Patrick J. Pespas has been found over three weeks after the unlikely star of HBO’s recent hit docuseries Telemarketers had gone missing.
Adam Bhala Lough, the series’ co-director, announced the good news Thursday night, writing, “Patrick J. Pespas has been found and returned safely to his wife Sue. Thank you to everyone who has shared messages of support, donated and prayed for Pat’s safe return. One day I hope to tell the whole story but for now Pat asks that everyone respects his and Sue’s privacy.”
Patrick J.
Adam Bhala Lough, the series’ co-director, announced the good news Thursday night, writing, “Patrick J. Pespas has been found and returned safely to his wife Sue. Thank you to everyone who has shared messages of support, donated and prayed for Pat’s safe return. One day I hope to tell the whole story but for now Pat asks that everyone respects his and Sue’s privacy.”
Patrick J.
- 10/27/2023
- by Daniel Kreps
- Rollingstone.com
New details are emerging about the disappearance of Telemarketers star Patrick J. Pespas, who went missing Friday in Easton, Pa.
Telemarketers co-creator Adam Bhala Lough shared an update Tuesday on X (formerly known as Twitter), telling his followers, “We’re growing increasingly concerned about his well-being. Pat left without his essential medications — both his methadone and his bipolar meds. Without them, he may be experiencing withdrawal symptoms. Moreover, he departed without his phone, leaving him without a way to reach out to us or anyone he knows. If anyone sees Pat or has information on his whereabouts, we kindly request you get in touch immediately.
Telemarketers co-creator Adam Bhala Lough shared an update Tuesday on X (formerly known as Twitter), telling his followers, “We’re growing increasingly concerned about his well-being. Pat left without his essential medications — both his methadone and his bipolar meds. Without them, he may be experiencing withdrawal symptoms. Moreover, he departed without his phone, leaving him without a way to reach out to us or anyone he knows. If anyone sees Pat or has information on his whereabouts, we kindly request you get in touch immediately.
- 10/3/2023
- by Michael Ausiello
- TVLine.com
“Telemarketers” docuseries subject Patrick J. Pespas has been reported missing, according to limited series helmer Adam Bhala Lough. Lough, who co-directed the recent HBO docuseries with Sam Lipman-Stern, took to X (previously known as Twitter) over the weekend to share, “Pat is missing, and [his wife] Sue, his family and friends are very worried about him. Please put out the word that Pat is missing and help us find him.”
“Telemarketers” centers on a New Jersey-based call center that previously employed Lipman-Stern, Lough’s cousin. Pespas was featured in the docuseries as a salesperson who worked for Civic Development Group. Lough and Lipman-Stern began investigating the workplace after its employer, CDG, allegedly stole donations people made for different organizations through the telemarketing scheme; the docuseries takes place over the course 20 years. The Safdie brothers and Danny McBride produced the HBO three-part docuseries.
Pespas went missing from his home in Easton, Pennsylvania on...
“Telemarketers” centers on a New Jersey-based call center that previously employed Lipman-Stern, Lough’s cousin. Pespas was featured in the docuseries as a salesperson who worked for Civic Development Group. Lough and Lipman-Stern began investigating the workplace after its employer, CDG, allegedly stole donations people made for different organizations through the telemarketing scheme; the docuseries takes place over the course 20 years. The Safdie brothers and Danny McBride produced the HBO three-part docuseries.
Pespas went missing from his home in Easton, Pennsylvania on...
- 10/2/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Patrick J. Pespas, the gregarious, affable center of HBO’s surprise hit docuseries Telemarketers, has gone missing, as friends and family put out urgent calls on social media for assistance.
Adam Bhala Lough, the series’ co-director, announced Pespas’ disappearance over the weekend, writing Friday night, “Pat is missing, and [Pespas’ wife] Sue, his family and friends are very worried about him. Please put out the word that Pat is missing and help us find him. He was last seen in the Easton, Pa area. Thank you.”
Bhala Lough confirmed Sunday night that...
Adam Bhala Lough, the series’ co-director, announced Pespas’ disappearance over the weekend, writing Friday night, “Pat is missing, and [Pespas’ wife] Sue, his family and friends are very worried about him. Please put out the word that Pat is missing and help us find him. He was last seen in the Easton, Pa area. Thank you.”
Bhala Lough confirmed Sunday night that...
- 10/2/2023
- by Jason Newman
- Rollingstone.com
Patrick J. Pespas, one of the subjects of the recent HBO documentary series “Telemarketers,” has gone missing. That’s according to the directors of “Telemarketers.”
In a post on X, director Adam Bhala Lough wrote, “Pat is missing, and Sue, his family and friends are very worried about him.”
Sue is Pespas’ wife.
“Please put out the word that Pat is missing and help us find him,” Lough wrote. “He was last seen in the Easton, Pa area. Thank you.”
He was last seen Friday night at 8 p.m., according to the post. Lough notes that Pespas left in his white Ford Mustang and was most likely somewhere in New Jersey.
This is Pat’s white ford mustang – he left in this car. He is most likely somewhere in New Jersey. Please look out for this car. pic.twitter.com/ulPaDaCdvu
— Bhala (@AdamBhalaLough) October 1, 2023
Pespas proved to be a dynamic...
In a post on X, director Adam Bhala Lough wrote, “Pat is missing, and Sue, his family and friends are very worried about him.”
Sue is Pespas’ wife.
“Please put out the word that Pat is missing and help us find him,” Lough wrote. “He was last seen in the Easton, Pa area. Thank you.”
He was last seen Friday night at 8 p.m., according to the post. Lough notes that Pespas left in his white Ford Mustang and was most likely somewhere in New Jersey.
This is Pat’s white ford mustang – he left in this car. He is most likely somewhere in New Jersey. Please look out for this car. pic.twitter.com/ulPaDaCdvu
— Bhala (@AdamBhalaLough) October 1, 2023
Pespas proved to be a dynamic...
- 10/1/2023
- by Mike Roe
- The Wrap
Telemarketers is a three-part documentary series directed by Adam Bhala Lough and one of the telemarketing company employees, Sam Lipman-Stern. This miniseries documented Sam and his buddy Patrick’s decade-long investigation into a fundraising scam in the United States. Sam started recording videos when he worked at Civic Development Group (CDG), a fundraising company that was later found to be involved in fraudulent activities. After CDG was shut down due to its scams, Sam and his friend Patrick Pespas teamed up to dig into CDG’s connections with charities. They aimed to expose how these groups were illegally taking money from people in the name of charity, but none of the funds were being used for actual charitable purposes.
What Happened To CDG?
In the first episode of Telemarketers, we meet Sam Lipman-Stern, a 14-year-old high school dropout who joined CDG in the early 2000s. CDG provided a haven for...
What Happened To CDG?
In the first episode of Telemarketers, we meet Sam Lipman-Stern, a 14-year-old high school dropout who joined CDG in the early 2000s. CDG provided a haven for...
- 8/30/2023
- by Poulami Nanda
- Film Fugitives
If there's a golden rule in telemarketing, it's that it never hurts to ask — or, as a manager tells top salesman Pat Pespas, "Just keep pushing." That mantra was burned into the brains of the callers at Civic Development Group, the company at the center of HBO's Telemarketers. Reminders about sticking to the script littered the office, as did signs detailing the appropriate rebuttals to concerns from people on the other end of the line. "Your house just burned down, John? Is it completely totaled?" asks one caller in early-aughts footage filmed by fellow employee Sam Lipman-Stern, who co-directed the docuseries with Adam Bhala Lough. "Now John, I don't want to burn you, but we do have a bronze [donation package] at $20, or a booster at $15."...
- 8/28/2023
- by Claire Spellberg Lustig
- Primetimer
Sam Lipman-Stern was 14, he’d just dropped out of ninth grade, and he needed a job stat. There wasn’t a host of options for an underage kid in New Jersey in terms of gainful employment, and his main interests at the time — skating, graffiti, filming his friends on his camcorder — weren’t necessarily gateways to a paying gig. But his parents told him that if he left high school, he would need to work, full stop. And then Sam heard about the Civic Development Group.
The telemarketing firm, commonly referred to as CDG,...
The telemarketing firm, commonly referred to as CDG,...
- 8/13/2023
- by David Fear
- Rollingstone.com
Two decades ago, Civic Development Group put a lot of people to work who couldn’t find it anywhere else. The telemarketing company employed high school dropouts, convicted felons, and drug addicts, many of whom felt as though they’d found their calling at a company that incentivized them to unwittingly participate in a high-stakes grift.
As they juggled calls on behalf of policemen unions and other charitable organizations, inadvertently duping gullible targets into opening their wallets, they had no idea how little money actually went to the organizations themselves. In truth, CDG was making a killing, keeping 90 percent of all donations — while its staffers treated the office as a hedonistic playground.
