The Sundance Institute has named the participants and projects set for the 2023 editions of a pair of its flagship programs: the Screenwriters Lab and Screenwriters Intensive.
Lab participants will include Joseph Sackett (Cross Pollination), Sean Wang (Dìdi (弟弟)), Abinash Bikram Shah (Elephants in the Fog), Gabriela Ortega (Huella), Walter Thompson-Hernández (If I Go Will They Miss Me), Hadas Ayalon (In a Minute You’ll Be Gone), Bernardo Cubría, John Hibey & Joshua Penn Soskin (Kill Yr Idols), Dania Bdeir & Bane Fakih (Pigeon Wars), Rashad Frett & Lin Que Ayoung (Ricky), Farida Zahran (The Leftover Ladies), Masami Kawai (Valley of the Tall Grass) and Audrey Rosenberg (Wild Animals).
Those set for the Intensive are Keisha Rae Witherspoon & Jason Fitzroy Jeffers (Arc), Shireen Alihaji (Blue Veil), Spencer Cook & Parker Smith (Lame), Jesahel Newton-Bernal (Leche), Cynthia Lowen (Light Mass Energy), Rebin Zangana (Qareen), David Liu (Santa Anita), Urvashi Pathania (Skin), Ciara Leina`ala Lacy (Untitled...
Lab participants will include Joseph Sackett (Cross Pollination), Sean Wang (Dìdi (弟弟)), Abinash Bikram Shah (Elephants in the Fog), Gabriela Ortega (Huella), Walter Thompson-Hernández (If I Go Will They Miss Me), Hadas Ayalon (In a Minute You’ll Be Gone), Bernardo Cubría, John Hibey & Joshua Penn Soskin (Kill Yr Idols), Dania Bdeir & Bane Fakih (Pigeon Wars), Rashad Frett & Lin Que Ayoung (Ricky), Farida Zahran (The Leftover Ladies), Masami Kawai (Valley of the Tall Grass) and Audrey Rosenberg (Wild Animals).
Those set for the Intensive are Keisha Rae Witherspoon & Jason Fitzroy Jeffers (Arc), Shireen Alihaji (Blue Veil), Spencer Cook & Parker Smith (Lame), Jesahel Newton-Bernal (Leche), Cynthia Lowen (Light Mass Energy), Rebin Zangana (Qareen), David Liu (Santa Anita), Urvashi Pathania (Skin), Ciara Leina`ala Lacy (Untitled...
- 1/13/2023
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Outfest has selected ten queer and transgender writers from diverse backgrounds for its 2022 Screenwriting Lab.
The participants workshopping feature-length scripts during the week-long program, taking place virtually from today through Friday, December 9, include Bri J. Hernandez (Boys in Bands), Donovan Tolledo (Fat Lip), James Acker (Sadboi), Joseph Sackett (Cross Pollination), Katie Heaney (My Ex-Wife’s Wedding) and Vernon Jordan, III (Lavender Boy).
Those working on episodic projects are Estevan (Elote Preparado), Paloma Riojas (Shepherd), Riya Saxena (Matchmakers) and Rubén Mendive (Little Village).
Then, there are the thirteen additional Notable Writers selected to receive industry support from Outfest. Those scribes are Adelina Anthony, Adina Kruskal, Chasey Ridgley, Drew Burnett Gregory, Ernesto Martínez, Gerard Shaka, Joseph Pellegrino, Kate Imy, Nathan Pearson, Nick Janaye, Robert Cunningham, Sebastián Rea and Stevie Wain.
Created in 1997 as a screenwriting contest, the Outfest Screenwriting Lab has since become the cornerstone of Outfest’s artist development and education programs.
The participants workshopping feature-length scripts during the week-long program, taking place virtually from today through Friday, December 9, include Bri J. Hernandez (Boys in Bands), Donovan Tolledo (Fat Lip), James Acker (Sadboi), Joseph Sackett (Cross Pollination), Katie Heaney (My Ex-Wife’s Wedding) and Vernon Jordan, III (Lavender Boy).
Those working on episodic projects are Estevan (Elote Preparado), Paloma Riojas (Shepherd), Riya Saxena (Matchmakers) and Rubén Mendive (Little Village).
