Hewitt School, Facing History and Ourselves, the 92nd Street Y, and The Afya Foundation. Mara is the Senior Advisor & Director of Social Impact for the Zuckerberg Institute, and she currently sits on the boards of One Nation One Project, Israel Philharmonic, The Frederick Douglass Project for Justice, the Anti-Recidivism Coalition (ARC), and Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University. In addition to her position on ARC, Mara also served on the committee for Represent Justice for the film Just Mercy. Her work within these organizations embodies her larger commitment to fighting mass incarceration and enacting prison reform.

Before founding Be Forward Productions, Mara worked as a buyer at Bergdorf Goodman for seven years. She took time away from full-time work to raise her three children and focus on philanthropic activities. During this professional hiatus, she worked as an art consultant at MS Art Consultant; co-founded MAP, a pop-up retail shop on Madison; and co-founded Diamondocity, a company specializing in jewelry for your walls. A graduate of UW Madison with a BA in psychology, Mara also holds an MA/Ed.m in counseling psychology from Teachers College Columbia University.