The footage of those antics provides the backbone for the first episode of “Telemarketers,” directors Adam Bhala Lough and Sam Lipman-Stern’s gritty and often darkly funny look at the CDG’s scam and the wider conspiracy of...
As they juggled calls on behalf of policemen unions and other charitable organizations, inadvertently duping gullible targets into opening their wallets, they had no idea how little money actually went to the organizations themselves. In truth, CDG was making a killing, keeping 90 percent of all donations — while its staffers treated the office as a hedonistic playground.
The footage of those antics provides the backbone for the first episode of “Telemarketers,” directors Adam Bhala Lough and Sam Lipman-Stern’s gritty and often darkly funny look at the CDG’s scam and the wider conspiracy of...
- 8/12/2023
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
Adam Bhala Lough and Sam Lipman-Stern’s new three-part HBO documentary Telemarketers occupies a space on the nonfiction continuum somewhere between the angry, journalistic interrogation of early Michael Moore and the more laid-back, observational curiosity of the Nathan Fielder/John Wilson school.
It’s a slightly precarious position. As a muckraking crusade, Telemarketers conveys and synthesizes less revelatory information than your typical Last Week Tonight With John Oliver main story — which is to say that anything you learn from the documentary you probably could have learned five years ago if you’d just wanted to know. As more personal storytelling, the series sometimes lacks introspection and sufficient autobiographical candor.
In the uneasy blending, though, Telemarketers finds something that’s frequently funny, unexpectedly poignant and occasionally rather special. It isn’t going to topple an industry, but its story of two unlikely friends who, after doing the wrong thing for a long time,...
It’s a slightly precarious position. As a muckraking crusade, Telemarketers conveys and synthesizes less revelatory information than your typical Last Week Tonight With John Oliver main story — which is to say that anything you learn from the documentary you probably could have learned five years ago if you’d just wanted to know. As more personal storytelling, the series sometimes lacks introspection and sufficient autobiographical candor.
In the uneasy blending, though, Telemarketers finds something that’s frequently funny, unexpectedly poignant and occasionally rather special. It isn’t going to topple an industry, but its story of two unlikely friends who, after doing the wrong thing for a long time,...
- 8/11/2023
- by Daniel Fienberg
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
“Telemarketers” may be summer TV’s oddest thrill ride. Co-director Sam Lipman-Stern begins the three-part docuseries, which launches August 13 on HBO, in retrospect. He’s looking back at the footage he shot of his time working for telemarketing firm CDG (short for Civic Development Group) two decades ago. Then a teenager, Lipman-Stern recorded everything: The aggressive sell he and his colleagues made over the phone to solicit donations for what the callers claimed were police charitable unions, as well as the freewheeling culture that permeated throughout the office. Closer to the present day, he and co-director Adam Bhala Lough reconnect with Lipman-Stern’s former colleague Pat Pespas to delve into how the system has morphed since they first worked together, and how they might be able to use what they’ve learned from their years of calling strangers to take it down.
Backed by high-profile executive producers including Benny and Josh Safdie and Danny McBride,...
Backed by high-profile executive producers including Benny and Josh Safdie and Danny McBride,...
- 8/11/2023
- by Daniel D'Addario
- Variety Film + TV
The Safdies may be (temporarily) breaking up as directors, but the brothers are still a showbiz team. Josh and Benny Safdie have executive produced a new documentary limited series “Telemarketers” for HBO, it was announced Wednesday. The channel has set an August 13 premiere date for the series, in addition to releasing the official trailer.
“Telemarketers” focuses on two former telemarketing employees Pat Pespas and Sam Lipman-Stern, the latter of whom is credited as co-director of the series with Adam Bhala Lough. The series chronicles, with the assistance of footage shot by Limpman-Stern, the duo’s time working in the telemarketing industry during the early 2000s, when Limpman-Stern was a 14 year-old high school dropout and Pespas was a top salesman dealing with addiction issues. The two worked for a company that advertised itself as raising money for police and firefighter charities, but in reality pocketed most of the money.
After a...
“Telemarketers” focuses on two former telemarketing employees Pat Pespas and Sam Lipman-Stern, the latter of whom is credited as co-director of the series with Adam Bhala Lough. The series chronicles, with the assistance of footage shot by Limpman-Stern, the duo’s time working in the telemarketing industry during the early 2000s, when Limpman-Stern was a 14 year-old high school dropout and Pespas was a top salesman dealing with addiction issues. The two worked for a company that advertised itself as raising money for police and firefighter charities, but in reality pocketed most of the money.
After a...
- 7/26/2023
- by Wilson Chapman
- Indiewire
The Criterion Channel’s February Lineup Includes Melvin Van Peebles, Douglas Sirk, Laura Dern & More
Another month, another Criterion Channel lineup. In accordance with Black History Month their selections are especially refreshing: seven by Melvin Van Peebles, five from Kevin Jerome Everson, and Criterion editions of The Harder They Come and The Learning Tree.
Regarding individual features I’m quite happy to see Abderrahmane Sissako’s fantastic Bamako, last year’s big Sundance winner (and Kosovo’s Oscar entry) Hive, and the remarkably beautiful Portuguese feature The Metamorphosis of Birds. Add a three-film Laura Dern collection (including the recently canonized Smooth Talk) and Pasolini’s rarely shown documentary Love Meetings to make this a fine smorgasboard.
See the full list of February titles below and more on the Criterion Channel.
Alan & Naomi, Sterling Van Wagenen, 1992
All That Heaven Allows, Douglas Sirk, 1955
The Angel Levine, Ján Kadár, 1970
Babylon, Franco Rosso, 1980
Babymother, Julian Henriques, 1998
Bamako, Abderrahmane Sissako, 2006
Beat Street, Stan Lathan, 1984
Blacks Britannica, David Koff, 1978
The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution,...
Regarding individual features I’m quite happy to see Abderrahmane Sissako’s fantastic Bamako, last year’s big Sundance winner (and Kosovo’s Oscar entry) Hive, and the remarkably beautiful Portuguese feature The Metamorphosis of Birds. Add a three-film Laura Dern collection (including the recently canonized Smooth Talk) and Pasolini’s rarely shown documentary Love Meetings to make this a fine smorgasboard.
See the full list of February titles below and more on the Criterion Channel.
Alan & Naomi, Sterling Van Wagenen, 1992
All That Heaven Allows, Douglas Sirk, 1955
The Angel Levine, Ján Kadár, 1970
Babylon, Franco Rosso, 1980
Babymother, Julian Henriques, 1998
Bamako, Abderrahmane Sissako, 2006
Beat Street, Stan Lathan, 1984
Blacks Britannica, David Koff, 1978
The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution,...
- 1/24/2022
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
At the start of April, SXSW and Amazon announced that films from this year’s canceled SXSW would stream for free on Prime Video, giving some filmmakers the opportunity to get their projects seen by Us audiences after the Covid-19 pandemic nixed plans for the annual festival, and now the full lineup has been confirmed.
Only a small section of filmmakers who were set to debut their titles at SXSW have taken Amazon up on its streaming offer, but 39 projects will be available to watch from April 27 to May 6.
“This is really an unprecedented time. People are waiting for the new normal. And others are waiting for the return to normal,” SXSW director of film Janet Pierson remarked to THR. “We’re just trying to make best of a complicated situation. And this was a concrete and exciting offer from Amazon to give a wider swath of filmmakers an opportunity...
Only a small section of filmmakers who were set to debut their titles at SXSW have taken Amazon up on its streaming offer, but 39 projects will be available to watch from April 27 to May 6.
“This is really an unprecedented time. People are waiting for the new normal. And others are waiting for the return to normal,” SXSW director of film Janet Pierson remarked to THR. “We’re just trying to make best of a complicated situation. And this was a concrete and exciting offer from Amazon to give a wider swath of filmmakers an opportunity...
- 4/22/2020
- by Kirsten Howard
- Den of Geek
Svod service iwonder has launched in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, initially offering more than 500 hours of documentaries and current affairs programming for $6.99 per month or $69.95 a year.
Co-founder James Bridges tells If he plans to double the volume of content by the end of this month, including local acquisitions; he estimates more than 70 per cent of the programming is not available on any other platform.
He is attending the Australian International Documentary Conference in Melbourne where he will initiate discussions with Australian producers on commissions and co-productions.
The direct-to-consumer platform’s documentaries span the spectrum of entertainment, sports, history, politics, science and technology, religion, music, movies, nature, war and biographies.
The exclusives include Meal Tickets, Mat de Koning’s film about a Perth rock band whose ambitions were never realised, which premiered at Miff in 2016; Israel Cannan’s Fish Out of Water, which traces the journey of two ordinary...
Co-founder James Bridges tells If he plans to double the volume of content by the end of this month, including local acquisitions; he estimates more than 70 per cent of the programming is not available on any other platform.
He is attending the Australian International Documentary Conference in Melbourne where he will initiate discussions with Australian producers on commissions and co-productions.