Then, there are the thirteen additional Notable Writers selected to receive industry support from Outfest. Those scribes are Adelina Anthony, Adina Kruskal, Chasey Ridgley, Drew Burnett Gregory, Ernesto Martínez, Gerard Shaka, Joseph Pellegrino, Kate Imy, Nathan Pearson, Nick Janaye, Robert Cunningham, Sebastián Rea and Stevie Wain.
Created in 1997 as a screenwriting contest, the Outfest Screenwriting Lab has since become the cornerstone of Outfest’s artist development and education programs.
- 12/5/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
The first time he made the trip to Europe to take part in U.S. in Progress, an event dedicated to independent American filmmaking launched by Poland’s American Film Festival in 2011, L.A.-based director Pete Ohs admits he was “very green.” “It was my first narrative feature…[and I was] very much getting into this world of independent filmmaking,” Ohs tells Variety.
U.S. in Progress, which this year takes place Nov. 9 – 11 in Wrocław, Poland, presents a selection of roughly half a dozen American indie titles in the final stages of production to European sales agents, distributors and festival programmers.
The event is often a crash course in the European market for directors like Ohs, who participated in 2016 with “Everything Beautiful Is Far Away.” For many it’s the first time that they’re exposed to film industry professionals on the continent, offering insight into an ecosystem of financing, production and...
U.S. in Progress, which this year takes place Nov. 9 – 11 in Wrocław, Poland, presents a selection of roughly half a dozen American indie titles in the final stages of production to European sales agents, distributors and festival programmers.
The event is often a crash course in the European market for directors like Ohs, who participated in 2016 with “Everything Beautiful Is Far Away.” For many it’s the first time that they’re exposed to film industry professionals on the continent, offering insight into an ecosystem of financing, production and...
- 9/12/2022
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
It was as early as 2010, as he likes to tell it, when Polish animator and visual artist Tomasz Bagiński lobbied his friend Andrzej Sapkowski to make a movie. Sapkowski is the author of “The Witcher” series of fantasy novels, and Bagiński — already Oscar-nominated for his short film “The Cathedral” — had dreams of taking the series to the big screen.
Among the project’s early boosters was Platige Image, the Polish animation, VFX and post-production studio that Bagiński joined in 2004. When Netflix swooped in to acquire the rights to “The Witcher” in 2017, the company was tapped to executive produce alongside L.A.-based Hivemind. The Polish studio also became one of several houses to handle special effects for the series, earning an Emmy nomination for its VFX work on what has gone on to become one of Netflix’s biggest international hits.
“The Witcher” has proven to be not only a...
Among the project’s early boosters was Platige Image, the Polish animation, VFX and post-production studio that Bagiński joined in 2004. When Netflix swooped in to acquire the rights to “The Witcher” in 2017, the company was tapped to executive produce alongside L.A.-based Hivemind. The Polish studio also became one of several houses to handle special effects for the series, earning an Emmy nomination for its VFX work on what has gone on to become one of Netflix’s biggest international hits.
“The Witcher” has proven to be not only a...
- 9/12/2022
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
The Gotham Film & Media Institute on Monday has selected the films and series for its Project Market, a slate which IndieWire can exclusively reveal. Taking place during September’s Gotham Week at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, the annual sales and development forum connects creators to distributors, financiers, and other industry decision-makers. It offers a look ahead at what could become the next buzzy films; “Moonlight” and “American Factory” are recent Oscar winners that were launched at past Project Market events.
This year’s lineup includes 65 fiction features and series, 60 nonfiction features and series, and 17 audio projects in various stages of development or production, including new projects from the producers of “Dopesick,” “Pose,” and “Sorry to Bother You.” For the first time since the pandemic, the annual event will include both in-person and virtual participation. In-person meetings run September 17-23, while virtual meetings will be held September 22-23.
“Being able...
This year’s lineup includes 65 fiction features and series, 60 nonfiction features and series, and 17 audio projects in various stages of development or production, including new projects from the producers of “Dopesick,” “Pose,” and “Sorry to Bother You.” For the first time since the pandemic, the annual event will include both in-person and virtual participation. In-person meetings run September 17-23, while virtual meetings will be held September 22-23.
