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  • 8 Female Filmmakers Selected for 2017 AFI Conservatory Directing Workshop for Women

    [caption id="attachment_20475" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]AFI 2016 Honorary Degree recipient Rita Moreno AFI 2016 Honorary Degree recipient Rita Moreno[/caption] The AFI Conservatory Directing Workshop for Women (DWW) — AFI’s filmmaker training program committed to increasing the number of women working as directors and showrunners in film and television — has revealed the eight participants for 2017–2018.   Following a recent kick-off event on the AFI Campus with DWW’s 2017 Distinguished Artist, filmmaker Paul Feig (BRIDESMAIDS, GHOSTBUSTERS, SPY and a four-time Emmy® nominee for TV’s THE OFFICE), the Class of 2018 will embark on a year of mentorship, collaboration and creation to make a short film or series — all in preparation for professional success in narrative directing. Feig, a longtime champion of female creators through his film and television work and his production banner Feigco Entertainment, fielded questions from the incoming DWW participants in an intimate meet-and-greet on Friday, February 3, on campus. “To meet with this amazingly impassioned group of diverse, talented filmmakers is a dream come true,” said Feig. “I salute the AFI for their strong support of female storytellers. We need their voices more than ever.” The DWW Class of 2018 filmmakers are: Beth de Araújo, Georgia Fu, Milena Govich, Tiffany Johnson, Katrelle Kindred, Nancy Mejía, Gandja Monteiro and Lorraine Nicholson. BETH DE ARAÚJO A dual citizen in the U.S. and Brazil, Beth de Araújo was born in San Francisco to a Chinese-American mother and a Brazilian father. She acquired a soccer scholarship to UC Berkeley, where she studied institutions, behavior and poetry, graduating with a BA in Sociology. She also spent a semester abroad at Hong Kong University creating an independent study focused on gender, sexuality and religion. She discovered she wanted to be a storyteller, leading her to acquire her MFA in Screenwriting at the AFI Conservatory. Her most recent screenplay, “I Want to Marry a Creative Jewish Girl,” based on her Gawker essay, won Best Screenplay Runner-up in the HollyShorts 2016 Screenplay Competition. Her latest short film as director/writer, INITIATION, premiered in September 2016 at the Oscar®-qualifying Los Angeles Shorts Film Festival. Currently, de Araújo is a staff writer/associate producer on a new one-hour comedy anthology series for Lifetime Movie Network, MY CRAZY SEX, which will premiere in early 2017. She will also make her TV directorial debut on two episodes of the series. GEORGIA FU Georgia Fu was born in Taipei, Taiwan, but immigrated to California with her parents when she was two years old. She found cinema as a way into understanding American culture, and ever since has had an avid passion for seeing life through the lens of film. For her undergraduate degree, she attended New York University’s (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts for Cinema Studies with a minor in East Asian Studies. In college, she gained valuable film experience working for the production company ThinkFilm and producer Barbara De Fina (GOODFELLAS). After college, she spent more than a year in Taiwan taking on the important task of relearning her native language, Chinese, at National Taiwan University. After Taiwan she was able to continue her passion for moving around the world, living in Paris and Hong Kong, while working at the photo desk at the International Herald Tribune. After her stint in journalism, she returned to her love of film by pursing her graduate degree at NYU’s Tisch Asia in Singapore. While at Tisch Asia, she made the short film GIGANTIC (2012), which screened at the Slamdance Film Festival and Chicago International Film Festival, where it was nominated for the Gold Hugo Award for Best Short Film. Her latest project, her Taiwan-shot NYU grad thesis film MISS WORLD, is currently in post-production. Fu is also completing a photo project on incarceration under the guidance of the VII Photo Masterclass in Berlin. In addition to her own films, she has often worked as either editor or assistant director on countless productions around the world, in places as varied as Prague, Los Angeles, China, Japan, the Philippines, Taiwan, Indonesia, Macau and Hong Kong. MILENA GOVICH Milena Govich is a director, actress, singer and musician. On Broadway, she performed in “Cabaret” at Studio 54, “Boys From Syracuse” and “Good Vibrations.” On television, she acted in starring roles on FINDING CARTER (MTV), LAW & ORDER (NBC) and CONVICTION (NBC), and recurred on a number of others, most notably RESCUE ME (FX). On film, she starred opposite Steve Guttenberg in A NOVEL ROMANCE (2011) and opposite Method Man in #LUCKY NUMBER (2015). She has regularly performed onstage in the popular For the Record performance series in Los Angeles. Govich has mentored with more than a dozen established film and television directors. She made her first official foray into directing this past year with the short film TEMPORARY. A native of Norman, OK, she graduated valedictorian from her high school and went on to graduate valedictorian from the University of Central Oklahoma with a double major in Pre-Med and Vocal Performance, as well as minors in Dance and Violin. She is currently developing TV and film projects with her husband and producing partner, writer David Cornue. TIFFANY JOHNSON Hailing straight out of Compton, Tiffany Johnson is a filmmaker and storyteller. Since graduating from film school, she has worked for several TV and film production companies such as CBS, Overbrook Entertainment and Film Independent, and has assisted Academy Award®-winning producer Peggy Rajski. For the past few years, she has freelanced as a producer on numerous live television award shows. Her credits include MTV Movie Awards, MTV Video Music Awards, NAACP Image Awards, People’s Choice Awards and the Primetime Emmys®. In 2014, she directed her second short film, LADYLIKE. A collaboration with creative partner Nicholas P. Williams, LADYLIKE screened at multiple festivals including the San Francisco Black Film Festival, the Lower East Side Film Festival and the Diversity in Cannes showcase, where she won the Director’s Choice Award. Johnson continues to develop her own projects, including the feature-film version of LADYLIKE. She is currently in post-production on her latest short film, DEAD GAY FICTIONAL. KATRELLE KINDRED A native of South Los Angeles, Katrelle Kindred is an award-winning director, writer and producer. After teaching English Language Arts in Compton, CA, Kindred completed her graduate studies in Film Production at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts. Her short film, SON SHINE (2013), played dozens of film festivals across the country, winning several awards including Best Narrative at the Humboldt International Film Festival; the San Francisco Black Film Festival’s Ava Montague Award; and Best Actor at the Los Angeles Women’s International Film Festival. Her producing work includes 2015’s Student Academy Award Gold winner LOOKING AT THE STARS, and THE BIG CHOP (2016), which was optioned to HBO. In the future, Kindred would like to continue creating honest stories that focus on global, social issues and on people often unheard. NANCY MEJÍA Nancy Mejía is a director/writer from Los Angeles, CA. A first-generation Salvadoran American, she endeavors to explore and share original portrayals of diverse, overlooked communities. She was awarded the 2014 Latino Film Fund Seed Grant and 2015 Latino Screenwriting Project Fellowship, a lab organized with consulting support from the Sundance Institute. Her short, MATEO (2014), about a Latino teen’s fraught relationship with his abusive father, aired on El Rey Network in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month. Her dramatic screenplay “Jennifer’s Tigers” — a coming-of-age story following a relationship between an African-American girl and a Caucasian girl in the mid-20th-century American South — was a 2014 quarterfinalist for the Academy Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting and selected as part of the National Association of Latino Independent Producers’ 2015 Diverse Women in Media Residency Lab. Recently, she was a finalist for the 2016-18 ABC-Disney Directing Program. For the past year, she has been in development with MiTú network working on a scripted teen drama series. Currently, she is co-creating a supernatural comedy-horror series, DARK WOLF GANG. GANDJA MONTEIRO Gandja Monteiro is a director, writer and producer based in Los Angeles and São Paulo. Raised between New York’s Lower East Side and Brazil, she has been making films since she was 17 and traveling the world since she was just three months old. This early exposure to such vast cultures instilled a curiosity that has always inspired and informed her work. Since graduating in film from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, she has directed work in more than a dozen countries, four continents and eight languages. Her narrative short ALMOST EVERY DAY (2009) won international visibility in festivals such as Tribeca and Palm Springs, and went on to be shortlisted for the Academy Awards®. Monteiro has directed commercials and branded content for industry heavy-hitters such as Nike, Adidas, Coca-Cola, AT&T, Chevrolet and Smirnoff, among others. She recently wrapped production on her first TV project, an hour-long episode for HBO’s documentary series YOUTH, produced by Prodigo Films. LORRAINE NICHOLSON Director/writer Lorraine Nicholson most recently completed her third short film, LIFE BOAT. Nicholson’s first short, THE INSTANT MESSAGE, explores teenage sexuality in the internet age. Her second short, THIS MAGIC MOMENT, depicts the unconventional love between a movie star and her stalker. Additional writing and directing credits include R.I.P., an eight-episode web series on Blumhouse’s CrypTV, which champions new voices in filmmaking. Additionally, Nicholson brought her fresh perspective to up-and-coming artist Hana’s music video for “Clay,” and to a trio of stop-motion videos she co-directed for Grammy®-nominated artist Tommy Trash’s “Luv U Giv” EP. She also worked as a staff writer on Bret Easton Ellis’ series THE DELETED. Nicholson has honed her filmmaking skills working as an actress for 10 years. Her wide range of credits include the feature films CLICK (2006) with Adam Sandler, SOUL SURFER (2011) with Helen Hunt and Bobcat Goldthwait’s WORLD’S GREATEST DAD (2009). Born and raised in Los Angeles, Nicholson graduated from Brown University in 2012. The 2017 DWW Showcase for this year’s graduating class of participants, who began their work in the program last year, will take place on April 18, 2017, at the DGA Theater in Los Angeles.

