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<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nThe lab will be led by Michelle Satter (Founding Senior Director, Sundance Institute\u2019s Artist Programs) and Ilyse McKimmie (Deputy Director, Feature Film Program), with Artistic Director Jessie Nelson and creative advisors Ritesh Batra, Linda Yvette Ch\u00e1vez, Scott Frank, Phil Hay, Marielle Heller, Walter Mosley, Nicole Perlman, Kemp Powers, Dee Rees, Howard Rodman, Dana Stevens, Joan Tewkesbury, Bill Wheeler, Tyger Williams, Virgil Williams, and Doug Wright.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are excited to welcome this cohort to our global community of bold, visionary artists, developing stories that are a powerful force for empathy, vital culture-changing conversations, and audience engagement,\u201d said Michelle Satter, Founding Senior Director, Sundance Institute\u2019s Artist Programs. \u201cThe Screenwriters Lab is just the beginning of our connection to the 16 selected artists. Each artist is provided with year-round customized creative and strategic support throughout the journey of getting their films made. It is a privilege to watch their projects take seed at the Labs in the mountains of Utah and ultimately evolve into some of the world\u2019s groundbreaking films.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Screenwriters Intensive will bring 11 writers across eight projects to a two-day online workshop, held February 29\u2013March 1, where they will develop their first fiction features. Alumni of the Screenwriters Intensive include Roger Ross Williams (Cassandro), Laurel Parmet (The Starling Girl), and Vuk Lungulov-Klotz (Mutt).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re thrilled to be spotlighting such a varied group of exciting new voices, who each skillfully build the world of their stories with specificity and originality,\u201d said Ilyse McKimmie, Deputy Director of the Feature Film Program. \u201cThe Screenwriters Intensive will provide critical creative support and vital momentum to these artists as they traverse the path toward bringing their debut features to life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For 40 years, the Feature Film Program (FFP) Labs have supported and championed an exciting and groundbreaking array of independent filmmakers, including The Daniels (Swiss Army Man), A.V. Rockwell (A Thousand and One), Charlotte Wells (Aftersun), Nikyatu Jusu (Nanny), Lyle Corbine Jr. (Wild Indian), Radha Blank (The 40-Year-Old Version), Lulu Wang (The Farewell), Chlo\u00e9 Zhao (Songs My Brother Taught Me), Eliza Hittman (Beach Rats), Marielle Heller (The Diary of a Teenage Girl), Fernando Frias de la Parra (I\u2019m No Longer Here), Cary Fukunaga (Sin Nombre), Damien Chazelle (Whiplash), Ryan Coogler (Fruitvale Station), Dee Rees (Pariah), Nia DaCosta (Little Woods), Ritesh Batra (The Lunchbox), Benh Zeitlin and Lucy Alibar (Beasts of the Southern Wild), Gina Prince-Bythewood (Love & Basketball), Paul T. Anderson (Hard Eight), and Quentin Tarantino (Reservoir Dogs), among many others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Three projects supported by the Feature Film Program will premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival: Kobi Libii\u2019s The American Society of Magical Negroes, Sean Wang\u2019s D\u00ecdi (\u5f1f\u5f1f), and Sam Zuchero and Andy Zuchero\u2019s Love Me. In addition, FFP alumni with films premiering in this year\u2019s Festival include Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden, Susanna Fogel, and Haley Elizabeth Anderson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Sundance Institute Feature Film Program is supported by explore.org, a direct charitable activity of the Annenberg Foundation; Alfred P. Sloan Foundation; The Asian American Foundation (TAAF); United Airlines; Hartbeat; The Walt Disney Company; Maja Kristin; Salman Al-Rashid; Kimberly Steward\u2014K Period Media; NBCUniversal; Golden Globe Foundation; Ray and Dagmar Dolby Fund; National Endowment for the Arts; NHK\/NHK Enterprises, Inc.; Levantine Films; Max Rifkind-Barron; Directors Guild of America (DGA); SAGIndie; Spotlight on San Francisco; T-Street Productions; Rosalie Swedlin and Robert Cort; Lam T. Nguyen; Deborah Reinisch and Michael Theodore Fund; Octavia Spencer; Scott and Jennifer Frank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The projects selected for the 2024 January Screenwriters Lab and the artists attending are:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Nikesh Shukla<\/strong> and Himesh Patel<\/strong> (Co-Writers) with Brown Baby (U.K. \/ U.S.A.): Brown Baby<\/strong> is a tender, hilarious contemporary comedy-drama about the challenges of raising a mixed-race daughter in today\u2019s polarized world. An interracial married couple who thought they had it all figured out learn that there are still plenty of difficult conversations they need to have with each other and with their daughter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kaitlin Fontana<\/strong> and Franchesca Ramsey<\/strong> (Co-Writers) with COVER GIRL<\/strong> (U.S.A.): COVER GIRL is based on the true story of Darine Stern, the first Black woman to grace the cover of Playboy. But it\u2019s more than that: It\u2019s the story of a woman choosing herself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sylvia Khoury<\/strong> (Writer-Director) with Heather<\/strong> (U.S.A.): Recently widowed Lebanese housewife Fadia, 60, dares to pursue her dream of acting by serving as a standardized patient for a medical student to practice interacting with. When she realizes that Heather, the white character she portrays, commands more respect than she does, Fadia begins to play at being Heather in her everyday life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jane Casey Modderno<\/strong> (Writer-Director) with Here for the Weekend<\/strong> (U.S.A.): A thirsty rom-com about Cherry, a transgender Palm Springs resort manager, and her seduction of a hot, flirtatious guest with the power to make her fashion world dreams come true. But as Cherry hustles for a ticket out, she threatens to destroy the wonderfully messy, uber-queer family she\u2019s built at home. Recipient of the Sundance Institute Comedy Fellowship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kawenn\u00e1here Devery Jacobs<\/strong> (Writer-Director) with High Steel<\/strong> (Canada \/ U.S.A.): A Mohawk man splits his time between his reservation with his family and Manhattan, where he ironworks 40 stories above the ground. When he falls in love with a white woman in the city, his identity is challenged and he must keep his double life a secret or risk losing everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kristine Gerolaga<\/strong> (Writer-Director) with Lamok<\/strong> (Philippines \/ U.S.A.): A Filipino woman determined to avenge the death of her daughter following a botched abortion finds her worldview dramatically altered after she is cursed to transform nightly into a fetus-eating creature known as the manananggal. Recipient of the Sundance Institute Horror Fellowship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Francesca Canepa<\/strong> (Co-Writer-Director) and Miguel \u00c1ngel Papalini <\/strong>(Co-Writer) with La Otra Orilla<\/strong> (Peru): Through the canals of a floating neighborhood in the Peruvian Amazon, Bel\u00e9n, a 12-year-old mother, struggles to belong to the world that has been taken from her. Drifting down the river, carrying her son in her arms, the rain will awaken in her an irresistible desire for freedom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Diana Peralta<\/strong> (Writer-Director) with No Love Lost<\/strong> (U.S.A.): When a troubled young woman brings her new husband home to meet the family, her devoted but insular sisters reveal the extremes they will go to protect one another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Christian Moldes<\/strong> (Writer) with Quince Kings<\/strong> (U.S.A.): Sebastian and Freddy, undocumented immigrant brothers, infiltrate as many quince\u00f1eras as they can to assimilate and provide for their destitute family in El Paso, Texas. They find themselves at odds with one another when Sebastian falls for the mayor\u2019s daughter, Regina, a privileged young woman with a lot to lose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hanna Gray Organschi<\/strong> (Writer-Director) with Rubber Hut<\/strong> (U.S.A.): Rhode Island, 1992. An entrepreneurial ex\u2013Pan Am stewardess opens a drive-thru condom shop in her Italian Catholic town. Overnight, Emanuella DelVecchio becomes the local lightning rod, a radical hero to the neighborhood teens and an unlikely threat to her tight-knit community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sara Crow<\/strong> (Co-Writer, Co-Director) and David Rafailedes<\/strong> (Co-Writer, Co-Director) with Satoshi<\/strong> (U.S.A.): The potentially true story of a teenage anime-obsessed hacktivist who, after losing her scholarship to Stanford, returns home to Arizona to become the mysterious inventor of a new digital currency called Bitcoin. Recipient of the Sundance Institute | Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Claire Fowler<\/strong> (Writer-Director) with Toad <\/strong>(U.K.): After seeing a disturbing accusation online, a woman living far away from home and ostracized from her strikingly successful twin brother begins to piece together memories of the teen theater experience that came between them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rebecca Iliana Kahn<\/strong> (Writer-Director) with \u00a1Ay Bendito!<\/strong> (U.S.A.): