HBO is juggling multiple television shows for a shot at the Primetime Emmy Awards, which could make them a dominating force in all categories, particularly for directing and writing.
Just wrapping its season finale, “Barry” is expected to match, if not exceed, its previous 18 nomination haul last time. Actor and producer Bill Hader will be among the “locks” for outstanding comedy series and lead actor (comedy). Still, with two previous Emmy noms for directing, he’ll be in the running again with the episode “710N,” the sixth episode that finds the titular hitman attacked by Traci’s gang. Three “Barry” episodes will also vie for attention in the writing categories: “710N” (by Duffy Boudreau), “candy asses” (by Liz Sarnoff) and the finale “starting now” (by Hader and Alec Berg).
Read more: Variety’s Awards Circuit Emmys Predictions Hub
With Zendaya leading the charge for lead actress (drama) for her towering...
Just wrapping its season finale, “Barry” is expected to match, if not exceed, its previous 18 nomination haul last time. Actor and producer Bill Hader will be among the “locks” for outstanding comedy series and lead actor (comedy). Still, with two previous Emmy noms for directing, he’ll be in the running again with the episode “710N,” the sixth episode that finds the titular hitman attacked by Traci’s gang. Three “Barry” episodes will also vie for attention in the writing categories: “710N” (by Duffy Boudreau), “candy asses” (by Liz Sarnoff) and the finale “starting now” (by Hader and Alec Berg).
Read more: Variety’s Awards Circuit Emmys Predictions Hub
With Zendaya leading the charge for lead actress (drama) for her towering...
- 6/14/2022
- by Clayton Davis
- Variety Film + TV
Millie Black is gotten.
Get Millie Black, a limited series being produced for HBO and the UK’s Channel 4, has cast Tamara Lawrance (Apple TV+’s Invasion) in the title role.
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In the drama, which begins production this week in Jamaica, Millie-Jean Black is a police detective forced to quit Scotland Yard and return to the country of her birth to...
Get Millie Black, a limited series being produced for HBO and the UK’s Channel 4, has cast Tamara Lawrance (Apple TV+’s Invasion) in the title role.
More from TVLineHouse of the Dragon Unveils New Trailer ('We Play an Ugly Game'), Character Posters of Targaryens of the PastWe Own This City Recap: How It StartedHBO Defends Winning Time After Heavy Criticism From Former Lakers Stars
In the drama, which begins production this week in Jamaica, Millie-Jean Black is a police detective forced to quit Scotland Yard and return to the country of her birth to...
- 5/6/2022
- by Matt Webb Mitovich
- TVLine.com
Exclusive: Upcoming HBO and Channel 4 drama Get Millie Black has set The Long Song’s Tamara Lawrance as lead. With shooting beginning this week in Jamaica, the six-part detective drama has also rounded out its cast with Game of Thrones star Joe Dempsie joining and Tanya Hamilton set to direct.
Production on the Marlon James-created show began on Monday, with additional shooting to come in London further down the line. Also starring are Gershwyn Eustache Jr and Chyna McQueen.
Lawrance, who has starred in BBC drama The Long Song and has National Theatre credits to her name, will play ex-Scotland Yard detective Millie Black, who returns to Kingston to work missing persons cases for the Jamaican Police Force and soon finds herself on a quest to save a sister who won’t be saved, to find a boy who can’t be found, to solve a case...
Production on the Marlon James-created show began on Monday, with additional shooting to come in London further down the line. Also starring are Gershwyn Eustache Jr and Chyna McQueen.
Lawrance, who has starred in BBC drama The Long Song and has National Theatre credits to her name, will play ex-Scotland Yard detective Millie Black, who returns to Kingston to work missing persons cases for the Jamaican Police Force and soon finds herself on a quest to save a sister who won’t be saved, to find a boy who can’t be found, to solve a case...
- 5/6/2022
- by Jesse Whittock and Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
The Sundance Institute has set Marissa Chibás (72), Walé Oyéjidé, Esq. (Chiaroscuro), Glenn Kaino (Fox & Stork), Mamoudou N’Diaye (Freelancers), Gabby Rivera (Juliet Takes a Breath), Nuhash Hamuyun (Moving Bangladesh), Tania Taiwo (Pharmacopeia), Andre Muir and Jake Hutton (The Predicament), Tommy Pico and Tazbah Rose Chavez (Sometimes), A.K. Espada (This Is Our Home) and Ramzi I. Bashour (Tomahawk Springs) as the participants for its tenth annual, two-day Screenwriters Intensive, taking place virtually through tomorrow.
During the workshop, these emerging creatives from historically marginalized communities will develop their first fiction features under the guidance of established writers and the Institute’s Feature Film Program, led by Michelle Satter and the Feature Film Program’s deputy director, Ilyse McKimmie.
Creatives serving as advisors for the intensive include Andrew Ahn, Lucy Alibar, Julia Camara, DeMane Davis, Nisha Ganatra, John Gatins, Tanya Hamilton, James Ponsoldt, Jon Raymond, Jessica Sharzer,...
During the workshop, these emerging creatives from historically marginalized communities will develop their first fiction features under the guidance of established writers and the Institute’s Feature Film Program, led by Michelle Satter and the Feature Film Program’s deputy director, Ilyse McKimmie.
Creatives serving as advisors for the intensive include Andrew Ahn, Lucy Alibar, Julia Camara, DeMane Davis, Nisha Ganatra, John Gatins, Tanya Hamilton, James Ponsoldt, Jon Raymond, Jessica Sharzer,...
- 3/2/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
The Sundance Institute has announced the 13 writers selected for its 2022 Screenwriters Intensive.
Now in its 10th year, the Screenwriters Intensive is an annual two-day workshop that invites emerging creatives from historically marginalized backgrounds to develop their first full-length feature film scripts under the guidance of the Institute’s Feature Film Program. The workshop is led by Michelle Satter, the founding senior director of the Sundance Institute’s Artist Programs, as well as Ilyse McKimmie, the deputy director of the Feature Film Program.
“We’re thrilled to be bringing together such a dynamic and memorable group of storytellers developing work with bold vision and unique, necessary perspectives,” McKimmie said in a statement. “We look forward to continuing our creative and strategic support of them as they develop their debut features, and we’re excited to welcome them into the vibrant community of Sundance artists.”
The fellows selected for this year are:
Marissa Chibás,...
Now in its 10th year, the Screenwriters Intensive is an annual two-day workshop that invites emerging creatives from historically marginalized backgrounds to develop their first full-length feature film scripts under the guidance of the Institute’s Feature Film Program. The workshop is led by Michelle Satter, the founding senior director of the Sundance Institute’s Artist Programs, as well as Ilyse McKimmie, the deputy director of the Feature Film Program.
“We’re thrilled to be bringing together such a dynamic and memorable group of storytellers developing work with bold vision and unique, necessary perspectives,” McKimmie said in a statement. “We look forward to continuing our creative and strategic support of them as they develop their debut features, and we’re excited to welcome them into the vibrant community of Sundance artists.”
The fellows selected for this year are:
Marissa Chibás,...
- 3/2/2022
- by Wilson Chapman
- Variety Film + TV
The Sundance Institute has selected the 11 screenwriters that will participate in the ninth annual Screenwriters Intensive which will take place digitally on March 4-5. The writers selected are Radhika Apte, William Kwok, Tulica Singh, Timothy Ware, Daniel Klein, Jo Hatcher, Chy Chi, Xavier Coleman, Joyce Sherri, Brian Robau and Jessica Mendez Siqueiros.
The Intensive is a two-day workshop for emerging independent writers and writer/directors developing their first fiction features. The writers, which are from traditionally underrepresented communities, will have the opportunity to refine their stories under the guidance of established writers and the Institute’s Feature Film Program, led by Ilyse McKimmie, Deputy Director, Sundance Institute Feature Film Program, and the program’s Founding Director, Michelle Satter.
“We are inspired by this group of dynamic artists, who are each telling indelible stories with specificity, boldness, and their own distinctive style,” said McKimmie “It’s a privilege to bring them...
The Intensive is a two-day workshop for emerging independent writers and writer/directors developing their first fiction features. The writers, which are from traditionally underrepresented communities, will have the opportunity to refine their stories under the guidance of established writers and the Institute’s Feature Film Program, led by Ilyse McKimmie, Deputy Director, Sundance Institute Feature Film Program, and the program’s Founding Director, Michelle Satter.
“We are inspired by this group of dynamic artists, who are each telling indelible stories with specificity, boldness, and their own distinctive style,” said McKimmie “It’s a privilege to bring them...
- 3/4/2021
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
Ava DuVernay’s “Cherish the Day” will be back for more love and exploration.
The anthology series has been renewed for a second season at OWN, with season 1 co-EPs Raynelle Swilling and Teri Schaffer taking over as showrunners from Tanya Hamilton. News of the renewal comes around seven months after the first season wrapped its eight-episode run, and as DuVernay’s other OWN series “Queen Sugar” continues production on season 5.
Each season of “Cherish the Day” chronicles the relationship of one couple, and each episode spans a single day in their lives together. Season 2 will feature a brand-new couple’s love story, with a new cast. The narrative will unfold to reveal significant moments in a relationship that compel us to hold true to the ones we love, from the extraordinary to the everyday. Production on the second season will take place sometime in 2021.
The first season told the story...
The anthology series has been renewed for a second season at OWN, with season 1 co-EPs Raynelle Swilling and Teri Schaffer taking over as showrunners from Tanya Hamilton. News of the renewal comes around seven months after the first season wrapped its eight-episode run, and as DuVernay’s other OWN series “Queen Sugar” continues production on season 5.
Each season of “Cherish the Day” chronicles the relationship of one couple, and each episode spans a single day in their lives together. Season 2 will feature a brand-new couple’s love story, with a new cast. The narrative will unfold to reveal significant moments in a relationship that compel us to hold true to the ones we love, from the extraordinary to the everyday. Production on the second season will take place sometime in 2021.
The first season told the story...
- 10/26/2020
- by Will Thorne
- Variety Film + TV
In today’s TV news roundup, AMC has announced a premiere date for “The Walking Dead: World Beyond” and Netflix released a trailer for “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” Season 3.
Dates
TV One is celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr. Day with its annual two-hour broadcast of “Urban One Honors” on Jan. 20 at 8 p.m. This year’s honorees include Jamie Foxx, Missy Elliott, Sylvia Rhone, Chance the Rapper and Ryan Jamaal Swain, and the special will also feature performances by Ne-Yo, Wale, Brandy, Eric Benet, Al B. Sure!, Chante Moore, Pastor Charles Jenkins and Jac Ross. The show will be co-hosted by Cathy Hughes and Chris Tucker.
Docuseries “McMillions” is set to debut on Feb. 3, HBO announced. The six-parter will reveal the true story of the $24 million McDonald’s Monopoly game fraud. It is executive produced by Mark Wahlberg, Stephen Levinson, Archie Gips, James Lee Hernandez, Brian Lazarte and written and directed by Hernandez and Lazarte.
Dates
TV One is celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr. Day with its annual two-hour broadcast of “Urban One Honors” on Jan. 20 at 8 p.m. This year’s honorees include Jamie Foxx, Missy Elliott, Sylvia Rhone, Chance the Rapper and Ryan Jamaal Swain, and the special will also feature performances by Ne-Yo, Wale, Brandy, Eric Benet, Al B. Sure!, Chante Moore, Pastor Charles Jenkins and Jac Ross. The show will be co-hosted by Cathy Hughes and Chris Tucker.
Docuseries “McMillions” is set to debut on Feb. 3, HBO announced. The six-parter will reveal the true story of the $24 million McDonald’s Monopoly game fraud. It is executive produced by Mark Wahlberg, Stephen Levinson, Archie Gips, James Lee Hernandez, Brian Lazarte and written and directed by Hernandez and Lazarte.
- 1/17/2020
- by Klaritza Rico
- Variety Film + TV
Ava DuVernay wanted a change of pace. Her last television series, Netflix’s acclaimed “When They See Us,” was widely celebrated and made her a significant name in prestige television, but DuVernay channeled her creative energy into more uplifting subject matter in the new year. That desire led to “Cherish the Day,” her upcoming romantic drama for the Oprah Winfrey Network.
“I just needed a break from history and wanted to do something lovely and light,” DuVernay said during the show’s Television Critics Association panel Thursday morning. “I’m a big sucker for love stories, and growing up I loved ‘West Side Story’ to ‘Sleepless in Seattle’ and really craved the black romantic endeavor, which I saw less of. […] I really longed to see that kind of black love story on television.”
DuVernay discussed the upcoming series with stars Xosha Roquemore, Alano Miller, and Cicely Tyson during the panel.
“I just needed a break from history and wanted to do something lovely and light,” DuVernay said during the show’s Television Critics Association panel Thursday morning. “I’m a big sucker for love stories, and growing up I loved ‘West Side Story’ to ‘Sleepless in Seattle’ and really craved the black romantic endeavor, which I saw less of. […] I really longed to see that kind of black love story on television.”
DuVernay discussed the upcoming series with stars Xosha Roquemore, Alano Miller, and Cicely Tyson during the panel.
- 1/16/2020
- by Tyler Hersko
- Indiewire
Own announced the premiere date for “Cherish the Day,” its second series from Ava DuVernay, and released the first trailer which you can watch above.
The series will have a two-night premiere on Feb. 11 and Feb. 12, and air on Wednesdays going forward.
Each season of the drama will chronicle the stirring romance of one couple, with each episode spanning a single day. The first season stars Xosha Roquemore and Alano Miller as a couple that meets in Los Angeles, with the full season spanning five years. Additional cast includes Cicely Tyson, Michael Beach, Anne-Marie Johnson and Kellee Stewart.
Also Read: How Much Is Too Much? The Coming Avalanche in Streaming Entertainment
Directors for the series are Tanya Hamilton, Blitz Bazawule, Aurora Guerrero and Deborah Kampmeier.
DuVernay created and is executive producing the anthology, which received a straight-to-series order, from Warner Horizon Scripted Television as part of her recently announced overall deal with the studio.
The series will have a two-night premiere on Feb. 11 and Feb. 12, and air on Wednesdays going forward.
Each season of the drama will chronicle the stirring romance of one couple, with each episode spanning a single day. The first season stars Xosha Roquemore and Alano Miller as a couple that meets in Los Angeles, with the full season spanning five years. Additional cast includes Cicely Tyson, Michael Beach, Anne-Marie Johnson and Kellee Stewart.
Also Read: How Much Is Too Much? The Coming Avalanche in Streaming Entertainment
Directors for the series are Tanya Hamilton, Blitz Bazawule, Aurora Guerrero and Deborah Kampmeier.
DuVernay created and is executive producing the anthology, which received a straight-to-series order, from Warner Horizon Scripted Television as part of her recently announced overall deal with the studio.
- 1/16/2020
- by Tim Baysinger
- The Wrap
Ava DuVernay returns to Own: Oprah Winfrey Network for what will be her second project for the cabler, the romantic anthology series “Cherish the Day,” which is set for a February 2020 premiere. Each season will document the ups and downs of a relationship between a single couple, capturing the everyday and the extraordinary, with each episode spanning 24 hours.
Chapter One stars Xosha Roquemore (“The Mindy Project”) as Gently James and Alano Miller (“Underground”) as Evan Fisher, a young couple who meet and fall in love in Los Angeles. The first season will span five years and unfold over eight episodes.
The legendary Cicely Tyson joins Roquemore and Miller as Miss Luma Lee Langston, a renowned star of stage and screen of decades past. Gently James is Miss Langston’s live-in assistant and is encouraged by her wise employer to enter into a romance with Evan Fisher.
Additional cast members in recurring roles include Michael Beach,...
Chapter One stars Xosha Roquemore (“The Mindy Project”) as Gently James and Alano Miller (“Underground”) as Evan Fisher, a young couple who meet and fall in love in Los Angeles. The first season will span five years and unfold over eight episodes.
The legendary Cicely Tyson joins Roquemore and Miller as Miss Luma Lee Langston, a renowned star of stage and screen of decades past. Gently James is Miss Langston’s live-in assistant and is encouraged by her wise employer to enter into a romance with Evan Fisher.
Additional cast members in recurring roles include Michael Beach,...
- 12/19/2019
- by Tambay Obenson
- Indiewire
In today’s TV news roundup, Ali Wong gets two new Netflix comedy specials and Bet releases the first look at Lena Waithe’s “Twenties” series.
Casting
Michael Beach (“ER”), Anne-Marie Johnson (“For The People”) and Kellee Stewart (“Guess Who”) have been cast in Ava DuVernay’s romantic anthology series, “Cherish The Day.” They join Xosha Roquemore, Alano Miller and Emmy-award winner Cicely Tyson. Also, Blitz Bazawule, Aurora Guerrero (“13 Reasons Why”) and Deborah Kampmeier (“Queen Sugar”) join Tanya Hamilton (“Vampire Diaries”) as directors.
Joel McHale will return to host the 2020 second season of ABC’s “Card Sharks,” a competition series with two players facing off in a head-to-head elimination race. McHale is repped by UTA and Ziffren Brittenham Llp. Scott St. John and Jennifer Mullin executive produce “Card Sharks.”
Juan Pablo Raba (“Narcos”), Adriana Paz, Kristyan Ferrer, Octavio Pisano, Cynthia Kaye McWilliams (“Nashville”) and Julio Cedillo (“Sicario”) have been...
Casting
Michael Beach (“ER”), Anne-Marie Johnson (“For The People”) and Kellee Stewart (“Guess Who”) have been cast in Ava DuVernay’s romantic anthology series, “Cherish The Day.” They join Xosha Roquemore, Alano Miller and Emmy-award winner Cicely Tyson. Also, Blitz Bazawule, Aurora Guerrero (“13 Reasons Why”) and Deborah Kampmeier (“Queen Sugar”) join Tanya Hamilton (“Vampire Diaries”) as directors.
Joel McHale will return to host the 2020 second season of ABC’s “Card Sharks,” a competition series with two players facing off in a head-to-head elimination race. McHale is repped by UTA and Ziffren Brittenham Llp. Scott St. John and Jennifer Mullin executive produce “Card Sharks.”
Juan Pablo Raba (“Narcos”), Adriana Paz, Kristyan Ferrer, Octavio Pisano, Cynthia Kaye McWilliams (“Nashville”) and Julio Cedillo (“Sicario”) have been...
- 12/3/2019
- by LaTesha Harris
- Variety Film + TV
Blitz Bazawule, Aurora Guerrero and Deborah Kampmeier have been added to the director roster for Ava DuVernay’s forthcoming romantic anthology drama Cherish the Day. The Own series has also added Michael Beach (ER), Anne-Marie Johnson (For The People) and Kellee Stewart (Guess Who) in recurring roles.
The new trio of directors will join previously announced director Tanya Hamilton while the actors will join series regulars Xosha Roquemore, Alano Miller and, of course, the legendary Cicely Tyson. Cherish the Day is blazing the trail when it comes to inclusion as it achieved full gender parity with a production crew of over 50% women, including 18 female department heads.
Chapter one of Cherish the Day chronicles the relationship of one couple, with each episode spanning a single day. The narrative will unfold to reveal significant moments in a relationship that compel us to hold true to the ones we love, from the extraordinary to the everyday.
The new trio of directors will join previously announced director Tanya Hamilton while the actors will join series regulars Xosha Roquemore, Alano Miller and, of course, the legendary Cicely Tyson. Cherish the Day is blazing the trail when it comes to inclusion as it achieved full gender parity with a production crew of over 50% women, including 18 female department heads.
Chapter one of Cherish the Day chronicles the relationship of one couple, with each episode spanning a single day. The narrative will unfold to reveal significant moments in a relationship that compel us to hold true to the ones we love, from the extraordinary to the everyday.
- 12/3/2019
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
Ava DuVernay continues to walk the walk when it comes to inclusion, diversity, representation and equity of women and marginalized communities in the industry with the new series Cherish the Day. The Own anthology drama has achieved full gender parity with a production crew of over 50% women, including 18 female department heads.
The series created by and executive produced by DuVernay has women that were hired across directing, writing, production design, camera, set design, casting, key craft service, costume, hair, makeup, editing, medical, set decoration, sound, grip, electric, transportation, accounting, locations and stunts, along with serving as post-production supervisor, property master and script supervisor.
“Ava DuVernay has been a groundbreaking leader in the entertainment industry,” said Warner Bros. Television’s Peter Roth, Susan Rovner and Brett Paul. “By achieving gender parity on her first chapter of Cherish the Day she continues to provide invaluable opportunities for new creative talent. It’s...
The series created by and executive produced by DuVernay has women that were hired across directing, writing, production design, camera, set design, casting, key craft service, costume, hair, makeup, editing, medical, set decoration, sound, grip, electric, transportation, accounting, locations and stunts, along with serving as post-production supervisor, property master and script supervisor.
“Ava DuVernay has been a groundbreaking leader in the entertainment industry,” said Warner Bros. Television’s Peter Roth, Susan Rovner and Brett Paul. “By achieving gender parity on her first chapter of Cherish the Day she continues to provide invaluable opportunities for new creative talent. It’s...
- 11/4/2019
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
HBO released the trailer for its eight-episode third and final season of David Simon’s porn drama, “The Deuce” on Thursday.
Welcome to 1985. Here’s what’s going down this decade:
Season 3 of “The Deuce” brings us into the world of 1985, just as VHS overtakes film as the primary medium for porn production and distribution. The lure of the California sunshine, the city’s aggressive takeover of commercial sex properties in Times Square and the devastating impact of the AIDS epidemic mark the end of an era. With the party of the 1970s winding down, 42nd Street has deteriorated into a hive of uncontrolled violent crime and seedy video stores, making urban renewal seem more unlikely than ever before. Following the interconnected lives of Times Square’s barkeeps, prostitutes, pimps, police, mobsters, porn actors and producers, the eight-episode third season of “The Deuce” brings the series’ arc to a dramatic conclusion.
Welcome to 1985. Here’s what’s going down this decade:
Season 3 of “The Deuce” brings us into the world of 1985, just as VHS overtakes film as the primary medium for porn production and distribution. The lure of the California sunshine, the city’s aggressive takeover of commercial sex properties in Times Square and the devastating impact of the AIDS epidemic mark the end of an era. With the party of the 1970s winding down, 42nd Street has deteriorated into a hive of uncontrolled violent crime and seedy video stores, making urban renewal seem more unlikely than ever before. Following the interconnected lives of Times Square’s barkeeps, prostitutes, pimps, police, mobsters, porn actors and producers, the eight-episode third season of “The Deuce” brings the series’ arc to a dramatic conclusion.
- 8/29/2019
- by Tony Maglio
- The Wrap
Three-time Emmy winner Cicely Tyson is set for a leading role in Ava DuVernay’s Own anthology series Cherish the Day. Tyson joins previously announced leads Xosha Roquemore and Alano Miller in the series from Warner Horizon Scripted Television. It’s slated for a winter 2020 premiere.
Created by DuVernay, each season of Cherish the Day will chronicle the stirring romance of one couple, with each episode spanning a single day. The season-long narrative will unfold to reveal significant moments in a relationship that compel us to hold true to the ones we love — from the extraordinary to the everyday.
Tyson will play Miss Luma Lee Langston, a legendary star of stage and screen in decades past.
With a straight-to-series order, DuVernay is executive producing the original anthology series as part of her recently announced overall deal with the studio, Warner Horizon Scripted Television.
Cherish the Day is produced for Own...
Created by DuVernay, each season of Cherish the Day will chronicle the stirring romance of one couple, with each episode spanning a single day. The season-long narrative will unfold to reveal significant moments in a relationship that compel us to hold true to the ones we love — from the extraordinary to the everyday.
Tyson will play Miss Luma Lee Langston, a legendary star of stage and screen in decades past.
With a straight-to-series order, DuVernay is executive producing the original anthology series as part of her recently announced overall deal with the studio, Warner Horizon Scripted Television.
Cherish the Day is produced for Own...
- 8/13/2019
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
Filmmaker Ava DuVernay‘s second project for Own, following Queen Sugar, has found its leads.
Xosha Roquemore (The Mindy Project) and Alano Miller (Underground) are set to headline the inaugural season of Cherish the Day, an anthology that will chronicle the stirring romance of one couple, with each episode spanning a single day. The season-long narrative will unfold to reveal “significant moments in a relationship that compel us to hold true to the ones we love, from the extraordinary to the everyday.”
More from TVLineTVLine Performer of the Week: When They See Us' Jharrel JeromeWhite House Drama, The Oval,...
Xosha Roquemore (The Mindy Project) and Alano Miller (Underground) are set to headline the inaugural season of Cherish the Day, an anthology that will chronicle the stirring romance of one couple, with each episode spanning a single day. The season-long narrative will unfold to reveal “significant moments in a relationship that compel us to hold true to the ones we love, from the extraordinary to the everyday.”
More from TVLineTVLine Performer of the Week: When They See Us' Jharrel JeromeWhite House Drama, The Oval,...
- 7/25/2019
- TVLine.com
Ava DuVernay has found her leads for the first season of the Own anthology series Cherish the Day. Xosha Roquemore (The Mindy Project) and Alano Miller (Underground) will star in the series created and executive produced by DuVernay through her Array Filmworks. Hailing from Warner Horizon Scripted Television, it’s slated to premiere in winter 2020.
Each season of Cherish the Day will chronicle the stirring romance of one couple, with each episode spanning a single day. The season-long narrative will unfold to reveal significant moments in a relationship that compel us to hold true to the ones we love — from the extraordinary to the everyday.
Roquemore will play Gently James and Miller will portray Evan Fisher in the first season. The couple meets and falls in love in Los Angeles, with the full season spanning five years over eight episodes.
With a straight-to-series order, DuVernay is executive producing the original...
Each season of Cherish the Day will chronicle the stirring romance of one couple, with each episode spanning a single day. The season-long narrative will unfold to reveal significant moments in a relationship that compel us to hold true to the ones we love — from the extraordinary to the everyday.
Roquemore will play Gently James and Miller will portray Evan Fisher in the first season. The couple meets and falls in love in Los Angeles, with the full season spanning five years over eight episodes.
With a straight-to-series order, DuVernay is executive producing the original...
- 7/25/2019
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
Ava DuVernay’s second Own series, “Cherish the Day,” has cast “The Mindy Project” alum Xosha Roquemore and Alano Miller from “Underground” as its leads.
Each season of the drama will chronicle the stirring romance of one couple, with each episode spanning a single day. “The season-long narrative will unfold to reveal significant moments in a relationship that compel us to hold true to the ones we love, from the extraordinary to the ever,” Own said of the season.
Roquemore plays Gently James and Miller plays Evan Fisher. The couple meets and falls in love in Los Angeles, with the full season spanning five years in eight episodes.
Also Read: 'Batman' Writer Tom King Will Start Work on Script for 'New Gods' the Day After Comic-Con Ends
DuVernay created and is executive producing the anthology, which received a straight-to-series order, from Warner Horizon Scripted Television as part of...
Each season of the drama will chronicle the stirring romance of one couple, with each episode spanning a single day. “The season-long narrative will unfold to reveal significant moments in a relationship that compel us to hold true to the ones we love, from the extraordinary to the ever,” Own said of the season.
Roquemore plays Gently James and Miller plays Evan Fisher. The couple meets and falls in love in Los Angeles, with the full season spanning five years in eight episodes.
Also Read: 'Batman' Writer Tom King Will Start Work on Script for 'New Gods' the Day After Comic-Con Ends
DuVernay created and is executive producing the anthology, which received a straight-to-series order, from Warner Horizon Scripted Television as part of...
- 7/25/2019
- by Reid Nakamura and Jennifer Maas
- The Wrap
Ava DuVernay (Queen Sugar) has set her next series at Own. The network has given a straight-to-series order to Cherish the Day, an original anthology series from DuVernay and Warner Horizon Scripted Television. The project is part of DuVernay’s overall deal with Warner Bros. TV. Oprah Winfrey will executive produce alongside DuVernay for a winter 2020 premiere on Own.
Created by DuVernay, in each season, Cherish the Day chronicles the stirring romance of one couple, with each episode spanning a single day. The season-long narrative will unfold to reveal significant moments in a relationship that compel us to hold true to the ones we love, from the extraordinary to the everyday.
Tanya Hamilton will serve as executive producer/showrunner and will direct the series premiere. DuVernay’s longtime producing partner Paul Garnes will also executive produce the series.
“Own is home. I...
Created by DuVernay, in each season, Cherish the Day chronicles the stirring romance of one couple, with each episode spanning a single day. The season-long narrative will unfold to reveal significant moments in a relationship that compel us to hold true to the ones we love, from the extraordinary to the everyday.
Tanya Hamilton will serve as executive producer/showrunner and will direct the series premiere. DuVernay’s longtime producing partner Paul Garnes will also executive produce the series.
“Own is home. I...
- 3/20/2019
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
Own has given a straight-to-series order to “Cherish the Day,” an anthology drama from Ava DuVernay.
DuVernay will create and executive produce the series from Warner Horizon Scripted Television as part of her recently announced overall deal with the studio. Oprah Winfrey will executive produce alongside DuVernay for a winter 2020 premiere on Own.
Each season, the anthology series chronicles the stirring romance of one couple, with each episode spanning a single day. The season-long narrative will unfold to reveal significant moments in a relationship that compel us to hold true to the ones we love, from the extraordinary to the everyday.
Also Read: 9 Women Who Have Directed Movies With $100 Million Budgets (Photos)
“Ava is a visionary storyteller. She brings so much care, so much heart, so much love to the art she creates,” Winfrey said. “I’m excited to continue collaborating together with our very first anthology series for Own.
DuVernay will create and executive produce the series from Warner Horizon Scripted Television as part of her recently announced overall deal with the studio. Oprah Winfrey will executive produce alongside DuVernay for a winter 2020 premiere on Own.
Each season, the anthology series chronicles the stirring romance of one couple, with each episode spanning a single day. The season-long narrative will unfold to reveal significant moments in a relationship that compel us to hold true to the ones we love, from the extraordinary to the everyday.
Also Read: 9 Women Who Have Directed Movies With $100 Million Budgets (Photos)
“Ava is a visionary storyteller. She brings so much care, so much heart, so much love to the art she creates,” Winfrey said. “I’m excited to continue collaborating together with our very first anthology series for Own.
- 3/20/2019
- by Tim Baysinger
- The Wrap
The Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) has given out a straight-to-series order for an anthology that hails from Ava DuVernay, Variety has learned exclusively.
The series is titled “Cherish the Day.” Each season, the anthology series chronicles the romance of one couple, with each episode spanning a single day. The season-long narrative will unfold to reveal significant moments in a relationship that compel people to hold true to the ones they love, from the extraordinary to the everyday. The show is currently slated to debut in winter 2020.
“Own is home,” DuVernay said. “I’m honored to create television for a network headed by an artist with spectacular vision and unbridled passion for the stories that we want to tell.”
This marks the second series that DuVernay has at Own. She also developed the series adaptation of the novel “Queen Sugar” for the network in addition to serving as director and executive producer on the series.
The series is titled “Cherish the Day.” Each season, the anthology series chronicles the romance of one couple, with each episode spanning a single day. The season-long narrative will unfold to reveal significant moments in a relationship that compel people to hold true to the ones they love, from the extraordinary to the everyday. The show is currently slated to debut in winter 2020.
“Own is home,” DuVernay said. “I’m honored to create television for a network headed by an artist with spectacular vision and unbridled passion for the stories that we want to tell.”
This marks the second series that DuVernay has at Own. She also developed the series adaptation of the novel “Queen Sugar” for the network in addition to serving as director and executive producer on the series.
- 3/20/2019
- by Joe Otterson
- Variety Film + TV
Ava DuVernay has landed a second series at Own.
The Queen Sugar creator has snagged a straight-to-series order for an anthology called Cherish the Day. Filmmaker Tanya Hamilton (Queen Sugar, Night Catches Us, The Chi) will serve as showrunner and executive produce with DuVernay and her producing partner Paul Garnes and Own head Oprah Winfrey.
Warner Horizon Scripted Television will produce the series. DuVernay recently signed a huge overall deal with Warner Bros., where she also is executive producing the limited series The Red Line for CBS. Cherish the Day is scheduled to premiere in winter 2020.
"Own is home," DuVernay said ...
The Queen Sugar creator has snagged a straight-to-series order for an anthology called Cherish the Day. Filmmaker Tanya Hamilton (Queen Sugar, Night Catches Us, The Chi) will serve as showrunner and executive produce with DuVernay and her producing partner Paul Garnes and Own head Oprah Winfrey.
Warner Horizon Scripted Television will produce the series. DuVernay recently signed a huge overall deal with Warner Bros., where she also is executive producing the limited series The Red Line for CBS. Cherish the Day is scheduled to premiere in winter 2020.
"Own is home," DuVernay said ...
- 3/20/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
The Sundance Institute announced the eleven screenwriters who will take part in their seventh annual Screenwriters Intensive. Taking place in Los Angeles tomorrow and Friday, the Intensive is “a two-day workshop for writers or writer/directors from underrepresented communities developing their first fiction feature. Fellows at the Intensive will advance the art and craft of their work under the guidance of experienced filmmakers and in collaboration with Institute’s Feature Film Program.” Advisors are Andrew Ahn, Kyle Patrick Alvarez, Patricia Cardoso, Deena Goldstone, Tanya Hamilton, Elgin James, So Yong Kim, Sarah Koskoff, Tracy Oliver, Joan Tewkesbury, and Andy Wolk. The program is […]...
- 2/27/2019
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
The Sundance Institute announced the eleven screenwriters who will take part in their seventh annual Screenwriters Intensive. Taking place in Los Angeles tomorrow and Friday, the Intensive is “a two-day workshop for writers or writer/directors from underrepresented communities developing their first fiction feature. Fellows at the Intensive will advance the art and craft of their work under the guidance of experienced filmmakers and in collaboration with Institute’s Feature Film Program.” Advisors are Andrew Ahn, Kyle Patrick Alvarez, Patricia Cardoso, Deena Goldstone, Tanya Hamilton, Elgin James, So Yong Kim, Sarah Koskoff, Tracy Oliver, Joan Tewkesbury, and Andy Wolk. The program is […]...
- 2/27/2019
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
The Sundance Institute announced today the 11 screenwriters that have been selected to participate in their 7th annual Screenwriters Intensive in Los Angeles which is set to take place Feb. 28-March 1.
The 2019 Screenwriters Intensive Fellows (and their projects) are: Fawaz Al-Matrouk (Mr. Rob), Haley Anderson (Coyote Boys), Justin Denis (Beware of the Boomerang), Adamma Ebo, Skye Emerson (Challenger), Gerardo Coello Escalante (Forgive Us Sinners), Deborah Esquenazi(Queen of Wands), Tiffanie Hsu (Wonderland), Carlen May-Mann and Beck Kitsis (Strawberry Summer), and Laurel Parmet (The Starling Girl).
The Intensive is a two-day workshop for writers or writer/directors from underrepresented communities developing their first fiction feature. Fellows at the Intensive will advance the art and craft of their work under the guidance of experienced filmmakers and in collaboration with Institute’s Feature Film Program. The intensive is part of their commitment to introduce the industry to an...
The 2019 Screenwriters Intensive Fellows (and their projects) are: Fawaz Al-Matrouk (Mr. Rob), Haley Anderson (Coyote Boys), Justin Denis (Beware of the Boomerang), Adamma Ebo, Skye Emerson (Challenger), Gerardo Coello Escalante (Forgive Us Sinners), Deborah Esquenazi(Queen of Wands), Tiffanie Hsu (Wonderland), Carlen May-Mann and Beck Kitsis (Strawberry Summer), and Laurel Parmet (The Starling Girl).
The Intensive is a two-day workshop for writers or writer/directors from underrepresented communities developing their first fiction feature. Fellows at the Intensive will advance the art and craft of their work under the guidance of experienced filmmakers and in collaboration with Institute’s Feature Film Program. The intensive is part of their commitment to introduce the industry to an...
- 2/26/2019
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
HBO is sharing all kinds of news today from the TCAs.
Now we're hearing from The Deuce and getting our first word that, yes, James Franco is still a part of the series after being accused of less than savory behavior shortly after he won his Globe Award for his performance in The Disaster Artist.
Chronicling the rise of pornography and the multibillion-dollar industry’s transformation of American culture, the critically acclaimed drama series The Deuce, created by George Pelecanos and David Simon, returns for its nine-episode second season Sunday, Sept. 9 (10/9c), exclusively on HBO.
Resuming five years after the culmination of the first season, The Deuce returns to the world of 1977, capturing the Times Square area of midtown New York at its most garish and volatile.
The series is also available on HBO Now, HBO Go, HBO On Demand and affiliate portals.
Related: Get HBO via Prime Video Channels for Addictive Dramas,...
Now we're hearing from The Deuce and getting our first word that, yes, James Franco is still a part of the series after being accused of less than savory behavior shortly after he won his Globe Award for his performance in The Disaster Artist.
Chronicling the rise of pornography and the multibillion-dollar industry’s transformation of American culture, the critically acclaimed drama series The Deuce, created by George Pelecanos and David Simon, returns for its nine-episode second season Sunday, Sept. 9 (10/9c), exclusively on HBO.
Resuming five years after the culmination of the first season, The Deuce returns to the world of 1977, capturing the Times Square area of midtown New York at its most garish and volatile.
The series is also available on HBO Now, HBO Go, HBO On Demand and affiliate portals.
Related: Get HBO via Prime Video Channels for Addictive Dramas,...
- 7/25/2018
- by Carissa Pavlica
- TVfanatic
Even though I had nothing but good things to say about Black Lightning early on, I must say that I’m quite pleased to see the young series hold steady after seven episodes. I mean, not only has it emerged as one of the best things to happen to DC TV this season, but it’s actually one of the shows that I most look forward to viewing each week.
Surprisingly, showrunner Salim Akil and company have decided to forego the “freak of the week” trapping that programs in this genre often fall into, instead keeping the rogues gallery small and taking a more serialized approach. Doing this has only added to the intrigue, effectively assuring that I’ll be tuning in the following week.
So, while Marvin “Krondon” Jones III continues to impress as big bad Tobias Whale, I’m still finding it difficult to forget Will Catlett’s La La,...
Surprisingly, showrunner Salim Akil and company have decided to forego the “freak of the week” trapping that programs in this genre often fall into, instead keeping the rogues gallery small and taking a more serialized approach. Doing this has only added to the intrigue, effectively assuring that I’ll be tuning in the following week.
So, while Marvin “Krondon” Jones III continues to impress as big bad Tobias Whale, I’m still finding it difficult to forget Will Catlett’s La La,...
- 3/7/2018
- by Eric Joseph
- We Got This Covered
Barring a few new episodes of Legends of Tomorrow, us fans of the Arrowverse have had to endure another brief hiatus due to the 2018 Winter Olympics. Fortunately, though, that’ll come to a close next week and we can once again enjoy our favorite superhero shows.
Today, however, we’re going to discuss what’s to come a few weeks down the line, specifically the week of March 12. And if the synopses offered today are any indication of what to expect, well, then we should be in for one hell of a ride.
Let’s start with Legends, shall we?
On Monday, March 12, it appears as though the Waverider crew will finally close in on the final Totem in “Amazing Grace,” thus making the current arc feel somewhat like a video game. (Come on, don’t tell me this scavenger hunt didn’t make you think the same thing.) In this instance,...
Today, however, we’re going to discuss what’s to come a few weeks down the line, specifically the week of March 12. And if the synopses offered today are any indication of what to expect, well, then we should be in for one hell of a ride.
Let’s start with Legends, shall we?
On Monday, March 12, it appears as though the Waverider crew will finally close in on the final Totem in “Amazing Grace,” thus making the current arc feel somewhat like a video game. (Come on, don’t tell me this scavenger hunt didn’t make you think the same thing.) In this instance,...
- 2/23/2018
- by Eric Joseph
- We Got This Covered
Since any New York City cinephile has a nearly suffocating wealth of theatrical options, we figured it’d be best to compile some of the more worthwhile repertory showings into one handy list. Displayed below are a few of the city’s most reliable theaters and links to screenings of their weekend offerings — films you’re not likely to see in a theater again anytime soon, and many of which are, also, on 35mm. If you have a chance to attend any of these, we’re of the mind that it’s time extremely well-spent.
Metrograph
Five of John Ford’s best pictures play in a special edition of “Welcome to Metrograph.”
Filmmaker Tanya Hamilton will present her feature Night Catches Us on Sunday.
Quad Cinema
The series “Four Play” and “Further Research” offer films by Coppola, Kubrick, Mel Brooks and more.
The Lina Wertmüller series continues.
Film Forum
A Jean-Pierre Melville series is underway.
Metrograph
Five of John Ford’s best pictures play in a special edition of “Welcome to Metrograph.”
Filmmaker Tanya Hamilton will present her feature Night Catches Us on Sunday.
Quad Cinema
The series “Four Play” and “Further Research” offer films by Coppola, Kubrick, Mel Brooks and more.
The Lina Wertmüller series continues.
Film Forum
A Jean-Pierre Melville series is underway.
- 4/28/2017
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Sneak Peek more footage from "The Vampire Diaries" episode "The Next Time I Hurt Somebody, It Could Be You", written by Shukree Hassan Tilghman and directed by Tanya Hamilton, airing December 9, 2016 on The CW:
"...faced with the fallout from his interaction with 'Cade' (Wole Parks), 'Stefan' (Paul Wesley) is determined to have one thing go right - Christmas Eve with 'Caroline'.
"However, when 'Damon' (Ian Somerhalder) and 'Sybil' (Nathalie Kelley) crash their Christmas Eve dinner, which had been joined by 'Alaric' (Matt Davis), 'Matt' (Zach Roerig) and 'Peter' (Joel Gretsch), things quickly take a dark and twisted turn.
"Meanwhile, in a series of flashbacks to Stefan's past, Cade's attempt to entice him with his mysterious agenda leaves Stefan faced with an unimaginable decision..."
Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "The Vampire Diaries: The Next Time I Hurt Somebody, It Could Be You"...
"...faced with the fallout from his interaction with 'Cade' (Wole Parks), 'Stefan' (Paul Wesley) is determined to have one thing go right - Christmas Eve with 'Caroline'.
"However, when 'Damon' (Ian Somerhalder) and 'Sybil' (Nathalie Kelley) crash their Christmas Eve dinner, which had been joined by 'Alaric' (Matt Davis), 'Matt' (Zach Roerig) and 'Peter' (Joel Gretsch), things quickly take a dark and twisted turn.
"Meanwhile, in a series of flashbacks to Stefan's past, Cade's attempt to entice him with his mysterious agenda leaves Stefan faced with an unimaginable decision..."
Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "The Vampire Diaries: The Next Time I Hurt Somebody, It Could Be You"...
- 12/8/2016
- by Michael Stevens
- SneakPeek
For years, women fought to work behind the camera, especially in the television world, while the Hollywood system balked. But this fall, there’s real evidence that change is coming, thanks to the industry embracing a simple two-step process:
1) You acknowledge the problem.
2) You do something about it.
By “doing something about it,” that very specifically means giving women a real chance to prove themselves behind the camera. Because every time they get it, it leads to additional opportunities.
This year, FX dug into this issue unlike perhaps any other network on television, courtesy of what network president John Landgraf called “a good, swift, well-deserved kick in the butt” from Variety’s Maureen Ryan. The TV critic last year broke down the demographics for directors working in TV and found that 88 percent of FX Networks episodes last season were directed by white men.
Read More: Female Filmmakers Want to Direct...
1) You acknowledge the problem.
2) You do something about it.
By “doing something about it,” that very specifically means giving women a real chance to prove themselves behind the camera. Because every time they get it, it leads to additional opportunities.
This year, FX dug into this issue unlike perhaps any other network on television, courtesy of what network president John Landgraf called “a good, swift, well-deserved kick in the butt” from Variety’s Maureen Ryan. The TV critic last year broke down the demographics for directors working in TV and found that 88 percent of FX Networks episodes last season were directed by white men.
Read More: Female Filmmakers Want to Direct...
- 9/7/2016
- by Liz Shannon Miller
- Indiewire
“Diversity” may be a big buzzword for the film business these days, but for a lot of organizations, the challenges implied by the term are nothing new. While the Academy announced last week that it was inviting 683 new members—many from diverse backgrounds—to their vaunted club, the independent film side of the industry has long been fighting the good fight, with programs, grants and foundations focused on creating a more equitable entertainment ecosystem.
But how well are such initiatives working? “If we’re honest with ourselves, we have to realize there are a lot of well-meaning programs out there that are not having an impact,” said Film Independent’s Josh Welsh. “I’m at a point of great frustration. I am proud of what we’ve accomplished, but at the same time, these studies continue to come out every year that say the numbers in the industry are, as a whole,...
But how well are such initiatives working? “If we’re honest with ourselves, we have to realize there are a lot of well-meaning programs out there that are not having an impact,” said Film Independent’s Josh Welsh. “I’m at a point of great frustration. I am proud of what we’ve accomplished, but at the same time, these studies continue to come out every year that say the numbers in the industry are, as a whole,...
- 7/7/2016
- by Anthony Kaufman
- Indiewire
Ava DuVernay’s ‘Queen Sugar’ Will Debut With A Two-Night Premiere Event on The Oprah Winfrey Network
“Queen Sugar,” Ava DuVernay’s highly-anticipated one-hour drama finally has a premiere date. Executive produced by Oprah Winfrey, the series will debut as a two-night event on Tuesday, September 6 and Wednesday, September 7 at 10Pm on the Oprah Winfrey Network. From there, the series will regularly air Wednesday nights.
The show will consist of a total of 13 episodes, with the “Selma” director helming the first two. The subsequent episodes are all directed by seasoned and emerging women which include Tina Mabry, Victoria Mahoney, Tanya Hamilton, So Yong Kim, Kat Candler, Salli Richardson-Whitfield and Neema Barnette.
Read More: ‘Queen Sugar’ Trailer: A Funeral Brings Family Home in Ava DuVernay’s Oprah Winfrey Network Series
“Queen Sugar” stars Rutina Wesley and Dawn-Lyen Gardner as two estranged sisters in Saint Josephine, Louisiana. Nova (Wesley) is a world-wise journalist and activist and Charley (Gardner) is the savvy wife and manager of an NBA star. Kofi Siriboe...
The show will consist of a total of 13 episodes, with the “Selma” director helming the first two. The subsequent episodes are all directed by seasoned and emerging women which include Tina Mabry, Victoria Mahoney, Tanya Hamilton, So Yong Kim, Kat Candler, Salli Richardson-Whitfield and Neema Barnette.
Read More: ‘Queen Sugar’ Trailer: A Funeral Brings Family Home in Ava DuVernay’s Oprah Winfrey Network Series
“Queen Sugar” stars Rutina Wesley and Dawn-Lyen Gardner as two estranged sisters in Saint Josephine, Louisiana. Nova (Wesley) is a world-wise journalist and activist and Charley (Gardner) is the savvy wife and manager of an NBA star. Kofi Siriboe...
- 6/30/2016
- by Liz Calvario
- Indiewire
For over 30 years Sundance Institute has been an iconic organization providing opportunities and resources to independent filmmakers and those that want to support them. Their two flagship programs are the renowned Screenwriters Lab and the Directors Lab, which allow up-and-coming artists to interact and receive mentorship from successful and acclaimed members of the film industry. To say that being part of one these programs is a once in a lifetime opportunity is an understatement. The proof is in the undeniable quality of the projects that are shaped during the labs and that eventually become part of the cinematic conversation.
While fostering talent is what Sundance Institute does best, they are one of the institutions that most diligently reinforces their commitment to provide opportunities for new voices that represent an eclectic array of backgrounds and experiences. In order to cast their net of support even wider, the institute offers numerous exciting programs beyond those that are already well-known in the filmmaking community. As part of Sundance Institute's Diversity Initiative, the Screenwriters Intensive is an invaluable resource that focuses on stories outside of the homogenous fare.
The program is a 1 1/2 day workshop for writers whose work has been encountered by the institute as part of their outreach for the Labs and which they find especially promising. The writers of 10 projects take part in a program whose elements include a hands-on writing workshop led by creative advisor Joan Tewkesbury (“Nashville”), a screening of a recent Sundance film followed by a candid conversation with the filmmaker, a reception with Sundance staff and the extended Sundance community, and one-on-one meetings with two creative advisors to get feedback on their script. With the Intensive, the Sundance Institute aims to present participants with creative tools that they can take back to their own work, provide a space for dialogue and information sharing about the creative process of making a film (and all of the joys and challenges therein), and foster community among storytellers and an ongoing connection with Sundance.
The screening this year was Andrew Ahn's "Spa Night," which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival back in January and has now been picked up for U.S distribution by Strand Releasing. Centered on the conflicted son of a Korean immigrant couple in Los Angeles, Ahn's subtle yet poignant narrative deals with issues of identity both sexual and cultural. For the second day of the workshop, the fellows had one-on-one meetings with celebrated figures in independent cinema: Miranda July, Jennifer Salt, Deena Goldstone, Patricia Cardoso, Pete Sollett, Dana Stevens, Tanya Hamilton, Ligiah Villalobos, Scott Neustadter, and Kyle Patrick Alvarez
The Screenwriters Intensive fellows come from uniquely different backgrounds, and their projects bring original stories that are sure to showcase new and inventive perspectives on the world. Get to know them and their stories as they are on their way to giving us a great batch of new independent films.
The application for the 2017 January Screenwriters Lab is currently open with a deadline of May 3. Applicants for the Screenwriters Lab are also considered for the Screenwriters Intensive, Sundance Institute Asian American Fellowship, and the Sundance Institute Feature Film Program Latino Fellowship, as eligibility allows. To learn more about the Sundance Institute's programs visit Here.
Khalik Allah
Project: "Kareem"
Khalik Allah is a self taught filmmaker and photographer. His work has been described as visceral, hauntingly beautiful, penetrative and profoundly personal. Photography and filmmaking are two overlapping circles that form a venn diagram in Allah’s mind; the area where they overlap is the space he inhabits as an artist. Allah’s cinematic vignettes document hardscrabble life at the corner of 125th Street and Lexington Avenue in Harlem (New York City), most recently in his award-winning documentary Field Niggas, which screened at festivals worldwide.
Describe your project briefly and at what stage in the creative process it is. Include details about your artistic vision for this project in particular.
My project is in an incredibly early stage. I'm basically taking the last four years of my life as a photographer on 125th and Lex and adapting it into a fiction narrative.
Briefly tell us about the most important or rewarding lesson you took from the first day of the Screenwriters Intensive Lab. How will this impact the future development of your project?
The most important thing was the mutual inspiration we gave each other. The lab advisors helped us dig deeper into ourselves. Their faith in us was tremendous. I took away a new lease on my future.
Tell me about your experience during day two and your interaction with the advisors. How important was it for you to get feedback from a professional in the field that has gone through some of the same creative challenges as you?
I met with Miranda July on day two of the lab. Wow she was incredible. She read my entire script and gave me many productive notes. I was impressed that she gave me so much time. Plenty of useful information I can implement.
Now that you've gone through this learning experience, what are some of the next steps you will be taking as you continue to develop your project?
I must keep writing.
Zia Anger
Project: "Despues De"
Zia Anger is a filmmaker and music video director. Her most recent short, "My Last Film," premiered at the 53rd New York Film Festival. In 2015, her short "I Remember Nothing" had its world premiere at New Directors/New Films and its international premiere at Festival del film Locarno. Other screenings include: AFI Fest, Denver Film Festival, Maryland Film Festival, Ann Arbor Film Festival, Basilica Soundscape, Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art, and Vienna Independent Shorts. She has made music videos for various independent artists, including Angel Olsen, Julianna Barwick, and Jenny Hval, the latter of whom she also tours with, projecting live video and participating as a performer. Her music videos have been featured in various online publications including: Pitchfork, the Guardian, and NPR. In 2015, Anger was included in Filmmaker Magazine's "25 New Faces of Independent Film" issue. She was a 2015 fellow in film/video from the New York Foundation for the Arts. In 2008, she was the recipient of the Panavision New Filmmaker Grant for her short film "Lover Boy." She holds a BA/Bs from Ithaca College and a Mfa from The School of the Arts Institute of Chicago.
Describe your project briefly and at what stage in the creative process it is. Include details about your artistic vision for this project in particular.
"Despues De" is about a missing white woman, a mother and daughter who try to find her, and the days leading up to her disappearance on a sorority vacation. It dissects the very particular mythological figures created by our tabloid crazed culture, white women's obsessions with themselves and each other, and the people and places who are alienated in their wake. I would say the project is creatively at the point where it's similar to someone in their late twenties, when you think "wow I know a lot, but fuck there is so much more and I'm open to that," as opposed to "I just turned 21 and I literally know it all." Artistically it calls for a certain amount of precision where high and low brow filmmaking techniques kind of collapse on to each other and end up smooching.
Briefly tell us about the most important or rewarding lesson you took from the first day of the Screenwriters Intensive Lab. How will this impact the future development of your project?
Joan seems to have figured out a really simple way to help even the most stubborn of (non) writers reenter their work at a time when it might seem impossible. What's cool is that once you do it it's really easy to do again. I'm thinking that having this point of access will be crucial to the continued creative development of the piece, beyond writing and moving in to those difficult creative moments onset, in the editing room, all those places you normally forget everything you've already figured out.
Tell me about your experience during day two and your interaction with the advisors. How important was it for you to get feedback from a professional in the field that has gone through some of the same creative challenges as you?
Immediately it's exciting to sit the the same room with someone who speaks the same alien language as you but who has had the experience deal with people who don't. I think it was Bergman or someone who talked about how inadequate a script can be, considering it's just this middle step. I find myself so disillusioned with this middle step and constantly questioning what exactly it's supposed to function as. It's a good exercise to talk through what is important and what should be more developed and also where you can cut the fat.
Now that you've gone through this learning experience, what are some of the next steps you will be taking as you continue to develop your project?
Probably keep learning.
Chris Benson
Project: "Death of Innocence"
Christopher Benson, a journalist and lawyer, is an associate professor of Journalism and African American Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He has worked as a city hall reporter in Chicago for Wbmx-fm, as Washington Editor for Ebony magazine, and as a speechwriter for Washington, D.C. politicians, including former Congressman Harold Washington and Eeoc Chair Clarence Thomas. He also has written for Chicago, Savoy, Jet, and The Crisis magazines, and has contributed to the Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, and the Chicago Sun-Times. Most recently, he has written commentary on justice, race and media for the Chicago Reporter and the Huffington Post. His Chicago Reporter series on the wrongful murder conviction of Anthony Dansberry contributed to Dansberry’s release from prison (after serving 23 years) and earned Benson a Peter Lisagor Award for exemplary journalism. Benson also was a co-writer and associate producer of the Wttw Channel 11 documentary "Paper Trail: 100 Years of the Chicago Defender," and was named on two of the documentary’s three regional Emmy Awards, as well as another Lisagor Award. Benson is co-author with Mamie Till-Mobley of "Death of Innocence: The Story of the Hate Crime That Changed America," the account of the 1955 lynching of Mrs. Till-Mobley’s son, Emmett Till, and the winner of the 2003 Robert F. Kennedy Book Award Special Recognition. The feature adaptation of the book will be executive produced by Chaz Ebert and Shatterglass Films
Describe your project briefly and at what stage in the creative process it is. Include details about your artistic vision for this project in particular.
Our project is titled "Death of Innocence" and it is the screen adaptation of a book I co-authored with the late Mamie Till-Mobley about the life and tragic death of her son, Emmett Till. Through this project that focuses on the brutal 1955 lynching of a 14 year-old kid, we want to help people make connections between the violent enforcement of racial segregation and the shooting deaths of young African American males by people who still are getting away with it in our contemporary moment. We also want to show how one person—in this case, Mamie Till-Mobley—can make a difference in the struggle for social and legal justice in America. This clearly is a challenge we still face and we need to learn lessons from some of the unsung heroes of the Civil Rights Movement. That is what we are trying to show with this picture.
Briefly tell us about the most important or rewarding lesson you took from the first day of the Screenwriters Intensive Lab. How will this impact the future development of your project?
One of the many things I have taken away from the first day of the Sundance Screenwriters Lab is that I have to take ownership of the characters who populate this story—even this story based on true events and real people. As a professional journalist, I have spent years trying to keep a distance from the issues I write about and the people who humanize those stories, who breathe life into them. Despite cynical public opinion, journalists do go after the truth. In screenwriting, we are going after the essential truth. What is the meaning of everything that appears on the screen? So, even in stories based on real events, we are not simply cataloguing a series of facts in a sequence of scenes. We are supposed to find the story that rises from all those facts. The essential truth. The true meaning. That will affect my screenwriting for some time beyond the successful completion of this project.
Tell me about your experience during day two and your interaction with the advisors. How important was it for you to get feedback from a professional in the field that has gone through some of the same creative challenges as you?
I have to say that the coordinators of the Sundance Lab experience clearly put a lot of care and thought into developing a perfect match of advisors and fellows. The second day discussions with my advisors was phenomenal. As with the Sundance organizers, they had read the script very carefully and approached my sessions with a devotion to maintaining the integrity of the story, and helping fulfill the purpose we had set out to accomplish. It was amazing to listen to the comments that reflected a deep appreciation of the characters, the story and even the potential impact of this piece. I was especially struck by the connection my advisors felt with the main character, Mamie Till-Mobley, and the advice I was given to develop her and her motivation to a level that will result in quite a powerful rendering. I can't wait to get started on the notes.
Now that you've gone through this learning experience, what are some of the next steps you will be taking as you continue to develop your project?
My plan is to work with the notes I was given to consider ways to perfect the script. My advisors have indicated an interest in staying in touch on this, so that ongoing conversation will be great. The first step I am taking after the Sundance Lab is to engage in discussions with the other producers on our project to ensure that we all on the same page. Next will be to coordinate with the collaborators on the script to talk about the ideas that have emerged from the lab experience. Finally, I will begin to interpret it all on the page, and I am eager to see where the story takes me.
Shakti Bhagchandani
Project: "Purdah"
Shakti Bhagchandani is a screenwriter/director born and raised in the United Arab Emirates. She grew up in Dubai, in a melting pot of religion and culture, and cultivated her writing abilities with the help of her mother. She travelled to London to pursue a BA in English Literature at King's College London and while there she was awarded the prestigious Jelf Medal for her contributions to art and charity. While pursuing her undergraduate degree, she interned at the Vineyard Theatre in New York, the Gate Theatre and National Theatre Studio in London, and the Antenna Theatre in San Francisco. She directed a number of student and semi professional plays, including "Fanny & Faggot" by Jack Thorne and "Pornography" by Simon Stephens. After graduation she moved to New York to pursue an Mfa in Screenwriting & Directing at Columbia University. She is currently in her thesis years, specializing in Screenwriting under advisor Trey Ellis. While at Columbia, she has worked on a number of shorts, and as a writer her last short "Khargosh" screened at Palm Springs International ShortFest and won the Satyajit Ray Award at the London Indian Film Festival. Her first feature screenplay, "Bidoun", was shortlisted for the Sundance Screenwriter's Lab 2015, and her current feature project "Purdah" has been selected for the Sundance Screenwriter's Intensive Lab in La. She recently wrapped production on her short "LostFound" that she wrote and directed, and is currently in preproduction for her next short "Tunisian Jasmine" which is set in the UAE.
Describe your project briefly and at what stage in the creative process it is. Include details about your artistic vision for this project in particular. .
'Purdah' is a coming of age drama that follows a 16-year-old British Pakistani girl as she grapples with her burgeoning womanhood and her precarious sexuality in a world built on segregation and coercion. The project is currently in development.
Briefly tell us about the most important or rewarding lesson you took from the first day of the Screenwriters Intensive Lab. How will this impact the future development of your project?
The first day of the lab included one of the most invigorating writing workshops I've ever been a part of. Joan is a miracle worker! She guided us through a haze of snowploughs, dream sequences and inner monologues, and by the end of it I had somehow come up with about 20 new scene ideas. Characters I had neglected before were suddenly infused with new life and the possibilities for the story feels limitless. Andrew's film and the discussion afterwards was intensely inspiring and the perfect way to round off the day - he helped us believe that the future of our projects is entirely real and attainable.
Tell me about your experience during day two and your interaction with the advisors. How important was it for you to get feedback from a professional in the field that has gone through some of the same creative challenges as you?.
Patricia and Dana are wonderful! It was amazing to sit across from these incredible, passionate women - they were nurturing, encouraging and boundlessly generous with their advice. They talked about their own trajectories and experiences. They motivated me to dig deeper, to fine tune every detail, and to have faith in myself and the project. They came at my script from completely different angles, offering story notes, a ton of production thoughts, and advice on how to move forward with not only the script, but also my career.
Now that you've gone through this learning experience, what are some of the next steps you will be taking as you continue to develop your project?
Revise, revise, revise. And then revise again. The lab helped me see how much potential this story has and how much work it still needs. There is so much left to unearth and I'm excited to get started.
Reinaldo Marcus Green
Project: "Monsters and Men"
New York native Reinaldo Marcus Green is a writer, director, and producer. He is currently a thesis student at Nyu Tisch Graduate Film School and writing his first feature narrative, "Monsters and Men." Most recently, he was named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s 25 New Faces of Independent Film (2015). His latest short film "Stop," which he wrote, produced, and directed, premiered as an official selection at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2015. His previous short film, "Stone Cars," shot on a micro-budget in South Africa, had its international premiere as an official Cinéfondation selection at the Festival de Cannes 2014.
Describe your project briefly and at what stage in the creative process it is. Include details about your artistic vision for this project in particular.
At its core, "Monsters and Men" is a story about perspective.
The film consists of three interlocking stories, each told through the point-of-view of three protagonists -- Manny, a street hustler, Stacey, a female police officer, and Zyric, a high school athlete.
When Manny captures an illegal act of police violence on his cellphone, he unwittingly sets off a series of events that will alter the course of each of their lives...
"Monsters and Men's" three chapters connect narratively and thematically, painting a portrait of modern-day Brooklyn -- a community caught in the crosswinds of crime, police corruption, and social instability.
We’re in the final stage of development, planning to shoot this summer 2016 in Brooklyn, New York. We hope to cast the net wide and far in order to provide opportunities for new undiscovered talent, and new exciting voices. The ideal cast would be a mix of professional and non-professional actors. New York is full of immense diverse talent we can’t wait to work with.
As a filmmaker, my goal is to tell powerful, urgently-needed and authentic stories. I see a unique opportunity to challenge the status quo of independent cinema, to craft entertaining stories with heart and meaning - films which possess social relevance, emotional complexity and thematic resonance.
Ultimately, its my hope to create a highly-compelling narrative feature, entertaining to watch, but one which will add to the social conversation about law enforcement, violence, and justice in America. We want to share that experience with audiences in other places in the world, by giving rise to growing communities who are often marginalized and whose stories are rarely seen in film.
Briefly tell us about the most important or rewarding lesson you took from the first day of the Screenwriters Intensive Lab. How will this impact the future development of your project?
First and foremost, I felt very lucky to be a part of such an amazingly talented group of filmmakers, with a broad range of diverse projects, across all genres. It was fascinating to see where my script fits in the larger spectrum, and what I realized is that each and every story at the lab was an outlier. Each writer had a singular voice, a unique take on genre, character, story, and structure.
The Lesson: “Come in from the side.”
During Day One at the lab, I felt I threw out any preconceived notions I had about my own script. It allowed me to digress and deconstruct without internally combusting. Joan Tewkesbury, a true master at her craft, went right to the core of who we were as human beings, ultimately going right into the core of who and what our scripts were all about, and what they have the potential to become. I think fear is something that holds most people back, the same fear that the world was once flat and we would sail off the edge. Joan refocused my center of gravity and provided me with tools to “access” that inner child, be playful and to keep digging.
Character is at the core of who we are and what makes us human. The digger we deep, the more we reveal about ourselves. I believe in that if I continue the excavation process, with delicate precision, and a gentle curiosity, it will serve me well in all my writing. I can’t be afraid to find out who I am underneath the surface, although sometime we bury things for a reason — because we don’t want to go there — there’s pain hidden in various forms. In writing, there’s a seemingly impenetrable darkness and then there’s light.
Tell me about your experience during day two and your interaction with the advisors. How important was it for you to get feedback from a professional in the field that has gone through some of the same creative challenges as you?
The opportunity to sit down with Peter Sollett and Tanya Hamilton was truly a special treat for me. Not only did are they both masters of their craft and highly-regarded writers and directors within their own right, I had been a big fan of their work before meeting them. Peter’s short film "Five Feet High and Rising," which he later turned into a feature, "Raising Victor Vargas" are two works that I admire deeply, and they have been a source for inspiration since the genius of the project.
Both Peter and Tanya are so sharp and so astute, it makes for brilliant analysis and conversation.
They have a slightly different approach to story, but essentially meet somewhere in the middle; Character. With both advisors, we really stepped back from the script — taking a birds eye view of what the film really means to me and how and what the best way to achieve telling it would be moving forward. We talked a lot about character, world, and theme.
Tanya and Peter both offered many ideas for “problem solving” — helping me hone in on areas in the script that could be refined and strengthened. It’s evident in their own work how much they care about the craft — both offering truly thoughtful insight and perspective into how each scene could advance the story. We discussed ways to deepen characters and how to build a compelling and complex world without compromising my voice, or the story I want to tell.
Now that you've gone through this learning experience, what are some of the next steps you will be taking as you continue to develop your project?
I think the simplest answer is to just keep writing. There’s still a ton of information to digest from the lab but the key is to not get bogged down in semantics, to move beyond the fear and paralysis that we create for ourselves. It’s time to problem solve, lock myself in a room and just write. More coffee please.
Jessie Kahnweiler
Project: "Meet My Rapist"
Jessie Kahnweiler has been featured in The New York Times, CNN, TMZ, People, The Hollywood Reporter, New York Magazine, Mashable, Buzzfeed, Elle, The Daily Beast, Jezebel, Indiewire, La Weekly, The Huffington Post, and The Independent. At the University of Redlands, Kahnweiler quickly began ditching class in order to make documentaries. For her thesis film, Little America, she hitchhiked across the country to explore the world of America’s truck drivers. After getting dumped, she wrote and co-directed the comedic short "Baby Love," co-starring alongside "Anchorman’s" David Koechner. Kahnweiler was selected for the 6 Points Artist Fellowship which inspired her comedic web series entitled "Dude, Where’s my Chutzpah?" Her short "Meet my Rapist," a dark comedy about running into her rapist at the Farmers’ Market, inspired her live show "The Rape Girl." Kahnweiler confronted her own white privilege in her viral hit "Jessie Gets Arrested." Her latest project, for which she serves as writer, director, and stars, is "The Skinny," a dark comedic series based on her 10 year relationship with bulimia. It premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival and is produced by Refinery29 and Jill Soloway’s Wifey.tv Kahnweiler lives in La with her plants.
Describe your project briefly and at what stage in the creative process it is.
Include details about your artistic vision for this project in particular. My project is called "Meet My Rapist" and it is loosely based on a short film I made of the same name a few years ago. After the short had it's 15 minutes online I was moving on to other projects but I felt this gnawing at my gut. I tried to ignore it, popped some advil, and went to yoga but that gnawing just wouldn't stop. That annoying painful gnawing was the beginnings of this script. I've been working on the script on and off for about a year. I'm at the stage where I need to take out most of the flippant jokes and get to the real meat of the matter - the heart, the pain. I need to live and cry this story out. Because the project is so personal it is easy for me to get lost in it. Sometimes I forget where I end and my characters begin. So being at the Sundance lab is great timing. I feel totes blessed.
Briefly tell us about the most important or rewarding lesson you took from the first day of the Screenwriters Intensive Lab. How will this impact the future development of your project?
That I can't hide behind my jokes. After writing in a feeling state all day our amazing teaching Joan looked at me and was like "Your movie is a song and you gotta hit the bass notes." I was like Mic Drop. I love the challenge of making something that is a comedy based in the tragedy of human reality. That is my north star for this movie. I'm not sure if I will get there but that's where I'll be heading.
Tell me about your experience during day two and your interaction with the advisors. How important was it for you to get feedback from a professional in the field that has gone through some of the same creative challenges as you?
It was incredible to take a deep dive into the script with women who so deeply understand screenwriting from the inside out. The feedback was never like "do it My way" it was more about ripping open the guts of the script and getting to that deeper level. Okay this happens but Why? Screenwriting can be so daunting like "I need write the perfect thing so I can get an agent so I can get hired etc. " and the process can be so lonely and daunting . But in both my sessions we just talked about human behavior and what makes people tick and it reminded me that filmmaking is magic and I'm really lucky to be here. Also a woman, it was inspiring to meet with other women who are living my dream. Who are feeling for a living. In both my sessions I laughed, cried, and go to ask as many questions I wanted it. It was basically my ideal Tinder date.
Now that you've gone through this learning experience, what are some of the next steps you will be taking as you continue to develop your project?
I'm going to keep working on drafts of the script, keep sharing it with people I trust, keep begging Sundance to let me come over and eat bagels, keep pitching it to anyone who will listen, keep crying, keep feeling, keep making my movie.
Allison Lee
Project: "Jawbone"
Born in Washington, D.C. and raised in Los Angeles, Allison Lee studied English Language and Literature at the University of Chicago. She received her Mfa in Film and Television Production from the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts. Upon graduation, she worked in development and production at DreamWorks and NBCUniversal. Lee has received grants from the Media Action Network and the Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and Sciences. She was also named a Project Involve fellow, and her short The Grizzly was produced by Film Independent. In 2015, she was one of five screenwriters who received a residency through the inaugural Hedgebrook Screenwriters Lab, where she was mentored by Jenny Bicks and Jane Anderson.
Describe your project briefly and at what stage in the creative process it is. Include details about your artistic vision for this project in particular.
"Jawbone" is about a Korean woman who undergoes drastic plastic surgery as a means to achieve what she and her peers view as success. After she gives birth to a daughter who looks nothing like her, her life begins to unravel and she’s forced to confront her past.
I am currently grappling with rewrites while meeting with potential producers and crew.
I see "Jawbone" as a hybrid of Korean cinema and American independent film. Korean movies relish the tension in tightly wound familial and social relationships. I think my personal connection to this fabric helps me discern and explore where the similarities and differences to American culture begin and end. I also think the best American independent films underscore the universality of specific personal stories, and I aspire to follow in this tradition.
Briefly tell us about the most important or rewarding lesson you took from the first day of the Screenwriters Intensive Lab. How will this impact the future development of your project?
I felt transformed by the sessions with Joan Tewkesbury. She pushed us to bare our souls and delve into our histories to deliver stories that were truthful and specific. My biggest fear about "Jawbone" is that a few extreme events in the plot would read as absurdist melodrama. Relating these events back to some of my own crises helped me re-center the emotional truth of my characters and their journeys.
Tell me about your experience during day two and your interaction with the advisors. How important was it for you to get feedback from a professional in the field that has gone through some of the same creative challenges as you?
It was crucial to work with filmmakers who knew the Sundance aesthetic and had weathered the challenges before us. I knew the script needed improvement but had a hazy vision of what it required. Tanya Hamilton’s notes were both encouraging and precise about galvanizing and concretizing the protagonist’s journey. Patricia Cardoso, with her directorial and producerial expertise, reminded me that my artistic flights of fancy should still be grounded in reality and be economical and pragmatic. The breadth of their approaches made me feel like I was getting the best of all worlds.
Now that you've gone through this learning experience, what are some of the next steps you will be taking as you continue to develop your project?
I am hustling on a rewrite ready to be seen by producers and representatives. Ultimately, I want to direct "Jawbone," and I am also working on a short film version.
Eliza Lee
Project: "A Beautiful Lie"
Educated in Canada and the Czech Republic, Eliza Lee began in Asia as a Dp trainee before returning to her first passion: screenwriting. She takes great pride in world building for her complex women characters. Lee’s feature, Maybe Tomorrow, about rock legend Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders, is being produced by Michelle Sy ("Finding Neverland") and Sophia Chang (former artist manager for Wu Tang Clan), with Academy Award nominee Steph Green ("Run & Jump") attached to direct. Lee’s screenplay, "A Beautiful Lie," about crime novelist Patricia Highsmith, was honored at the 2015 Athena Film Festival, and was also selected for the 2015 Outfest Screenwriting Lab. In addition, she was a Cape 2015 Film & Television Fellow and was mentored by various executives from Sony, Paramount, and Fox, among others. Lee has several features and television projects in development. She is the 2016 Sundance Institute Asian American Fellow.
Describe your project briefly and at what stage in the creative process it is. Include details about your artistic vision for this project in particular.
When Strangers on the Train was published in 1950 and with the anticipation for it to be turned into a film by Alfred Hitchcock, Patricia Highsmith was catapulted into the literary spotlight. Here she thought was her opportunity to break free of the crime genre and finally write her Great American novel. Except, it was at the height of McCarthy’s witch hunt, and her Great American novel would become the iconic lesbian tale, The Price of Salt. In the book, Patricia defiantly gave her lesbian main characters a happy ending together, but faced with the real threat of being blacklisted, she is forced to publish it under a pseudonym. This decision would send her down a path of alcoholism, promiscuity and loneliness as she realized she would not have the happy ending she wrote.
With this story, I knew it had to come from the seminal moment in her life. And for me, it is when she braved writing The Price of Salt at a time where being who you are and believing in what you do can land you in jail, exile or financial ruin. She had to deny her nature, and coupled with a growing rage it would breed the infamous “monster” that would come to define her in her later years.
While her male peers have enjoyed forgiving, pedestal descriptors like "troubled", "complex" or the genius "l'enfant terrible", Highsmith was shown no such generosity.
On top of that, I am struck how often pictures of her old age are published displaying her alcohol and anger ravaged face. We made that. Juxtapose those with photos of Highsmith at 21, so full of hope, vitality and ready for all the wonders of love, and it is clear - she was born this way. "A Beautiful Lie" is about a woman’s quest for love when it was a crime.
Briefly tell us about the most important or rewarding lesson you took from the first day of the Screenwriters Intensive Lab. How will this impact the future development of your project?
Specifically, I learned I hide behind fiction or through my characters and not have to admit the narrative comes from a personal place. Through an incredibly safe and nurturing environment on the first day, Joan Tewksbury led us through a series of spontaneous and revelatory writing exercises that at first seemed random, but without time to allow the self-censor to kick in, the writing showcased how many more complex layers we can apply to our characters through our uninhibited sharing of our personal experiences. As a result, because the stories come from us, they are inherently going to be personal. It was like sleight of hand for the imagination.
Tell me about your experience during day two and your interaction with the advisors. How important was it for you to get feedback from a professional in the field that has gone through some of the same creative challenges as you?
The advisors were there to help us tell the story we want to tell. And the one-on-one sessions were focused solely on the writing, and was intended to be a dialogue. It was humbling to learn the tremendous amount of time they took to burrow deep into our scripts. I was thoroughly empowered by what these writers offered me, and excited that I could challenge such seasoned pros with my perspective and approach to telling a story. Ligiah Villalobos dared me to linger longer in emotional scenes and to take my pursuit for emotional truths for my character even further. While Scott Neustadter and I discussed much about memories as structure, he also pushed me to defy a note i have received that my character is “unlikable” and to allow her to have even more anti-hero moments. i concluded my last day at the Intensive with their voices unifying in the same sentiment: they have a good feeling the film will be made.
Now that you've gone through this learning experience, what are some of the next steps you will be taking as you continue to develop your project?
Through the Sundance Intensive, I have a clear idea of what is my next step, and that is to apply another layer of shading to my portrait of Patricia Highsmith. I’m anxious to keep the momentum going, and then take it out to talent. I’m going to realize this film.
Jimmy Mosqueda
Project: "Valedictorian"
Jimmy Mosqueda is a lifelong California resident, the son of two Mexican migrant workers, and a graduate of Stanford University. From an early age he showed a fondness for writing, starting his first journal at the age of five, which developed into a passion for writing short stories, poetry and eventually screenplays. While attending Stanford on a full scholarship, Mosqueda saw how social class and race influenced the experiences of his fellow students, which made him realize just how much the American educational system is intimately tied to those pillars. The intersection of race, class, and education remains an ongoing theme in his works. Today, Mosqueda lives in Los Angeles and writes full-time. His screenplays have placed in numerous contests, including as a finalist in the Austin Film Festival, Script Pipeline and TrackingB competitions, and as a semifinalist in the Nicholl Fellowship. He’s represented by Angelina Chen and Brooklyn Weaver of Energy Entertainment, and is actively developing projects for film and television.
Describe your project briefly and at what stage in the creative process it is. Include details about your artistic vision for this project in particular.
"Valedictorian" is dark teen comedy in the vein of "Election" and "Heathers." It’s about an ambitious teenage girl who do anything to be crowned valedictorian of her high school, including a little bit of murder. So, you know, just like real high school! I started writing this project about three years ago. It was inspired by my own school experiences, where everyone on the Honors track was super competitive and had their sights set on the Ivy League. Readers respond positively to the comedy and the heightened world of the script, which is great, but one thing I felt got buried underneath the multitude of drafts is the emotional core of the main character. So during the Intensive my main goal was to rediscover who she was and, building out from that, the reason why I wanted to tell this story in the first place.
Briefly tell us about the most important or rewarding lesson you took from the first day of the Screenwriters Intensive Lab. How will this impact the future development of your project?
The most important thing I learned from the workshop with Joan Tewkesbury is that creative development is not about brainstorming characters or story points. All of us have unique, personal experiences and emotions that can form the building blocks of a story. You really have to look inward and tap that raw data, or else run the risk of your story ringing hollow. A lot of artists understand this intuitively, I believe, but Joan’s workshop laid it out in such clear and simple terms. For my next draft of "Valedictorian," I’m going to use these techniques as a stress test, but in all honesty I want to go back and revisit every project I ever worked on using this approach now.
Tell me about your experience during day two and your interaction with the advisors. How important was it for you to get feedback from a professional in the field that has gone through some of the same creative challenges as you?
My advisors were the bee’s knees, if I can be so blunt. My first session was with Scott Neustadter, who along with his writing partner has written a lot of films with teen lead characters. He very clearly understood what the script was, and gave very specific, actionable notes on how to improve what’s already there. I love how he was able to cut through and really get at the core issues of script, which were mostly the same issues I had going in. Scott is killing the screenwriting game right now. His insights were invaluable.
My second session was with Kyle Patrick Alvarez. We spent a lot of time talking about the main character, her motivation, her relationships, and how she “earns” the big moments/twists in the script. We also spent some time talking bigger picture about the industry and how to build a career in Hollywood, which was very much appreciated. Additionally, it was great getting the perspective of another Latino in the industry.
Both men were truly gracious with their time. I left both sessions feeling inspired!
Now that you've gone through this learning experience, what are some of the next steps you will be taking as you continue to develop your project?
After stepping off Cloud 9, it’s back to the computer and working on a new draft of "Valedictorian." In addition, I will also be tackling a new draft of the pilot version. It’s the same world and characters, but with a different engine that is geared towards episodic narrative. Many of the notes I got from Scott and Kyle apply to the pilot version as well, so it’s like getting two for the price of one!
Finally, I just want to thank everyone involved with putting together the Intensive: Ilyse McKimmie, Michelle Satter, Anne Lai, Shira Rockowitz and everyone at the Sundance Institute who made this possible. I am forever grateful for the experience.
Lotfy Nathan
Project: Untitled Bouazizi Project
Lotfy Nathan’s first film, the documentary "12 O’Clock Boys," played over 50 film festivals worldwide, including SXSW, Sundance Next Fest, Lincoln Center, Viennale, Hot Docs, London, and Copenhagen in 2013. It was ranked 7 in the BFI list of top 20 documentaries of 2013, and garnered Nathan an HBO Emerging Artist award. "12 O’Clock Boys" was subsequently picked up by Oscilloscope for a North American release in theaters, acquired by Showtime for television, and was optioned for a fiction remake by Will Smith’s Overbrook Entertainment. Nathan is a 2015 grantee of the Creative Capital Foundation, a resident filmmaker at the Cinereach Foundation, and a previous awardee of the Garrett Scott development grant, the Peter Reed Foundation, the Grainger Marburg travel grant, and an Ifp fellowship.
Describe your project briefly and at what stage in the creative process it is. Include details about your artistic vision for this project in particular.
The film is about Mohamed Bouazizi, the young Tunisian fruit vendor whose act of self-immolation sparked the Arab spring. It’s a love story, apolitical (as the subject of our protagonist was); about a young man’s steady undoing, and his final bittersweet act of defiance. The film will be shot on location, with cast selected locally besides the principles, and filmed with an immersive approach.
Briefly tell us about the most important or rewarding lesson you took from the first day of the Screenwriters Intensive Lab. How will this impact the future development of your project?
We were encouraged to draw from very specific personal experiences, prompted by Joan It was incredible to learn these tools, which enable you to tap into vast resources from your own life that you can then apply to the writing- and so vividly. I think the writing exercises with Joan actually stirred a very unusual dream for me that night.
Tell me about your experience during day two and your interaction with the advisors. How important was it for you to get feedback from a professional in the field that has gone through some of the same creative challenges as you?
The advisors were very motivating. I left with pages of notes on my writing, tangible pieces of smart advice that will help inform the next draft.
Now that you've gone through this learning experience, what are some of the next steps you will be taking as you continue to develop your project?
Before getting back to work on the script I plan to do some other writing on the characters.
While fostering talent is what Sundance Institute does best, they are one of the institutions that most diligently reinforces their commitment to provide opportunities for new voices that represent an eclectic array of backgrounds and experiences. In order to cast their net of support even wider, the institute offers numerous exciting programs beyond those that are already well-known in the filmmaking community. As part of Sundance Institute's Diversity Initiative, the Screenwriters Intensive is an invaluable resource that focuses on stories outside of the homogenous fare.
The program is a 1 1/2 day workshop for writers whose work has been encountered by the institute as part of their outreach for the Labs and which they find especially promising. The writers of 10 projects take part in a program whose elements include a hands-on writing workshop led by creative advisor Joan Tewkesbury (“Nashville”), a screening of a recent Sundance film followed by a candid conversation with the filmmaker, a reception with Sundance staff and the extended Sundance community, and one-on-one meetings with two creative advisors to get feedback on their script. With the Intensive, the Sundance Institute aims to present participants with creative tools that they can take back to their own work, provide a space for dialogue and information sharing about the creative process of making a film (and all of the joys and challenges therein), and foster community among storytellers and an ongoing connection with Sundance.
The screening this year was Andrew Ahn's "Spa Night," which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival back in January and has now been picked up for U.S distribution by Strand Releasing. Centered on the conflicted son of a Korean immigrant couple in Los Angeles, Ahn's subtle yet poignant narrative deals with issues of identity both sexual and cultural. For the second day of the workshop, the fellows had one-on-one meetings with celebrated figures in independent cinema: Miranda July, Jennifer Salt, Deena Goldstone, Patricia Cardoso, Pete Sollett, Dana Stevens, Tanya Hamilton, Ligiah Villalobos, Scott Neustadter, and Kyle Patrick Alvarez
The Screenwriters Intensive fellows come from uniquely different backgrounds, and their projects bring original stories that are sure to showcase new and inventive perspectives on the world. Get to know them and their stories as they are on their way to giving us a great batch of new independent films.
The application for the 2017 January Screenwriters Lab is currently open with a deadline of May 3. Applicants for the Screenwriters Lab are also considered for the Screenwriters Intensive, Sundance Institute Asian American Fellowship, and the Sundance Institute Feature Film Program Latino Fellowship, as eligibility allows. To learn more about the Sundance Institute's programs visit Here.
Khalik Allah
Project: "Kareem"
Khalik Allah is a self taught filmmaker and photographer. His work has been described as visceral, hauntingly beautiful, penetrative and profoundly personal. Photography and filmmaking are two overlapping circles that form a venn diagram in Allah’s mind; the area where they overlap is the space he inhabits as an artist. Allah’s cinematic vignettes document hardscrabble life at the corner of 125th Street and Lexington Avenue in Harlem (New York City), most recently in his award-winning documentary Field Niggas, which screened at festivals worldwide.
Describe your project briefly and at what stage in the creative process it is. Include details about your artistic vision for this project in particular.
My project is in an incredibly early stage. I'm basically taking the last four years of my life as a photographer on 125th and Lex and adapting it into a fiction narrative.
Briefly tell us about the most important or rewarding lesson you took from the first day of the Screenwriters Intensive Lab. How will this impact the future development of your project?
The most important thing was the mutual inspiration we gave each other. The lab advisors helped us dig deeper into ourselves. Their faith in us was tremendous. I took away a new lease on my future.
Tell me about your experience during day two and your interaction with the advisors. How important was it for you to get feedback from a professional in the field that has gone through some of the same creative challenges as you?
I met with Miranda July on day two of the lab. Wow she was incredible. She read my entire script and gave me many productive notes. I was impressed that she gave me so much time. Plenty of useful information I can implement.
Now that you've gone through this learning experience, what are some of the next steps you will be taking as you continue to develop your project?
I must keep writing.
Zia Anger
Project: "Despues De"
Zia Anger is a filmmaker and music video director. Her most recent short, "My Last Film," premiered at the 53rd New York Film Festival. In 2015, her short "I Remember Nothing" had its world premiere at New Directors/New Films and its international premiere at Festival del film Locarno. Other screenings include: AFI Fest, Denver Film Festival, Maryland Film Festival, Ann Arbor Film Festival, Basilica Soundscape, Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art, and Vienna Independent Shorts. She has made music videos for various independent artists, including Angel Olsen, Julianna Barwick, and Jenny Hval, the latter of whom she also tours with, projecting live video and participating as a performer. Her music videos have been featured in various online publications including: Pitchfork, the Guardian, and NPR. In 2015, Anger was included in Filmmaker Magazine's "25 New Faces of Independent Film" issue. She was a 2015 fellow in film/video from the New York Foundation for the Arts. In 2008, she was the recipient of the Panavision New Filmmaker Grant for her short film "Lover Boy." She holds a BA/Bs from Ithaca College and a Mfa from The School of the Arts Institute of Chicago.
Describe your project briefly and at what stage in the creative process it is. Include details about your artistic vision for this project in particular.
"Despues De" is about a missing white woman, a mother and daughter who try to find her, and the days leading up to her disappearance on a sorority vacation. It dissects the very particular mythological figures created by our tabloid crazed culture, white women's obsessions with themselves and each other, and the people and places who are alienated in their wake. I would say the project is creatively at the point where it's similar to someone in their late twenties, when you think "wow I know a lot, but fuck there is so much more and I'm open to that," as opposed to "I just turned 21 and I literally know it all." Artistically it calls for a certain amount of precision where high and low brow filmmaking techniques kind of collapse on to each other and end up smooching.
Briefly tell us about the most important or rewarding lesson you took from the first day of the Screenwriters Intensive Lab. How will this impact the future development of your project?
Joan seems to have figured out a really simple way to help even the most stubborn of (non) writers reenter their work at a time when it might seem impossible. What's cool is that once you do it it's really easy to do again. I'm thinking that having this point of access will be crucial to the continued creative development of the piece, beyond writing and moving in to those difficult creative moments onset, in the editing room, all those places you normally forget everything you've already figured out.
Tell me about your experience during day two and your interaction with the advisors. How important was it for you to get feedback from a professional in the field that has gone through some of the same creative challenges as you?
Immediately it's exciting to sit the the same room with someone who speaks the same alien language as you but who has had the experience deal with people who don't. I think it was Bergman or someone who talked about how inadequate a script can be, considering it's just this middle step. I find myself so disillusioned with this middle step and constantly questioning what exactly it's supposed to function as. It's a good exercise to talk through what is important and what should be more developed and also where you can cut the fat.
Now that you've gone through this learning experience, what are some of the next steps you will be taking as you continue to develop your project?
Probably keep learning.
Chris Benson
Project: "Death of Innocence"
Christopher Benson, a journalist and lawyer, is an associate professor of Journalism and African American Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He has worked as a city hall reporter in Chicago for Wbmx-fm, as Washington Editor for Ebony magazine, and as a speechwriter for Washington, D.C. politicians, including former Congressman Harold Washington and Eeoc Chair Clarence Thomas. He also has written for Chicago, Savoy, Jet, and The Crisis magazines, and has contributed to the Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, and the Chicago Sun-Times. Most recently, he has written commentary on justice, race and media for the Chicago Reporter and the Huffington Post. His Chicago Reporter series on the wrongful murder conviction of Anthony Dansberry contributed to Dansberry’s release from prison (after serving 23 years) and earned Benson a Peter Lisagor Award for exemplary journalism. Benson also was a co-writer and associate producer of the Wttw Channel 11 documentary "Paper Trail: 100 Years of the Chicago Defender," and was named on two of the documentary’s three regional Emmy Awards, as well as another Lisagor Award. Benson is co-author with Mamie Till-Mobley of "Death of Innocence: The Story of the Hate Crime That Changed America," the account of the 1955 lynching of Mrs. Till-Mobley’s son, Emmett Till, and the winner of the 2003 Robert F. Kennedy Book Award Special Recognition. The feature adaptation of the book will be executive produced by Chaz Ebert and Shatterglass Films
Describe your project briefly and at what stage in the creative process it is. Include details about your artistic vision for this project in particular.
Our project is titled "Death of Innocence" and it is the screen adaptation of a book I co-authored with the late Mamie Till-Mobley about the life and tragic death of her son, Emmett Till. Through this project that focuses on the brutal 1955 lynching of a 14 year-old kid, we want to help people make connections between the violent enforcement of racial segregation and the shooting deaths of young African American males by people who still are getting away with it in our contemporary moment. We also want to show how one person—in this case, Mamie Till-Mobley—can make a difference in the struggle for social and legal justice in America. This clearly is a challenge we still face and we need to learn lessons from some of the unsung heroes of the Civil Rights Movement. That is what we are trying to show with this picture.
Briefly tell us about the most important or rewarding lesson you took from the first day of the Screenwriters Intensive Lab. How will this impact the future development of your project?
One of the many things I have taken away from the first day of the Sundance Screenwriters Lab is that I have to take ownership of the characters who populate this story—even this story based on true events and real people. As a professional journalist, I have spent years trying to keep a distance from the issues I write about and the people who humanize those stories, who breathe life into them. Despite cynical public opinion, journalists do go after the truth. In screenwriting, we are going after the essential truth. What is the meaning of everything that appears on the screen? So, even in stories based on real events, we are not simply cataloguing a series of facts in a sequence of scenes. We are supposed to find the story that rises from all those facts. The essential truth. The true meaning. That will affect my screenwriting for some time beyond the successful completion of this project.
Tell me about your experience during day two and your interaction with the advisors. How important was it for you to get feedback from a professional in the field that has gone through some of the same creative challenges as you?
I have to say that the coordinators of the Sundance Lab experience clearly put a lot of care and thought into developing a perfect match of advisors and fellows. The second day discussions with my advisors was phenomenal. As with the Sundance organizers, they had read the script very carefully and approached my sessions with a devotion to maintaining the integrity of the story, and helping fulfill the purpose we had set out to accomplish. It was amazing to listen to the comments that reflected a deep appreciation of the characters, the story and even the potential impact of this piece. I was especially struck by the connection my advisors felt with the main character, Mamie Till-Mobley, and the advice I was given to develop her and her motivation to a level that will result in quite a powerful rendering. I can't wait to get started on the notes.
Now that you've gone through this learning experience, what are some of the next steps you will be taking as you continue to develop your project?
My plan is to work with the notes I was given to consider ways to perfect the script. My advisors have indicated an interest in staying in touch on this, so that ongoing conversation will be great. The first step I am taking after the Sundance Lab is to engage in discussions with the other producers on our project to ensure that we all on the same page. Next will be to coordinate with the collaborators on the script to talk about the ideas that have emerged from the lab experience. Finally, I will begin to interpret it all on the page, and I am eager to see where the story takes me.
Shakti Bhagchandani
Project: "Purdah"
Shakti Bhagchandani is a screenwriter/director born and raised in the United Arab Emirates. She grew up in Dubai, in a melting pot of religion and culture, and cultivated her writing abilities with the help of her mother. She travelled to London to pursue a BA in English Literature at King's College London and while there she was awarded the prestigious Jelf Medal for her contributions to art and charity. While pursuing her undergraduate degree, she interned at the Vineyard Theatre in New York, the Gate Theatre and National Theatre Studio in London, and the Antenna Theatre in San Francisco. She directed a number of student and semi professional plays, including "Fanny & Faggot" by Jack Thorne and "Pornography" by Simon Stephens. After graduation she moved to New York to pursue an Mfa in Screenwriting & Directing at Columbia University. She is currently in her thesis years, specializing in Screenwriting under advisor Trey Ellis. While at Columbia, she has worked on a number of shorts, and as a writer her last short "Khargosh" screened at Palm Springs International ShortFest and won the Satyajit Ray Award at the London Indian Film Festival. Her first feature screenplay, "Bidoun", was shortlisted for the Sundance Screenwriter's Lab 2015, and her current feature project "Purdah" has been selected for the Sundance Screenwriter's Intensive Lab in La. She recently wrapped production on her short "LostFound" that she wrote and directed, and is currently in preproduction for her next short "Tunisian Jasmine" which is set in the UAE.
Describe your project briefly and at what stage in the creative process it is. Include details about your artistic vision for this project in particular. .
'Purdah' is a coming of age drama that follows a 16-year-old British Pakistani girl as she grapples with her burgeoning womanhood and her precarious sexuality in a world built on segregation and coercion. The project is currently in development.
Briefly tell us about the most important or rewarding lesson you took from the first day of the Screenwriters Intensive Lab. How will this impact the future development of your project?
The first day of the lab included one of the most invigorating writing workshops I've ever been a part of. Joan is a miracle worker! She guided us through a haze of snowploughs, dream sequences and inner monologues, and by the end of it I had somehow come up with about 20 new scene ideas. Characters I had neglected before were suddenly infused with new life and the possibilities for the story feels limitless. Andrew's film and the discussion afterwards was intensely inspiring and the perfect way to round off the day - he helped us believe that the future of our projects is entirely real and attainable.
Tell me about your experience during day two and your interaction with the advisors. How important was it for you to get feedback from a professional in the field that has gone through some of the same creative challenges as you?.
Patricia and Dana are wonderful! It was amazing to sit across from these incredible, passionate women - they were nurturing, encouraging and boundlessly generous with their advice. They talked about their own trajectories and experiences. They motivated me to dig deeper, to fine tune every detail, and to have faith in myself and the project. They came at my script from completely different angles, offering story notes, a ton of production thoughts, and advice on how to move forward with not only the script, but also my career.
Now that you've gone through this learning experience, what are some of the next steps you will be taking as you continue to develop your project?
Revise, revise, revise. And then revise again. The lab helped me see how much potential this story has and how much work it still needs. There is so much left to unearth and I'm excited to get started.
Reinaldo Marcus Green
Project: "Monsters and Men"
New York native Reinaldo Marcus Green is a writer, director, and producer. He is currently a thesis student at Nyu Tisch Graduate Film School and writing his first feature narrative, "Monsters and Men." Most recently, he was named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s 25 New Faces of Independent Film (2015). His latest short film "Stop," which he wrote, produced, and directed, premiered as an official selection at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2015. His previous short film, "Stone Cars," shot on a micro-budget in South Africa, had its international premiere as an official Cinéfondation selection at the Festival de Cannes 2014.
Describe your project briefly and at what stage in the creative process it is. Include details about your artistic vision for this project in particular.
At its core, "Monsters and Men" is a story about perspective.
The film consists of three interlocking stories, each told through the point-of-view of three protagonists -- Manny, a street hustler, Stacey, a female police officer, and Zyric, a high school athlete.
When Manny captures an illegal act of police violence on his cellphone, he unwittingly sets off a series of events that will alter the course of each of their lives...
"Monsters and Men's" three chapters connect narratively and thematically, painting a portrait of modern-day Brooklyn -- a community caught in the crosswinds of crime, police corruption, and social instability.
We’re in the final stage of development, planning to shoot this summer 2016 in Brooklyn, New York. We hope to cast the net wide and far in order to provide opportunities for new undiscovered talent, and new exciting voices. The ideal cast would be a mix of professional and non-professional actors. New York is full of immense diverse talent we can’t wait to work with.
As a filmmaker, my goal is to tell powerful, urgently-needed and authentic stories. I see a unique opportunity to challenge the status quo of independent cinema, to craft entertaining stories with heart and meaning - films which possess social relevance, emotional complexity and thematic resonance.
Ultimately, its my hope to create a highly-compelling narrative feature, entertaining to watch, but one which will add to the social conversation about law enforcement, violence, and justice in America. We want to share that experience with audiences in other places in the world, by giving rise to growing communities who are often marginalized and whose stories are rarely seen in film.
Briefly tell us about the most important or rewarding lesson you took from the first day of the Screenwriters Intensive Lab. How will this impact the future development of your project?
First and foremost, I felt very lucky to be a part of such an amazingly talented group of filmmakers, with a broad range of diverse projects, across all genres. It was fascinating to see where my script fits in the larger spectrum, and what I realized is that each and every story at the lab was an outlier. Each writer had a singular voice, a unique take on genre, character, story, and structure.
The Lesson: “Come in from the side.”
During Day One at the lab, I felt I threw out any preconceived notions I had about my own script. It allowed me to digress and deconstruct without internally combusting. Joan Tewkesbury, a true master at her craft, went right to the core of who we were as human beings, ultimately going right into the core of who and what our scripts were all about, and what they have the potential to become. I think fear is something that holds most people back, the same fear that the world was once flat and we would sail off the edge. Joan refocused my center of gravity and provided me with tools to “access” that inner child, be playful and to keep digging.
Character is at the core of who we are and what makes us human. The digger we deep, the more we reveal about ourselves. I believe in that if I continue the excavation process, with delicate precision, and a gentle curiosity, it will serve me well in all my writing. I can’t be afraid to find out who I am underneath the surface, although sometime we bury things for a reason — because we don’t want to go there — there’s pain hidden in various forms. In writing, there’s a seemingly impenetrable darkness and then there’s light.
Tell me about your experience during day two and your interaction with the advisors. How important was it for you to get feedback from a professional in the field that has gone through some of the same creative challenges as you?
The opportunity to sit down with Peter Sollett and Tanya Hamilton was truly a special treat for me. Not only did are they both masters of their craft and highly-regarded writers and directors within their own right, I had been a big fan of their work before meeting them. Peter’s short film "Five Feet High and Rising," which he later turned into a feature, "Raising Victor Vargas" are two works that I admire deeply, and they have been a source for inspiration since the genius of the project.
Both Peter and Tanya are so sharp and so astute, it makes for brilliant analysis and conversation.
They have a slightly different approach to story, but essentially meet somewhere in the middle; Character. With both advisors, we really stepped back from the script — taking a birds eye view of what the film really means to me and how and what the best way to achieve telling it would be moving forward. We talked a lot about character, world, and theme.
Tanya and Peter both offered many ideas for “problem solving” — helping me hone in on areas in the script that could be refined and strengthened. It’s evident in their own work how much they care about the craft — both offering truly thoughtful insight and perspective into how each scene could advance the story. We discussed ways to deepen characters and how to build a compelling and complex world without compromising my voice, or the story I want to tell.
Now that you've gone through this learning experience, what are some of the next steps you will be taking as you continue to develop your project?
I think the simplest answer is to just keep writing. There’s still a ton of information to digest from the lab but the key is to not get bogged down in semantics, to move beyond the fear and paralysis that we create for ourselves. It’s time to problem solve, lock myself in a room and just write. More coffee please.
Jessie Kahnweiler
Project: "Meet My Rapist"
Jessie Kahnweiler has been featured in The New York Times, CNN, TMZ, People, The Hollywood Reporter, New York Magazine, Mashable, Buzzfeed, Elle, The Daily Beast, Jezebel, Indiewire, La Weekly, The Huffington Post, and The Independent. At the University of Redlands, Kahnweiler quickly began ditching class in order to make documentaries. For her thesis film, Little America, she hitchhiked across the country to explore the world of America’s truck drivers. After getting dumped, she wrote and co-directed the comedic short "Baby Love," co-starring alongside "Anchorman’s" David Koechner. Kahnweiler was selected for the 6 Points Artist Fellowship which inspired her comedic web series entitled "Dude, Where’s my Chutzpah?" Her short "Meet my Rapist," a dark comedy about running into her rapist at the Farmers’ Market, inspired her live show "The Rape Girl." Kahnweiler confronted her own white privilege in her viral hit "Jessie Gets Arrested." Her latest project, for which she serves as writer, director, and stars, is "The Skinny," a dark comedic series based on her 10 year relationship with bulimia. It premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival and is produced by Refinery29 and Jill Soloway’s Wifey.tv Kahnweiler lives in La with her plants.
Describe your project briefly and at what stage in the creative process it is.
Include details about your artistic vision for this project in particular. My project is called "Meet My Rapist" and it is loosely based on a short film I made of the same name a few years ago. After the short had it's 15 minutes online I was moving on to other projects but I felt this gnawing at my gut. I tried to ignore it, popped some advil, and went to yoga but that gnawing just wouldn't stop. That annoying painful gnawing was the beginnings of this script. I've been working on the script on and off for about a year. I'm at the stage where I need to take out most of the flippant jokes and get to the real meat of the matter - the heart, the pain. I need to live and cry this story out. Because the project is so personal it is easy for me to get lost in it. Sometimes I forget where I end and my characters begin. So being at the Sundance lab is great timing. I feel totes blessed.
Briefly tell us about the most important or rewarding lesson you took from the first day of the Screenwriters Intensive Lab. How will this impact the future development of your project?
That I can't hide behind my jokes. After writing in a feeling state all day our amazing teaching Joan looked at me and was like "Your movie is a song and you gotta hit the bass notes." I was like Mic Drop. I love the challenge of making something that is a comedy based in the tragedy of human reality. That is my north star for this movie. I'm not sure if I will get there but that's where I'll be heading.
Tell me about your experience during day two and your interaction with the advisors. How important was it for you to get feedback from a professional in the field that has gone through some of the same creative challenges as you?
It was incredible to take a deep dive into the script with women who so deeply understand screenwriting from the inside out. The feedback was never like "do it My way" it was more about ripping open the guts of the script and getting to that deeper level. Okay this happens but Why? Screenwriting can be so daunting like "I need write the perfect thing so I can get an agent so I can get hired etc. " and the process can be so lonely and daunting . But in both my sessions we just talked about human behavior and what makes people tick and it reminded me that filmmaking is magic and I'm really lucky to be here. Also a woman, it was inspiring to meet with other women who are living my dream. Who are feeling for a living. In both my sessions I laughed, cried, and go to ask as many questions I wanted it. It was basically my ideal Tinder date.
Now that you've gone through this learning experience, what are some of the next steps you will be taking as you continue to develop your project?
I'm going to keep working on drafts of the script, keep sharing it with people I trust, keep begging Sundance to let me come over and eat bagels, keep pitching it to anyone who will listen, keep crying, keep feeling, keep making my movie.
Allison Lee
Project: "Jawbone"
Born in Washington, D.C. and raised in Los Angeles, Allison Lee studied English Language and Literature at the University of Chicago. She received her Mfa in Film and Television Production from the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts. Upon graduation, she worked in development and production at DreamWorks and NBCUniversal. Lee has received grants from the Media Action Network and the Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and Sciences. She was also named a Project Involve fellow, and her short The Grizzly was produced by Film Independent. In 2015, she was one of five screenwriters who received a residency through the inaugural Hedgebrook Screenwriters Lab, where she was mentored by Jenny Bicks and Jane Anderson.
Describe your project briefly and at what stage in the creative process it is. Include details about your artistic vision for this project in particular.
"Jawbone" is about a Korean woman who undergoes drastic plastic surgery as a means to achieve what she and her peers view as success. After she gives birth to a daughter who looks nothing like her, her life begins to unravel and she’s forced to confront her past.
I am currently grappling with rewrites while meeting with potential producers and crew.
I see "Jawbone" as a hybrid of Korean cinema and American independent film. Korean movies relish the tension in tightly wound familial and social relationships. I think my personal connection to this fabric helps me discern and explore where the similarities and differences to American culture begin and end. I also think the best American independent films underscore the universality of specific personal stories, and I aspire to follow in this tradition.
Briefly tell us about the most important or rewarding lesson you took from the first day of the Screenwriters Intensive Lab. How will this impact the future development of your project?
I felt transformed by the sessions with Joan Tewkesbury. She pushed us to bare our souls and delve into our histories to deliver stories that were truthful and specific. My biggest fear about "Jawbone" is that a few extreme events in the plot would read as absurdist melodrama. Relating these events back to some of my own crises helped me re-center the emotional truth of my characters and their journeys.
Tell me about your experience during day two and your interaction with the advisors. How important was it for you to get feedback from a professional in the field that has gone through some of the same creative challenges as you?
It was crucial to work with filmmakers who knew the Sundance aesthetic and had weathered the challenges before us. I knew the script needed improvement but had a hazy vision of what it required. Tanya Hamilton’s notes were both encouraging and precise about galvanizing and concretizing the protagonist’s journey. Patricia Cardoso, with her directorial and producerial expertise, reminded me that my artistic flights of fancy should still be grounded in reality and be economical and pragmatic. The breadth of their approaches made me feel like I was getting the best of all worlds.
Now that you've gone through this learning experience, what are some of the next steps you will be taking as you continue to develop your project?
I am hustling on a rewrite ready to be seen by producers and representatives. Ultimately, I want to direct "Jawbone," and I am also working on a short film version.
Eliza Lee
Project: "A Beautiful Lie"
Educated in Canada and the Czech Republic, Eliza Lee began in Asia as a Dp trainee before returning to her first passion: screenwriting. She takes great pride in world building for her complex women characters. Lee’s feature, Maybe Tomorrow, about rock legend Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders, is being produced by Michelle Sy ("Finding Neverland") and Sophia Chang (former artist manager for Wu Tang Clan), with Academy Award nominee Steph Green ("Run & Jump") attached to direct. Lee’s screenplay, "A Beautiful Lie," about crime novelist Patricia Highsmith, was honored at the 2015 Athena Film Festival, and was also selected for the 2015 Outfest Screenwriting Lab. In addition, she was a Cape 2015 Film & Television Fellow and was mentored by various executives from Sony, Paramount, and Fox, among others. Lee has several features and television projects in development. She is the 2016 Sundance Institute Asian American Fellow.
Describe your project briefly and at what stage in the creative process it is. Include details about your artistic vision for this project in particular.
When Strangers on the Train was published in 1950 and with the anticipation for it to be turned into a film by Alfred Hitchcock, Patricia Highsmith was catapulted into the literary spotlight. Here she thought was her opportunity to break free of the crime genre and finally write her Great American novel. Except, it was at the height of McCarthy’s witch hunt, and her Great American novel would become the iconic lesbian tale, The Price of Salt. In the book, Patricia defiantly gave her lesbian main characters a happy ending together, but faced with the real threat of being blacklisted, she is forced to publish it under a pseudonym. This decision would send her down a path of alcoholism, promiscuity and loneliness as she realized she would not have the happy ending she wrote.
With this story, I knew it had to come from the seminal moment in her life. And for me, it is when she braved writing The Price of Salt at a time where being who you are and believing in what you do can land you in jail, exile or financial ruin. She had to deny her nature, and coupled with a growing rage it would breed the infamous “monster” that would come to define her in her later years.
While her male peers have enjoyed forgiving, pedestal descriptors like "troubled", "complex" or the genius "l'enfant terrible", Highsmith was shown no such generosity.
On top of that, I am struck how often pictures of her old age are published displaying her alcohol and anger ravaged face. We made that. Juxtapose those with photos of Highsmith at 21, so full of hope, vitality and ready for all the wonders of love, and it is clear - she was born this way. "A Beautiful Lie" is about a woman’s quest for love when it was a crime.
Briefly tell us about the most important or rewarding lesson you took from the first day of the Screenwriters Intensive Lab. How will this impact the future development of your project?
Specifically, I learned I hide behind fiction or through my characters and not have to admit the narrative comes from a personal place. Through an incredibly safe and nurturing environment on the first day, Joan Tewksbury led us through a series of spontaneous and revelatory writing exercises that at first seemed random, but without time to allow the self-censor to kick in, the writing showcased how many more complex layers we can apply to our characters through our uninhibited sharing of our personal experiences. As a result, because the stories come from us, they are inherently going to be personal. It was like sleight of hand for the imagination.
Tell me about your experience during day two and your interaction with the advisors. How important was it for you to get feedback from a professional in the field that has gone through some of the same creative challenges as you?
The advisors were there to help us tell the story we want to tell. And the one-on-one sessions were focused solely on the writing, and was intended to be a dialogue. It was humbling to learn the tremendous amount of time they took to burrow deep into our scripts. I was thoroughly empowered by what these writers offered me, and excited that I could challenge such seasoned pros with my perspective and approach to telling a story. Ligiah Villalobos dared me to linger longer in emotional scenes and to take my pursuit for emotional truths for my character even further. While Scott Neustadter and I discussed much about memories as structure, he also pushed me to defy a note i have received that my character is “unlikable” and to allow her to have even more anti-hero moments. i concluded my last day at the Intensive with their voices unifying in the same sentiment: they have a good feeling the film will be made.
Now that you've gone through this learning experience, what are some of the next steps you will be taking as you continue to develop your project?
Through the Sundance Intensive, I have a clear idea of what is my next step, and that is to apply another layer of shading to my portrait of Patricia Highsmith. I’m anxious to keep the momentum going, and then take it out to talent. I’m going to realize this film.
Jimmy Mosqueda
Project: "Valedictorian"
Jimmy Mosqueda is a lifelong California resident, the son of two Mexican migrant workers, and a graduate of Stanford University. From an early age he showed a fondness for writing, starting his first journal at the age of five, which developed into a passion for writing short stories, poetry and eventually screenplays. While attending Stanford on a full scholarship, Mosqueda saw how social class and race influenced the experiences of his fellow students, which made him realize just how much the American educational system is intimately tied to those pillars. The intersection of race, class, and education remains an ongoing theme in his works. Today, Mosqueda lives in Los Angeles and writes full-time. His screenplays have placed in numerous contests, including as a finalist in the Austin Film Festival, Script Pipeline and TrackingB competitions, and as a semifinalist in the Nicholl Fellowship. He’s represented by Angelina Chen and Brooklyn Weaver of Energy Entertainment, and is actively developing projects for film and television.
Describe your project briefly and at what stage in the creative process it is. Include details about your artistic vision for this project in particular.
"Valedictorian" is dark teen comedy in the vein of "Election" and "Heathers." It’s about an ambitious teenage girl who do anything to be crowned valedictorian of her high school, including a little bit of murder. So, you know, just like real high school! I started writing this project about three years ago. It was inspired by my own school experiences, where everyone on the Honors track was super competitive and had their sights set on the Ivy League. Readers respond positively to the comedy and the heightened world of the script, which is great, but one thing I felt got buried underneath the multitude of drafts is the emotional core of the main character. So during the Intensive my main goal was to rediscover who she was and, building out from that, the reason why I wanted to tell this story in the first place.
Briefly tell us about the most important or rewarding lesson you took from the first day of the Screenwriters Intensive Lab. How will this impact the future development of your project?
The most important thing I learned from the workshop with Joan Tewkesbury is that creative development is not about brainstorming characters or story points. All of us have unique, personal experiences and emotions that can form the building blocks of a story. You really have to look inward and tap that raw data, or else run the risk of your story ringing hollow. A lot of artists understand this intuitively, I believe, but Joan’s workshop laid it out in such clear and simple terms. For my next draft of "Valedictorian," I’m going to use these techniques as a stress test, but in all honesty I want to go back and revisit every project I ever worked on using this approach now.
Tell me about your experience during day two and your interaction with the advisors. How important was it for you to get feedback from a professional in the field that has gone through some of the same creative challenges as you?
My advisors were the bee’s knees, if I can be so blunt. My first session was with Scott Neustadter, who along with his writing partner has written a lot of films with teen lead characters. He very clearly understood what the script was, and gave very specific, actionable notes on how to improve what’s already there. I love how he was able to cut through and really get at the core issues of script, which were mostly the same issues I had going in. Scott is killing the screenwriting game right now. His insights were invaluable.
My second session was with Kyle Patrick Alvarez. We spent a lot of time talking about the main character, her motivation, her relationships, and how she “earns” the big moments/twists in the script. We also spent some time talking bigger picture about the industry and how to build a career in Hollywood, which was very much appreciated. Additionally, it was great getting the perspective of another Latino in the industry.
Both men were truly gracious with their time. I left both sessions feeling inspired!
Now that you've gone through this learning experience, what are some of the next steps you will be taking as you continue to develop your project?
After stepping off Cloud 9, it’s back to the computer and working on a new draft of "Valedictorian." In addition, I will also be tackling a new draft of the pilot version. It’s the same world and characters, but with a different engine that is geared towards episodic narrative. Many of the notes I got from Scott and Kyle apply to the pilot version as well, so it’s like getting two for the price of one!
Finally, I just want to thank everyone involved with putting together the Intensive: Ilyse McKimmie, Michelle Satter, Anne Lai, Shira Rockowitz and everyone at the Sundance Institute who made this possible. I am forever grateful for the experience.
Lotfy Nathan
Project: Untitled Bouazizi Project
Lotfy Nathan’s first film, the documentary "12 O’Clock Boys," played over 50 film festivals worldwide, including SXSW, Sundance Next Fest, Lincoln Center, Viennale, Hot Docs, London, and Copenhagen in 2013. It was ranked 7 in the BFI list of top 20 documentaries of 2013, and garnered Nathan an HBO Emerging Artist award. "12 O’Clock Boys" was subsequently picked up by Oscilloscope for a North American release in theaters, acquired by Showtime for television, and was optioned for a fiction remake by Will Smith’s Overbrook Entertainment. Nathan is a 2015 grantee of the Creative Capital Foundation, a resident filmmaker at the Cinereach Foundation, and a previous awardee of the Garrett Scott development grant, the Peter Reed Foundation, the Grainger Marburg travel grant, and an Ifp fellowship.
Describe your project briefly and at what stage in the creative process it is. Include details about your artistic vision for this project in particular.
The film is about Mohamed Bouazizi, the young Tunisian fruit vendor whose act of self-immolation sparked the Arab spring. It’s a love story, apolitical (as the subject of our protagonist was); about a young man’s steady undoing, and his final bittersweet act of defiance. The film will be shot on location, with cast selected locally besides the principles, and filmed with an immersive approach.
Briefly tell us about the most important or rewarding lesson you took from the first day of the Screenwriters Intensive Lab. How will this impact the future development of your project?
We were encouraged to draw from very specific personal experiences, prompted by Joan It was incredible to learn these tools, which enable you to tap into vast resources from your own life that you can then apply to the writing- and so vividly. I think the writing exercises with Joan actually stirred a very unusual dream for me that night.
Tell me about your experience during day two and your interaction with the advisors. How important was it for you to get feedback from a professional in the field that has gone through some of the same creative challenges as you?
The advisors were very motivating. I left with pages of notes on my writing, tangible pieces of smart advice that will help inform the next draft.
Now that you've gone through this learning experience, what are some of the next steps you will be taking as you continue to develop your project?
Before getting back to work on the script I plan to do some other writing on the characters.
- 3/28/2016
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Sydney's Buzz
The American Film Festival is building families. The 6th edition (October 20-25, 2015) of the Wroclaw, Poland film fest was better than any of the previous four I have attended as a jury member for the Us in Progress section. Networking with the USiP filmmakers, past participants Matt Sobel (“Take Me to the River”),Leah Meyerhoff (“I Believe in Unicorns”),Reza Sixo Safai (“A Girl Walks Home at Night Alone”) and whose present project “ The Loner” (he produced and stars in it, Daniel Grove directed) won at USiP, etc. mingled with Indie Star Awardees David Gordon Green and Hal Hartley and other filmmakers like Jenner Furst ("Welcome to Leith") invited to present their films and to eat and party together over five days and four nights which lasted until the wee hours of the morning.
African American Women's classics also showed for the first time ever to appreciative Polish audiences. Though luckily for them, but a sad miss for the audiences, every one of the filmmakers was too busy with other work to attend. The selected films brought rarely before scenes of life in America to a new public.
You can be sure Ava DuVernay was invited, and you can be equally certain that she was very busy with multiple projects.
When I was in Trinidad, I heard from the film's distributor, Michelle Materre, a well known lecturer and film curator whose film series and discussion group, Creatively Speaking, takes place at the N.Y. Film Society’s Lincoln Center and in L.A. that Julie Dash was busy working on a TV series or a doc. I hope one of you reading this will email me a more news of her, because since her film “Daughters of the Dust” premiered at Sundance in 1991, her fan base has grown and eagerly awaits more stories from her. For those who missed her instant classic at Sundance, "Daughters of the Dust" presents a transgenerational saga set on the fictitious island of Ibo's Landing in 1902 about a young woman's quest for identity. Guichees, or Gullahs, aka the Georgia Sea Islanders are U.S.'s most African community still living today off the Georgia and South Carolina coast. The film was presented to the audience as a radical feminist manifesto and landmark of independent American cinema.
Other films included in the series, curated by Ula Sniegowsk and a young film academic Ewa Drygalska, included Katherine Collins' (who tragically died of cancer at age 46) 1982 film "Losing Ground", Tanya Hamilton's "Night Catches Us", the popular and fabulous " The Secret Life of Bees" another Sundance premiering film, by Gina Prince-Blythewood (2008), Dee Rees' 2012 Sundance film "Pariah" and her recent HBO (who incidentally is an important sponsor of the festival with a showcase of its own films) fictional doc "Bessie" starring the one and only Queen Latifah, and Ava DuVernay's "Middle of Nowhere" and "Selma".
While we're on the subject of African American movies, the Spike Lee mentored new talent Michael Larnell, was here with my favorite "Next" generation film " Cronies".
Us in Progress had two out of six selected films about African Americans, the Four Award winning "Alaska Is a Drag" directed by former L.A. and Sundance Festival worker, debuting director Shaz Bennett, produced by Melanie Miller and Diane Becker; and "The Alchemist Cookbook" written and directed by Joel Potrykus. Other films included "Dope", documentarians' Albert Maysles' " In Transit", Nick Broomfield's "Tales of the Grim Sleeper" and Frederick Wiseman's "In Jackson Heights", Mark Silver's "3 ½ Minutes, Ten Bullets", sleeper hit "Tangerine" by Sean Baker, "Field Niggas" a nocturnal portrait of Harlem by Khalik Allah, David Gordon Green's “George Washington", and last, but by no means least, Clint Eastwood's "Bird" as part of his extensive retrospective.
This festival is held in the largest Arthouse multiplex in Europe, built and owned (as is the festival itself, along with New Horizons Film Festival in July and several others) by arthouse film distributor and entrepreneur Roman Gutek.
Fabulous. Written by Sydney Levine in her hotel room at The Monopole where an opera rehearsal wafts through the morning air of a sunny, dry 50*F metropolis mixing with the sound of the streetcar. This has been a fabulous experience topped off by a fabulous tour of the city and today a visit to Europe's most fabulous zoo and aquarium.
African American Women's classics also showed for the first time ever to appreciative Polish audiences. Though luckily for them, but a sad miss for the audiences, every one of the filmmakers was too busy with other work to attend. The selected films brought rarely before scenes of life in America to a new public.
You can be sure Ava DuVernay was invited, and you can be equally certain that she was very busy with multiple projects.
When I was in Trinidad, I heard from the film's distributor, Michelle Materre, a well known lecturer and film curator whose film series and discussion group, Creatively Speaking, takes place at the N.Y. Film Society’s Lincoln Center and in L.A. that Julie Dash was busy working on a TV series or a doc. I hope one of you reading this will email me a more news of her, because since her film “Daughters of the Dust” premiered at Sundance in 1991, her fan base has grown and eagerly awaits more stories from her. For those who missed her instant classic at Sundance, "Daughters of the Dust" presents a transgenerational saga set on the fictitious island of Ibo's Landing in 1902 about a young woman's quest for identity. Guichees, or Gullahs, aka the Georgia Sea Islanders are U.S.'s most African community still living today off the Georgia and South Carolina coast. The film was presented to the audience as a radical feminist manifesto and landmark of independent American cinema.
Other films included in the series, curated by Ula Sniegowsk and a young film academic Ewa Drygalska, included Katherine Collins' (who tragically died of cancer at age 46) 1982 film "Losing Ground", Tanya Hamilton's "Night Catches Us", the popular and fabulous " The Secret Life of Bees" another Sundance premiering film, by Gina Prince-Blythewood (2008), Dee Rees' 2012 Sundance film "Pariah" and her recent HBO (who incidentally is an important sponsor of the festival with a showcase of its own films) fictional doc "Bessie" starring the one and only Queen Latifah, and Ava DuVernay's "Middle of Nowhere" and "Selma".
While we're on the subject of African American movies, the Spike Lee mentored new talent Michael Larnell, was here with my favorite "Next" generation film " Cronies".
Us in Progress had two out of six selected films about African Americans, the Four Award winning "Alaska Is a Drag" directed by former L.A. and Sundance Festival worker, debuting director Shaz Bennett, produced by Melanie Miller and Diane Becker; and "The Alchemist Cookbook" written and directed by Joel Potrykus. Other films included "Dope", documentarians' Albert Maysles' " In Transit", Nick Broomfield's "Tales of the Grim Sleeper" and Frederick Wiseman's "In Jackson Heights", Mark Silver's "3 ½ Minutes, Ten Bullets", sleeper hit "Tangerine" by Sean Baker, "Field Niggas" a nocturnal portrait of Harlem by Khalik Allah, David Gordon Green's “George Washington", and last, but by no means least, Clint Eastwood's "Bird" as part of his extensive retrospective.
This festival is held in the largest Arthouse multiplex in Europe, built and owned (as is the festival itself, along with New Horizons Film Festival in July and several others) by arthouse film distributor and entrepreneur Roman Gutek.
Fabulous. Written by Sydney Levine in her hotel room at The Monopole where an opera rehearsal wafts through the morning air of a sunny, dry 50*F metropolis mixing with the sound of the streetcar. This has been a fabulous experience topped off by a fabulous tour of the city and today a visit to Europe's most fabulous zoo and aquarium.
- 10/28/2015
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Despite the numerous opportunities out there, most aspiring filmmakers looking for support and mentorship know that the Sundance Institute’s January Screenwriters Lab and June Directing Lab have been two of the most important talent development initiatives in the independent film world for over 30 years. The great quality of the projects that have been workshopped and propelled through these programs have given us some of the most iconic films and filmmakers in recent memory.
But the institute’s commitment to provide opportunities for new voices that represent an eclectic array of background and experiences goes even further with other, lesser known, initiatives that have the potential to become turning points in the artists' careers. Of these, one of the most exciting programs is the Screenwriters Intensive, which is part the Sundance Institute's Diversity Initiative. This is of course a resource that is not only valuable, but crucial as we try to become a more inclusive society that is appreciative and welcoming of stories that exist beyond the mainstream, homogenous noise.
The Screenwriters Intensive is a 1 1/2 day workshop for writers whose work has been encountered by the institute as part of their outreach for the Labs and which they find especially promising. The writers of 10 projects take part in a program whose elements include a hands-on writing workshop led by creative advisor Joan Tewkesbury (“Nashville”), a screening of a recent Sundance film followed by a candid conversation with the filmmaker, a reception with Sundance staff and the extended Sundance community, and one-on-one meetings with two creative advisors to get feedback on their script. With the Intensive, the Sundance Institute aims to present participants with creative tools that they can take back to their own work, provide a space for dialogue and information sharing about the creative process of making a film (and all of the joys and challenges therein), and foster community among storytellers and an ongoing connection with Sundance.
This year the film screened was Rick Famuyiwa’s “Dope,” which premiered earlier this year in Park City and won a Special Jury Prize for Editing. Following the screening Famuyiwa shared anecdotes about the film’s production and the perseverance needed to stand by the core values of his project in spite of outside opposition. Later that evening, during a casual and highly interactive reception, the fellows had the chance to discuss their latest breakthroughs and newly found questions regarding their personal projects with the institute’s staff and other members of the independent film community. Chatting with them, and having witnessed some of the poignant exercises Ms. Tewkesbury uses in the past, there is not doubt in my mind that this was a groundbreaking experience for the entire group.
The following morning the fellows returned to the institute’s L.A offices to have on-on-one conversations with two advisors from a group of talented and achieved professionals that included Kyle Patrick Alvarez (“The Stanford Prison Expriemnt”), Patricia Cardoso (“Real Women Have Curves“),the aforementioned director Rick Famuyiwa (“Dope”), Deena Goldstone (“Identity Theft”), Tanya Hamilton (“Night Catches Us”), Felicia Henderson (“Gossip Girl”), Elgin James (“Little Birds”), Craig Johnson (“The Skeleton Twins”), Kyle Killen (“The Beaver”), Adam Bhala Lough (“Bomb the System”), Joan Tewkesbury herself, and Ligiah Villalobos (“Under the Same Moon”).
The Screenwriters Intensive fellows come from uniquely different backgrounds, and their projects bring original stories that are sure to showcase new and inventive perspectives on the world. Get to know them and their stories as they are on their way to giving us a great batch of new independent films.
To learn more about the Sundance Institute's programs visit Here
Tara Anaise
Project: "Bombay Stories"
Tara Anaïse is an award-winning writer/director whose first feature, "Dark Mountain," was released by Gravitas Ventures in August of 2014. Other recent work includes the upcoming thriller "Housekeeping," on which she’s a producer, and which is set to be released by Lions Gate in late March of 2015. Her short films have screened at festivals worldwide. Tara is currently developing several new projects, including a post-apocalyptic road movie with a female lead who drives a muscle car and kicks a**, and a romantic drama set in Mumbai in both 1968 and the present day that’s loosely based on her own family’s history. She holds an Mfa in film production from the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts and a BA in English from the University of Pennsylvania. She can make a mean pumpkin mezcal cocktail and according to an Amazonian curandero, her spirit animal is the black jaguar. She lives and works in Los Angeles
Describe your project briefly and at what stage in the creative process it is.
"Bombay Stories" is a drama centered around an Indian man returning to the city of his birth after decades of living abroad. When tragedy strikes, he recalls the summer of 1968—at that time, he was twenty-one and having a heartbreaking affair with a married woman right before leaving Bombay, and his entire family, behind for his new home in New York. It’s a story about the complexities of familial relationships and the question of whether or not it’s possible to return home.
It’s very loosely inspired by my own family’s history—my father’s side fled Sindh during the Partition of India in 1947 and rebuilt their lives in Mumbai (which at the time was called Bombay). Then my father left Mumbai (of his own volition) for the U.S. And then I fled the east coast for Los Angeles. I like to say I come from a long line of fleers.
The project is in the development stage. Currently working on a rewrite of the script and I’m planning on directing.
Briefly tell us about the most important or rewarding lesson you took from the first day of the Screenwriters Intensive Lab. How will this impact the future development of your project?
Don’t take the easy way out. There are certain things I know about my characters and I can write them easily and I can write them well. But the most interesting aspects of a character come from the places we know the least. Don’t be afraid to go down the path that’s half in shadow, this is the kind of exploration that leads to the heart of the thing. I’ll definitely be using Joan’s writing exercises to further develop all of my characters. I’ve never done anything like what we did during her seminar. She had us make lists of things drawn from our own personal experiences – three times in your life you’ve known something was wrong but did it anyway, three places to which you never want to return, three times you’ve felt lost, and so on—and then take one item from each list, put the items on our protagonist, and quickly write a short story about the whole thing. It’s a concrete way to use instances from one’s own life to get to the root of the character.
Tell me about your experience during day two and your interaction with the advisors. How important was it for you to get feedback from a professional in the field that has gone through some of the same creative challenges as you?
Going into day two was exciting but nerve-wracking. I woke up at 5am wondering how my advisors were going to react to my script (I tend to expect the worst.) Luckily, no one ripped my script up into tiny pieces and threw it back at me. Adam and Tanya were both really great. They had good things to say about the script, along with insightful suggestions for improving it, which I’m going to explore in the next draft. We talked about the writing process. We talked about production. We talked about navigating the industry. Getting advice from two talented, experienced filmmakers who’d been through this many times before was incredibly helpful, not just for this project, but for my career as a filmmaker as well.
Now that you've gone through this learning experience, what are some of the next steps you will be taking as you continue to develop your project?
The first thing I’m going to do is take some time to really get at the heart of each and every character. Then I’ll tackle the rewrite and when the script is ready, I’ll reach out to producers.
Shelby Farrell
Project: "Deidra and Laney Rob A Train"
Shelby Farrell is a screenwriter from Memphis, Tennessee. She is a graduate of Emory University where she was awarded the Kikag screenwriter award and the American Film Institute Conservatory where she finished an Mfa in screenwriting. She was recently featured in the Tracking Board's 2014 Young and Hungry List. She currently writes interactive games for Pocket Gems and is in preproduction for her feature "Deidra and Laney Rob A Train." She is repped by Gersh and Principato-Young.
Describe your project briefly and at what stage in the creative process it is.
"Deidra and Laney Rob A Train" is a dramedy about two teenage sisters who start robbing freight trains to support their family after their mother goes to jail. This script was my thesis screenplay for AFI and was featured on the Tracking Board's 2014 Young and Hungry List. Sydney Freeland (Sundance Alumni, "Drunktown's Finest") is attached to direct. Currently our reps are approaching select producers with the project, and we are really excited to see where it goes from here.
Briefly tell us about the most important or rewarding lesson you took from the first day of the Screenwriters Intensive Lab. How will this impact the future development of your project?
All of the writers and I were pushed to find inspiration from our own past experiences during writing exercises. Through this process, I think we all realized that our screenplays are more autobiographical than we perhaps wanted to believe. Not that I've ever robbed a train, but I could.
Tell me about your experience during day two and your interaction with the advisors. How important was it for you to get feedback from a professional in the field that has gone through some of the same creative challenges as you?
Having professional advisors is always a blessing. Their feedback was especially useful in this stage because so many people I work with have read multiple drafts. Having fresh eyes on the script really gave me a new perspective. Also since the advisors are independent filmmakers and Sundance alums they really know what we are going through at this stage of development. I also got great advice on what's coming in the next few months as we get this story off the page.
Now that you've gone through this learning experience, what are some of the next steps you will be taking as you continue to develop your project?
As far as this project goes, I feel like the script is in a really good place, but I also know that rewrites never end, and I'm excited to use the notes I received for future drafts. I'm also planning on using the writing exercises we learned in Joan Tewkesbury's workshop as I develop my newer projects. Joan taught us some character development tools that can be applied to any project in any stage.
Jared Frieder
Project: "Three Months"
Jared Frieder is a graduate of the Columbia University fiction writing program and his stories can be found in The Collective Press and The Newer York. His screenplay, "Three Months," has taken the top screenwriting prizes at the Austin Film Festival, the Screencraft Comedy Screenplay Contest, and the Big Bear International Film Festival Screenplay Contest. "Three Months" was also chosen for the 2014 Outfest Screenwriting Lab and was the featured script on The Black List online last November. He is currently developing his animated half-hour pilot, "Marathoners," with Bento Box Entertainment. He was accepted to USC’s Screenwriting Mfa on the Edward Volpe Endowed Scholarship before leaving to work on the ABC Family drama, "Chasing Life."
Describe your project briefly and at what stage in the creative process it is.
My project, "Three Months," tells the coming-of-age story of Caleb Kahn, a queer Ziggy Stardust-loving teenager from Miami who is exposed to HIV the weekend of his high school graduation and has to wait three months to be tested for the disease. It's a comedy, it's a love story, it's a tale of resilience, and it's a deconstruction of how people in crisis sludge through great periods of waiting. The screenplay has been a passion project of mine and I am very grateful to the Austin Film Festival Screenplay Competition, the Screencraft Comedy Screenplay Contest, and the Big Bear International Film Festival Screenplay Contest for awarding "Three Months" their respective grand prizes. I've also been spoiled by the Outfest Screenwriting Lab and the Sundance Intensive for allowing the script to be workshopped with their brilliant advisors (and some of my all-time heroes.)
After Austin, one of the festival judges (screenwriting phenom, producing master, and all around baller, Oren Uziel) came on board to help bring the script to the screen, along with my management company, Haven Entertainment. We're in the beginning stages of seeing this story come alive and it's pretty much the most exciting thing that has ever happened to me.
Briefly tell us about the most important or rewarding lesson you took from the first day of the Screenwriters Intensive Lab. How will this impact the future development of your project?
The most important lesson I learned from the Intensive's first day is that Joan Tewkesbury is my spirit animal. The second most important lesson I learned from Ms. Tewkesbury (sweetly nicknamed Tewks by the generous souls of Sundance) is that I tend to use jokes as a means of concealing truth and authenticity (something my protagonist does as well. Let's just say I was channeling.) She helped me crack the comedy facade and delve deeper into character, getting in touch with Caleb's fears, insecurities, and dreams. I'm confident that Tewk's direction will not only take Caleb and "Three Months" to the next level, but also elevate my storytelling in the future. And for that, I will forever be in Ms. Tewkesbury's debt.
Tell me about your experience during day two and your interaction with the advisors. How important was it for you to get feedback from a professional in the field that has gone through some of the same creative challenges as you?
Sitting down with Kyle Killen was intimidating at first (he's a certifiable story genius who wrote "The Beaver" and created shows like "Lone Star.") But Kyle tapped into my protagonist in ways that previous advisors couldn't. He helped me dissect Caleb, bringing out deeper layers of his character. We then discussed and determined the most effective way of braiding these emotional undercurrents into the narrative. It's safe to say that my mind was blown.
Kyle Alvarez (esteemed director and fast friend) took a different approach and guided me through "Three Months" from a director's perspective, helping me think about casting, locations, and how aspects of the script would translate on screen. Having mentors come at the project from different angles was really enlightening. Again, I feel incredibly spoiled and grateful.
Now that you've gone through this learning experience, what are some of the next steps you will be taking as you continue to develop your project?
Post-Intensive, I'm taking another pass at "Three Months" (because apparently you're never done writing, or that's what they keep telling me.) I'm stoked to take my Sundance notes and weave them through the script where I see fit. Then it's off to the producers for feedback and hopefully the hunt for a director and cast will commence. Also, there will be thank you notes. Lots and lots of thank you notes: to Sundance, to Tewks, to the Kyles, and to the universe for giving me this opportunity.
David J. Lee
Project: "Found"
David J. Lee spent years as an It professional who dreamed of becoming a performer. He finally made the leap and began working as a professional actor who curiously kept getting offers to direct. Finally he gave in, dropped it all, and proceeded to pursue his Mfa in Film Production at USC where, of course, everyone became more interested in his writing. Dave received USC’s First Film Screenwriting Award in 2013, and his thesis script, "Found," was a top 50 Academy Nicholl semi-finalist. His university-produced short, "Paulie," directed by Andrew Nackman, went on to win the Best Film, Audience Award, and Best Writer prizes at the 2014 NBC Universal Short Cuts Festival. Dave was a 2014 Cape New Writers Fellow; he is working on the feature version of "Paulie" while making eyes at the TV world.
Describe your project briefly and at what stage in the creative process it is.
My feature film script is a crime thriller called “Found”. It’s the story of a night worker at a storage facility whose odd, illicit habit of breaking into storage lockers – and her talent for understanding people's lives through their belongings – force her into action when she discovers evidence of a child abduction in one of the units.
“Found" was my thesis script at USC and was a top-50 Nicholl semi-finalist in 2013. Prior to being accepted into the 2015 Sundance Intensive, it had been selected for the 2014 Cape New Writers Fellowship.
Briefly tell us about the most important or rewarding lesson you took from the first day of the Screenwriters Intensive Lab. How will this impact the future development of your project?
Obviously, at this point I'm many drafts into my script, which means that I'm in a much different mindset than I was when I was originally coming up with the story. It’s a very analytical, left-brain process. Joan Tewkesbury led us through a series of writing exercises which brought me back to that original creative place, which helped me get a new perspective on my characters.
I guess if you’re looking for a specific lesson, it would be, “If you need a fresh perspective, don’t be afraid to put your characters in seemingly irrelevant situations, just to see how they play out, because you’ll be surprised at the relevant places you end up. At the very least, you often end up learning something new about your characters."
Tell me about your experience during day two and your interaction with the advisors. How important was it for you to get feedback from a professional in the field that has gone through some of the same creative challenges as you?
I was amazed and honored at how much time each advisor had put into their notes. Time is gold for these folks, and they gave us so much of it. It seemed that most of them had received tremendous support from the Sundance Labs or from programs similar to them when they were younger, so they were all there that day out of a desire to give back.
It’s valuable to receive notes from professionals in that these are folks who have more experience than you and a valuable perspective from having worked within the system, and I received some fantastic, insightful feedback that day. At the same time, they’re only perspectives. A note from a working professional may warrant extra consideration, but ultimately, if it doesn’t resonate with you, then it just doesn’t. In the end you weigh those comments against all the other feedback you’ve received over time.
Now that you've gone through this learning experience, what are some of the next steps you will be taking as you continue to develop your project?
Keep writing. I’m encouraged by the attention this script has received. When I get it to a place where I’m happy with, then I’ll start looking into getting it made.
Channing Godfrey Peoples
Project: "Miss Juneteenth"
Channing Godfrey Peoples received her Mfa from USC's School of Cinematic Arts. Originally from Texas, she spent her childhood in community theater and has been storytelling ever since. Her films are character driven stories that focus on the resilience of the human spirit, often featuring African-American women at a turning point in their lives. At USC, Channing was awarded funding to direct her documentary, “Carry Me Home”, about the celebratory aspects of African-American Funeral Traditions.
Her narrative Thesis Film, “Red”, is a King Family Foundation Recipient, Jury Award Winner for Directing at the Directors Guild of America Student Film Awards, Panavision New Filmmakers Grant Recipient and nominated for Best Short at Pan African Film Festival and the Africa Movie Academy Awards. Channing won “Best Director” at the Nevada International Film Festival and was honored at the Lois Weber Film Festival in Texas. She wrote, directed and starred in “Red”, which is currently on the festival circuit, most recently screening at Champs-Élysées Film Festival in Paris, France. Channing served as a Time Warner Artist-in-Residence at Howard University in Washington DC. She believes in community involvement and mentors children interested in the arts. Channing is developing her first feature film, “Miss Juneteenth."
Describe your project briefly and at what stage in the creative process it is.
In Texas, slaves were informed they were free, two long years after 1863's Emancipation Proclamation declared American slaves free. That day was June 19 th, 1865, also known as “Juneteenth”. Today, many communities celebrate the Juneteenth holiday with beauty pageants acknowledging young African-American women who are the descendants of slaves. My story, "Miss Juneteenth," is about one of these women.
Turquoise Jones is a former beauty queen, “Miss Juneteenth 1999”, who lost her pageant's top prize of a college scholarship when an unplanned pregnancy lands her back home tending bar at an aging juke joint. Today, she is a single mother to a teenage girl, who she struggles to keep from going down the same wrong path that she took. She has enrolled her disinterested daughter in this year’s Miss Juneteenth pageant and is fighting to keep her in it.
The project is in development and is based in my hometown of Fort Worth, Texas. Neil Creque Williams ("David’s Reverie") is attached as Producer.
Briefly tell us about the most important or rewarding lesson you took from the first day of the Screenwriters Intensive Lab. How will this impact the future development of your project?
On our first day of the Screenwriters Intensive Lab, Joan Tewkesbury lead an incredible writing workshop that challenged me to look deeper into the emotional journey of my story. I was seeking a way to take my script to a deeper emotional level and the workshop certainly aided that endeavor. The lesson for me was to connect to my characters through personal experience and emotion and not be resistant to other possibilities for my story.
Tell me about your experience during day two and your interaction with the advisors. How important was it for you to get feedback from a professional in the field that has gone through some of the same creative challenges as you?
The advisors were incredible and I am in awe of their insight and accomplishments. I was delighted to receive feedback from professionals whose work I have long admired. They provided constructive feedback and challenged me to think of the script in new ways. I also enjoyed exchanging ideas with the other fellows at the Intensive and I was delighted to be surrounded by such diverse talent.
Now that you've gone through this learning experience, what are some of the next steps you will be taking as you continue to develop your project?
I am now revisiting the script with a renewed intensity. I will be directing my film, "Miss Juneteenth," so my producer, Neil Creque Williams and I have identified our locations and begun preliminary casting. Our next step is crowdfunding and to continue to apply for support.
Maya Perez
Project: "Umwana"
Maya Perez is a screenwriter and fiction writer. She is a consulting producer for the Emmy Award- winning television series "On Story: Presented by Austin Film Festival," now entering its fifth season on PBS, and co-editor of the book On Story: Screenwriters and Their Craft (University of Texas Press, October 2013). She holds a Bachelor of Arts from Vassar College and is a Michener fellow at the University of Texas at Austin. She grew up in Kenya, Zambia, and the United States and lives in Austin, Texas.
Describe your project briefly and at what stage in the creative process it is.
My project is a feature script, "Umwana," a domestic drama about an American teen who goes to rural Zambia to meet and live with her father and his family. More foreign to her than the cultural differences is the experience of being a member of a family.
Briefly tell us about the most important or rewarding lesson you took from the first day of the Screenwriters Intensive Lab. How will this impact the future development of your project?
It was great to be reminded of the importance of specificity when depicting characters, and also, how to pull from personal experience without making your characters reflections of yourself. In the workshop we were assigned numerous writing exercises and, though initially intimidating, it was stimulating to be assured there's no limit to the new stories we can quickly craft from scratch. We often think of time as the enemy, in that we don't have enough of it in which to do the work. But sometimes I think I give myself too much time. Some of my better, more visceral writing has been generated under the gun, so to speak.
Tell me about your experience during day two and your interaction with the advisors. How important was it for you to get feedback from a professional in the field that has gone through some of the same creative challenges as you?
One of my advisors hit me with a barrage of questions as soon as I sat down - What is Cassie feeling here? What does Joseph look like? Is it what she expected? What if this happened? What if that happened? So many questions that I started doubting the story's weight altogether. But she kept on and wouldn't let up, so I just wrote them all down until I finally had an answer and then another and eventually realized I know exactly what this story and these characters are about. I had to be sort of beaten down and thrown off balance in order to find the railing. It was terrific. Another advisor - who fortunately came right after - grabbed my shoulders and said he would stalk me until I made this film. He offered to make introductions to agents, managers, producers, and to be there for every draft and question I might have along the way. It was an invaluable experience, to sit down with these talented, professional writers who had read my script so closely and had such constructive questions and encouragement. It felt as though they were as invested in its success as I am.
Now that you've gone through this learning experience, what are some of the next steps you will be taking as you continue to develop your project?
My proposed new opening to the script was met with enthusiasm, so I'll make that change, do another revision on the script, and then submit it for the Screenwriters Lab. It was a finalist last year, so hopefully it will go through this year and I'll be able to take advantage of a full week at the Lab to prepare it for production. One of my advisors generously sent me the look book he's using for his current project, and I'm making one of those for "Umwana" as well as researching what shooting on location in Zambia will entail.
Rodrigo Reyes
Project: "Charlie"
Rodrigo Reyes was born in Mexico City in 1983. Supported by the Mexican Ministry of Film, his acclaimed 2012 feature documentary "Purgatorio" featured visceral and intimate portraits of the Us- Mexico border. The film premiered in competition at the 2013 Los Angeles Film Festival and Guadalajara International Film Festival, touring more than 40 festivals including MoMA’s Documentary Fortnight, and winning several jury prizes including the Michael Moore Award for Best Documentary at the Ann Arbor Film Festival. "Purgatorio" has been released theatrically on over 100 screens throughout Mexico, touring Latin America, Spain, and over 30 American cities. In 2013 Filmmaker Magazine named Rodrigo one of 25 New Faces of Independent Film, and in 2014 he was awarded the Tribeca Film Institute Heineken Voices Grant for his upcoming documentary "Sanson And Me," as well as the Canon Filmmaker Award for his hybrid peach picker portrait "Lupe Under The Sun," currently in post-production. Rodrigo attended Uc San Diego, as well as colleges in Madrid and Mexico City, earning a degree in International Studies. He currently lives in California’s Central Valley where he works as an interpreter in the California Superior Court.
Describe your project briefly and at what stage in the creative process it is.
"Charlie" is a story about a mother and son living in the heartland of America, who hide a dark secret that is tearing them apart, threatening them with destruction. It’s a twisted, existential fairy-tale that tackles estrangement, loneliness and violence in a unique way. Aside from Sundance, the film has received the support of Nalip’s Latino Media Market.
Briefly tell us about the most important or rewarding lesson you took from the first day of the Screenwriters Intensive Lab. How will this impact the future development of your project?
I was surprised by some of the tools used in the labs. There was an element of tapping into the subconscious using semi-dada techniques that really clicked with me. The key was coming in with an open mind.
Before the Labs, I felt the project was close to a final draft. That has since been atomized and torn apart at the hinges, which is fantastic, actually. The Intensive helped me pull away from the rut I didn’t know I was in and look at my script with a naked, honest perspective.
Tell me about your experience during day two and your interaction with the advisors. How important was it for you to get feedback from a professional in the field that has gone through some of the same creative challenges as you?
Often as independent filmmakers we feel threatened by the industry, their perspectives are senses as criticisms instead of critiques. The Lab did a great job of inviting you to a conversation, not a lecture or a dictate. I felt I could take the advice that honestly connected with me and integrate it with my script, while also fielding key questions to the advisors in a safe space.
Now that you've gone through this learning experience, what are some of the next steps you will be taking as you continue to develop your project?
It’s all in my hands now. I have to integrate the conversations, critiques and perspectives gleaned from this process into a new draft.
Luke Uriah Slendebroek
Project: “Sophia/Gordita”
Luke Uriah Slendebroek is a graduate of the UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television Mfa directing program. While at UCLA, Luke's films have been awarded The Hollywood Foreign Press Award, The Four Sister’s Award, The Carroll Sax Award in Motion Picture and Television Production, the Edie and Lew Wasserman Film Production Fellowship, and two Motion Picture Association of America Awards. Luke has directed a short documentary for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and he has directed a short film for the Oscar-winning producer and director Robert "Bobby" Moresco as part of an interdisciplinary collaboration at UCLA. He has also directed a number of industrial films for Fortune 500 companies. Luke's films favor the underdogs, involve fantastical worlds, and tend to explore that brief period between childhood and adulthood.
Describe your project briefly and at what stage in the creative process it is.
“Sophia/Gordita” is a coming of age western based on the incredible true story of teenage madam that served the migrant farming communities of the midwest.
Aleksandar Marinovich has stepped on board to help produce the film. Currently we are raising money to finance the film with a goal of shooting in September, 2016.
Briefly tell us about the most important or rewarding lesson you took from the first day of the Screenwriters Intensive Lab. How will this impact the future development of your project?
The Sundance Intensive was an amazing and immersive experience. The writing techniques I learned during the two days will be crucial as I dive into the next draft of my screenplay entitled “Sophia/Gordita”. Through this workshop, I feel confident to tackle the issues of my screenplay and to dig deeper into motivations that drive my lead character, Sophia.
Tell me about your experience during day two and your interaction with the advisors. How important was it for you to get feedback from a professional in the field that has gone through some of the same creative challenges as you?
Patricia Cardoso and Ligiah Villalobos were incredibly generous to offer their guidence and direction on my screenplay “Sophia/Gordita”. Their feedback, although at times challenging, pushed me to dig deeper into the character of Sophia. What really drives her to make the choices in act one that sends her life into a downward spiral during the subsequent acts? As I work through these issues, the outcome will hopefully be a character that no one has ever seen before on the screen, an anti-hero for a new generation.
Now that you've gone through this learning experience, what are some of the next steps you will be taking as you continue to develop your project?
I plan on doing another rewrite utilizing the tools and techniques I learned from the Intensive. After the next draft, I will get more feedback from my producer and my film collective, Vices of Reason. Once I get a draft that I’m comfortable with, I’m going to get the script in the hands of anyone that’s willing to read it as well as continue to raise money to finance the film.
Vivian Tse
Project: "These Animals"
Vivian Tse is a filmmaker making both narrative and documentary films. She was a Colonist at the 2013 Nantucket Screenwriting Colony with her feature script "Joe Boy," which was also selected for the 2014 Ifp Transatlantic Partners Program. Tse participated in the 2014 Pov Hackathon with the transmedia documentary film "The Angola Project." Originally from San Francisco, she graduated from the University of Southern California.
Describe your project briefly and at what stage in the creative process it is.
"These Animals" is the story of an astronaut's last year on Earth after she agrees to crew a one-way mission to Mars. It's about what the last year of someone's life would be like if she made a decision with stakes that high, what happens to her family and the people around her, the people she loves and who love her.
We're currently in the development stage, trying to put the financing together. Sundance and the A3 foundation was kind enough to give us a grant. And we're in post on a short version of the project which we shot late last year.
Briefly tell us about the most important or rewarding lesson you took from the first day of the Screenwriters Intensive Lab. How will this impact the future development of your project?
It took a bit of processing but the most rewarding lesson, or at least the one that stuck with me most, was using yourself to dig deeper into your character's journey. Which sounds obvious and certainly its something you're already doing as a writer with everything you write, but you can always go deeper. learning that there is always more to dig up, more of you to add, which is horrifying and invigorating at the same time.
Tell me about your experience during day two and your interaction with the advisors. How important was it for you to get feedback from a professional in the field that has gone through some of the same creative challenges as you?
The advisors were amazing. They're very passionate - it's great. i found it invaluable, even when I didn't agree with the notes. it lets you know how people are reading, understanding and thinking about your story. their perspective was so helpful and it helps to look at my characters and my story in a new way. writing can be very isolating so it's always great to talk to someone who is doing what you're doing. and they share their war stories, telling you to reimagine a scene because they did something similar and it went to shit so don't forget to think about this or that, or that space ships are expensive so maybe try to stay out of a ship as a location. i don't have any space ships in the film but you get my point.
Now that you've gone through this learning experience, what are some of the next steps you will be taking as you continue to develop your project?
A re-write for one, casting, financing the rest of the film. Keep pushing forward, hustling, like everyone does, until you make your film.
Diego Velasco & Carolina Paiz
Project: "Los Invadidos"
Diego Velasco and Carolina Paiz, a husband and wife writing team, are currently working on "Los Invadidos," a thriller which Velasco will also direct.
Writer/director Diego Velasco was born in the Us and raised in Caracas, Venezuela. Diego’s short, "Cédula Ciudadano," got him invited into the Fox Searchlab program after winning the Los Angeles Latino Film Festival. In 2003, Diego moved to Los Angeles and formed Open Studios with his wife, a production company meant to make the films they wanted to see in the world. In 2010, Diego made his feature debut with "La Hora Cero" (The Zero Hour). Set in Caracas during the 24-hours of a controversial medical strike, the film followed La Parca, a tattooed hit-man, as he takes an elite hospital hostage in an attempt to save his wounded girlfriend and her child. The film became the highest grossing Venezuelan film of its time. It has won over 35 awards at International festivals and secured distribution in five continents. Currently it has been optioned for an English language remake. In November of 2011, Diego was featured as one the Ten Mover and Reshapers of Latin American Cinema by Variety Magazine.
Growing up in Guatemala during the civil war, Carolina Paiz spent much of her time indoors, reading and watching television, escapes which later provided the foundation for her career as a writer for film and TV. At 15, she left Guatemala for Kent, a boarding school in Connecticut, where she was the first non- native English speaker to be awarded the Robert S. Hillyard award for her achievements in creative writing. Carolina went on to study English and Latin American Studies at Tulane University. The short stories she wrote there were later published by the Caribbean Writer. One of these, Sleep Comes Suddenly, was honored with the Canute A. Brodhurst Award. In 2006, she landed a position as a staff writer on ABC’s "Grey’s Anatomy." She later went on to write on NBC’s "Lipstick Jungle," CBS’s "The Defenders," Fox’s "Gang Related" and currently, Fox’s "Runner." She also developed a series for Fox, "Queen Of the South," based on the hugely successful Spanish novel. Between television projects, Carolina co- wrote and produced the Venezuelan feature "La Hora Cero," the highest grossing Venezuelan film in history.
Describe your project briefly and at what stage in the creative process it is.
The film follows a couple that has just lost their only child and now find themselves on different sides of the spiritual debate. They’re forced to face their problems when they inherit a remote farm in the Venezuelan plains. Hoping for a new start, they soon learn the farm has been invaded by squatters and that there’s more to reality than what you can see…
Briefly tell us about the most important or rewarding lesson you took from the first day of the Screenwriters Intensive Lab. How will this impact the future development of your project?
The first day was revelatory. By doing exhaustive and highly personal writing exercises that we then shared with the entire class, we both realized that we hadn't fully tapped into our own fears and desires in writing the characters in our feature. We realized there was far more of us in these characters than we'd anticipated and that embracing that would actually deepen them. Rewriting the script now, the characters have come to life by simply putting ourselves in their shoes.
Tell me about your experience during day two and your interaction with the advisors. How important was it for you to get feedback from a professional in the field that has gone through some of the same creative challenges as you?
Our advisors were completely different and had very different points of view on the script, yet both sets of notes complimented each other quite well at the end of the day. Their points of view were enlightening. We had exhausted our resources by asking for notes from every trusted friend and colleague that we knew, and we'd gotten to the point we were afraid they'd stop taking our calls for fear that we'd make them read the script again. We were desperate for fresh eyes from people that didn't know us, didn't know the project, and had no emotional stake in any of it. But what made it truly amazing was the fact that we got to dive in with such skilled writers, and such generous people, and that they truly took the time to give us deep and insightful notes.
Now that you've gone through this learning experience, what are some of the next steps you will be taking as you continue to develop your project?
We are currently rewriting the script as per what we've learned and hope to begin our search for financing soon!
But the institute’s commitment to provide opportunities for new voices that represent an eclectic array of background and experiences goes even further with other, lesser known, initiatives that have the potential to become turning points in the artists' careers. Of these, one of the most exciting programs is the Screenwriters Intensive, which is part the Sundance Institute's Diversity Initiative. This is of course a resource that is not only valuable, but crucial as we try to become a more inclusive society that is appreciative and welcoming of stories that exist beyond the mainstream, homogenous noise.
The Screenwriters Intensive is a 1 1/2 day workshop for writers whose work has been encountered by the institute as part of their outreach for the Labs and which they find especially promising. The writers of 10 projects take part in a program whose elements include a hands-on writing workshop led by creative advisor Joan Tewkesbury (“Nashville”), a screening of a recent Sundance film followed by a candid conversation with the filmmaker, a reception with Sundance staff and the extended Sundance community, and one-on-one meetings with two creative advisors to get feedback on their script. With the Intensive, the Sundance Institute aims to present participants with creative tools that they can take back to their own work, provide a space for dialogue and information sharing about the creative process of making a film (and all of the joys and challenges therein), and foster community among storytellers and an ongoing connection with Sundance.
This year the film screened was Rick Famuyiwa’s “Dope,” which premiered earlier this year in Park City and won a Special Jury Prize for Editing. Following the screening Famuyiwa shared anecdotes about the film’s production and the perseverance needed to stand by the core values of his project in spite of outside opposition. Later that evening, during a casual and highly interactive reception, the fellows had the chance to discuss their latest breakthroughs and newly found questions regarding their personal projects with the institute’s staff and other members of the independent film community. Chatting with them, and having witnessed some of the poignant exercises Ms. Tewkesbury uses in the past, there is not doubt in my mind that this was a groundbreaking experience for the entire group.
The following morning the fellows returned to the institute’s L.A offices to have on-on-one conversations with two advisors from a group of talented and achieved professionals that included Kyle Patrick Alvarez (“The Stanford Prison Expriemnt”), Patricia Cardoso (“Real Women Have Curves“),the aforementioned director Rick Famuyiwa (“Dope”), Deena Goldstone (“Identity Theft”), Tanya Hamilton (“Night Catches Us”), Felicia Henderson (“Gossip Girl”), Elgin James (“Little Birds”), Craig Johnson (“The Skeleton Twins”), Kyle Killen (“The Beaver”), Adam Bhala Lough (“Bomb the System”), Joan Tewkesbury herself, and Ligiah Villalobos (“Under the Same Moon”).
The Screenwriters Intensive fellows come from uniquely different backgrounds, and their projects bring original stories that are sure to showcase new and inventive perspectives on the world. Get to know them and their stories as they are on their way to giving us a great batch of new independent films.
To learn more about the Sundance Institute's programs visit Here
Tara Anaise
Project: "Bombay Stories"
Tara Anaïse is an award-winning writer/director whose first feature, "Dark Mountain," was released by Gravitas Ventures in August of 2014. Other recent work includes the upcoming thriller "Housekeeping," on which she’s a producer, and which is set to be released by Lions Gate in late March of 2015. Her short films have screened at festivals worldwide. Tara is currently developing several new projects, including a post-apocalyptic road movie with a female lead who drives a muscle car and kicks a**, and a romantic drama set in Mumbai in both 1968 and the present day that’s loosely based on her own family’s history. She holds an Mfa in film production from the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts and a BA in English from the University of Pennsylvania. She can make a mean pumpkin mezcal cocktail and according to an Amazonian curandero, her spirit animal is the black jaguar. She lives and works in Los Angeles
Describe your project briefly and at what stage in the creative process it is.
"Bombay Stories" is a drama centered around an Indian man returning to the city of his birth after decades of living abroad. When tragedy strikes, he recalls the summer of 1968—at that time, he was twenty-one and having a heartbreaking affair with a married woman right before leaving Bombay, and his entire family, behind for his new home in New York. It’s a story about the complexities of familial relationships and the question of whether or not it’s possible to return home.
It’s very loosely inspired by my own family’s history—my father’s side fled Sindh during the Partition of India in 1947 and rebuilt their lives in Mumbai (which at the time was called Bombay). Then my father left Mumbai (of his own volition) for the U.S. And then I fled the east coast for Los Angeles. I like to say I come from a long line of fleers.
The project is in the development stage. Currently working on a rewrite of the script and I’m planning on directing.
Briefly tell us about the most important or rewarding lesson you took from the first day of the Screenwriters Intensive Lab. How will this impact the future development of your project?
Don’t take the easy way out. There are certain things I know about my characters and I can write them easily and I can write them well. But the most interesting aspects of a character come from the places we know the least. Don’t be afraid to go down the path that’s half in shadow, this is the kind of exploration that leads to the heart of the thing. I’ll definitely be using Joan’s writing exercises to further develop all of my characters. I’ve never done anything like what we did during her seminar. She had us make lists of things drawn from our own personal experiences – three times in your life you’ve known something was wrong but did it anyway, three places to which you never want to return, three times you’ve felt lost, and so on—and then take one item from each list, put the items on our protagonist, and quickly write a short story about the whole thing. It’s a concrete way to use instances from one’s own life to get to the root of the character.
Tell me about your experience during day two and your interaction with the advisors. How important was it for you to get feedback from a professional in the field that has gone through some of the same creative challenges as you?
Going into day two was exciting but nerve-wracking. I woke up at 5am wondering how my advisors were going to react to my script (I tend to expect the worst.) Luckily, no one ripped my script up into tiny pieces and threw it back at me. Adam and Tanya were both really great. They had good things to say about the script, along with insightful suggestions for improving it, which I’m going to explore in the next draft. We talked about the writing process. We talked about production. We talked about navigating the industry. Getting advice from two talented, experienced filmmakers who’d been through this many times before was incredibly helpful, not just for this project, but for my career as a filmmaker as well.
Now that you've gone through this learning experience, what are some of the next steps you will be taking as you continue to develop your project?
The first thing I’m going to do is take some time to really get at the heart of each and every character. Then I’ll tackle the rewrite and when the script is ready, I’ll reach out to producers.
Shelby Farrell
Project: "Deidra and Laney Rob A Train"
Shelby Farrell is a screenwriter from Memphis, Tennessee. She is a graduate of Emory University where she was awarded the Kikag screenwriter award and the American Film Institute Conservatory where she finished an Mfa in screenwriting. She was recently featured in the Tracking Board's 2014 Young and Hungry List. She currently writes interactive games for Pocket Gems and is in preproduction for her feature "Deidra and Laney Rob A Train." She is repped by Gersh and Principato-Young.
Describe your project briefly and at what stage in the creative process it is.
"Deidra and Laney Rob A Train" is a dramedy about two teenage sisters who start robbing freight trains to support their family after their mother goes to jail. This script was my thesis screenplay for AFI and was featured on the Tracking Board's 2014 Young and Hungry List. Sydney Freeland (Sundance Alumni, "Drunktown's Finest") is attached to direct. Currently our reps are approaching select producers with the project, and we are really excited to see where it goes from here.
Briefly tell us about the most important or rewarding lesson you took from the first day of the Screenwriters Intensive Lab. How will this impact the future development of your project?
All of the writers and I were pushed to find inspiration from our own past experiences during writing exercises. Through this process, I think we all realized that our screenplays are more autobiographical than we perhaps wanted to believe. Not that I've ever robbed a train, but I could.
Tell me about your experience during day two and your interaction with the advisors. How important was it for you to get feedback from a professional in the field that has gone through some of the same creative challenges as you?
Having professional advisors is always a blessing. Their feedback was especially useful in this stage because so many people I work with have read multiple drafts. Having fresh eyes on the script really gave me a new perspective. Also since the advisors are independent filmmakers and Sundance alums they really know what we are going through at this stage of development. I also got great advice on what's coming in the next few months as we get this story off the page.
Now that you've gone through this learning experience, what are some of the next steps you will be taking as you continue to develop your project?
As far as this project goes, I feel like the script is in a really good place, but I also know that rewrites never end, and I'm excited to use the notes I received for future drafts. I'm also planning on using the writing exercises we learned in Joan Tewkesbury's workshop as I develop my newer projects. Joan taught us some character development tools that can be applied to any project in any stage.
Jared Frieder
Project: "Three Months"
Jared Frieder is a graduate of the Columbia University fiction writing program and his stories can be found in The Collective Press and The Newer York. His screenplay, "Three Months," has taken the top screenwriting prizes at the Austin Film Festival, the Screencraft Comedy Screenplay Contest, and the Big Bear International Film Festival Screenplay Contest. "Three Months" was also chosen for the 2014 Outfest Screenwriting Lab and was the featured script on The Black List online last November. He is currently developing his animated half-hour pilot, "Marathoners," with Bento Box Entertainment. He was accepted to USC’s Screenwriting Mfa on the Edward Volpe Endowed Scholarship before leaving to work on the ABC Family drama, "Chasing Life."
Describe your project briefly and at what stage in the creative process it is.
My project, "Three Months," tells the coming-of-age story of Caleb Kahn, a queer Ziggy Stardust-loving teenager from Miami who is exposed to HIV the weekend of his high school graduation and has to wait three months to be tested for the disease. It's a comedy, it's a love story, it's a tale of resilience, and it's a deconstruction of how people in crisis sludge through great periods of waiting. The screenplay has been a passion project of mine and I am very grateful to the Austin Film Festival Screenplay Competition, the Screencraft Comedy Screenplay Contest, and the Big Bear International Film Festival Screenplay Contest for awarding "Three Months" their respective grand prizes. I've also been spoiled by the Outfest Screenwriting Lab and the Sundance Intensive for allowing the script to be workshopped with their brilliant advisors (and some of my all-time heroes.)
After Austin, one of the festival judges (screenwriting phenom, producing master, and all around baller, Oren Uziel) came on board to help bring the script to the screen, along with my management company, Haven Entertainment. We're in the beginning stages of seeing this story come alive and it's pretty much the most exciting thing that has ever happened to me.
Briefly tell us about the most important or rewarding lesson you took from the first day of the Screenwriters Intensive Lab. How will this impact the future development of your project?
The most important lesson I learned from the Intensive's first day is that Joan Tewkesbury is my spirit animal. The second most important lesson I learned from Ms. Tewkesbury (sweetly nicknamed Tewks by the generous souls of Sundance) is that I tend to use jokes as a means of concealing truth and authenticity (something my protagonist does as well. Let's just say I was channeling.) She helped me crack the comedy facade and delve deeper into character, getting in touch with Caleb's fears, insecurities, and dreams. I'm confident that Tewk's direction will not only take Caleb and "Three Months" to the next level, but also elevate my storytelling in the future. And for that, I will forever be in Ms. Tewkesbury's debt.
Tell me about your experience during day two and your interaction with the advisors. How important was it for you to get feedback from a professional in the field that has gone through some of the same creative challenges as you?
Sitting down with Kyle Killen was intimidating at first (he's a certifiable story genius who wrote "The Beaver" and created shows like "Lone Star.") But Kyle tapped into my protagonist in ways that previous advisors couldn't. He helped me dissect Caleb, bringing out deeper layers of his character. We then discussed and determined the most effective way of braiding these emotional undercurrents into the narrative. It's safe to say that my mind was blown.
Kyle Alvarez (esteemed director and fast friend) took a different approach and guided me through "Three Months" from a director's perspective, helping me think about casting, locations, and how aspects of the script would translate on screen. Having mentors come at the project from different angles was really enlightening. Again, I feel incredibly spoiled and grateful.
Now that you've gone through this learning experience, what are some of the next steps you will be taking as you continue to develop your project?
Post-Intensive, I'm taking another pass at "Three Months" (because apparently you're never done writing, or that's what they keep telling me.) I'm stoked to take my Sundance notes and weave them through the script where I see fit. Then it's off to the producers for feedback and hopefully the hunt for a director and cast will commence. Also, there will be thank you notes. Lots and lots of thank you notes: to Sundance, to Tewks, to the Kyles, and to the universe for giving me this opportunity.
David J. Lee
Project: "Found"
David J. Lee spent years as an It professional who dreamed of becoming a performer. He finally made the leap and began working as a professional actor who curiously kept getting offers to direct. Finally he gave in, dropped it all, and proceeded to pursue his Mfa in Film Production at USC where, of course, everyone became more interested in his writing. Dave received USC’s First Film Screenwriting Award in 2013, and his thesis script, "Found," was a top 50 Academy Nicholl semi-finalist. His university-produced short, "Paulie," directed by Andrew Nackman, went on to win the Best Film, Audience Award, and Best Writer prizes at the 2014 NBC Universal Short Cuts Festival. Dave was a 2014 Cape New Writers Fellow; he is working on the feature version of "Paulie" while making eyes at the TV world.
Describe your project briefly and at what stage in the creative process it is.
My feature film script is a crime thriller called “Found”. It’s the story of a night worker at a storage facility whose odd, illicit habit of breaking into storage lockers – and her talent for understanding people's lives through their belongings – force her into action when she discovers evidence of a child abduction in one of the units.
“Found" was my thesis script at USC and was a top-50 Nicholl semi-finalist in 2013. Prior to being accepted into the 2015 Sundance Intensive, it had been selected for the 2014 Cape New Writers Fellowship.
Briefly tell us about the most important or rewarding lesson you took from the first day of the Screenwriters Intensive Lab. How will this impact the future development of your project?
Obviously, at this point I'm many drafts into my script, which means that I'm in a much different mindset than I was when I was originally coming up with the story. It’s a very analytical, left-brain process. Joan Tewkesbury led us through a series of writing exercises which brought me back to that original creative place, which helped me get a new perspective on my characters.
I guess if you’re looking for a specific lesson, it would be, “If you need a fresh perspective, don’t be afraid to put your characters in seemingly irrelevant situations, just to see how they play out, because you’ll be surprised at the relevant places you end up. At the very least, you often end up learning something new about your characters."
Tell me about your experience during day two and your interaction with the advisors. How important was it for you to get feedback from a professional in the field that has gone through some of the same creative challenges as you?
I was amazed and honored at how much time each advisor had put into their notes. Time is gold for these folks, and they gave us so much of it. It seemed that most of them had received tremendous support from the Sundance Labs or from programs similar to them when they were younger, so they were all there that day out of a desire to give back.
It’s valuable to receive notes from professionals in that these are folks who have more experience than you and a valuable perspective from having worked within the system, and I received some fantastic, insightful feedback that day. At the same time, they’re only perspectives. A note from a working professional may warrant extra consideration, but ultimately, if it doesn’t resonate with you, then it just doesn’t. In the end you weigh those comments against all the other feedback you’ve received over time.
Now that you've gone through this learning experience, what are some of the next steps you will be taking as you continue to develop your project?
Keep writing. I’m encouraged by the attention this script has received. When I get it to a place where I’m happy with, then I’ll start looking into getting it made.
Channing Godfrey Peoples
Project: "Miss Juneteenth"
Channing Godfrey Peoples received her Mfa from USC's School of Cinematic Arts. Originally from Texas, she spent her childhood in community theater and has been storytelling ever since. Her films are character driven stories that focus on the resilience of the human spirit, often featuring African-American women at a turning point in their lives. At USC, Channing was awarded funding to direct her documentary, “Carry Me Home”, about the celebratory aspects of African-American Funeral Traditions.
Her narrative Thesis Film, “Red”, is a King Family Foundation Recipient, Jury Award Winner for Directing at the Directors Guild of America Student Film Awards, Panavision New Filmmakers Grant Recipient and nominated for Best Short at Pan African Film Festival and the Africa Movie Academy Awards. Channing won “Best Director” at the Nevada International Film Festival and was honored at the Lois Weber Film Festival in Texas. She wrote, directed and starred in “Red”, which is currently on the festival circuit, most recently screening at Champs-Élysées Film Festival in Paris, France. Channing served as a Time Warner Artist-in-Residence at Howard University in Washington DC. She believes in community involvement and mentors children interested in the arts. Channing is developing her first feature film, “Miss Juneteenth."
Describe your project briefly and at what stage in the creative process it is.
In Texas, slaves were informed they were free, two long years after 1863's Emancipation Proclamation declared American slaves free. That day was June 19 th, 1865, also known as “Juneteenth”. Today, many communities celebrate the Juneteenth holiday with beauty pageants acknowledging young African-American women who are the descendants of slaves. My story, "Miss Juneteenth," is about one of these women.
Turquoise Jones is a former beauty queen, “Miss Juneteenth 1999”, who lost her pageant's top prize of a college scholarship when an unplanned pregnancy lands her back home tending bar at an aging juke joint. Today, she is a single mother to a teenage girl, who she struggles to keep from going down the same wrong path that she took. She has enrolled her disinterested daughter in this year’s Miss Juneteenth pageant and is fighting to keep her in it.
The project is in development and is based in my hometown of Fort Worth, Texas. Neil Creque Williams ("David’s Reverie") is attached as Producer.
Briefly tell us about the most important or rewarding lesson you took from the first day of the Screenwriters Intensive Lab. How will this impact the future development of your project?
On our first day of the Screenwriters Intensive Lab, Joan Tewkesbury lead an incredible writing workshop that challenged me to look deeper into the emotional journey of my story. I was seeking a way to take my script to a deeper emotional level and the workshop certainly aided that endeavor. The lesson for me was to connect to my characters through personal experience and emotion and not be resistant to other possibilities for my story.
Tell me about your experience during day two and your interaction with the advisors. How important was it for you to get feedback from a professional in the field that has gone through some of the same creative challenges as you?
The advisors were incredible and I am in awe of their insight and accomplishments. I was delighted to receive feedback from professionals whose work I have long admired. They provided constructive feedback and challenged me to think of the script in new ways. I also enjoyed exchanging ideas with the other fellows at the Intensive and I was delighted to be surrounded by such diverse talent.
Now that you've gone through this learning experience, what are some of the next steps you will be taking as you continue to develop your project?
I am now revisiting the script with a renewed intensity. I will be directing my film, "Miss Juneteenth," so my producer, Neil Creque Williams and I have identified our locations and begun preliminary casting. Our next step is crowdfunding and to continue to apply for support.
Maya Perez
Project: "Umwana"
Maya Perez is a screenwriter and fiction writer. She is a consulting producer for the Emmy Award- winning television series "On Story: Presented by Austin Film Festival," now entering its fifth season on PBS, and co-editor of the book On Story: Screenwriters and Their Craft (University of Texas Press, October 2013). She holds a Bachelor of Arts from Vassar College and is a Michener fellow at the University of Texas at Austin. She grew up in Kenya, Zambia, and the United States and lives in Austin, Texas.
Describe your project briefly and at what stage in the creative process it is.
My project is a feature script, "Umwana," a domestic drama about an American teen who goes to rural Zambia to meet and live with her father and his family. More foreign to her than the cultural differences is the experience of being a member of a family.
Briefly tell us about the most important or rewarding lesson you took from the first day of the Screenwriters Intensive Lab. How will this impact the future development of your project?
It was great to be reminded of the importance of specificity when depicting characters, and also, how to pull from personal experience without making your characters reflections of yourself. In the workshop we were assigned numerous writing exercises and, though initially intimidating, it was stimulating to be assured there's no limit to the new stories we can quickly craft from scratch. We often think of time as the enemy, in that we don't have enough of it in which to do the work. But sometimes I think I give myself too much time. Some of my better, more visceral writing has been generated under the gun, so to speak.
Tell me about your experience during day two and your interaction with the advisors. How important was it for you to get feedback from a professional in the field that has gone through some of the same creative challenges as you?
One of my advisors hit me with a barrage of questions as soon as I sat down - What is Cassie feeling here? What does Joseph look like? Is it what she expected? What if this happened? What if that happened? So many questions that I started doubting the story's weight altogether. But she kept on and wouldn't let up, so I just wrote them all down until I finally had an answer and then another and eventually realized I know exactly what this story and these characters are about. I had to be sort of beaten down and thrown off balance in order to find the railing. It was terrific. Another advisor - who fortunately came right after - grabbed my shoulders and said he would stalk me until I made this film. He offered to make introductions to agents, managers, producers, and to be there for every draft and question I might have along the way. It was an invaluable experience, to sit down with these talented, professional writers who had read my script so closely and had such constructive questions and encouragement. It felt as though they were as invested in its success as I am.
Now that you've gone through this learning experience, what are some of the next steps you will be taking as you continue to develop your project?
My proposed new opening to the script was met with enthusiasm, so I'll make that change, do another revision on the script, and then submit it for the Screenwriters Lab. It was a finalist last year, so hopefully it will go through this year and I'll be able to take advantage of a full week at the Lab to prepare it for production. One of my advisors generously sent me the look book he's using for his current project, and I'm making one of those for "Umwana" as well as researching what shooting on location in Zambia will entail.
Rodrigo Reyes
Project: "Charlie"
Rodrigo Reyes was born in Mexico City in 1983. Supported by the Mexican Ministry of Film, his acclaimed 2012 feature documentary "Purgatorio" featured visceral and intimate portraits of the Us- Mexico border. The film premiered in competition at the 2013 Los Angeles Film Festival and Guadalajara International Film Festival, touring more than 40 festivals including MoMA’s Documentary Fortnight, and winning several jury prizes including the Michael Moore Award for Best Documentary at the Ann Arbor Film Festival. "Purgatorio" has been released theatrically on over 100 screens throughout Mexico, touring Latin America, Spain, and over 30 American cities. In 2013 Filmmaker Magazine named Rodrigo one of 25 New Faces of Independent Film, and in 2014 he was awarded the Tribeca Film Institute Heineken Voices Grant for his upcoming documentary "Sanson And Me," as well as the Canon Filmmaker Award for his hybrid peach picker portrait "Lupe Under The Sun," currently in post-production. Rodrigo attended Uc San Diego, as well as colleges in Madrid and Mexico City, earning a degree in International Studies. He currently lives in California’s Central Valley where he works as an interpreter in the California Superior Court.
Describe your project briefly and at what stage in the creative process it is.
"Charlie" is a story about a mother and son living in the heartland of America, who hide a dark secret that is tearing them apart, threatening them with destruction. It’s a twisted, existential fairy-tale that tackles estrangement, loneliness and violence in a unique way. Aside from Sundance, the film has received the support of Nalip’s Latino Media Market.
Briefly tell us about the most important or rewarding lesson you took from the first day of the Screenwriters Intensive Lab. How will this impact the future development of your project?
I was surprised by some of the tools used in the labs. There was an element of tapping into the subconscious using semi-dada techniques that really clicked with me. The key was coming in with an open mind.
Before the Labs, I felt the project was close to a final draft. That has since been atomized and torn apart at the hinges, which is fantastic, actually. The Intensive helped me pull away from the rut I didn’t know I was in and look at my script with a naked, honest perspective.
Tell me about your experience during day two and your interaction with the advisors. How important was it for you to get feedback from a professional in the field that has gone through some of the same creative challenges as you?
Often as independent filmmakers we feel threatened by the industry, their perspectives are senses as criticisms instead of critiques. The Lab did a great job of inviting you to a conversation, not a lecture or a dictate. I felt I could take the advice that honestly connected with me and integrate it with my script, while also fielding key questions to the advisors in a safe space.
Now that you've gone through this learning experience, what are some of the next steps you will be taking as you continue to develop your project?
It’s all in my hands now. I have to integrate the conversations, critiques and perspectives gleaned from this process into a new draft.
Luke Uriah Slendebroek
Project: “Sophia/Gordita”
Luke Uriah Slendebroek is a graduate of the UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television Mfa directing program. While at UCLA, Luke's films have been awarded The Hollywood Foreign Press Award, The Four Sister’s Award, The Carroll Sax Award in Motion Picture and Television Production, the Edie and Lew Wasserman Film Production Fellowship, and two Motion Picture Association of America Awards. Luke has directed a short documentary for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and he has directed a short film for the Oscar-winning producer and director Robert "Bobby" Moresco as part of an interdisciplinary collaboration at UCLA. He has also directed a number of industrial films for Fortune 500 companies. Luke's films favor the underdogs, involve fantastical worlds, and tend to explore that brief period between childhood and adulthood.
Describe your project briefly and at what stage in the creative process it is.
“Sophia/Gordita” is a coming of age western based on the incredible true story of teenage madam that served the migrant farming communities of the midwest.
Aleksandar Marinovich has stepped on board to help produce the film. Currently we are raising money to finance the film with a goal of shooting in September, 2016.
Briefly tell us about the most important or rewarding lesson you took from the first day of the Screenwriters Intensive Lab. How will this impact the future development of your project?
The Sundance Intensive was an amazing and immersive experience. The writing techniques I learned during the two days will be crucial as I dive into the next draft of my screenplay entitled “Sophia/Gordita”. Through this workshop, I feel confident to tackle the issues of my screenplay and to dig deeper into motivations that drive my lead character, Sophia.
Tell me about your experience during day two and your interaction with the advisors. How important was it for you to get feedback from a professional in the field that has gone through some of the same creative challenges as you?
Patricia Cardoso and Ligiah Villalobos were incredibly generous to offer their guidence and direction on my screenplay “Sophia/Gordita”. Their feedback, although at times challenging, pushed me to dig deeper into the character of Sophia. What really drives her to make the choices in act one that sends her life into a downward spiral during the subsequent acts? As I work through these issues, the outcome will hopefully be a character that no one has ever seen before on the screen, an anti-hero for a new generation.
Now that you've gone through this learning experience, what are some of the next steps you will be taking as you continue to develop your project?
I plan on doing another rewrite utilizing the tools and techniques I learned from the Intensive. After the next draft, I will get more feedback from my producer and my film collective, Vices of Reason. Once I get a draft that I’m comfortable with, I’m going to get the script in the hands of anyone that’s willing to read it as well as continue to raise money to finance the film.
Vivian Tse
Project: "These Animals"
Vivian Tse is a filmmaker making both narrative and documentary films. She was a Colonist at the 2013 Nantucket Screenwriting Colony with her feature script "Joe Boy," which was also selected for the 2014 Ifp Transatlantic Partners Program. Tse participated in the 2014 Pov Hackathon with the transmedia documentary film "The Angola Project." Originally from San Francisco, she graduated from the University of Southern California.
Describe your project briefly and at what stage in the creative process it is.
"These Animals" is the story of an astronaut's last year on Earth after she agrees to crew a one-way mission to Mars. It's about what the last year of someone's life would be like if she made a decision with stakes that high, what happens to her family and the people around her, the people she loves and who love her.
We're currently in the development stage, trying to put the financing together. Sundance and the A3 foundation was kind enough to give us a grant. And we're in post on a short version of the project which we shot late last year.
Briefly tell us about the most important or rewarding lesson you took from the first day of the Screenwriters Intensive Lab. How will this impact the future development of your project?
It took a bit of processing but the most rewarding lesson, or at least the one that stuck with me most, was using yourself to dig deeper into your character's journey. Which sounds obvious and certainly its something you're already doing as a writer with everything you write, but you can always go deeper. learning that there is always more to dig up, more of you to add, which is horrifying and invigorating at the same time.
Tell me about your experience during day two and your interaction with the advisors. How important was it for you to get feedback from a professional in the field that has gone through some of the same creative challenges as you?
The advisors were amazing. They're very passionate - it's great. i found it invaluable, even when I didn't agree with the notes. it lets you know how people are reading, understanding and thinking about your story. their perspective was so helpful and it helps to look at my characters and my story in a new way. writing can be very isolating so it's always great to talk to someone who is doing what you're doing. and they share their war stories, telling you to reimagine a scene because they did something similar and it went to shit so don't forget to think about this or that, or that space ships are expensive so maybe try to stay out of a ship as a location. i don't have any space ships in the film but you get my point.
Now that you've gone through this learning experience, what are some of the next steps you will be taking as you continue to develop your project?
A re-write for one, casting, financing the rest of the film. Keep pushing forward, hustling, like everyone does, until you make your film.
Diego Velasco & Carolina Paiz
Project: "Los Invadidos"
Diego Velasco and Carolina Paiz, a husband and wife writing team, are currently working on "Los Invadidos," a thriller which Velasco will also direct.
Writer/director Diego Velasco was born in the Us and raised in Caracas, Venezuela. Diego’s short, "Cédula Ciudadano," got him invited into the Fox Searchlab program after winning the Los Angeles Latino Film Festival. In 2003, Diego moved to Los Angeles and formed Open Studios with his wife, a production company meant to make the films they wanted to see in the world. In 2010, Diego made his feature debut with "La Hora Cero" (The Zero Hour). Set in Caracas during the 24-hours of a controversial medical strike, the film followed La Parca, a tattooed hit-man, as he takes an elite hospital hostage in an attempt to save his wounded girlfriend and her child. The film became the highest grossing Venezuelan film of its time. It has won over 35 awards at International festivals and secured distribution in five continents. Currently it has been optioned for an English language remake. In November of 2011, Diego was featured as one the Ten Mover and Reshapers of Latin American Cinema by Variety Magazine.
Growing up in Guatemala during the civil war, Carolina Paiz spent much of her time indoors, reading and watching television, escapes which later provided the foundation for her career as a writer for film and TV. At 15, she left Guatemala for Kent, a boarding school in Connecticut, where she was the first non- native English speaker to be awarded the Robert S. Hillyard award for her achievements in creative writing. Carolina went on to study English and Latin American Studies at Tulane University. The short stories she wrote there were later published by the Caribbean Writer. One of these, Sleep Comes Suddenly, was honored with the Canute A. Brodhurst Award. In 2006, she landed a position as a staff writer on ABC’s "Grey’s Anatomy." She later went on to write on NBC’s "Lipstick Jungle," CBS’s "The Defenders," Fox’s "Gang Related" and currently, Fox’s "Runner." She also developed a series for Fox, "Queen Of the South," based on the hugely successful Spanish novel. Between television projects, Carolina co- wrote and produced the Venezuelan feature "La Hora Cero," the highest grossing Venezuelan film in history.
Describe your project briefly and at what stage in the creative process it is.
The film follows a couple that has just lost their only child and now find themselves on different sides of the spiritual debate. They’re forced to face their problems when they inherit a remote farm in the Venezuelan plains. Hoping for a new start, they soon learn the farm has been invaded by squatters and that there’s more to reality than what you can see…
Briefly tell us about the most important or rewarding lesson you took from the first day of the Screenwriters Intensive Lab. How will this impact the future development of your project?
The first day was revelatory. By doing exhaustive and highly personal writing exercises that we then shared with the entire class, we both realized that we hadn't fully tapped into our own fears and desires in writing the characters in our feature. We realized there was far more of us in these characters than we'd anticipated and that embracing that would actually deepen them. Rewriting the script now, the characters have come to life by simply putting ourselves in their shoes.
Tell me about your experience during day two and your interaction with the advisors. How important was it for you to get feedback from a professional in the field that has gone through some of the same creative challenges as you?
Our advisors were completely different and had very different points of view on the script, yet both sets of notes complimented each other quite well at the end of the day. Their points of view were enlightening. We had exhausted our resources by asking for notes from every trusted friend and colleague that we knew, and we'd gotten to the point we were afraid they'd stop taking our calls for fear that we'd make them read the script again. We were desperate for fresh eyes from people that didn't know us, didn't know the project, and had no emotional stake in any of it. But what made it truly amazing was the fact that we got to dive in with such skilled writers, and such generous people, and that they truly took the time to give us deep and insightful notes.
Now that you've gone through this learning experience, what are some of the next steps you will be taking as you continue to develop your project?
We are currently rewriting the script as per what we've learned and hope to begin our search for financing soon!
- 4/6/2015
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Sydney's Buzz
The past haunts two former members of the Black Panther Party, in this soulful drama by writer/director Tanya Hamilton, in which the burden lies in the decision to either continue fighting the old fight, or just simply live and survive. Set in a black Philadelphia neighborhood in 1976 (rendered in great detail by Hamilton who spent over a decade working on the film), around the time of the party's decline, where tensions between the police and the residents still run high, Hamilton centers the story on Marcus (Anthony Mackie) returning for his father's funeral, after a 4 year absence that was inspired by the community-wide belief that he sold out his Panther party partner to the...
- 7/30/2013
- by Malcolm Woodard
- ShadowAndAct
For you folks in Philly, an event you may be interested in, taking place on Mondayt, April 22, at 7Pm:cinedelphia Film Festival & Reelblack present Early Work A compilation of student films by Philly-based filmmakers of color, curated by Reelblack at PhilaMOCA 531 N. 12th Street, Philadelphia, Pa 19123 Advance tix are $8: http://cffreelblack.brownpapertickets.com || Facebook event page. Early Work features films by Reelblack Founder Mike D (Philly Boy), Chinonye Chukwu (AlaskaLand), Rel Dowdell (Changing The Game), Tanya Hamilton (Night Catches Us) and Nadine Patterson (Tango Macbeth). All have gone on to make feature films and will be on hand to discuss how...
- 4/19/2013
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
Email I received says deadline is this Friday, November 16, so you don't have much time! One past participant whose name you'd recognize is Nekisa Cooper (Pariah); also Jason Orans for Tanya Hamilton's Night Catches Us. Through its long-standing partnership with CineMart, Ifp annually selects two producers to participate in the Rotterdam Lab, which runs concurrently with the CineMart co-production market, January 27-30, 2013. The Fellowship is open to producers with at least one narrative feature producing credit who are current Ifp Members at any level. The Rotterdam Lab, a four-day training workshop for producers, is designed to build up their international...
- 11/12/2012
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
The Golden Globes feted a sanitised story about black domestic workers but ignored an authentic coming-of-age tale of a young black lesbian. Let's hope the Academy is not as colour blind
Octavia Spencer won a Golden Globe for best supporting actress for her role in the hit film The Help, and I couldn't be more conflicted. Spencer is a talented veteran actress deserving of many accolades – but how I wish it were for another film. The Golden Globes are a strong predictor for the Oscars, and The Help will surely mirror its Globes success there, likely garnering nominations for best picture, best supporting actress for Spencer, and best actress for Viola Davis. It will further validate, for some, the portrayal of black life seen in this movie.
Meanwhile, the Oscar buzz for Pariah, the magnificent coming-of-age story about a young black lesbian in Brooklyn, fails to rise about a muzzled hum.
Octavia Spencer won a Golden Globe for best supporting actress for her role in the hit film The Help, and I couldn't be more conflicted. Spencer is a talented veteran actress deserving of many accolades – but how I wish it were for another film. The Golden Globes are a strong predictor for the Oscars, and The Help will surely mirror its Globes success there, likely garnering nominations for best picture, best supporting actress for Spencer, and best actress for Viola Davis. It will further validate, for some, the portrayal of black life seen in this movie.
Meanwhile, the Oscar buzz for Pariah, the magnificent coming-of-age story about a young black lesbian in Brooklyn, fails to rise about a muzzled hum.
- 1/18/2012
- by Mychal Denzel Smith
- The Guardian - Film News
Night Catches Us
Directed by Tanya Hamilton
Screenplay by Tanya Hamilton
2010, USA
Night Catches Us provides an ironically timeless theme: giving governing of a country (in this case The United States) back to the people of the country. America was created by secessionists and rebels and yet in this film they recall how they are thwarted at every turn.
Writer/director Tanya Hamilton takes us back to 1970’s Philadelphia, as ex-Black Panther Marcus Washington (played by Anthony Mackie) returns home on the day of his father’s funeral. Patricia Wilson (played by Kerry Washington) shows us that even when we have moved on from a relationship, the unresolved emotions and true love realties tug at our hearts for answers, peace and resolution. Her precociously pithy daughter, Iris (played by Jamara Griffen), gives a refreshing performance reminding us how kids are giant sponges that suck up all the knowledge of internal personal relationships.
Directed by Tanya Hamilton
Screenplay by Tanya Hamilton
2010, USA
Night Catches Us provides an ironically timeless theme: giving governing of a country (in this case The United States) back to the people of the country. America was created by secessionists and rebels and yet in this film they recall how they are thwarted at every turn.
Writer/director Tanya Hamilton takes us back to 1970’s Philadelphia, as ex-Black Panther Marcus Washington (played by Anthony Mackie) returns home on the day of his father’s funeral. Patricia Wilson (played by Kerry Washington) shows us that even when we have moved on from a relationship, the unresolved emotions and true love realties tug at our hearts for answers, peace and resolution. Her precociously pithy daughter, Iris (played by Jamara Griffen), gives a refreshing performance reminding us how kids are giant sponges that suck up all the knowledge of internal personal relationships.
- 4/17/2011
- by Lauren Cragg
- SoundOnSight
Thanks reader Vichus Smith for the heads-up…
It didn’t make much of a splash when it was briefly released (limited) in theaters last month, but maybe you can really fete it now that it’s available on Netflix’s Watch Instantly streaming feature. That means, right now, this very minute, if you have a Netflix account, and I know a lot of you do, you’re a mere 2 or 3 clicks away from watching the film.
No need to wait for the DVD to be mailed to you, or purchase the Blu-ray disc. You can watch it Now, whether directly on your computer screen, or if you have one of those players that allows you to watch Netflix movies on your TV screen (Roku, XBox, etc), you can stream it on your television.
Tanya Hamilton’s acclaimed feature film debut, Night Catches Us, stars Anthony Mackie and Kerry Washington as reconnecting former Black Panthers.
It didn’t make much of a splash when it was briefly released (limited) in theaters last month, but maybe you can really fete it now that it’s available on Netflix’s Watch Instantly streaming feature. That means, right now, this very minute, if you have a Netflix account, and I know a lot of you do, you’re a mere 2 or 3 clicks away from watching the film.
No need to wait for the DVD to be mailed to you, or purchase the Blu-ray disc. You can watch it Now, whether directly on your computer screen, or if you have one of those players that allows you to watch Netflix movies on your TV screen (Roku, XBox, etc), you can stream it on your television.
Tanya Hamilton’s acclaimed feature film debut, Night Catches Us, stars Anthony Mackie and Kerry Washington as reconnecting former Black Panthers.
- 3/11/2011
- by Tambay
- ShadowAndAct
On International Women's Day, the director of the female film-makers' festival, which opens tonight, insists it has balance
Birds Eye View started out as a positive response to the fact that women make up only 7% of film directors (a statistic that remains accurate for Hollywood, and that has fluctuated between 6-15% in the UK over the last few years), and around 10-18% of screenwriters (depending on which year, and which side of the Atlantic). That's 6-18% of the creative vision in the world's most powerful medium. We live in a visual culture, and what we see on screen profoundly affects the way we see ourselves and each other. Film offers us an incredible thing – an immersive trip into someone else's universe, someone else's vision of the world. But if that vision is dominated by men then we are missing out on so much complexity, richness, diversity and creativity.
It staggers...
Birds Eye View started out as a positive response to the fact that women make up only 7% of film directors (a statistic that remains accurate for Hollywood, and that has fluctuated between 6-15% in the UK over the last few years), and around 10-18% of screenwriters (depending on which year, and which side of the Atlantic). That's 6-18% of the creative vision in the world's most powerful medium. We live in a visual culture, and what we see on screen profoundly affects the way we see ourselves and each other. Film offers us an incredible thing – an immersive trip into someone else's universe, someone else's vision of the world. But if that vision is dominated by men then we are missing out on so much complexity, richness, diversity and creativity.
It staggers...
- 3/8/2011
- by Rachel Millward
- The Guardian - Film News
The 42nd annual NAACP Image Awards took place on Friday and the winners were very different from the Academy Award winners. Tyler Perry was once again the big winner. He won Best Director for "For Colored Girls," which also took home the Best Picture award. In the TV categories, Perry won for Outstanding Comedy Series for "Tyler Perry's House of Payne," beating out "30 Rock" and "Glee." Meanwhile, David Mann won Best Actor for "Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns." Denzel Washington also won Best Actor for "The Book of Eli," beating Jaden Smith and Common. Halle Berry won Best Actress for "Frankie and Alice," beating Janet Jackson and Queen Talifah. And of course the Best Documentary award went to "For Love of Liberty: The Story of America's Black Patriots." Ice Cube and LL Cool J also won for their acting abilities in "Are We There Yet?" and "NCIS: Los Angeles.
- 3/6/2011
- WorstPreviews.com
The 42nd NAACP Awards Nominations follow below, and guess who stole the show? Well, it’s no surprise that Tyler Perry films would leave their mark but who knew it would be by a landslide? For Colored Girls topped the film category with seven nominations and Why Did I Get Married Too? has four.
The NAACP Image Awards honor accomplishments of people of color in the fields of television, music, literature and film, as well as individuals who promote social justice through creative endeavors.
Perry is up for a film directing nod (For Colored Girls) alongside Geoffrey Sax (Frankie & Alice), George Tillman Jr. (Faster), Tanya Hamilton (Night Catches Us) and the Hughes Brothers (Book of Eli).
The show will be televised live, tonight, March 4, 2011 at 8/7 c, on the Fox Network.
Courtesy of Variety.com, here’s a list of all Film and Television related nominees:
Motion Picture
Motion Picture
“For Colored Girls...
The NAACP Image Awards honor accomplishments of people of color in the fields of television, music, literature and film, as well as individuals who promote social justice through creative endeavors.
Perry is up for a film directing nod (For Colored Girls) alongside Geoffrey Sax (Frankie & Alice), George Tillman Jr. (Faster), Tanya Hamilton (Night Catches Us) and the Hughes Brothers (Book of Eli).
The show will be televised live, tonight, March 4, 2011 at 8/7 c, on the Fox Network.
Courtesy of Variety.com, here’s a list of all Film and Television related nominees:
Motion Picture
Motion Picture
“For Colored Girls...
- 3/4/2011
- by Cynthia
- ShadowAndAct
With all the "Black Swan" hoopla, am I the only one who thinks that the film, while well-made, is not deserving of all these hyper-crazed adulations? Portman was good, but I prefer Annette Bening's understated performance in "The Kids Are All Right." Or heck, Jennifer Lawrence's "Winter's Bone" performance could easily outdance Portman's delusional ballerina portrayal any day.
And "Winter's Bone," celebrating its true independent spirit, was virtually snubbed at last night's Independent Spirit Awards. Sure, the excellent supporting cast was honored with Dale Dickey winning Best Supporting Female and John Hawkes for Best Supporting Male, but the engaging and deeply haunting Debra Granik movie (with the most nominations totaling to seven nods) lost out to...you guessed it, Darren Aronofsky's "Black Swan." (Check out my "Winter's Bone" movie review right here)
And yes, I do admire Aronofsky, I thought "The Wrestler" was one of his personal...
And "Winter's Bone," celebrating its true independent spirit, was virtually snubbed at last night's Independent Spirit Awards. Sure, the excellent supporting cast was honored with Dale Dickey winning Best Supporting Female and John Hawkes for Best Supporting Male, but the engaging and deeply haunting Debra Granik movie (with the most nominations totaling to seven nods) lost out to...you guessed it, Darren Aronofsky's "Black Swan." (Check out my "Winter's Bone" movie review right here)
And yes, I do admire Aronofsky, I thought "The Wrestler" was one of his personal...
- 2/27/2011
- by Manny
- Manny the Movie Guy
Tune in to IFC tonight at 10:00 p.m. Et/Pt to catch all the action at the 2011 Film Independent Spirit Awards, with actor and comedian Joel McHale hosting.
Highlights include: Joel getting caught in a 127 Hours situation with only Dale Dickey, “Banksy” and John Waters to help him out; See how this year’s best feature nominees stack up against porn and the big studios; Catch the Spirit Awards’ version of a dead people montage; and more! The show was produced by Film Independent in association with Dick Clark productions, Inc.
The Spirit Awards was the first event to exclusively honor independent film, and over the past 26 years, has become the premier awards show for the independent film community, celebrating films made by filmmakers who embody independence and originality.
The following is a complete list of the winners:
Winners List
Best Feature: 'Black Swan'
Best Director: Darren Aronofsky,...
Highlights include: Joel getting caught in a 127 Hours situation with only Dale Dickey, “Banksy” and John Waters to help him out; See how this year’s best feature nominees stack up against porn and the big studios; Catch the Spirit Awards’ version of a dead people montage; and more! The show was produced by Film Independent in association with Dick Clark productions, Inc.
The Spirit Awards was the first event to exclusively honor independent film, and over the past 26 years, has become the premier awards show for the independent film community, celebrating films made by filmmakers who embody independence and originality.
The following is a complete list of the winners:
Winners List
Best Feature: 'Black Swan'
Best Director: Darren Aronofsky,...
- 2/27/2011
- by brians
- GeekTyrant
The 2011 Independent Spirit Awards were handed out a few hours ago and Black Swan won in all four categories it was nominated in including Best Picture, Best Director (Darren Aronofsky), Best Actress (Natalie Portman) and Best Cinematography (Matthew Libatique). Winter's Bone earned the most nominations at seven and dominated the supporting categories with wins for both Dale Dickey and John Hawkes, of the two only Hawkes earned an Oscar nomination, but he'll be facing off against both Christian Bale and Geoffrey Rush tomorrow night so I'm not counting on two awards in two days, though his performance in that film is one to remember.
Elsewhere, James Franco won Best Actor for 127 Hours, though he wasn't facing the stiffest of competition when it comes to most talked about performances of the year as he is the only one of the five nominees to also be nominated for an Oscar. Exit Through the Gift Shop...
Elsewhere, James Franco won Best Actor for 127 Hours, though he wasn't facing the stiffest of competition when it comes to most talked about performances of the year as he is the only one of the five nominees to also be nominated for an Oscar. Exit Through the Gift Shop...
- 2/27/2011
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
As a way of celebrating this year's nominees for the Spirit Awards in the weeks leading up to the ceremony, we reached out to as many as we could in an effort to better understand what went into their films, what they've gotten out of the experience, and where they've found their inspiration, both in regards to their work and other works of art that might've inspired them from the past year. Their answers will be published on a daily basis throughout February.
If you didn't know Tanya Hamilton was a painter long before she ever studied filmmaking, you'd probably guess it roughly 15 minutes into her debut film "Night Catches Us." In her Spirit Award nominee for Best First Feature, Hamilton does something extraordinary with what is ostensibly a period piece about two former Black Panthers trying to find their way in the years after the movement's dissipated -- she turns the ordinary into art.
If you didn't know Tanya Hamilton was a painter long before she ever studied filmmaking, you'd probably guess it roughly 15 minutes into her debut film "Night Catches Us." In her Spirit Award nominee for Best First Feature, Hamilton does something extraordinary with what is ostensibly a period piece about two former Black Panthers trying to find their way in the years after the movement's dissipated -- she turns the ordinary into art.
- 2/23/2011
- by Stephen Saito
- ifc.com
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