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  • INTERVIEW: Joel Potrykus – The New King of Underground Cinema

    [caption id="attachment_18175" align="aligncenter" width="1000"]Joel Potrykus Joel Potrykus[/caption] Whether his characters are doing stand-up comedy, eating spaghetti in fancy hotels, or devoting their lives to conjuring the Devil himself, Grand Rapids native and filmmaker Joel Potrykus has no trouble making sure it gets really, really weird. Through three features, including last year’s critically acclaimed Buzzard, Potrykus has given audiences a peek at a certain kind of American that is rarely encountered on the average day. Like one of Austin’s wanderers in Slacker who’s read one too many Bret Easton Ellis novel, Potrykus captures a certain shocking, toxic masculinity that’s as subversively hilarious as it is alarmingly relevant. I had a chance to talk to Joel about his latest film, The Alchemist Cookbook, about a forest-dweller named Sean who really wants to get possessed by Satan. Josef: Your previous films, Buzzard and Ape, have flirted with elements of horror, but your most recent work, The Alchemist Cookbook, is the closest thing you’ve ever made to a genre film. At what point did you realize you were capable of tackling something that may have required a lot more precision in execution than some of your previous work? On the other hand, do you think your previous work has always had a pacing and tone that feels unrehearsed but is, in fact, extremely precise? Joel: Buzzard was very precise. Every tiny exchange between characters and prop was thought over for months and months. Sometimes, the more you prep, the more it looks improvised. With Cookbook I certainly wasn’t setting out to make a horror movie. It was black magic and a demon, but I still would never call it horror. I’m just trying to make movies that I would want to see. I’d want to see Cookbook even if I hadn’t directed it. I’m definitely not here to impose a political agenda on you or your films, but with more noticeable diversity campaigns online (#OscarsSoWhite for instance), did you make a conscious decision to cast people of color in the two lead roles, or was that something that came to you naturally during writing and pre-production? It was a choice from the start. I didn’t want to get pegged as the guy making movies about angry white guys in the suburbs. So I intentionally brought this one out into the woods with black guys. There were so many great movies I loved growing up that focused on black characters and rarely did they get the chance to mess around with the Devil and chemistry, even. I never want to tell a story that is predictable or cliched in any way at all. Ty Hickson, who plays Sean, said he’s never been offered a role like this. He was just as excited as I was to shake things up. Another really striking aspect of this film is its subtle comments on the nature of mental illness and how sometimes it can feel like you’re being possessed by some kind of invading force. The way it’s portrayed in the film seems like it came from a very personal place. Exploring mental illness through horror has surfaced to the mainstream in a big but ultimately disappointing way this year, with films like Lights Out seeming more exploitative than empathetic. How did you maintain that balance between entertainment, empathy, and realism in your portrayal of Sean’s mental state as it fluctuates throughout the film? My goodness, was Lights Out a disappointment. Love the short, but it’s a simple concept stretched way too far. To be honest, the movie is about a mental illness that overcame my grandfather when I was a kid. That type of paranoia is a lot scarier to the person suffering than it is to us. Most people could never imagine the waking nightmare of schizophrenia. I’ll never make a film about just one thing, or a film that lives in one mood or tone. Our everyday lives are full of drama, humor, and even horror. This type of mental illness is a straight up horror most of the time. It was important to try to get inside Sean’s head. The camera never strays from his perspective for a reason. I want the audience to question everything. [caption id="attachment_16518" align="aligncenter" width="1000"]The Alchemist Cookbook The Alchemist Cookbook[/caption] Moving away from the thematics of the film and more into technical aspects, what was it like shooting on an Alexa? If I’m not mistaken Buzzard was shot on a Mark III so this is a huge step up in terms of the range of images you’re able to capture. I noticed a lot more night scenes in this film that were confidently lit using dim candles, campfires, and other sources of natural or visible lighting. For the first week I hated the Alexa. It was heavy, bulky, and slowed my process down. But DP Adam J. Minnick is about the only guy I’d trust to see the scene the same as I do. So I was totally confident. The only artificial light used were blasting into the trailer in order to maintain consistent daylight effect throughout the long shooting day. Otherwise, all exteriors are natural light, which is important to Adam and me. I never want my movies to look like a movie. At night, in the woods, it’s dark. Really dark. I wanted no fake blasting full moon. I wanted the audience to strain to see things. We actually darkened night scenes to make them even blacker. I can imagine that you and the actor who played Sean, Ty Hickman, got very close over the course of this production. Tell me a bit about the casting process, and what it was like to spend all that time focusing mostly on one actor. Specifically, did it ever cross your mind to cast someone who was right for the role as well as being someone you wouldn’t mind spending a month alone in the woods with? Personality is important to me. Ty first got my attention after a scene in Gimme the Loot when he leaves a basement and hits a punching bag on the way out. One of the first things I asked him about is whether or not that was scripted. It wasn’t. He said, “who wouldn’t punch that?” Exactly. That’s the kind of actor I want to work with. Someone with instincts. On Cookbook I’d let the scene play out as scripted, then just let the camera linger and see what Ty would do. It threw him off for the first day or two, but once he understood that I was messing with him a little, he got into it. Those are my favorite moments – the unscripted ones, where I’m surprised. Even better if the actor can surprise himself. I hate sticking to the page and feeling like it’s a construction site. I want mistakes and surprises. Touching again on the intimacy of it all, how big was your crew on a day-to-day basis, and what was the lodging situation like while on-set? I remember you going dark on Facebook pretty much the entire time you were shooting, and I was scared you guys had run into a Blair Witch Project scenario. I wish we’d run into a real life witch or demon. Total bummer that those woods weren’t actually haunted. This was our biggest crew – around 20, I’d say. Not my usual style. Most of us crashed in a huge 10 room house that acted as our production headquarters, and a few stayed with friendly residents in Allegan, Michigan, where we filmed. I’m stoked to someday go back to the old set and look for the “pay up” tree and some props we hid around the woods. What was your relationship like with horror films growing up and into your adulthood? One of my favorite things about Sean is that he so desperately wants to be possessed by the Devil, while most characters in scary movies do everything they can to avoid such a fate. Was there any part of you that wrote that character with the meta elements in mind? Yeah, it’s rare to see a character actively pursuing evil. The original Evil Dead inspired me to make films at an early age. I’ve always been obsessed with horror and it’ll always be present in my work one way or another. An American Werewolf in London may be my favorite movie ever. Its tonal shifts are perfect. Just last night I watched Halloween III and the shitty new Ouija movie. [caption id="attachment_18176" align="aligncenter" width="1000"]The Alchemist Cookbook The Alchemist Cookbook[/caption] During our last interview I remember you talking briefly about the spaghetti scene in Buzzard, which has since become something of a legend amongst indie film buffs. But it seems like you just love to film people eating. Is there something that you feel is captured when the audience watches a character eat that can’t be conveyed any other way, or am I reading far too much into what’s ultimately just a nifty coincidence? Eating is one of the most private things we do. It’s something we need to do and something we love to do. I’m fascinated by watching people eating when they think no one is watching. I’m a sloppy eater, with no manners. I never really consciously thought that I need an eating scene in my movies, they just appear on the page. But some of my favorite scenes are when a character eats – I want to join Zack and Jack at the table during that Italian feast in Down by Law. I read somewhere that you’re currently not going to divulge whether or not the possum in the film is real. That’s fine! My only question is, whether or not it was real, that scene could not have been easy to shoot. Was it a scene that you had already planned out in your head or was it something you knew you’d have to figure out down the line? Well, magic happened and we got the shot in the first take. The evil spirits of cinema were on my side that night. I watched in fascination as the camera rolled. I’d like to know a little bit about your life as a teacher, and how your own experiences inform your lessons, or if any students have come to you as fans of your work and if that can actually help establish a connection with them without necessarily having to “prove yourself.” I try not to talk about myself or own work much, but generally students know who I am and sometimes ask direct questions about my movies. I think it lends some credibility to watch me talk about it in class. I like to cut through the textbooks and get to the reality of the industry, especially the indie world which is in constant motion. It’s great to expose film students to work that I consider important, like Aguirre, 8 1/2, Gummo, or even Wendy and Lucy. I also think it’s just as important to learn from others’ mistakes, so occasionally we dive into Birdemic or bad commercials. [caption id="attachment_18177" align="aligncenter" width="1000"]The Alchemist Cookbook The Alchemist Cookbook[/caption] You’re obviously responsible for launching Joshua Burge’s career, and he went from Buzzard to The Revenant in just a year’s time. Have you guys stayed in regular contact since making the film? I know if there’s anyone who’s going to keep his head from getting too big it’s going to be you. Well, I wouldn’t say I’m responsible for launching his career. And if I am, then he’s responsible for launching my career. It’s a total blast to see him get the recognition he deserves. The dude’s just got it. Hoping we work together on the next one. He still lives only a few minutes away from me, so I see him whenever he’s not in a far off land acting with the big shots. He’s still just Josh to me. Lastly, I feel almost obligated to ask what you’re working on next since that’s the question that ends most interviews, but I’d really like to know what your day-to-day is like when you aren’t actively working on a movie. A lot of aspiring directors forget to account for the downtime in between projects, and I’m curious how you keep your mind active when you aren’t talking to producers or actors or reading over budgets and rewriting drafts. I’m always working on at least one feature script. I’ve got three finished right now, but focusing on one to shoot next summer. Just looking for the money, as usual. Normally, I start my day looking at emails and Facebook in bed, oatmeal breakfast, then get to writing for a few hours, lunch, grade papers, read a chapter or two from whatever stuffy film theory book I’m into at the moment on my bus ride to the university, teach for a couple hours, watch some Howard Stern clips on YouTube, write for a little longer, dinner, watch an episode of Shark Tank, write, end the night with a movie in my office. I get set in my routines. **The Alchemist Cookbook is available for purchase on any website where movies are sold, including a pay-what-you-want option on BitTorrent** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IFqOBquZjU

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  • Ten Narrative Film Projects Selected for 2016 IFP Filmmaker Labs

    2016 IFP Filmmaker Labs Ten narratives have been selected for the 2016 IFP Filmmaker Labs, IFP’s annual yearlong fellowship for first-time feature directors. The creative teams of the selected films are currently attending the first week’s sessions – The Time Warner Foundation Completion Labs – taking place May 23-27th in New York City. The IFP Narrative Filmmaker Labs are the only labs that support first-time feature directors with projects in post-production as they complete, market and distribute their films. The Labs provide filmmakers with the technical, creative and strategic tools necessary to launch their films and careers. Now entering its twelfth year with over 100+ first-feature filmmakers supported, the community of Labs alumni is comprised of some of the most exciting and critically-acclaimed artists working today across film, television, new media and VR; these include multi-hyphenate creators such as Amy Seimetz (“The Girlfriend Experience”), Alex Karpovsky (“Girls”), David Lowery (PETE’S DRAGON), Dee Rees (BESSIE), Andrew Dosunmu (MOTHER OF GEORGE), Tim Sutton (DARK NIGHT), Jennifer Phang (ADVANTAGEOUS), and Terence Nance (AN OVERSIMPLIFICATION OF HER BEAUTY). Recent 2015 IFP Labs Fellows have been already making their mark on the festival circuit. Just this year, THE ARBALEST won SXSW’s Narrative Grand Jury Prize and DONALD CRIED received distribution from The Orchard. Of the ten selected projects, seven have already premiered at top festivals including SXSW, Tribeca, Los Angeles Film Festival, Slamdance and Bentonville and two fellows are shooting new projects this summer. “To highlight and support diverse stories and storytellers has always been the mission of the IFP Labs and of IFP as a whole,” says Joana Vicente, Executive Director of IFP and the Made in NY Media Center. “This year’s Narrative Lab Fellows are a perfect example of this, and the boundless creativity and diversity in their work is evident in just how wide-ranging these films’ settings are: from Kyiv, Ukraine, to the Alaskan fish canneries, to right here in Brooklyn’s Borough Park neighborhood.” Under the artistic direction of IFP Head of Programming Amy Dotson and Program Manager and Producer Zach Mandinach, the supervising 2016 Narrative Lab leaders include Jon Reiss, director/producer and author (BOMB IT!; Think Outside the Box Office), Susan Stover, producer (WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE; HIGH ART; HAPPY ACCIDENTS); Pierce Varous, producer (ALWAYS SHINE; H.) and founder of Nice Dissolve; Scott Macaulay, Filmmaker Magazine’s Editor-in-Chief and producer (JULIEN-DONKEY BOY). Individual Workshop Leaders include composer Keegan Dewitt (I’LL SEE YOU IN MY DREAMS; QUEEN OF EARTH), film editors Sabine Hoffman (MAGGIE’S PLAN; THE BALLAD OF JACK AND ROSE), Lee Percy (MARIA FULL OF GRACE; BOYS DON’T CRY), Jennifer Ruff (A WOMAN, A PART; GLASS CHIN),) and Marc Vives (MUSEUM HOURS; I USED TO BE DARKER), marketing experts Adam Kersh (Brigade Marketing) and Nick Camacho (Oscilloscope Laboratories), producers Anne Carey (THE DIARY OF A TEENAGE GIRL; THE SAVAGES), Mollye Asher (SONGS MY BROTHERS TAUGHT ME), Jodi Redmond (THE WITCH), and Darren Dean (TANGERINE), festival programmers Tom Hall (Montclair Film Festival) and Dan Nuxoll (Rooftop Films), and fellow filmmakers Ingrid Jungermann (WOMEN WHO KILL), Leah Meyerhoff (I BELIEVE IN UNICORNS), and Takeshi Fukunaga (OUT OF MY HAND). In addition to lead support from the Time Warner Foundation, additional support for the IFP Filmmaker Labs includes grants from The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Ford Foundation, Hollywood Foreign Press Association, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, New York State Council on the Arts, and SAGIndie. Lab partners include The Adrienne Shelly Foundation, BMI, and Rooftop Films. The selected narrative projects for the 2016 IFP Filmmaker Labs and their attending Lab Fellows are: ALASKA IS A DRAG An aspiring superstar’s diva fabulous dreams are hard fought working at a fish cannery in Alaska. He dreams of escaping the monotony of fish guts and fist fights, but in the meantime, out of necessity he has learned to fight and is scouted by the local boxing coach and a new boy moves to town and wants to be his sparring partner. Shaz Bennett (Director, Writer, Producer), Jean-Pierre Caner (Producer, Consulting Editor). Los Angeles, CA. A BAD IDEA GONE WRONG A comedy about two would-­be thieves who accidentally arm the alarm system and have to break out of the house they just broke into. When they discover an unexpected housesitter, they suddenly have to deal with a hostage situation, double crosses, and discoveries that make their difficult escape even more dubious. Jason Headley (Director, Writer), Tim Fender (Editor). San Francisco, CA. COLD NOVEMBER A 12-year-old girl being raised within a matriarchal household is taken through the right of passage of killing a deer for the first time. Expectations dissolve into chaos, and Florence finds herself alone, relying on instinct and training to follow through with her decisions and pull herself together while simultaneously living through the aftermath of a recent family trauma. Karl Jacob (Director, Writer, Producer), Pete Ohs (Editor). Hibbing, MN. DAYVEON Dayveon is a twelve-year-old boy who is coming to terms with the death of his older brother. Torn between a loving sister who has become his sole caretaker and the sense of camaraderie offered by his local gang, he’s forced to make decisions that threaten to rob him of his innocence. Amman Abbasi (Director, Writer, Producer), Steven Reneau (Writer, Producer). Little Rock, AR. HEARTLOCK A convict realizes his best shot at escaping is to master the art of “ducking,” a specialized form of prison manipulation in which an inmate befriends a flawed guard for the purposes of blackmail. He targets a tough-as-nails female guard with an underlying vulnerability. However, it doesn’t take long for his plan to hit a snag: he falls in love with her. Jon Kauffman (Director, Writer), Chris Cummings (Writer), Dominic Laperriere (Editor). New York, NY. JULIA BLUE Julia, a bright university student, is preparing for a life abroad when she meets English, a damaged soldier returning from the war zone in eastern Ukraine. An unexpected romance sparks between the two, as Julia and English fall deeply for each other. From metropolitan Kyiv to a remote Carpathian village, Julia and English must decide if they are ready to build a future together in a homeland that is slowly being torn apart. Roxy Toporowych (Director, Writer), Nilou Safinya (Producer), Ben Kim (Editor). Brooklyn, NY. THE MISSING SUN After a solar flare powers down her remote community, Alma discovers her husband Terry comatose. Pursuing a series of bizarre clues, she soon believes Terry is astral traveling to reunite with his deceased ex-wife. Determined to bring him back, Alma seeks helps from Terry’s estranged, psychedelic son and from the leader of a new-age religion who believes the sun-storm may signal the end-times. Brennan Vance (Director, Writer, Producer, DP, Editor), James Christenson (Producer). Minneapolis, MN. POOR JANE Jane and Henry are in a loving marriage. Another man humiliates Henry at a Christmas party and Jane decides she no longer loves him. The following morning Jane tells Henry she’s going to Target, but instead checks into a hotel and stops answering her phone. Jane spends the holidays drinking, having impulsive encounters with men and contemplating whether or not she wants to remain married. Katie Orr (Director, Writer), Alex Orr (Producer), David Swinburne (Co-Producer). Atlanta, GA. SOLACE When her father dies, Sole, 17, numbs her emotions with food. She unwillingly lives with her estranged grandmother. Desperate to escape her grandmother’s controlling love and illicit relationship with the pastor, Sole enters a forbidden friendship with the rebellious teenage neighbors. Juggling these relationships spirals Sole out of control with food but it ultimately forces her to confront her pain. Tchaiko Omawale (Director, Writer, Producer), Eileen Cabling (Associate Producer), Amanda Griffin (Editor). Los Angeles, CA. UNTITLED HASIDIC FILM Given unprecedented access to New York’s Orthodox Jewish community, the film is a story of faith and fatherhood – performed entirely in Yiddish. Joshua Z Weinstein (Director, Writer, Producer, DP), Daniel Finkelman (Producer), Danelle Eliav (Co-Producer), Royce Brown (Co-Producer). Brooklyn, NY.

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  • Alamo Drafthouse Greets Brooklyn with FREE Outdoor Film Screenings

    [caption id="attachment_13970" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]BEST IN SHOW BEST IN SHOW[/caption] With its Downtown Brooklyn theater set to open later this summer, the Alamo Drafthouse Brooklyn will offer a taste of its movie programming with three free admission outdoor screenings at Fort Greene Park. Featuring three revered contemporary classics, these outdoor shows are a chance for Alamo to introduce itself and connect with New York’s movie-lovers. Each screening will take place at sundown and will be complimented by themed festivities before the show. “We’re excited for the opportunity to finally share movies with the community before our venue opens. With the Brooklyn sky as our roof, these Fort Greene Park screenings represent the perfect opportunity to meet our new neighbors and introduce them to Alamo Drafthouse,” says NY Creative Manager/Programmer Cristina Cacioppo. One-of-a-kind film experiences have long been a hallmark of Alamo Drafthouse’s unique approach to programming: for over fifteen years the company has produced screenings of iconic films in iconic locations across the globe. Such high profile signature events have included Sergio Leone’s FISTFUL OF DOLLARS in Spain, ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ on Alcatraz Island, CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND at the foot of Devil’s Tower, and JAWS on the famed sandy beaches of Martha’s Vineyard. “Alamo Drafthouse primarily operates in a theater environment but we’re not limited to that experience,” says Henri Mazza, VP of Special Events. “We exist to create unique and memorable cinematic experiences for audiences everywhere, whether it’s in a theater, on a lake, or in a beautiful park in the heart of Brooklyn. These screenings are a sample of what’s in store for the coming years.” May 27 – Bring Your Own Dog Screening of BEST IN SHOW Enjoy Christopher Guest’s uproarious mockumentary along with your pooch! Dog owners are welcome to bring their pets and will have the chance to parade them before the audience in a pre-movie dog show. June 3 – Quote-Along®: LABYRINTH Alamo’s beloved version of LABYRINTH allows the audience to sing-along with the David Bowie tunes and quote the best lines of the movie. Free souvenir props will also be available for the first to arrive at the park! June 10 – FINDING NEMO One week before the release of FINDING DORY, kids big and small can revisit Pixar’s original aquatic adventure with the Tank Gang. Costumes are encouraged, and surprises are in store!