The direct-to-consumer platform’s documentaries span the spectrum of entertainment, sports, history, politics, science and technology, religion, music, movies, nature, war and biographies.
The exclusives include Meal Tickets, Mat de Koning’s film about a Perth rock band whose ambitions were never realised, which premiered at Miff in 2016; Israel Cannan’s Fish Out of Water, which traces the journey of two ordinary...
- 3/3/2019
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Producer of Framing John DeLorean will oversee doc production, acquire titles for sale.
Heading into its tenth anniversary celebrations at Sundance, Los Angeles-based Xyz Films has named Tamir Ardon head of documentaries as it steps up its involvement in the non-fiction genre.
Ardon will oversee original documentary production and work with the North American sales team to expand the documentary sales slate.
The new hire produced Xyz Films’ upcoming Framing John DeLorean, a hybrid documentary directed by Don Argott and Sheena Joyce that stars Alec Baldwin as the titular and celebrated inventor and automotive entrepreneur. IFC Films will release the film later this year.
Heading into its tenth anniversary celebrations at Sundance, Los Angeles-based Xyz Films has named Tamir Ardon head of documentaries as it steps up its involvement in the non-fiction genre.
Ardon will oversee original documentary production and work with the North American sales team to expand the documentary sales slate.
The new hire produced Xyz Films’ upcoming Framing John DeLorean, a hybrid documentary directed by Don Argott and Sheena Joyce that stars Alec Baldwin as the titular and celebrated inventor and automotive entrepreneur. IFC Films will release the film later this year.
- 1/23/2019
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
In “Alt-Right: Age of Rage,” screening at the Ji.hlava doc fest, director Adam Bhala Lough takes on the machinations of white power leader Richard Spencer, balancing his philosophies against the views of Daryle Lamont Jenkins – a spokesperson for the anti-fascist movement Antifa – who has tirelessly exposed the group who led the Charlottesville march last year that ended in the death of protester Heather Heyer and dozens of injuries. How did you arrive at the structure of “Alt-Right: Age of Rage,” in which you alternate between the white power leader Spencer and Antifa member Jenkins? Were their personalities important in deciding this way to tell the story? It was organic. We had a lot of characters but it felt unfocused. We honed it down to those two. We felt they represented their sides well, and the polar extremes of America. What was the most disturbing thing for you personally to...
- 10/27/2018
- by Will Tizard
- Variety Film + TV
“I think there is blame on both sides. You look at, you look at both sides. I think there’s blame on both sides, and I have no doubt about it, and you don’t have any doubt about it either,” President Trump told a room full of reporters at a press conference following the Unite the Right white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, which resulted in the vehicular homicide of Heather Heyer. Occurring nearly one year ago today, the event was a chilling reminder of the festering hatred of the alt-right that has been invigorated by Trump and his rhetoric.
At this year’s South by Southwest Film Festival, director Adam Bhala Lough (The New Radical) premiered a new documentary Alt-Right: Age of Rage, which explores this divide in our country–one of, if not the first, to specifically look at the tragedy in Charlottesville in feature-length form. Featuring interviews...
At this year’s South by Southwest Film Festival, director Adam Bhala Lough (The New Radical) premiered a new documentary Alt-Right: Age of Rage, which explores this divide in our country–one of, if not the first, to specifically look at the tragedy in Charlottesville in feature-length form. Featuring interviews...
- 7/26/2018
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Despite being billed as a documentary about the subject, Alt-Right: Age of Rage doesn’t know what to make of the modern day neo-Nazi movement. At least some of the film’s subjects would resist the label, saying that the purpose of the alt-right is to protect European heritage, just as they would tell you that the Civil War and Confederate flag have nothing to with slavery. You can’t win an argument with the brainwashed, but the film–to its credit–gives an equal platform to those leading the white nationalist movement and their opposition: organizations like Antifa and the Southern Poverty Law Center.
The documentary focuses largely on the face of the alt-right movement and instant meme Richard Spencer, a University of Chicago-educated “academic” quick to call someone a “cuck,” but barely able to recognize the death of Heather Heyer as a tragedy. The documentary allows...
The documentary focuses largely on the face of the alt-right movement and instant meme Richard Spencer, a University of Chicago-educated “academic” quick to call someone a “cuck,” but barely able to recognize the death of Heather Heyer as a tragedy. The documentary allows...
- 3/24/2018
- by John Fink
- The Film Stage
Canadian documentary festival Hot Docs has added 17 additional special presentations.
They include McQueen, Ian Bonhôte’s documentary about fashion designer Alexander McQueen, and Steve Loveridge’s Matanga / Maya / M.I.A., the Sundance world premiere about British rapper and record producer M.I.A. that has been picked up for the UK by Dogwoof.
Other highlights in the programme include Liz Garbus’s The Fourth Estate, a look into how The New York Times covered the first year of the Trump presidency, and Mercury 13, the story of Nasa’s first female astronaut training programme.
The full selection from Hot Docs,...
They include McQueen, Ian Bonhôte’s documentary about fashion designer Alexander McQueen, and Steve Loveridge’s Matanga / Maya / M.I.A., the Sundance world premiere about British rapper and record producer M.I.A. that has been picked up for the UK by Dogwoof.
Other highlights in the programme include Liz Garbus’s The Fourth Estate, a look into how The New York Times covered the first year of the Trump presidency, and Mercury 13, the story of Nasa’s first female astronaut training programme.
The full selection from Hot Docs,...
- 3/13/2018
- by Adam Weddle
- ScreenDaily
A single, persistent question hangs over Adam Bhala Lough’s “Alt-Right: Age of Rage,” a blunt new documentary that chronicles how America’s white nationalists crawled out of the sewers during the first year of the Trump administration. And the question is this: Do we really need to watch a movie about these assholes?
The most striking moments of Lough’s scattershot new film address that question head-on, weighing — to use terms borrowed from one of the talking heads — the policy of quarantine vs. the policy of inoculation. In other words, does talking about neo-Nazis help expose the flimsy hatred that fuels their ideologies, or does giving oxygen to toxic firebrands like Richard Spencer and Milo Yiannopoulos only make them stronger? The mere fact that “Age of Rage” was shot, and that it possesses the baseline self-awareness required to reflect on its value, is enough to suggest that Lough believes in the former.
The most striking moments of Lough’s scattershot new film address that question head-on, weighing — to use terms borrowed from one of the talking heads — the policy of quarantine vs. the policy of inoculation. In other words, does talking about neo-Nazis help expose the flimsy hatred that fuels their ideologies, or does giving oxygen to toxic firebrands like Richard Spencer and Milo Yiannopoulos only make them stronger? The mere fact that “Age of Rage” was shot, and that it possesses the baseline self-awareness required to reflect on its value, is enough to suggest that Lough believes in the former.
- 3/10/2018
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Fortuitously timed in its production if not its theatrical debut, Adam Bhala Lough's Alt-Right: Age of Rage was assembling its portrait of new strains of white nationalism — and of the counter-protesters they've inspired — well before a rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, last August made "alt-right" and "Antifa" household words. Choosing a ground-level approach with just a handful of interviewees, and generally more attuned to their attitudes than the details of their arguments, the film may not greatly deepen the understanding of viewers who've read some well researched journalism in the months since the Unite the Right rally. But it will...
- 3/10/2018
- by John DeFore
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Exclusive: Making its world premiere at SXSW, Adam Bhala Lough’s documentary Alt-Right: Age of Rage comes at a time when tensions between the left and the right are at an all-time high under the Trump administration. In this exclusive clip from the feature documentary, Lough puts the camera on activist Daryle Lamont Jenkins and alt-right leader Richard Spencer as they talk about their respective movements. “I don't care if you're on the left or the right, truth is going…...
- 3/7/2018
- Deadline
Musicians The xx presents a curated programme; festival hosts world premieres of new films by Andreas Dalsgaard and Iris Zaki.
Cph:Dox will offer more than 200 films during its 15th event, which runs March 15-25.
In its five competitions (full list below), world premieres include Woman In Sink director Iris Zaki’s new film Unsettling, about Jewish setllers in the West Bank; The War Show director Andreas Dalsgaard’s The Great Game, about a man trying to find out if his grandfather was a spy; Emma Davie & Peter Mettler’s Becoming Animal, about how our relationship with nature has evolved; and Elissa Mirzaei & Gulistan Mirzaei’s Laila at the Bridge, about an Afghan woman trying to save heroin addicts in Kabul.
Highlights also include a specially curated programme by The xx; a focus on justice (films will include Pre-Crime, Recruiting for Jihad and The Congo Tribunal); and a film programme and art exhibition dedicated to social experiments (with films...
Cph:Dox will offer more than 200 films during its 15th event, which runs March 15-25.
In its five competitions (full list below), world premieres include Woman In Sink director Iris Zaki’s new film Unsettling, about Jewish setllers in the West Bank; The War Show director Andreas Dalsgaard’s The Great Game, about a man trying to find out if his grandfather was a spy; Emma Davie & Peter Mettler’s Becoming Animal, about how our relationship with nature has evolved; and Elissa Mirzaei & Gulistan Mirzaei’s Laila at the Bridge, about an Afghan woman trying to save heroin addicts in Kabul.
Highlights also include a specially curated programme by The xx; a focus on justice (films will include Pre-Crime, Recruiting for Jihad and The Congo Tribunal); and a film programme and art exhibition dedicated to social experiments (with films...
- 2/16/2018
- by Wendy Mitchell
- ScreenDaily
As “Mr. Robot” fans fall further down the rabbit hole that is season three of the techno-thriller, a new documentary unveils the real hackers who using digital means to topple governments, banks, and society. One of the most controversial films that played the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, “The New Radical” is a portrait of the founders of Dark Wallet, the bitcoin app that allows users to make purchases without leaving a digital fingerprint. It’s a chilling peak behind into the extremist techies, as you can see in the first full trailer.
Read More:‘The New Radical’ Review: This Bitcoin Documentary Is a Real-Life ‘Mr. Robot’ — Sundance 2017 Review
“In a very, I guess you could say ‘Jihadist’ way, I’m not afraid,” says Dark Wallet founder Amir Taaki in “The New Radical,” which explores the lives of various crypto-anarchists. Filmmaker Adam Bhala Lough focuses on the terrifyingly brilliant Cody Wilson,...
Read More:‘The New Radical’ Review: This Bitcoin Documentary Is a Real-Life ‘Mr. Robot’ — Sundance 2017 Review
“In a very, I guess you could say ‘Jihadist’ way, I’m not afraid,” says Dark Wallet founder Amir Taaki in “The New Radical,” which explores the lives of various crypto-anarchists. Filmmaker Adam Bhala Lough focuses on the terrifyingly brilliant Cody Wilson,...
- 11/16/2017
- by Jude Dry
- Indiewire
At Cph:Forum, Eurimages Award goes to Maria Back’s Psychosis in Stockholm; 31 projects pitched.
Cph:dox expanded its industry offerings this year by adding a Work-in-Progress session on the eve of its Cph:forum for six Nordic documentaries currently in production or post-production.
Short presentations including footage was shown for projects including:
The Acali Experiment (Swe/Den/Ger/Us), dir Marcus Lindeen, prod Erik Gandini
The story will examine what happened when Mexican anthropologist Santiago Genovés tried a unique experiment in 1973, putting 10 people on a raft for a 101-day voyage to study human behaviour. Lindeen brought the participants together for the first time in 43 years to talk about Genoves’ manipulative behaviour. “I wanted make a reunion and let them talk about their memories of what happened on the raft,” he said. “We let the subjects make a study of the scientist.” The team aims to deliver the film in the autumn.
Contact: gandini@fasad.se
[link...
Cph:dox expanded its industry offerings this year by adding a Work-in-Progress session on the eve of its Cph:forum for six Nordic documentaries currently in production or post-production.
Short presentations including footage was shown for projects including:
The Acali Experiment (Swe/Den/Ger/Us), dir Marcus Lindeen, prod Erik Gandini
The story will examine what happened when Mexican anthropologist Santiago Genovés tried a unique experiment in 1973, putting 10 people on a raft for a 101-day voyage to study human behaviour. Lindeen brought the participants together for the first time in 43 years to talk about Genoves’ manipulative behaviour. “I wanted make a reunion and let them talk about their memories of what happened on the raft,” he said. “We let the subjects make a study of the scientist.” The team aims to deliver the film in the autumn.
Contact: gandini@fasad.se
[link...
- 3/24/2017
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
The documentary festival is also launching a fifth competition strand at its 2017 edition.
Scandi documentary festival Cph:dox (Mar 16-26) has unveiled the films in its usual four competitions as well as introducing a new competition section.
World premieres announced across the competitions include Bridgend director Jeppe Rønde’s The John Dalli Mystery [pictured], a Kafkaesque story with Mikael Bertelsen and Mads Brügger; Do Donkeys Act?, a film about unruly donkeys narrated by Willem Dafoe; Accidental Anarchist, about the British former diplomat Carne Ross who has transformed into an anarchist; Sigrid Dyekjær’s A Modern Man, about violinist and model Charlie Siem; and Ben Rivers’ Urth, about the failed ecosystem Biosphere 2.0 in Arizona.
Read Screen’s festival preview here.
Other high profile documentaries to screen at the event include Matthew Heineman’s Cartel Land follow up City Of Ghosts.
New competition Next:wave is launched to highlight international emerging talents “who have the courage to take chances and stand out.”
The...
Scandi documentary festival Cph:dox (Mar 16-26) has unveiled the films in its usual four competitions as well as introducing a new competition section.
World premieres announced across the competitions include Bridgend director Jeppe Rønde’s The John Dalli Mystery [pictured], a Kafkaesque story with Mikael Bertelsen and Mads Brügger; Do Donkeys Act?, a film about unruly donkeys narrated by Willem Dafoe; Accidental Anarchist, about the British former diplomat Carne Ross who has transformed into an anarchist; Sigrid Dyekjær’s A Modern Man, about violinist and model Charlie Siem; and Ben Rivers’ Urth, about the failed ecosystem Biosphere 2.0 in Arizona.
Read Screen’s festival preview here.
Other high profile documentaries to screen at the event include Matthew Heineman’s Cartel Land follow up City Of Ghosts.
New competition Next:wave is launched to highlight international emerging talents “who have the courage to take chances and stand out.”
The...
- 2/22/2017
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
The New Radical is yet another timely, foreboding Sundance documentary with a fast-moving story that will surely benefit from a sequel. Directed with the energy of a Hollywood conspiracy thriller by Adam Bhala Lough, it tells the tale of Cody Wilson and friends. Famous for his YouTube channel Distributed Defense, Wilson cracked the formula for building a 3D-printed gun. Taking the second amendment to its extreme, even the NRA declines to offer support or even a formal comment on Wilson’s 3D-printed serial number-free Liberator Gun.
Following Wilson, once a law student at University of Texas at Austin and staunch libertarian, over the course of several years as 3D printing technology evolves, The New Radical offers a cinematic look at the kind of decentralized on-demand production that scares governments around the world. After cracking distributed defense, Wilson and British Iranian programmer Amir Taaki turn to crypto-currency, forming Darkwallet, marketed as...
Following Wilson, once a law student at University of Texas at Austin and staunch libertarian, over the course of several years as 3D printing technology evolves, The New Radical offers a cinematic look at the kind of decentralized on-demand production that scares governments around the world. After cracking distributed defense, Wilson and British Iranian programmer Amir Taaki turn to crypto-currency, forming Darkwallet, marketed as...
- 2/3/2017
- by John Fink
- The Film Stage
‘The New Radical’ Review: This Bitcoin Documentary Is a Real-Life ‘Mr. Robot’ — Sundance 2017 Review
A few decades ago, a show like “Mr. Robot” — which transforms modern fears of technological instability into suspense — might look like science fiction. These days, however, real life is almost as unsettling. Several recent documentaries on a growing community of hackers and acolytes focus on the developing momentum of a digitally enhanced landscape and the anarchistic tendencies that blossom within it: Laura Poitras’ “Citizenfour” and her yet-to-be-released “Risk” follow the twin struggles of Edward Snowden and Julian Assange, while Alex Winter’s “Deep Web” captured the plight of incarcerated dark web pioneer Ross Ulbricht.
Adam Bhala Lough consolidates the focus of these projects with the restless, scattershot approach of “The New Radical,” a portrait of the founders of Dark Wallet, the bitcoin app that allows users to purchase materials without leaving a digital fingerprint. Lough gives these troublemakers a dense platform to voice their extremist perspectives, but the movie primarily...
Adam Bhala Lough consolidates the focus of these projects with the restless, scattershot approach of “The New Radical,” a portrait of the founders of Dark Wallet, the bitcoin app that allows users to purchase materials without leaving a digital fingerprint. Lough gives these troublemakers a dense platform to voice their extremist perspectives, but the movie primarily...
- 1/26/2017
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
Conceived and created before the Presidency of Donald J. Trump, Sundance’s documentaries straddle one of the most profound cultural and political shifts in the United States’ recent history.
As the country is forced to grapple with a new range of issues in the post-Obama age, documentarians are also now straining to catch up. You could see it on the screen at Sundance, where last-act codas and recent news snippets suggested how the triumph of Trump had impacted, and in some cases, undermined the stories being told. The story of the election is explicitly told in “Trumped: Inside the Greatest Political Upset of All Time,” but even when Trump wasn’t presented, the country’s conservative turn—and the pain and fractures it has caused among many of its citizens—may influence the way these films are received and understood.
A People Divided
How are this year’s nonfiction stories,...
As the country is forced to grapple with a new range of issues in the post-Obama age, documentarians are also now straining to catch up. You could see it on the screen at Sundance, where last-act codas and recent news snippets suggested how the triumph of Trump had impacted, and in some cases, undermined the stories being told. The story of the election is explicitly told in “Trumped: Inside the Greatest Political Upset of All Time,” but even when Trump wasn’t presented, the country’s conservative turn—and the pain and fractures it has caused among many of its citizens—may influence the way these films are received and understood.
A People Divided
How are this year’s nonfiction stories,...
- 1/26/2017
- by Anthony Kaufman
- Indiewire
Locating the common ground between pro-gun activism and anti-big-bank subversion, The New Radical is as complex as it is discomforting. Adam Bhala Lough’s portrait of two key figures in the world of Internet-enabled antiauthoritarianism explores a new paradigm of political extremism, one whose provocations and innovations include virtual currency and 3D-printed pistols. Densely packed with info, incident and philosophy, the film is a guaranteed debate sparker. Its strength lies not just in the filmmaker’s intimate access to his subjects, but in the multiple points of view he engages. The doc's voices include those of journalists, a former FBI agent,...
- 1/24/2017
- by Sheri Linden
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
“The New Radical” is designed to induce discomfort. How could it not? At the heart of this stirring documentary is a divisive figure, someone who not only warrants controversy, but invites it. This man is Cody Wilson, an Austin, Texas, resident and self-proclaimed crypto-anarchist and gun rights activist. The latter descriptor (“gun activist”) is something consistently debated within the confines of director Adam Bhala Lough’s prismatic portrait. It’s this ongoing ethical and moral debate that makes the film so ideologically riveting. It’s unlikely a film about Wilson could be made any other way. The polemical 20-year-old garnered...
- 1/24/2017
- by Sam Fragoso
- The Wrap
Bidding wars have already begun for the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. Buyers snapped up six titles in the days leading up to the fest, including one that A24 purchased sight unseen: David Lowery’s “A Ghost Story,” starring Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara. Other movies acquired in the past two weeks are “Berlin Syndrome” (Netflix), “Call Me By Your Name” (Sony Pictures Classics), “Casting JonBenet” (Netflix), “Cries From Syria” (HBO for television rights) and “Long Strange Trip” (Amazon).
Read More: Sundance 2017: Netflix, Vertical Acquire ‘Berlin Syndrome’
With 120 features playing at Sundance, there are plenty of hot titles remaining for acquisition executive, though it will be tough for any film to exceed last year’s $17.5 million purchase of “The Birth of a Nation” by Fox Searchlight, the biggest deal in the festival’s history.
Which movies are likely to have buyers lining up in the cold this year? Here are 14 hot...
Read More: Sundance 2017: Netflix, Vertical Acquire ‘Berlin Syndrome’
With 120 features playing at Sundance, there are plenty of hot titles remaining for acquisition executive, though it will be tough for any film to exceed last year’s $17.5 million purchase of “The Birth of a Nation” by Fox Searchlight, the biggest deal in the festival’s history.
Which movies are likely to have buyers lining up in the cold this year? Here are 14 hot...
- 1/18/2017
- by Graham Winfrey
- Indiewire
Read More: Memo to Distributors: Buy These 10 SXSW 2015 Movies Take a journey with director Adam Bhala Lough and Hot Sugar as they discover new kinds of sounds from random objects all over the world. The inspiration behind this film was in creating new kinds of sounds to use in modern music. From the trailer, this documentary looks like a fun adventure of musical proportions. The film is executive produced by David Gordon Green, Danny McBride and Jody Hill. The official synopsis reads: "'Hot Sugar’s Cold World' is a fly-on-the-wall look into the life of a modern-day Mozart, Nick Koenig (Hot Sugar), as he creates one-of-a-kind music made entirely out of sounds from the world around him. Nick lives every young musician’s dream, but when his internet-famous girlfriend goes on tour and they split, he flies to Paris where he grew up to move on with his life, while...
- 10/13/2015
- by Sonya Saepoff
- Indiewire
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
Amy Schumer and Bill Hader in TrainwreckPhoto: Universal Pictures With Sundance just wrapping up and Berlin starting up in a few days, we are now immersed in the year-long barrage of film festivals. One such festival in South By Southwest. A few weeks back they announced the first seven films of their program, including the opening night film Brand: A Second Coming. Today, they have revealed the rest of the features to be shown in March (except for the midnight program), and some of it has me very excited. The bigger titles announced do not do much for me. Paul Feig's Spy, starring Melissa McCarthy, and the Will Ferrell/Kevin Hart starrer Get Hard leave a lot to be desired in terms of anticipation, as does a work in progress cut of Judd Apatow's latest film Trainwreck. I'm guessing an Apatow work in progress is probably around three and a half hours.
- 2/3/2015
- by Mike Shutt
- Rope of Silicon
South by Southwest, the multi-faceted film, music and technology festival held annually in Austin, TX will feature such upcoming films as Paul Feig’s Spy, David Gordon Green’s Manglehorn, Alex Gibney’s documentary Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine, and Ondi Timoner’s Russell Brand profile Brand: A Second Coming as headliners in this year’s film festival lineup.
SXSW runs from March 13 to 21 in Austin and is now in its 22nd year. Variety has details of the 145 films and 100 world premieres bowing at this year’s festival. Brand, as previously reported, will be the festival’s opening night film.
Other notable titles on the list are the Will Ferrell/Kevin Hart comedy Get Hard, a rough cut of Judd Apatow’s Trainwreck, the directorial debut of 28 Days Later screenwriter Alex Garland, Ex Machina, and a new comedy by Michael Showalter, Hello, My Name is Doris.
On the small screen,...
SXSW runs from March 13 to 21 in Austin and is now in its 22nd year. Variety has details of the 145 films and 100 world premieres bowing at this year’s festival. Brand, as previously reported, will be the festival’s opening night film.
Other notable titles on the list are the Will Ferrell/Kevin Hart comedy Get Hard, a rough cut of Judd Apatow’s Trainwreck, the directorial debut of 28 Days Later screenwriter Alex Garland, Ex Machina, and a new comedy by Michael Showalter, Hello, My Name is Doris.
On the small screen,...
- 2/3/2015
- by Brian Welk
- SoundOnSight
Filmmaker Adam Bhala Lough is in the final days of an Indiegogo campaign for his skater doc, The Motivation 2.0: The Chris Cole Story, currently featured on our partner page. Below, he writes about his use of GoPro cameras for his independent films. Visit the Indiegogo page for more information on his project and please consider donating. GoPro cameras have long been popular in the action sports market and reality television, but have been completely ignored by the indie film community. This should change and here’s why: Recently I needed to film a car scene, where two characters were driving and […]...
- 10/16/2014
- by Adam Bhala Lough
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Filmmaker Adam Bhala Lough is in the final days of an Indiegogo campaign for his skater doc, The Motivation 2.0: The Chris Cole Story, currently featured on our partner page. Below, he writes about his use of GoPro cameras for his independent films. Visit the Indiegogo page for more information on his project and please consider donating. GoPro cameras have long been popular in the action sports market and reality television, but have been completely ignored by the indie film community. This should change and here’s why: Recently I needed to film a car scene, where two characters were driving and […]...
- 10/16/2014
- by Adam Bhala Lough
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Director Adam Bhala Lough is offering the skating community a unique opportunity as part of the Indiegogo campaign for his documentary “The Motivation 2.0” — the chance to have their own skate tricks featured on a Jumbotron in Times Square. “The Motivation 2.0” is a biographical documentary that will follow legendary skater Chris Cole from his humble beginnings to the top of pro skating. The film is a sequel to his 2012 documentary “The Motivation,” which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and was the most popular documentary on iTunes for two straight weeks upon its release. Steve Berra executive produced...
- 9/16/2014
- by Jeff Sneider
- The Wrap
Making a movie is like building a house on a fault line. You amass a team, do your best and hope to God the earth doesn't quake. "This isn't happening," I said to myself as the radio blasted bad Top 40 hits en route to my daughter's preschool. "My movie is not self-destructing. I am going to will it into existence, whatever it takes." We were a mere three weeks out from our first day of shooting...
- 8/6/2013
- by Adam Bhala Lough
- The Wrap
"Step 1: Don't be a pussy." So begins the teaser for The Motivation, a documentary about a skateboarding championship that promises something more than a standard-issue competition picture, especially since it's coming from filmmaker Adam Bhala Lough (Bomb the System, The Carter). Eight of the world's best pro-skateboarders prepare for the upcoming Street League Championship in NYC. Each equally talented, they all must overcome unique challenges--family pressures, injuries, money, fame and their own internal struggles--for a chance to win $200,000 and the title of best street-skateboarder in the world. The teaser makes a good case for the film. It's heading for a limited theatrical release on July 30, ahead of its August 6th availability on iTunes and On Demand....
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
- 7/10/2013
- Screen Anarchy
Adam Bhala Lough has gone from Nyu to Tribeca and Sundance, numerous times, hanging out with Lil Wayne on tour to filming the world's top skateboarders. "The Motivation," a documentary on the annual street league competition that brings together eight of the best skateboarders across the globe, gives an intimate look at those who dedicate their lives to four wheels and a wooden board. While dealing in the realm of the sport itself, Lough's film also offers commentary on the pressures of fame and Western pain medication. What it's about: Eight of the world’s best pro-skateboarders prepare for the upcoming Street League Championship in NYC. Each equally talented, they all must overcome unique challenges—family pressures, injuries, money, fame and their own internal struggles—for a chance to win $200,000 and the title of best street-skateboarder in the world. About the filmmaker: I'm an American film director, screenwriter, and documentary filmmaker from Virginia.
- 4/17/2013
- by Indiewire
- Indiewire
Tribeca’s 12th annual festival, running from April 17-28, recently announced its feature film selections in the Spotlight and Midnight sections. According to Tribeca’s website, “The Spotlight section features 33 films — 21 narratives and 12 documentaries — that blur the lines of independent and mainstream filmmaking. Twenty-three films in the selection will have their world premieres at the Festival, a record number for the section.” See below for the official press release of this year’s lineup in all four categories.
2013 Tribeca Film Festival Announces Selections
For Spotlight, Midnight And New Storyscapes Sections, And Special Screenings
First-ever Storyscapes Section Showcases Innovative New Media Projects with Cross-platform Approaches to Storytelling
The Tribeca Film Festival (Tff) announced its feature film selections in the Spotlight and Midnight sections, projects in the new Storyscapes section and Special Screenings. The 12th edition of the Festival will take place from April 17 to April 28 in New York City.
The Spotlight...
2013 Tribeca Film Festival Announces Selections
For Spotlight, Midnight And New Storyscapes Sections, And Special Screenings
First-ever Storyscapes Section Showcases Innovative New Media Projects with Cross-platform Approaches to Storytelling
The Tribeca Film Festival (Tff) announced its feature film selections in the Spotlight and Midnight sections, projects in the new Storyscapes section and Special Screenings. The 12th edition of the Festival will take place from April 17 to April 28 in New York City.
The Spotlight...
- 3/28/2013
- by Christopher Clemente
- SoundOnSight
If you've read my last two Wtf is Latino posts on Sundance and SXSW, you know I do my best to embody a manic optimist and find a silver lining when it comes to magnifying the limited representation of Latino stories and writer/directors at mainstream film festivals. I do that by expanding and deconstructing the broad term, hoping to educate myself and the masses on what 'qualifies' as Latino. However, the relative dearth of Latinos and Latin America at this year's 2013 Tribeca Film Festival program has seriously challenged me to find a positive spin on this woeful slate of brown in the world's most celluloid famous, multi-culti metropolis. It is especially stupefying considering the number of electrifying premiere film submissions there are to choose from at this moment.
I worked as an Industry Coordinator for the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival under Director of Programming David Kwok and Festival Director Nancy Schaefer. Back then Latin America was not only well represented in the program but Tribeca was at the forefront of showing bourgeoning film renaissances taking place in countries such as Panama, Peru and Colombia. No doubt this sensibility and charge came from the legendary jet-setting of one such Peter Scarlet, the cognoscente Artistic Director beloved by many Latin American festivals. At 8 years old, the Festival was fast outgrowing its post 9/11 birthmark and has since stubbornly and desperately struggled to position itself as a blank World Cinema festival. This is a strategy I find puzzling, given it is way out of league and under the heavy shadow cast from uptown by the auteur and discovery art house Lincoln Film Society. One would think it an ideal and very NY synergy thing to do would be to carve out your own identity in specializing in the kaleidoscopic, fertile microcosm of Us immigrant odyssey found in every corner from Manhattan to the five boroughs. Not only is there a lack of Us Latino stories this year, nowhere to be found are films from Latin America. Seriously. Click on the online film guide's search by country scroll down menu and visibly absent are Chile, Mexico and Argentina - three of Latin America's most renowned and heralded world cinema incubators. The closest we get is one feature from Brazil by veteran director, Bruno Baretto, and two shorts from Spain. Its plain to see that the Festival's new Artistic Director, Fredric Boyer (who headed bougie prestige fests, Cannes' Directors Fortnight and then Locarno Film Festival) is seriously 'Euro-cizing' the Triangle Below Canal.
So, what's my silver lining? Well, its based on the Short Term 12 lesson I just experienced at SXSW. I did not target the indie film as a Latino film but being familiar and a fan of Hawaiian filmmaker, Daniel Cretton's work, I went to see it and was immediately absorbed by the effortless kid-adult social psychological narrative. A detail that resonated with me was that one of the main juvy instructors was a foster kid who was raised and adopted into a big loving home by Mexican parents. He's as white as they come, yet he cooks a mean Mexican dish and expresses his emotions outwardly, attributes of Latino culture that informed his personhood. Maybe that's how subtle, relative yet impactful Latino culture is seeping into all of our lives. Maybe my barely passing grade on the Latino at Tribeca diagnosis is premature having not seen all of the films. Maybe where we least expect it, beyond cast and loglines, there are films buried in here with deeper social undertones of brown representation. I'm willing to excavate. All that big picture stuff aside, I am quite excited about the six films (out of some 168) I highlight here which offers a diverse albeit thin slice of Latino - whether its the narrative's themes, up and coming actors, and real life Americans - who knows how many times removed from their Latin roots - and how cool that looks like.
Without further ado, here it is; Wtf is Latino at Tribeca Film Festival.
World Narrative Competition
Stand Clear of the Closing Doors directed by Sam Fleischner and written by Rose Lichter-Marck, Micah Bloomberg
Logline: When autistic teen Ricky is scolded for skipping class, he escapes into the subway for a days-long odyssey among the subway’s disparate denizens. Meanwhile, his mother wages an escalating search effort above ground. Based on a true story and set in Far Rockaway, Queens, in the days leading up to Hurricane Sandy, these parallel stories of mother and son take the viewer on a touching journey of community and connection in and below New York City. Cast Andrea Suarez, Jesus Valez, Azul Rodriguez, Tenoch Huerta Mejía, Marsha Stephanie Blake
Sam Fleischner's first film, Wah Do Dem was about a broken hearted hipster who goes on a cruise and gets stuck in the dangerous wild of Jamaica - just as President Obama is being sworn into office for the first time. The filmmaking felt so fresh, real, tense and engrossing. Just like you were on the adventure with him. Sam and his co-director Ben Chase won the $50,000 Target Filmmaker Award for Best Narrative at the 2009 Los Angeles Film Festival. I'm so happy he is premiering this NY based film which features a Latino cast including Tenoch Huerta (Dias de Gracia), and half of the film is spoken in Spanish. No, Sam is not a Latino but a native New Yorker and I love his take and thematic weaving in this story. His statement and inspiration behind the film demonstrates his sensibility and vision, surpassing and waiving any requirement or notion that says you have to be Latino to tell authentic Latino stories. This is what Sam was able to tell me over email:
"I am not Latino but this story is inspired by true events that happened to a Mexican family. I was attracted to the parallel between people on the autism spectrum and people living as illegal immigrants in the Us. Both instances are people wading through systems that aren't designed for them, interesting to think about the term 'alien'. "
Narrative Spotlight
The Pretty One, written and directed by Jenee Lamarque
Logline: Audrey has all of the qualities that her twin sister Laurel wishes she possessed: confidence, style, independence. When tragedy strikes, Laurel has the opportunity to reinvent herself. In a complex performance, Zoe Kazan poignantly captures Laurel’s complex mix of loss and awakening, especially as she begins a new relationship with her neighbor (Jake Johnson). Jenée Lamarque’s first feature film is a quirky, lovely tale of identity and the eternal bond between two sisters. Cast Zoe Kazan, Jake Johnson, John Carroll Lynch, Shae D'lyn, Frankie Shaw, Ron Livingston
I first met Jenee with her edgy girls short film Spoonful, a ridiculous real life scenario in which friends help out their lactating friend, which played the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. She was also kind enough to email me amid the crunch of finishing her first feature for its world premiere. I'm so grateful she responded because she truly personifies what I'm trying to convey about Latino identity (its American and expansive and our creativity relates to it vastly different ways). She says, "As for my Latina origin: my dad is Mexican, born and raised in Chino, CA. His mother's family is Mexican and has been in CA for a long time. His father's family is from Mexico City...we have a French last name, presumably because of the French who came to Mexico during the 19th century but I really don't know anything about my French-Mexican origins. My grandfather came to CA during WWII with the Bracero program. My Mom is Danish, Norwegian and French. I do identify as Mexican, as Latina, but I also identify as American and as white. I really wish that I had more of a connection to my Mexican heritage but unfortunately, my dad didn't speak Spanish to us growing up (even thought he's fluent) and he really identifies as American. It's funny, because I'm mixed, I don't feel I'm fully one thing or another, I feel like my identity is sort of slippery because of it. I think that my mixed heritage plays a central role in my voice as a storyteller; one of the themes of The Pretty One is identity (a struggle with identity) and I also find myself drawn to this theme again in again in my other work. "
Documentary Spotlight
The Motivation by Adam Bhala Lough
Logline: Go inside the lives and training regimes of eight of the world’s gutsiest professional skateboarders. These fearless stars face unique obstacles on the way to the Street League Championship and the coveted title of best street skateboarder in the world. Adam Bhala Lough, creator of the independent hit Bomb the System (Tff 2003), directs this fresh, energetic documentary search for that elusive quality that separates winners from the pack.
This skateboarding shred competish doc about the sheer intensity and will to defy the terror of cracked bones features some of the youngest, most successfully branded and competitive skaters in the game like Nyjah Huston (Puerto Rican father), Paul Rodriguez known as P-Rod, and Chaz Ortiz. I can't wait to meet these guys and get to know them. Adam is good like that. His last film, The Carter, about autodidactic and auto-real voiced rapper Lil Wayne impressed me for its gloss and floss but also by its covert way of infiltrating the hyped up insular world and mind of a subculture pop king. His flashy aesthetic and sneak transparency is bound to capture the badass jaw dropping leaps and outrageous rail tricks along with distilling the high intensity pressure and rush of winning in The Motivation.
Midnight
Frankenstein's Army (Netherlands, Czech Republic) directed by Richard Raaphorst and written by Miguel Tejada Flores
Logline: In the waning days of World War II, a team of Russian soldiers finds itself on a mysterious mission to the lab of one Dr. Victor Frankenstein. They unearth a terrifying Nazi plan to resurrect fallen soldiers as an army of unstoppable freaks and are soon trapped in a veritable haunted house of cobbled-together monstrosities. Frankenstein’s Army is the wild steampunk Nazi found-footage zombie mad scientist film you’ve always wanted.
Veteran Hollywood screenwriter, Miguel Tejada Flores has written such horror reboots as Beyond Reanimator and family classics as The Lion King but notably this is the guy who gets story credit for Revenge of the Nerds back in '84. His next film is the upcoming I Brake for Gringos starring Camilla Belle directed by Mexican filmmaker Fernando Lebrija. A frequent mentor over the years at Nalip's screenwriting and producing labs, it sounds like this guy is accessible and interested in nurturing the younger generation of Latino talent. A California native, his family is from Bolivia. Read his wordpress blog here
V/H/S/2 - Eduardo Sanchez is one of the seven filmmakers of the second found footage horror anthology which has screened at Sundance, SXSW and now Tribeca (that might be a record), and most famously directed The Blair Witch Project. Cuban born filmmaker.
Short Film Competition
Close Your Eyes written and directed by Sonia Malfa
Logline: Thirteen-year-old Imani Cortes is a gifted photographer longing to experience her first kiss. She has a crush on a quiet artist, Junito, with whom she has a natural connection, but she also faces an enormous challenge: she is slowly losing her sight to retinitis pigmentosa, a genetic eye disease. Will Imani let her disease stop her or be the path to independence? Cast Kimberly Lora, Julian Fernandez-Kemp, Sara Contreras, Victor Cruz, Rhina Valentina, Mia Ysabel
I'm looking forward to seeing this short set in Spanish Harlem. I don't know much about the filmmaker except that she raised 10k off Kickstarter for this, her directorial debut. And she looks Boricua. Check out her website which shows a number of her photos and videos that show off her 'eye'.
The Tribeca Film Festival starts April 17-28. Ticket info here...
I worked as an Industry Coordinator for the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival under Director of Programming David Kwok and Festival Director Nancy Schaefer. Back then Latin America was not only well represented in the program but Tribeca was at the forefront of showing bourgeoning film renaissances taking place in countries such as Panama, Peru and Colombia. No doubt this sensibility and charge came from the legendary jet-setting of one such Peter Scarlet, the cognoscente Artistic Director beloved by many Latin American festivals. At 8 years old, the Festival was fast outgrowing its post 9/11 birthmark and has since stubbornly and desperately struggled to position itself as a blank World Cinema festival. This is a strategy I find puzzling, given it is way out of league and under the heavy shadow cast from uptown by the auteur and discovery art house Lincoln Film Society. One would think it an ideal and very NY synergy thing to do would be to carve out your own identity in specializing in the kaleidoscopic, fertile microcosm of Us immigrant odyssey found in every corner from Manhattan to the five boroughs. Not only is there a lack of Us Latino stories this year, nowhere to be found are films from Latin America. Seriously. Click on the online film guide's search by country scroll down menu and visibly absent are Chile, Mexico and Argentina - three of Latin America's most renowned and heralded world cinema incubators. The closest we get is one feature from Brazil by veteran director, Bruno Baretto, and two shorts from Spain. Its plain to see that the Festival's new Artistic Director, Fredric Boyer (who headed bougie prestige fests, Cannes' Directors Fortnight and then Locarno Film Festival) is seriously 'Euro-cizing' the Triangle Below Canal.
So, what's my silver lining? Well, its based on the Short Term 12 lesson I just experienced at SXSW. I did not target the indie film as a Latino film but being familiar and a fan of Hawaiian filmmaker, Daniel Cretton's work, I went to see it and was immediately absorbed by the effortless kid-adult social psychological narrative. A detail that resonated with me was that one of the main juvy instructors was a foster kid who was raised and adopted into a big loving home by Mexican parents. He's as white as they come, yet he cooks a mean Mexican dish and expresses his emotions outwardly, attributes of Latino culture that informed his personhood. Maybe that's how subtle, relative yet impactful Latino culture is seeping into all of our lives. Maybe my barely passing grade on the Latino at Tribeca diagnosis is premature having not seen all of the films. Maybe where we least expect it, beyond cast and loglines, there are films buried in here with deeper social undertones of brown representation. I'm willing to excavate. All that big picture stuff aside, I am quite excited about the six films (out of some 168) I highlight here which offers a diverse albeit thin slice of Latino - whether its the narrative's themes, up and coming actors, and real life Americans - who knows how many times removed from their Latin roots - and how cool that looks like.
Without further ado, here it is; Wtf is Latino at Tribeca Film Festival.
World Narrative Competition
Stand Clear of the Closing Doors directed by Sam Fleischner and written by Rose Lichter-Marck, Micah Bloomberg
Logline: When autistic teen Ricky is scolded for skipping class, he escapes into the subway for a days-long odyssey among the subway’s disparate denizens. Meanwhile, his mother wages an escalating search effort above ground. Based on a true story and set in Far Rockaway, Queens, in the days leading up to Hurricane Sandy, these parallel stories of mother and son take the viewer on a touching journey of community and connection in and below New York City. Cast Andrea Suarez, Jesus Valez, Azul Rodriguez, Tenoch Huerta Mejía, Marsha Stephanie Blake
Sam Fleischner's first film, Wah Do Dem was about a broken hearted hipster who goes on a cruise and gets stuck in the dangerous wild of Jamaica - just as President Obama is being sworn into office for the first time. The filmmaking felt so fresh, real, tense and engrossing. Just like you were on the adventure with him. Sam and his co-director Ben Chase won the $50,000 Target Filmmaker Award for Best Narrative at the 2009 Los Angeles Film Festival. I'm so happy he is premiering this NY based film which features a Latino cast including Tenoch Huerta (Dias de Gracia), and half of the film is spoken in Spanish. No, Sam is not a Latino but a native New Yorker and I love his take and thematic weaving in this story. His statement and inspiration behind the film demonstrates his sensibility and vision, surpassing and waiving any requirement or notion that says you have to be Latino to tell authentic Latino stories. This is what Sam was able to tell me over email:
"I am not Latino but this story is inspired by true events that happened to a Mexican family. I was attracted to the parallel between people on the autism spectrum and people living as illegal immigrants in the Us. Both instances are people wading through systems that aren't designed for them, interesting to think about the term 'alien'. "
Narrative Spotlight
The Pretty One, written and directed by Jenee Lamarque
Logline: Audrey has all of the qualities that her twin sister Laurel wishes she possessed: confidence, style, independence. When tragedy strikes, Laurel has the opportunity to reinvent herself. In a complex performance, Zoe Kazan poignantly captures Laurel’s complex mix of loss and awakening, especially as she begins a new relationship with her neighbor (Jake Johnson). Jenée Lamarque’s first feature film is a quirky, lovely tale of identity and the eternal bond between two sisters. Cast Zoe Kazan, Jake Johnson, John Carroll Lynch, Shae D'lyn, Frankie Shaw, Ron Livingston
I first met Jenee with her edgy girls short film Spoonful, a ridiculous real life scenario in which friends help out their lactating friend, which played the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. She was also kind enough to email me amid the crunch of finishing her first feature for its world premiere. I'm so grateful she responded because she truly personifies what I'm trying to convey about Latino identity (its American and expansive and our creativity relates to it vastly different ways). She says, "As for my Latina origin: my dad is Mexican, born and raised in Chino, CA. His mother's family is Mexican and has been in CA for a long time. His father's family is from Mexico City...we have a French last name, presumably because of the French who came to Mexico during the 19th century but I really don't know anything about my French-Mexican origins. My grandfather came to CA during WWII with the Bracero program. My Mom is Danish, Norwegian and French. I do identify as Mexican, as Latina, but I also identify as American and as white. I really wish that I had more of a connection to my Mexican heritage but unfortunately, my dad didn't speak Spanish to us growing up (even thought he's fluent) and he really identifies as American. It's funny, because I'm mixed, I don't feel I'm fully one thing or another, I feel like my identity is sort of slippery because of it. I think that my mixed heritage plays a central role in my voice as a storyteller; one of the themes of The Pretty One is identity (a struggle with identity) and I also find myself drawn to this theme again in again in my other work. "
Documentary Spotlight
The Motivation by Adam Bhala Lough
Logline: Go inside the lives and training regimes of eight of the world’s gutsiest professional skateboarders. These fearless stars face unique obstacles on the way to the Street League Championship and the coveted title of best street skateboarder in the world. Adam Bhala Lough, creator of the independent hit Bomb the System (Tff 2003), directs this fresh, energetic documentary search for that elusive quality that separates winners from the pack.
This skateboarding shred competish doc about the sheer intensity and will to defy the terror of cracked bones features some of the youngest, most successfully branded and competitive skaters in the game like Nyjah Huston (Puerto Rican father), Paul Rodriguez known as P-Rod, and Chaz Ortiz. I can't wait to meet these guys and get to know them. Adam is good like that. His last film, The Carter, about autodidactic and auto-real voiced rapper Lil Wayne impressed me for its gloss and floss but also by its covert way of infiltrating the hyped up insular world and mind of a subculture pop king. His flashy aesthetic and sneak transparency is bound to capture the badass jaw dropping leaps and outrageous rail tricks along with distilling the high intensity pressure and rush of winning in The Motivation.
Midnight
Frankenstein's Army (Netherlands, Czech Republic) directed by Richard Raaphorst and written by Miguel Tejada Flores
Logline: In the waning days of World War II, a team of Russian soldiers finds itself on a mysterious mission to the lab of one Dr. Victor Frankenstein. They unearth a terrifying Nazi plan to resurrect fallen soldiers as an army of unstoppable freaks and are soon trapped in a veritable haunted house of cobbled-together monstrosities. Frankenstein’s Army is the wild steampunk Nazi found-footage zombie mad scientist film you’ve always wanted.
Veteran Hollywood screenwriter, Miguel Tejada Flores has written such horror reboots as Beyond Reanimator and family classics as The Lion King but notably this is the guy who gets story credit for Revenge of the Nerds back in '84. His next film is the upcoming I Brake for Gringos starring Camilla Belle directed by Mexican filmmaker Fernando Lebrija. A frequent mentor over the years at Nalip's screenwriting and producing labs, it sounds like this guy is accessible and interested in nurturing the younger generation of Latino talent. A California native, his family is from Bolivia. Read his wordpress blog here
V/H/S/2 - Eduardo Sanchez is one of the seven filmmakers of the second found footage horror anthology which has screened at Sundance, SXSW and now Tribeca (that might be a record), and most famously directed The Blair Witch Project. Cuban born filmmaker.
Short Film Competition
Close Your Eyes written and directed by Sonia Malfa
Logline: Thirteen-year-old Imani Cortes is a gifted photographer longing to experience her first kiss. She has a crush on a quiet artist, Junito, with whom she has a natural connection, but she also faces an enormous challenge: she is slowly losing her sight to retinitis pigmentosa, a genetic eye disease. Will Imani let her disease stop her or be the path to independence? Cast Kimberly Lora, Julian Fernandez-Kemp, Sara Contreras, Victor Cruz, Rhina Valentina, Mia Ysabel
I'm looking forward to seeing this short set in Spanish Harlem. I don't know much about the filmmaker except that she raised 10k off Kickstarter for this, her directorial debut. And she looks Boricua. Check out her website which shows a number of her photos and videos that show off her 'eye'.
The Tribeca Film Festival starts April 17-28. Ticket info here...
- 3/27/2013
- by Christine Davila
- Sydney's Buzz
A second Lee Scratch Perry movie in almost as many years. Last year, we followed the progress of the critically-acclaimed musical documentary from Ethan Higbee and Adam Bhala Lough, on the life of the Jamaican reggae pioneer and legend, titled The Upsetter: The Life & Music of Lee “Scratch” Perry. The film traveled the international film festival circuit, and was released last fall. This new Lee Scratch Perry film comes from German filmmaker Volker Schaner, and is titled Lee Scratch Perry's Vision Of Paradise. Here's how the filmmaker describes what he calls a "fairytale documentary": A thrilling, poetic narration with the legendary Lee Scratch...
- 3/21/2013
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
Tribeca’s 12th annual festival, running from April 17-28, recently announced the lineup for the 7th annual Espn Sports Film Festival. “Founded to broaden the audience for independent film through stories about sports and competition,” all of this year’s Espn Sports Film Festival films will screen at Tribeca Cinemas on Saturday, April 27. The films also screen prior to April 27 throughout the Festival, starting from Friday, April 19th with the gala premiere of Kevin Connolly’s Big Shot. Big Shot “chronicles John Spano’s fraudulent purchase of the New York Islanders. In 1997, Spano bought the New York Islanders for a staggering $165 million. The scheme behind Spano’s acquisition of the team is revealed as Big Shot takes viewers behind the scenes of the biggest fraud in hockey history.” See below for the official press release.
2013 Tribeca Film Festival Announces The 2013 Tribeca/Espn Sports Film Festival Lineup
World Premiere of Kevin Connolly...
2013 Tribeca Film Festival Announces The 2013 Tribeca/Espn Sports Film Festival Lineup
World Premiere of Kevin Connolly...
- 3/20/2013
- by Christopher Clemente
- SoundOnSight
The Tribeca Film Festival already has a slate of interesting independent and documentary films lined up this year, to which it can now add another group — the slate for this year’s Tribeca/Espn Sports Film Festival, which runs concurrent with the Tribeca. The program will kick-off with Kevin Connolly’s Big Shot, which will serve as the program’s gala premiere. The program will also include four installments from Espn’s “Nine for IX” series, designed to commemorate the anniversary of Title IX and women in sports.
“We produce our films with the intention of capturing both the glory...
“We produce our films with the intention of capturing both the glory...
- 3/12/2013
- by Adam Carlson
- EW - Inside Movies
Yesterday the Tribeca Film Festival announced their feature film selections for their Spotlight and Midnight sections which include 21 narrative and 12 documentary projects.
This year’s choices bring us films featuring a bevy of top Hollywood talent including Paul Rudd, Paul Giamatti, John Cusack,, Gemma Arterton and Zoe Kazan.
In a press release that accompanied the roster, Genna Terranova, Director of Programming for the festival said: “The documentary films in the Spotlight section this year highlight several famous individuals (including one very cute cat) who use their wit and bold personas to make us think and laugh. A mix of established filmmakers and rising talent top off the rest of the section with features exploring some fresh takes on unconventional relationships.”
The festival will feature the world premieres of several highly-anticipated film projects from indie mainstays like Neil Labute and Richard Linklater, as well as new projects from veteran directors like...
This year’s choices bring us films featuring a bevy of top Hollywood talent including Paul Rudd, Paul Giamatti, John Cusack,, Gemma Arterton and Zoe Kazan.
In a press release that accompanied the roster, Genna Terranova, Director of Programming for the festival said: “The documentary films in the Spotlight section this year highlight several famous individuals (including one very cute cat) who use their wit and bold personas to make us think and laugh. A mix of established filmmakers and rising talent top off the rest of the section with features exploring some fresh takes on unconventional relationships.”
The festival will feature the world premieres of several highly-anticipated film projects from indie mainstays like Neil Labute and Richard Linklater, as well as new projects from veteran directors like...
- 3/7/2013
- by Damen Norton
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Today the Tribeca Film Festival announced the second half of its feature slate for 2013, and it’s shaping up to be the most robust and exciting lineup the festival has had in recent years. In the Spotlight section, there are a fair number of titles notable for their marquee names, some recent festival favorites but also a number of intriguing world premieres, such as the addiction drama Bottled Up, starring Melissa Leo and Marin Ireland; Christina Voros’ Gucci doc The Director; Josh Fox’s Gasland Part II, the sequel to his Oscar-nominated fracking doc; Adam Bhala Lough’s skateboarding doc The Motivation; Marina Zenovich’s latest biographical …...
- 3/6/2013
- by Nick Dawson
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
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