“Being able...
- 8/1/2022
- by Chris Lindahl
- Indiewire
Exclusive: Amelia Eloisa’s We Will Never Belong won the Audience Award for a narrative feature and Joseph Sackett’s Homebody won Best First Feature to highlight prizewinners at this year’s Inside Out 2Slgbtq+ Film Festival. The films were honored in a ceremony this weekend that wrapped the Toronto-based event, Canada’s largest 2Slgbtq+ film festival.
Other honorees in the festival, which ran as a hybrid in-person/virtual event from May 26-Sunday and showcased 128 films from 28 countries, included Ry Levey’s Out in the Ring for Best Canadian Feature. Additional audience awards went to Jacquie Lawrence’s Gateways Grind for Best Documentary Feature and Nyala Moon’s How Not to Date While Trans for Best Short Film.
Director Odu Adamu won the fest’s annual “Pitch, Please” contest for his upcoming project The Skin We’re In. Prizes to the winner include a cash production grant of 5,000 sponsored by Netflix,...
Other honorees in the festival, which ran as a hybrid in-person/virtual event from May 26-Sunday and showcased 128 films from 28 countries, included Ry Levey’s Out in the Ring for Best Canadian Feature. Additional audience awards went to Jacquie Lawrence’s Gateways Grind for Best Documentary Feature and Nyala Moon’s How Not to Date While Trans for Best Short Film.
Director Odu Adamu won the fest’s annual “Pitch, Please” contest for his upcoming project The Skin We’re In. Prizes to the winner include a cash production grant of 5,000 sponsored by Netflix,...
- 6/6/2022
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
Festival also honours Elliot Page and Octavia Spencer.
Vivian Kleiman’s No Straight Lines: The Rise Of Queer Comics and Lyle Kash’s Death And Bowling have been named among the award winners at the 2021 Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ Film Festival.
No Straight Lines took the documentary feature grand jury prize at the August 13-22 festival, back this year as an in-person event at several Los Angeles venues, and Death And Bowling won the narrative feature audience award.
The festival’s closing night awards ceremony also saw Elliot Page receiving the Outfest Annual Achievement Award and Octavia Spencer the Outfest Annual James Schamus Ally Award.
Vivian Kleiman’s No Straight Lines: The Rise Of Queer Comics and Lyle Kash’s Death And Bowling have been named among the award winners at the 2021 Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ Film Festival.
No Straight Lines took the documentary feature grand jury prize at the August 13-22 festival, back this year as an in-person event at several Los Angeles venues, and Death And Bowling won the narrative feature audience award.
The festival’s closing night awards ceremony also saw Elliot Page receiving the Outfest Annual Achievement Award and Octavia Spencer the Outfest Annual James Schamus Ally Award.
- 8/25/2021
- by John Hazelton
- ScreenDaily
Outfest announced the winners of its 2021 edition, including Vivian Kleiman’s “No Straight Lines: The Rise of Queer Comics” for documentary feature and Brielle Brilliant’s “Firstness” for U.S. narrative feature.
The Los Angeles LGBTQ film festival also honored Pooya Mohseni with the grand jury prize for best performance in a U.S. narrative feature for her performance in “See You Then,” while Wes Hurley won best screenplay for “Potato Dreams of America,” a non-traditional portrayal of a gay immigrant’s transition to America and his relationship with his mother.
Park Kun-young was awarded best international narrative feature for “A Distant Place,” and Ümit Ünal won best international screenplay for “Love, Spells, And All That.” “Sweetheart” actor Nell Barlow took home the award for best performance in an international narrative feature “for her ability to emote even under a pair of sunglasses and a bucket hat.”
Xavier Seron won...
The Los Angeles LGBTQ film festival also honored Pooya Mohseni with the grand jury prize for best performance in a U.S. narrative feature for her performance in “See You Then,” while Wes Hurley won best screenplay for “Potato Dreams of America,” a non-traditional portrayal of a gay immigrant’s transition to America and his relationship with his mother.
Park Kun-young was awarded best international narrative feature for “A Distant Place,” and Ümit Ünal won best international screenplay for “Love, Spells, And All That.” “Sweetheart” actor Nell Barlow took home the award for best performance in an international narrative feature “for her ability to emote even under a pair of sunglasses and a bucket hat.”
Xavier Seron won...
- 8/24/2021
- by Ethan Shanfeld
- Variety Film + TV
As LGBTQ culture filters further into the mainstream, it seems every TV show (and even most films) have a queer character these days. Loki is bisexual, “The L Word” is back, and “Euphoria” has every teenager (and some adults) wishing they were as cool as Jules. But, as discussed in this IndieWire Anniversary piece about the future of queer film and TV, more doesn’t always mean good. With every project trying to squeeze a queer character into even the most unlikely places, more and more of our stories are being told without our input. Queer filmmakers and creators need industry support now more than even, or this next wave of inclusivity will be just as disappointing as not being represented at all.
Which is why LGBTQ+ film festivals like Outfest are just as crucial, if not more so, than ever. Now in its 39th year, Outfest is one of...
Which is why LGBTQ+ film festivals like Outfest are just as crucial, if not more so, than ever. Now in its 39th year, Outfest is one of...
- 8/13/2021
- by Jude Dry
- Indiewire
Outfest Los Angeles features two films with "RuPaul's Drag Race" winners BeBe Zahara Benet and Bianca del Rio in its lineup for its 39th Film Festival.
Season 6 winner Bianca del Rio will join the main cast members of "Everybody’s Talking About Jamie," Max Harwood and Lauren Patel, in the festival's opening event. Del Rio plays art teacher Miss Haywood in the feature adaptation of the musical.
Season 1 winner BeBe Zahara Benet will perform live before the premiere of "Being Bebe," which follows the Cameroonian-American immigrant's struggle to embrace being an LGBTQ performer against discriminatory cultural forces.
Named after the Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization Outfest, the 10-day festival will celebrate LGBTQ+ stories and voices in film and television and will return to in-person screenings.
Outfest will also host the 5th Annual Trans and NonBinary Summit on August 21 with a panel featuring established and emerging trans and nonbinary creators, Zackary Drucker and Our Lady J.
Season 6 winner Bianca del Rio will join the main cast members of "Everybody’s Talking About Jamie," Max Harwood and Lauren Patel, in the festival's opening event. Del Rio plays art teacher Miss Haywood in the feature adaptation of the musical.
Season 1 winner BeBe Zahara Benet will perform live before the premiere of "Being Bebe," which follows the Cameroonian-American immigrant's struggle to embrace being an LGBTQ performer against discriminatory cultural forces.
Named after the Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization Outfest, the 10-day festival will celebrate LGBTQ+ stories and voices in film and television and will return to in-person screenings.
Outfest will also host the 5th Annual Trans and NonBinary Summit on August 21 with a panel featuring established and emerging trans and nonbinary creators, Zackary Drucker and Our Lady J.
- 7/26/2021
- by Loree Seitz
- The Wrap
The 10th edition of U.S. in Progress, the American Film Festival in Wroclaw’s post-production forum that brings together American independent projects with the Polish and international film industries, concluded on Friday with the announcement of the winning films. Among the awardees are Homebody, by Joseph Sackett, who was selected for this year’s Filmmaker 25 New Faces list, as well as a prior 25 selection, Geoff Marslett, who brought his The Boardinghouse Reach to the event. As the American Film Festival’s Artistic Director explained earlier to Filmmaker, this year’s event was held online, with projects being presented to European sales agents, […]
The post Wroclaw's American Film Festival Announces Winners of the 10th U.S. in Progress first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post Wroclaw's American Film Festival Announces Winners of the 10th U.S. in Progress first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 11/16/2020
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
The 10th edition of U.S. in Progress, the American Film Festival in Wroclaw’s post-production forum that brings together American independent projects with the Polish and international film industries, concluded on Friday with the announcement of the winning films. Among the awardees are Homebody, by Joseph Sackett, who was selected for this year’s Filmmaker 25 New Faces list, as well as a prior 25 selection, Geoff Marslett, who brought his The Boardinghouse Reach to the event. As the American Film Festival’s Artistic Director explained earlier to Filmmaker, this year’s event was held online, with projects being presented to European sales agents, […]
The post Wroclaw's American Film Festival Announces Winners of the 10th U.S. in Progress first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post Wroclaw's American Film Festival Announces Winners of the 10th U.S. in Progress first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 11/16/2020
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
The 10th edition of U.S. In Progress Wroclaw, the industry wing of the American Film Festival in Poland which was held online this year, wrapped over the weekend and presented a variety of awards to the participating American film projects.
The awards range from post-production services to travel bursaries and cash. A $10,000 cash prize to be put towards post-production in Poland was awarded to the film To The Moon from director Scott Friend and producers Cate Smierciak, Everett Hendler, Stephanie Randall, and Gabe Wilson. The full list of awards is below.
In addition to the U.S. projects, a group of U.S. experts including Sony Pictures Classics’ Dylan Leiner and CAA execs Maren Olson and Kat Moncrief took part in pitching and one-on-one sessions with Polish projects seeking U.S. partners. The non-competitive event is designed to foster potential co-productions and was hosted by Deadline.
In the wider festival,...
The awards range from post-production services to travel bursaries and cash. A $10,000 cash prize to be put towards post-production in Poland was awarded to the film To The Moon from director Scott Friend and producers Cate Smierciak, Everett Hendler, Stephanie Randall, and Gabe Wilson. The full list of awards is below.
In addition to the U.S. projects, a group of U.S. experts including Sony Pictures Classics’ Dylan Leiner and CAA execs Maren Olson and Kat Moncrief took part in pitching and one-on-one sessions with Polish projects seeking U.S. partners. The non-competitive event is designed to foster potential co-productions and was hosted by Deadline.
In the wider festival,...
- 11/16/2020
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
"Light my way in darkness, so I may spread your seed." There have been a handful of films that play with how an alien being would act if it inhabited a human body. What would it make of our strange fleshy bodies? Would it know how to interact? Would it know how to speak? Dominant Species is a short film that also wonders about these questions. Directed by Joseph Sackett, it's described as a "coming-of-age story about coming to terms with the ways you're different." The plot is about 10 aliens in human host bodies learning how to be "men". Short of the Week explains "most of the film is an examination of these new hosts' process of familiarization with the peculiarities of humanity and education in masculine stereotypes." Starring as the 10: Francisco Carrillo, Justin Chiao, Julian Cihi, Marchánt Davis, Vasile Flutur, Zach Fifer, Julio Lousav, Matthew Faroul, Julian Elijah Martinez,...
- 7/13/2020
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Swedish documentary filmmaker Anastasia Kirillova and “Negative Space” co-directors Ru Kuwahata and Max Porter are among the filmmakers who will receive grants from Rooftop Films to help complete their upcoming projects.
Kirilova will be awarded $20,000 to finish her film, “In the Shadows of Love,” while collaborators Kuwahata and Porter will receive $10,000 for “Dandelion Seed.”
Rooftop Films is a non-profit organization founded to showcase and fund the work of rising filmmakers and musicians in New York City. They provide cash grants to artists, rent equipment at affordable costs and organize film screenings.
“One of the great pleasures of working at Rooftop Films is that we have the opportunity to not only witness the growth of tenacious artists, but to support their visionary works as well,” said Dan Nuxoll, Rooftop Films’ artistic director. “This year’s grantees are among the most promising in all our years of championing independent cinema, and we...
Kirilova will be awarded $20,000 to finish her film, “In the Shadows of Love,” while collaborators Kuwahata and Porter will receive $10,000 for “Dandelion Seed.”
Rooftop Films is a non-profit organization founded to showcase and fund the work of rising filmmakers and musicians in New York City. They provide cash grants to artists, rent equipment at affordable costs and organize film screenings.
“One of the great pleasures of working at Rooftop Films is that we have the opportunity to not only witness the growth of tenacious artists, but to support their visionary works as well,” said Dan Nuxoll, Rooftop Films’ artistic director. “This year’s grantees are among the most promising in all our years of championing independent cinema, and we...
- 2/20/2019
- by Jordan Moreau
- Variety Film + TV
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.