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  • Tisha Campbell-Martin, Naturi Naughton, Fran Burst Honored at Black Women Film Summit

    [caption id="attachment_11980" align="aligncenter" width="720"]Fran Burst, Mikki Taylor, Naturi Naughton, Sheryl Gripper, Tisha Campbell-Martin at The Black Women Film Network Fran Burst, Mikki Taylor, Naturi Naughton, Sheryl Gripper, Tisha Campbell-Martin at The Black Women Film Network[/caption] Last week, the Black Women Film Network (BWFN) hosted the 2016 Black Women Film Summit, featuring the popular “Untold Stories Awards Luncheon.” Actress/singer Tisha Campbell-Martin (ABC’s “Dr. Ken”), actress/singer Naturi Naughton (“POWER”), ESSENCE editor-at-large Mikki Taylor and film director and producer Fran Burst were honored at the2016 Black Women Film Summit held at the Intercontinental Buckhead. TV and radio personality Ebony Steele (“Coffee with America”) hosted the affair with music provided by DJ Salah Ananse. Scholarships were awarded to aspiring filmmakers Anita Salley and Martha Carswell. Additional luncheon attendees included comedian/writer Myra J, actress Charmin Lee and media personality Spirit. The Summit that day also included the “Reel Sista Talk” and “Marketing Your Film to Hollywood” panel discussions featuring Haj Chenzira Pinnock, Mikki Taylor, Shante Bacon and Saptosa Foster. On Saturday, the Summit hosted a number of seminars and panels including a Kids Acting Workshop, a Comedy Class led by Myra J, a “Screenwriting 101” workshop and “The YBF: Young, Black & Filming” panel. Additionally, authors James E. Chandler, Sr., Amber Saunders, Saunya M. Williams, Ph.D, and BWFN founder Sheryl Gripper showcased their titles at the Book Festival, while various black women filmmakers from around the country debuted their film shorts during the competitive Film Festival. At the end of the day, the winning films were announced: Best of Festival Masquerade Meleisha Edwards, Writer/Producer Best of Festival (Student Category) Suga Water Nakia Stephens, Writer/Producer Audience Participation Award Ms. Glo Angela Edmond, Writer/Director

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  • 332 Invited to Join Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; Finish Director Pirjo Honkasalo Rejects Invitation

    Pirjo Honkasalo The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is extending invitations to join the organization to 322 artists and executives who have distinguished themselves by their contributions to theatrical motion pictures.  Those who accept the invitations will be the only additions to the Academy’s membership in 2015. “It’s gratifying to acknowledge the extraordinary range of talent in our industry,” said Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs.  “This year, our branches have recognized a more diverse and inclusive list of filmmakers and artists than ever before, and we look forward to adding their creativity, ideas and experience to our organization.” Update:  Finnish film director Pirjo Honkasalo (pictured above) has reportedly dismissed an invitation to become a member of the  Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences reports thenewage.
    Honkasalo told the biggest Finnish language daily that she would rather belong to organizations where she can influence decisions. She criticized the position of foreign films in the Oscar nominations. Honkasalo said that lobbyists and personal relations have too great a role in the Oscar process.
    The 2015 invitees are: Actors Elizabeth Banks – “Love & Mercy,” “The Hunger Games” Choi Min-sik– “Lucy,” “Oldboy” Benedict Cumberbatch – “The Imitation Game,” “Star Trek Into Darkness” Martin Freeman – “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” “Hot Fuzz” Heather Graham – “The Hangover,” “Boogie Nights” Tom Hardy – “Mad Max: Fury Road,” “Inception” Kevin Hart – “The Wedding Ringer,” “Ride Along” Felicity Jones – “The Theory of Everything,” “Like Crazy” Stephen Lang – “Avatar,” “The Men Who Stare at Goats” Jodi Long – “A Picture of You,” “Beginners” John Carroll Lynch – “Shutter Island,” “Zodiac” Gugu Mbatha-Raw – “Beyond the Lights,” “Belle” Denis O’Hare – “Milk,” “Michael Clayton” Michael O’Neill – “Dallas Buyers Club,” “Transformers” David Oyelowo – “Selma,” “A Most Violent Year” Dev Patel – “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,” “Slumdog Millionaire” Rosamund Pike – “Gone Girl,” “Pride & Prejudice” Chris Pine – “Into the Woods,” “Star Trek” Daniel Radcliffe – “Kill Your Darlings,” “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2” Eddie Redmayne – “The Theory of Everything,” “Les Misérables” Jason Segel – “The Five-Year Engagement,” “The Muppets” J.K. Simmons – “Whiplash,” “Juno” Sonny Skyhawk – “Geronimo: An American Legend,” “Young Guns II” Song Kang-ho – “Snowpiercer,” “The Host” Emma Stone – “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance),” “The Help” Casting Directors Lucy Bevan – “Cinderella,” “The Hundred-Foot Journey” Victoria Burrows – “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” “King Kong” Aisha Coley – “Selma,” “Beyond the Lights” Patricia DiCerto – “Blue Jasmine,” “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” Mary Hidalgo – “The Lego Movie,” “The Incredibles” Roger Mussenden – “X-Men: Days of Future Past,” “Get Smart” Lucie Robitaille – “Incendies,” “The Barbarian Invasions” Luis San Narciso – “The Skin I Live In,” “The Sea Inside” April Webster – “Tomorrowland,” “Star Trek” Tricia Wood – “Woman in Gold,” “The Lincoln Lawyer” Cinematographers Christopher Blauvelt – “The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby,” “The Bling Ring” Adriano Goldman – “August: Osage County,” “Jane Eyre” Ben Kasulke – “Laggies,” “Safety Not Guaranteed” Ryszard Lenczewski – “Ida,” “Margaret” Jody Lee Lipes – “Ballet 422,” “Martha Marcy May Marlene” Sharone Meir – “Whiplash,” “Mean Creek” Rachel Morrison – “Cake,” “Fruitvale Station” Tristan Oliver – “ParaNorman,” “Fantastic Mr. Fox” Hoyte Van Hoytema – “Interstellar,” “Her” Roman Vasyanov – “Fury,” “End of Watch” Łukasz Żal – “Ida,” “Joanna” Costume Designers Kasia Walicka Maimone – “Foxcatcher,” “Moonrise Kingdom” Francesca Livia Sartori – “Piazza Fontana: The Italian Conspiracy,” “When the Night” Jany Temime – “Gravity,” “Skyfall” Designers Ramsey Avery – “Tomorrowland,” “Star Trek Into Darkness” Gae Buckley – “The Book of Eli,” “He’s Just Not That into You” Keith Brian Burns – “The Best Man Holiday,” “2 Fast 2 Furious” Lester W. Cohen – “Fading Gigolo,” “Cop Land” Suzie Davies – “Mr. Turner,” “The Children” John F. Fenner – “The Phantom of the Opera,” “The Talented Mr. Ripley” Darren Gilford – “Oblivion,” “Tron: Legacy” Derek R. Hill – “Southpaw,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” Bryn Imagire – “Cars 2,” “Up” Dina Lipton – “Baggage Claim,” “Love Hurts” Tatiana Macdonald – “The Imitation Game,” “The Invisible Woman” Dominic Masters – “Woman in Gold,” “Casino Royale” Doug Meerdink – “Jurassic World,” “Ocean’s Thirteen” Chris Spellman – “Paper Towns,” “This Is the End” Patrick Tatopoulos – “300: Rise of an Empire,” “Total Recall” Charlotte Watts – “Mr. Holmes,” “Mr. Turner” Directors Michael Binder – “Black or White,” “Reign over Me” Bong Joon-ho – “Snowpiercer,” “Mother” Niki Caro – “North Country,” “Whale Rider” Damien Chazelle* – “Whiplash,” “Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench” Simon Curtis – “Woman in Gold,” “My Week with Marilyn” François Girard – “Silk,” “The Red Violin” F. Gary Gray – “The Italian Job,” “Friday” James Gunn – “Guardians of the Galaxy,” “Super” Im Kwon-taek – “Chi-Hwa-Seon (Painted Fire),” “Chunhyang” Stan Lathan – “Beat Street,” “Amazing Grace” Malcolm D. Lee* – “The Best Man Holiday,” “The Best Man” Justin Lin – “Fast & Furious 6,” “Better Luck Tomorrow” François Ozon – “Young & Beautiful,” “Swimming Pool” Paweł Pawlikowski* – “Ida,” “My Summer of Love” Kelly Reichardt – “Meek’s Cutoff,” “Wendy and Lucy” Ira Sachs – “Love Is Strange,” “Keep the Lights On” Lynn Shelton – “Laggies,” “Your Sister’s Sister” Abderrahmane Sissako* – “Timbuktu,” “Bamako” Damián Szifron* – “Wild Tales,” “On Probation” Fernando Trueba – “Chico & Rita,” “Belle Epoque” Morten Tyldum – “The Imitation Game,” “Headhunters” Zaza Urushadze – “Tangerines,” “The Guardian” Wayne Wang – “Anywhere but Here,” “The Joy Luck Club” Edgar Wright – “The World’s End,” “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” Joe Wright – “Anna Karenina,” “Atonement” Andrey Zvyagintsev* – “Leviathan,” “Elena” Documentary Richard Berge – “The Island President,” “The Rape of Europa” Mathilde Bonnefoy* – “CitizenFour,” “The Invisibles” Emad Burnat – “5 Broken Cameras” Guy Davidi – “5 Broken Cameras,” “Interrupted Streams” Geralyn Dreyfous – “The Square,” “The Invisible War” Lewis Erskine – “Free Angela: And All Political Prisoners,” “Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple” Shana Hagan – “Misconception,” “This Film Is Not Yet Rated” Tony Hardmon – “Detropia,” “Semper Fi: Always Faithful” Leonard Retel Helmrich – “Position among the Stars,” “Shape of the Moon” Pirjo Honkasalo – “The 3 Rooms of Melancholia,” “Atman” Judy Irving – “Pelican Dreams,” “The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill” Robert Kenner – “Merchants of Doubt,” “Food, Inc.” Marc Levin – “Mr. Untouchable,” “The Last Party” Jesse Moss – “The Overnighters,” “Full Battle Rattle” Pratibha Parmar – “Alice Walker: Beauty in Truth,” “A Place of Rage” Paula DuPre’ Pesmen – “Keep On Keepin’ On,” “The Cove” Gordon Quinn – “Life Itself,” “Hoop Dreams” Kim Roberts – “Waiting for ‘Superman’,” “Lost Boys of Sudan” Richard Rowley – “Dirty Wars,” “The Fourth World War” João Moreira Salles – “Santiago,” “Entreatos (Intermissions)” Ondi Timoner – “We Live in Public,” “Dig!” Executives Carolyn Blackwood Robbie Brenner Lia Buman Steve Burke David Fenkel Mellody Hobson Brian Keane Steven Paul O’Dell Jim Orr Mark Rachesky Ted Sarandos Jeff Shell Film Editors Craig Alpert – “Pitch Perfect 2,” “Pineapple Express” Mick Audsley – “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus,” “Dirty Pretty Things” Pablo Barbieri – “Wild Tales,” “La Antena (The Aerial)” Nadia Ben Rachid – “Timbuktu,” “Bamako” Kristina Boden – “The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby,” “Cake” Mathilde Bonnefoy* – “CitizenFour,” “Run Lola Run” Julian Clarke – “Chappie,” “District 9” Douglas Crise – “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance),” “Babel” Tom Cross – “Whiplash,” “Any Day Now” Jinx Godfrey – “The Theory of Everything,” “Man on Wire” Robert Grahamjones – “Brave,” “Ratatouille” Masahiro Hirakubo – “Virunga,” “The Duchess” Jarosław Kamiński – “Ida,” “Aftermath (Pokłosie)” William Kerr – “Bridesmaids,” “I Love You, Man” Nico Leunen – “Lost River,” “The Broken Circle Breakdown” Mike McCusker – “Get On Up,” “3:10 to Yuma” Tim Mertens – “Big Hero 6,” “Wreck-It Ralph” Barney Pilling – “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” “An Education” David Rennie – “22 Jump Street,” “Office Space” Gary D. Roach – “American Sniper,” “Prisoners” Michael L. Sale – “We’re the Millers,” “Bridesmaids” Stephen Schaffer – “Cars 2,” “WALL-E” Job ter Burg – “Borgman,” “Winter in Wartime” Peter Teschner – “St. Vincent,” “Horrible Bosses” Tara Timpone – “Friends with Kids,” “Bad Teacher” Makeup Artists and Hairstylists Frida S. Aradottir – “August: Osage County,” “A Serious Man” Victoria Down – “Big Eyes,” “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” Frances Hannon – “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” “The King’s Speech” Todd Kleitsch – “Run All Night,” “Black Swan” Dennis Liddiard – “Foxcatcher,” “Jobs” Jerry Popolis – “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance),” “Noah” Janine Rath-Thompson – “Star Trek Into Darkness,” “Bridesmaids” Johnny Villanueva – “The Gambler,” “The Fighter” David White – “Guardians of the Galaxy,” “La Vie en Rose” Elizabeth Yianni-Georgiou – “Guardians of the Galaxy,” “An Education” Members-at-Large Andy Armstrong Wayne Billheimer Kevin Brownlow Simon Crane Debbie Denise Jeff Habberstad Andy Hendrickson Elissa M. Rashkin Loparco Guido Quaroni Nicole Scalise Steven J. Scott Leon D. Silverman Gregg Smrz Lynda Ellenshaw Thompson Steve Venezia Music Tyler Bates – “John Wick,” “Guardians of the Galaxy” Alex Gibson – “Interstellar,” “The Dark Knight” Jonny Greenwood – “Inherent Vice,” “The Master” Dave Grusin – “Skating to New York,” “The Firm” Alex Heffes – “Love and Honor,” “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom” Lisa Jaime – “Annie,” “Rock of Ages” Jóhann Jóhannsson – “The Theory of Everything,” “Prisoners” Laura Karpman – “States of Grace,” “Black Nativity” Christopher Lennertz – “The Wedding Ringer,” “Horrible Bosses” Lonnie Lynn – “Selma,” “Freedom Writers” Chris McGeary – “Jersey Boys,” “RoboCop” Sergio Mendes – “Rio 2,” “Rio” Daniel Pinder – “Big Hero 6,” “Captain Phillips” Trent Reznor – “Gone Girl,” “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” Atticus Ross – “Love & Mercy,” “The Social Network” John Stephens – “Selma,” “Django Unchained” Marc Streitenfeld – “Poltergeist,” “Prometheus” Erica Weis – “Spy,” “The Heat” Gary Yershon – “Mr. Turner,” “Another Year” Producers Caroline Baron – “Capote,” “Monsoon Wedding” Effie T. Brown – “Dear White People,” “Real Women Have Curves” Terence Chang – “Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale,” “Face/Off” Wyck Godfrey – “The Fault in Our Stars,” “Twilight” Jeremy Kleiner – “Selma,” “12 Years a Slave” Pamela Koffler – “Still Alice,” “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” Gina Kwon – “Camp X-Ray,” “Me and You and Everyone We Know” Dan Lin – “The Lego Movie,” “Sherlock Holmes” Eric Newman – “RoboCop,” “Children of Men” Bruna Papandrea – “Wild,” “All Good Things” Lydia Dean Pilcher – “Cutie and the Boxer,” “The Darjeeling Limited” Rebecca Yeldham – “On the Road,” “The Kite Runner” Public Relations Jennifer Allen Asad Ayaz Dawn Baillie Andrew Bernstein Liz Biber Mara Buxbaum Lee Ginsberg R. Jeff Hill Michelle Hooper Chris Libby Susan Norget Lewis Oberlander Gordon Paddison Elias Plishner David Pollick Weiman Seid LeeAnne Stables Ryan Stankevich Bonnie Voland Short Films and Feature Animation Alan Barillaro – “Brave,” “WALL-E” Kristine Belson – “The Croods,” “How to Train Your Dragon” Darlie Brewster – “Curious George,” “The Prince of Egypt” Roy Conli – “Big Hero 6,” “Tangled” Ronnie Del Carmen – “Up,” “Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron” Paul A. Felix – “Big Hero 6,” “Lilo & Stitch” Michael Fukushima – “Me and My Moulton,” “Dimanche/Sunday” Don Hall – “Big Hero 6,” “Winnie the Pooh” Talkhon Hamzavi – “Parvaneh,” “Taub” Hu Wei – “Butter Lamp (La Lampe Au Beurre De Yak),” “Le Propriétaire” Jin Kim – “Big Hero 6,” “Bolt” Mat Kirkby – “The Phone Call,” “Hard to Swallow” David Kneupper – “Alex and Sylvia,” “The Civil War in 4 Minutes” Michael Lennox – “Boogaloo and Graham,” “The Back of Beyond” Fabio Lignini – “How to Train Your Dragon 2,” “Puss in Boots” James Lucas – “The Phone Call” Patrick Osborne – “Feast,” “Paperman” Jerome Ranft – “Toy Story 3,” “Ratatouille” Jim Reardon – “Wreck-It Ralph,” “WALL-E” Kristina Reed – “Feast,” “Paperman” Jason Reisig – “Home,” “Shrek Forever After” Nicolas Schmerkin – “Habana,” “Logorama” Anthony Stacchi – “The Boxtrolls,” “Open Season” Isao Takahata – “The Tale of the Princess Kaguya,” “Grave of the Fireflies” Michael Thurmeier – “Ice Age: Continental Drift,” “No Time for Nuts” Marlon West – “Frozen,” “The Princess and the Frog” Sound Ray Beckett – “Zero Dark Thirty,” “The Hurt Locker” Odin Benitez – “Frozen,” “Silver Linings Playbook” Ron Bochar – “Mortdecai,” “Moneyball” Jason Canovas – “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies,” “World War Z” Thomas Curley – “Whiplash,” “The Spectacular Now” Michael Dressel – “American Sniper,” “Interstellar” Mary H. Ellis – “Vacation,” “Prisoners” Stephanie Flack – “Jupiter Ascending,” “Ender’s Game” Martín Hernández – “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance),” “Biutiful” Dean Humphreys – “Taken 3,” “The Pianist” William Johnston – Vice President of Engineering, Formosa Group Shawn Jones – “Iron Man 3,” “Drive” Daniel Laurie – “Inside Out,” “Big Hero 6” David Lee – “Unbroken,” “The Matrix” Craig Mann – “Dope,” “Whiplash” Kyrsten Mate – “Tomorrowland,” “Guardians of the Galaxy” Shannon J. Mills – “Inside Out,” “Big Hero 6” Bryan K. Pennington – “Transformers: Age of Extinction,” “Promised Land” Juan P. Peralta – “Tomorrowland,” “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” John Ross – “Danny Collins,” “American Hustle” Peter Staubli – “San Andreas,” “Skyfall” Mark Taylor – “Edge of Tomorrow,” “Captain Phillips” Addison Teague – “Big Hero 6,” “The Amazing Spider-Man” Jon Title – “San Andreas,” “The Divergent Series: Insurgent” Thomas Varga – “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance),” “The Immigrant” Ben Wilkins – “Whiplash,” “Star Trek” Visual Effects Nicolas Aithadi – “Guardians of the Galaxy,” “X-Men: First Class” Daniel Barrett – “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,” “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” Stephane Ceretti – “Guardians of the Galaxy,” “Cloud Atlas” Paul Corbould – “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” “Guardians of the Galaxy” Tim Crosbie – “X-Men: Days of Future Past,” “The Wolverine” Dan DeLeeuw – “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” “Iron Man 3” Sean Faden – “Fast & Furious 6,” “Let Me In” Joe Farrell – “The Wolf of Wall Street,” “Hereafter” Scott R. Fisher – “Interstellar,” “The Dark Knight Rises” Chris Harvey – “Chappie,” “Fast & Furious 6” Alex Jaeger – “Tomorrowland,” “Marvel’s The Avengers” Matt Kutcher – “Focus,” “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” Andrew Lockley – “Interstellar,” “Inception” Gray Marshall – “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” “Captain America: The First Avenger” Carl Miller – “Jurassic World,” “Elysium” David Nakabayashi – “Tomorrowland,” “Avatar” Rocco Passionino – “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” “Spider-Man 2” Lou Pecora – “X-Men: Days of Future Past,” “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” Cary Phillips – “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” Ellen Poon – “Frozen,” “Inception” Edwin Rivera – “22 Jump Street,” “Moneyball” Cameron Waldbauer – “X-Men: Days of Future Past,” “Elysium” Erik Winquist – “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,” “Avatar” Writers Armando Bo – “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance),” “Biutiful” Damien Chazelle* – “Whiplash,” “Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench” Álex de la Iglesia – “El Crimen Perfecto,” “The Day of the Beast” Rick Famuyiwa – “Dope,” “The Wood” Maya Forbes – “Infinitely Polar Bear,” “Monsters vs Aliens” E. Max Frye – “Foxcatcher,” “Something Wild” Nicolás Giacobone – “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance),” “Biutiful” Dan Gilroy – “Nightcrawler,” “The Bourne Legacy” Jorge Guerricaechevarría – “Cell 211,” “The Day of the Beast” Rita Hsiao – “Toy Story 2,” “Mulan” Simon Kinberg – “X-Men: Days of Future Past,” “Sherlock Holmes” Malcolm D. Lee* – “The Best Man Holiday,” “The Best Man” Christopher Markus – “Thor: The Dark World,” “Captain America: The First Avenger” Stephen McFeely – “Thor: The Dark World,” “Captain America: The First Avenger” Graham Moore – “The Imitation Game” Paweł Pawlikowski* – “Ida,” “My Summer of Love” Abderrahmane Sissako* – “Timbuktu,” “Bamako” Damián Szifron* – “Wild Tales,” “On Probation” Kessen Tall – “Timbuktu” Tyger Williams – “The Perfect Guy,” “Menace II Society” Andrey Zvyagintsev* – “Leviathan,” “Elena” Associates Victoria Belfrage Josh Braun Wayne Fitterman Sharon Jackson Patricia Keighley Cliff Roberts Elyse Scherz James Toth Bart Walker Seven individuals (noted above by an asterisk) have been invited to join the Academy by multiple branches.  These individuals must select one branch upon accepting membership. Each year, each Academy member may sponsor one candidate for membership within their branch.  New member application reviews take place in the spring.  Applications for the coming year must be received by March 24, 2016. New members will be welcomed into the Academy at an invitation-only reception in September.  

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  • Actress Sofia Vergara Receives Actors Inspiration Award at SAG Foundation LA Golf Classic

    BURBANK, CA - JUNE 08: President of the SAG Foundation JoBeth Williams (L) and honoree Sofia Vergara pose with the Inaugural Actors Inspiration Award at the Screen Actors Guild Foundation's 6th Annual Los Angeles Golf Classic on June 8, 2015 in Burbank, California. (Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images for The Screen Actors Guild Foundation) The Screen Actors Guild Foundation kicked off their 30th Anniversary festivities with the star-studded Los Angeles Golf Classic on June 8th, 2015, in Burbank, CA.  The SAG Foundation awarded actress Sofia Vergara with its inaugural Actors Inspiration Award in honor of her commitment to giving back and her support of the Foundation and their children’s literacy programs. BURBANK, CA - JUNE 08: Honoree Sofia Vergara accepts the Inaugural Actors Inspiration Award at the Screen Actors Guild Foundation's 6th Annual Los Angeles Golf Classic on June 8, 2015 in Burbank, California. (Photo by Mark Davis/Getty Images for The Screen Actors Guild Foundation) Vergara was honored to accept the award, saying, “[It’s] so lovely to be part of an organization that gives back as much as the SAG Foundation does. Currently, 80% of children in the United States that attend at-risk schools read below grade level. Many of these children are bilingual, but it’s not [just] important to be able to speak the two languages, it’s also important to be able to read and write in them.”

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  • San Francisco Film Society Launches Women Filmmaker Fellowship

    San Francisco Film Society has launched the SFFS Women Filmmaker Fellowship

    The San Francisco Film Society has launched the SFFS Women Filmmaker Fellowship, a new suite of services designed to support female writer/directors working on their second or third narrative feature.

    The San Francisco Film Society announced the launch of the SFFS Women Filmmaker Fellowship, a new suite of services designed to support female writer/directors working on their second or third narrative feature through a combination of financial backing, innovative programs and events, mentorship services, industry connections and a growing community of fellow filmmakers. Inaugurated with the support of the Kenneth Rainin Foundation and facilitated by Filmmaker360, the Film Society’s filmmaker services department, this fellowship program will provide direct assistance to an under-served group of storytellers and help to build sustainable careers for women filmmakers all over the world. The first Women Filmmaker Fellows, to be handpicked by Filmmaker360 staff, will be announced in April. An application period for subsequent Fellowships will open in winter 2016.

    Participants in the SFFS Women Filmmaker Fellowship must working on a second or third English-language narrative feature screenplay, with an intended budget of no more than $3 million. They must have had a previous film premiere at a major international festival and priority will given to projects in the under-represented genres of science fiction, comedy, action, thriller and horror. 

    “Through our engagement with the growing Filmmaker360 community, we have come to understand the particular challenges for women filmmakers in obtaining financing, building networks and overcoming stereotypes, especially when embarking on a second feature film project,” said Michele Turnure-Salleo, director of Filmmaker360. “While the independent arena is perhaps more supportive of first-time female directors than Hollywood and the commercial mainstream, we continue to find severe limitations in the opportunities provided to women seeking to build sustainable careers making narrative feature films. The SFFS Women Filmmaker Fellowship program is part of the Film Society’s ongoing efforts to address that issue.”

    In 2013 and 2014, academic institutions such as the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California and the Center for Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State produced substantive reports on the state of women in the film industry, revealing startling statistics that point to drastic gender inequality. The latter group, for example, reports that in 2013, women accounted for just 6% of directors, 10% of writers, 15% of executive producers, 17% of editors and 3% of cinematographers. Additionally, women were found more likely to be working on romantic comedies, dramas or documentaries than the top-grossing genres of animation, sci-fi, action and horror.

    “This is about supporting our most important emerging female filmmakers in telling the stories that they want to tell, on their terms,” said Jennifer Rainin, CEO of the Kenneth Rainin Foundation. “With this initiative, we’re working to reduce financial barriers, break down stereotypes, and build connections to increase opportunities for talented women and help their careers thrive. I am proud to contribute to the global effort to level the playing field and support strong female voices in the independent narrative feature sphere, and by providing the seed funding for this new SFFS initiative we hope to create greater balance in the years to come.”

    Designed to grow organically over time to include additional programs and events, the SFFS Women Filmmaker Fellowship will be seeking additional funding partners once the 2015 pilot phase has concluded.

    SFFS WOMEN FILMMAKER FELLOWSHIPS

    SFFS Women Filmmaker Fellowships will take place from April to October each year, overlapping with the Film Society’s previously announced Producers Fellowship programs and the San Francisco International Film Festival (April 23-May 7). Program support includes:

      *  A $25,000-$40,000 cash grant, which must be used for living expenses. Individual amounts depend on place of residence and estimated travel costs to participate in Bay Area fellowship components.
      *  Placement in FilmHouse Residency program and access to all FilmHouse programs and activities.
      *  One-on-one consultation with film industry experts from the Bay Area and beyond regarding casting, financing, budgeting legal issues, distribution and other relevant topics. 
      *  Weekly one-on-one consultation services provided by Filmmaker360 staff, with feedback on screenplays, verbal pitch strategies and written materials such as synopsis and treatment. 
      *  Presentations and networking opportunities with Bay Area narrative filmmakers. 
      *  Expenses covered for one 3-day networking trip with a Filmmaker360 staff member from San Francisco to Los Angeles, for meetings with established industry professionals. 

    Filmmaker360 has a strong track record for supporting innovative work by female writer/directors. Four out of six of the projects that received funding in the most recent round of SFFS / Kenneth Rainin Foundation Filmmaking Grants — the Film Society’s flagship grant program which has disbursed more than $2.8 million since its inception — were written and directed by women. Additionally, four films supported by SFFS grants, residencies and fiscal sponsorship will have their world premieres at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival: Jennifer Phang’s Advantageous, Jenni Olson’s The Royal Road, Chloé Zhao’s Songs My Brothers Taught Me and Kris Swanberg’sUnexpected. 

     

     

     

     

     

     

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  • Sundance Institute to Honor Director Alejandro G. Iñárritu

    Alejandro G. Iñárritu

    Alejandro G. Iñárritu will be honored with the Vanguard Leadership Award at the fifth annual Sundance Institute benefit on June 2, 2015 in Los Angeles.

    Iñárritu will be honored for the originality and independent spirit of his films, including Amores Perros (2000), 21 Grams (2003),Babel (2006), Biutiful (2010) and Birdman (2014). He is the first Mexican director to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director and by the Directors Guild of America for Best Director. He is also the first Mexican-born director to have won the Prix de la mise en scene or best director award at Cannes (2006). Amores Perros is featured in the Sundance Collection at UCLA, an independent film preservation program established in 1997. He has produced three films that appeared at the Sundance Film Festival: Nine Lives (2005), Mother & Child (2010) and Rudo y Cursi (2009).

    Keri Putnam, Executive Director of Sundance Institute, said, “The current health and vibrancy of independent film is best reflected in the stories from filmmakers who continue to push and break boundaries. Alejandro G. Iñárritu is among the most creative and innovative filmmakers working today, and the boldness, humanity and audacity of his films will inspire generations to come.”

    Iñárritu said, “It comes as a great honor to receive this award from an organization whose mission, spirit and objectives are noble and have a profound effect on many filmmakers around the world.”

    Iñárritu will be the fourth recipient of the Vanguard Leadership Award, joining philanthropist and former Institute Trustee George Gund, journalist and film critic Roger Ebert and actress and arts advocate Glenn Close. In addition to the Vanguard Leadership Award, the Institute presents the Vanguard Award, including a cash grant and mentorship from industry professionals and Institute staff, to an emerging artist with creative independence. Benh Zeitlin (Beasts of the Southern Wild), Ryan Coogler (Fruitvale Station), Damien Chazelle (Whiplash) are past recipients, and the 2015 recipient will be announced in the spring. The Vanguard Awards were founded in 2011 to mark the 30th anniversary of the Sundance Institute Feature Film Program and its founding director, Michelle Satter.

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  • A. Sayeeda Moreno and Micah Shaffer Win $15,000 to Develop Feature Screenplay for “White” Which Explores Racial Issues and Climate Change

    A. Sayeeda Moreno and Micah Shaffer A. Sayeeda Moreno and Micah Shaffer

    A. Sayeeda Moreno and Micah Shaffer have been selected to receive this year’s $15,000 San Francisco Film Society / Hearst Screenwriting Grant for development of their script White. The SFFS / Hearst Screenwriting Grant is awarded in the fall of each year to writers residing in the United States who have been practicing for at least five years and who have previously written a minimum of one feature screenplay. 

    “It’s an honor to receive the Hearst Screenwriting Grant, and we are thrilled to be partnering with the San Francisco Film Society at this stage of making our movie,” said Moreno. “The Filmmaker360 program has a great track record of supporting innovative films that advance our collective dialogue, so we’re excited to be in such good company!”

    A. Sayeeda Moreno is a proud native New Yorker, dedicated to the art of directing. Her short film White, funded by ITVS for Futurestates.tv, is also on PBS.org. White screened at SXSW, Tribeca, and BAMcinemaFest, with Precious at the Tri-Continental Film Festival and with Spike Lee’s Crooklyn at the Brooklyn Bridge Film Series. Clarke’s award-winning short Sin Salida aired on HBO/HBOLatino for two years. Her short The Grey Woman premiered at Lincoln Center and won the Hallmark short film competition. Clarke received an MFA in Film from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts where she was a Dean’s Fellow. She is a Film Independent Fellow for her collaborative screenplay I’m Not Down and is currently developing the feature version of White. 

    Micah Shaffer is a writer, filmmaker, and educator whose work focuses on forging unexpected connections between people and finding humanity in unforeseen places. Shaffer’s first feature documentary Death of Two Sons was awarded the HBO “Life Through Your Lens” Emerging Documentary Filmmaker Award and was distributed through Netflix. Shaffer then attended the MFA program at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, where he wrote and directed several short narrative films. Shaffer has written three feature screenplays, including On the Wall, which was a finalist for an Alfred P. Sloan screenwriting award and a selection at Independent Film Week’s Emerging Narrative Forum. He recently completed a fellowship at the Cinema Research Institute, where he is studying the future of the cross-border financing and coproduction of independent film. 

    White
    It’s another sweltering 120-degree winter day with five more days to Christmas and hot is the only season left. The best protection from the sun remains the naturally occurring melanin in one’s skin. Like many valuable natural resources, in this future it is coveted, extracted, bought, sold and stolen. Bato, who is black, enters into a race against time to save his daughter as he is forced to bargain with the new currency of this world.

    Recent Filmmaker360 success stories include Short Term 12, Destin Cretton’s sophomore feature which won both the Narrative Grand Jury Award and Audience Award at South by Southwest 2013; Ryan Coogler’s debut feature Fruitvale Station, which won the Un Certain Regard Avenir Prize at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival and both the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award in the narrative category at Sundance 2013; and Beasts of the Southern Wild, Benh Zeitlin’s debut phenomenon which won Sundance’s Grand Jury Prize and Cannes’ Camera d’Or in 2012, earned four Academy Award nominations (including Best Picture) and became an indie box office smash.

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  • Director Ana Lily Amirpour “The Bad Batch” Wins Rooftop Filmmakers’ Fund Piper-Heidsieck Feature Film Grant

    Romain Pianet, Senior Brand Director for Piper-Heidsieck, presents Ana Lily Amirpour with the inaugural Piper-Heidsieck Rooftop Films Feature Film Grant

    Rooftop Films awarded fourteen cash and service grants to alumni filmmakers, including The Rooftop Filmmakers’ Fund Piper-Heidsieck Feature Film Grant, which was awarded to director Ana Lily Amirpour. Amirpour was feted at a Piper-Heidsieck champagne reception at the spectacular garden rooftop of John Jay College on Monday in New York City and will receive a monetary grant of $10,000 to help finish her new film, The Bad Batch, the follow up to her critically acclaimed feature film debut,  A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night.

    Selected for its grand and bold style of storytelling, Amirpour’s film is a highly twisted, unusual, romantic, and innovative movie set in a future dystopia. In a desert wasteland in Texas, a muscled cannibal breaks one important rule: don’t play with your food. The Bad Batch is a savage love story, like a psychedelic Road Warrior, inspired by films like El Topo and Wild at Heart. Shot in bold saturated hues and stylings of the ’80’s & ’90’s the film will also feature a wicked techno & western-laced soundtrack.

    “Piper-Heidsieck has a long history of supporting the cinema, and we’re delighted to continue this tradition by recognizing Ana Lily Amirpour as the first-ever recipient of the Piper-Heidsieck Feature Film Grant,” says Romain Pianet, Senior Brand Director for Piper-Heidsieck. “The grant was created to support grand and bold direction in cinema, and we have selected a filmmaker whose past work and upcoming film exemplifies this direction.  We are excited to be able to help bring this film to fruition.

    COMPLETE LIST OF 2014 ROOFTOP FILMMAKERS FUND GRANTS:

    Rooftop Films / Piper-Heidsieck Feature Film Grant:
    Ana Lily Amirpour, The Bad Batch

    In a desert wasteland in Texas, a muscled cannibal breaks one important rule: don’t play with your food. The Bad Batch is a savage love story and a psychedelic Road Warrior, inspired by films like El Topo and Wild at Heart, and shot in bold saturated hues and stylings of the 80’s & 90’s, with a wicked techno & western-laced soundtrack.

    Rooftop Films / Technological Cinevideo Services Camera Grant:
    Rachel Israel, Keep the Change

    Based on Israel’s Columbia thesis short film, “Keep the Change” stars non-professional actors Brandon Polanksy and Samantha as two individuals with autism who fall in love. Polanksy stars as David, a man who tries to hide his high-functioning autism, but is nonetheless forced to attend a support group for people with disabilities. There he meets Elisofon’s character, a shy woman with autism.

    Rooftop Films / Eastern Effects Equipment Grant:
    Christina Choe, Nancy

    Nancy, is a psychological drama about a 35-year old serial imposter who lives at home with her abusive, elderly mother. Desperate for love, she creates a fake blog and catfishes a lover, until her hoaxes cause epic and tragic consequences. NANCY will be Christina’s feature directorial debut.

    Rooftop Films / Edgeworx Post-Production Grant:
    Bernardo Britto, Jacqueline (Argentine)

    Starring Camille Rutherford as a “25-year-old French Edward Snowden-type” who takes refuge in Argentina after leaking government secrets, Jacqueline (Argentine) is a live action feature film that will be shot from the perspective of a documentary crew she’s hired to trail her while awaiting the fallout.

    Rooftop Films / DCTV Equipment and Services Feature Film Grant
    Trey Shults, Krisha

    Adapted from an award-winning short film of the same name, KRISHA tells the story of a multi-generational family that is gathering for Thanksgiving. Krisha has not seen her family for ten years, but when she decides to join her family for a holiday dinner, tensions escalate, and Krisha struggles to keep her demons at bay.

    Rooftop Films / DCTV Equipment and Services Short Film Grant:
    Frances Bodomo, Beatdown
    Steven Girard, Floaters Dot Com

    Frances Bodomo | Beatdown
    Beatdown is a web series that follows a carefree black vigilante girl gang. Our protagonists skip school (“they’re not teaching our history anyways”) to loiter, chat, protect New York’s unprotected, and avenge the crimes that the NYPD won’t touch: from getting their hair petted to “columbusing” to gentrification. It begins as a series of vengeful (and comedic) wish fulfillments that grow bloodier and bloodier … until we start to question & complicate our discourse on brutality, power, female weakness, justice, etc. Beatdown asks the question: when the violence against us isn’t physical, how do we fight it? 

    Steven Girard | Floaters Dot Com
    “Floaters Dot Com” is a half animated, half live-action short film about two men who work for a company that “collects” human beings. Floaters employees beam targeted civilians with a hallucinatory impulse to login to floaters.com, where the victim is sucked into his/her computer and dragged through a slew of websites. After the victim’s deepest fantasies and worst nightmares come true, he/she is “ejected” from the computer’s drive as a Free Trial disk.

    Rooftop Films / Domicile NYC Sound Mix Grant:
    Jarred Alterman and Ryan Scafuro, American Renaissance

    AMERICAN RENAISSANCE is a short documentary that takes place at the largest outdoor Renaissance Faire in America. Knights, wizards, goths, fairies and demons all stood in front of our static lens and slowly, stories began to unfold… A family who chose to raise their 13-year-old son on the road. A Parisian expat, performing as a mime. A young woman who left the “real world” behind after the death of a close friend.

    Rooftop Films / Adrienne Shelly Foundation Short Film Grant For Women:
    Debra Granik, Second Act

    Second Act is a documentary about inmate re-entry. Once released, felons often find themselves held apart from mainstream society, particularly in regards to employment. To survive, many turn to various forms of entrepreneurship. This film follows a man recently released from prison who is attempting to build his own business. In pursuing his dream, the subject of our documentary must navigate the transition from one lifestyle to another, negotiate a new and unfamiliar world, and wrestle with the question of who he is and what he wants.

    Rooftop Filmmakers’ Fund Short Film Grant:
    Joanna Arnow, Bad at Dancing
    Frances Bodomo, Beatdown
    Reka Bucsi, LOVE
    Steven Girard, Floaters Dot Com
    Efren Hernandez, Ham Heads

    Joanna Arnow | Bad at Dancing
    Bad At Dancing. A perpetual third wheel and awkward outsider, Joanna increasingly inserts herself into the relationship of her more charismatic roommate Eleanore. The two women test each other’s sexual and emotional boundaries in this surreal dark comedy.

    Reka Bucsi | LOVE
    An animated short film about love that will show love in three chapters: Longing, Love and Solitude. Haiku-like scenes will show different characters evolving along these states of emotions. The goal is to capture feelings through pictures and surreal situations which are undescribable by words.

    Efren Hernandez | Ham Heads
    Barry and Larry are the world’s oldest living conjoined twins. After retiring from the sideshow circuit, they move into their brother’s house. Barry is sick and he’s getting worse, Larry not far behind him. As their sickness develops, they take trips to the beach; they waltz together; they fight about the volume on their separate television sets. They look out of their living room window at their old-lady neighbor who drinks too much beer. They play games with their teenage nephew and Larry verbally harasses the doctor who checks up on them. They get visits from old friends and spend every moment of every day together. Whether it is good or bad, it is their life together.

    “A record number of entries were received this year and it was tougher than ever to select our winners from what was a stellar crop of films and scripts,” says Dan Nuxoll, programming director of Rooftop Films. “Each of the filmmakers that we awarded grants to this year have screened their impressive work at Rooftop Films events in the past and have demonstrated their talent, passion and perseverance throughout their careers. We are particularly excited to be supporting Ana Lily Amirpour’s latest work. A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night screened this summer at Rooftop Films and that film showcases her extraordinary talent and unique flair for bringing unexpected, artful and innovative twists to a genre film. We are confident that The Bad Batch will be an exciting next step for one of the most promising new filmmakers working in independent cinema today. A special thanks to Piper-Heidsieck –and all of our other sponsors, community partners, and audience members– for their significant help and commitment in support of these new and talented films and filmmakers.”

    Amirpour was selected to attend the Sundance Screenwriters Lab in 2014 for her script for The Bad Batch and the film is set to begin pre-production this fall and will begin shooting in the spring of 2015. Amirpour’s debut feature film, the Iranian Vampire Western A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, premiered in the NEXT section of the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, screened to a sold out crowd on the roof of Industry City as part of the Rooftop Films Summer Series, and was opening night selection of the New Directors/New Films series at the MoMA. A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night will be released in theaters this autumn by Kino Lorber.

    Amirpour joins the ranks of past Rooftop Filmmakers Fund grantees, an illustrious group that includes Gillian Robespierre with her indie hit Obvious Child, Lucy Walker with her Academy Award-nominated short documentary The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom, Jeremy Saulnier’s Blue Ruin, which premiered at Cannes Director’s Fortnight and garnered the FIPRESCI Critics’ award, Keith Miller’s critically acclaimed and Tribeca Film Festival award winning Five Star, and Benh Zeitlin’s Academy Award-nominated Beasts of the Southern Wild. Other Rooftop Filmmakers’ Fund grantees have achieved tremendous success at film festivals and their films have reached audiences worldwide.  

    image: Romain Pianet, Senior Brand Director for Piper-Heidsieck, presents Ana Lily Amirpour with the inaugural Piper-Heidsieck Rooftop Films Feature Film Grant on the roof of John Jay College Monday night.

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  • Winners Announced for Spring 2014 San Francisco Film Society SFFS / KRF Filmmaking Grants Totaling $300,000

    san--francisco--film--society

    Nine filmmaking teams will receive a total of $300,000 in funding in the latest round of San Francisco Film Society (SFFS) / Kenneth Rainin Foundation (KRF) Filmmaking Grants, to help with their next stage of production, from screenwriting to postproduction. The Film Society’s flagship SFFS / KRF Filmmaking Grants are awarded twice annually to filmmakers for narrative feature films that will have significant economic or professional impact on the Bay Area filmmaking community. 

    The SFFS / KRF Filmmaking Grant program has funded a total of 46 projects since its inception, including such success stories as Kat Candler’s Hellion and Ira Sachs’ Love is Strange, both of which premiered to strong reviews at Sundance 2014; Short Term 12, Destin Cretton’s sophomore feature which won both the Narrative Grand Jury Award and Audience Award at South by Southwest 2013; Ryan Coogler’s debut feature Fruitvale Station, which won the 2014 Film Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature, the Un Certain Regard Avenir Prize at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, and both the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award in the narrative category at Sundance 2013; andBeasts of the Southern Wild, Benh Zeitlin’s debut phenomenon which won Sundance’s Grand Jury Prize and Cannes’ Camera d’Or in 2012 and earned four Academy Award nominations (including Best Picture).

    SPRING 2014 SFFS / KRF FILMMAKING GRANT WINNERS

    Ad Inexplorata
    Mark Elijah Rosenberg, writer/director; Jason Berman, P. Jennifer Dana, Thomas B. Fore, Matt Parker, Josh Penn and Mark Roberts, producers — $50,000 for postproduction
    Captain Stanaforth is a NASA pilot alone on a one-way mission toward the unknown. 

    Black Metal
    Kat Candler, writer/director — $17,000 for screenwriting
    After a career spent mining his music from the shadows, the lead singer of a metal band and his family experience a chain reaction of turmoil following the murderous actions of a teenage fan. For more information visit candlerproductions.com.

    Clash
    Mohamed Diab, writer/director — $35,000 for screenwriting
    In the wake of the recent removal of the former Egyptian president from office, Hayman-a jaded, claustrophobic revolutionary-is stuck in an overcrowded truck with clashing brotherhood and military supporters. Engulfed in hatred and violence, he must learn to connect with his love for Egypt in order to survive.

    Five Nights in Maine
    Maris Curran, writer/director/producer; Carly Hugo and Matt Parker, producers — $60,000 for production
    A young African American man, reeling from the tragic loss of his wife, travels to rural Maine to seek answers from his estranged mother-in-law, who is herself confronting guilt and grief over her daughter’s death.

    The Fixer
    Ian Olds, cowriter/director; Paul Felten, cowriter; Caroline von Kuhn and Lily Whitsitt, producers – $18,000 for preproduction
    An Afghan journalist is exiled from his war-torn country to a small bohemian community in Northern California. When he attempts to turn his menial job on the local police blotter into “Afghan-style” coverage of local crime, he gets drawn into the underworld of this small town-a shadow Northern California where sex is casual, true friendship is hard to come by, and an unfamiliar form of violence bubbles up all around him. For more information visit fixerthefilm.com.

    Oscillate Wildly
    Travis Matthews, cowriter/director; Keith Wilson, cowriter/producer — $25,000 for packaging
    When his disability check arrives much reduced, a hot-headed young gay man with cerebral palsy is forced to confront the disability he has let define his whole being. For more information visit travisdmathews.com.

    Our Lady of the Snow
    Tom Gilroy, writer/director — $35,000 for screenwriting
    When the Bishop decides to sell a gothic convent isolated in the snowy woods, the elderly nuns living there begin to have ecstatic visions, which he dismisses as faked. But as the visions spread to the convent’s teenaged atheist cook, inexplicable supernatural events follow, with no one sure of their cause. 

    Patti Cake$
    Geremy Jasper, writer/director/composer; Dan Janvey, producer — $25,000 for packaging 
    Patricia Baccio, aka Patti Cake$, is a big girl with a big mouth and big dreams of rap superstardom. Stuck in Lodi, New Jersey, Patti battles an army of haters as she strives to break the mold and take over the rap game. For more information visit welcometolegs.com.

    Snow the Jones
    Alistair Banks Griffin, writer/director/producer; Jeremy Kipp Walker and Kevin Turen, producers — $35,000 for production
    When teenage vagabond Lexi joins a traveling door-to-door sales crew, she discovers a world much darker than the one from which she was trying to escape. For more information visit twogatesofsleep.com.

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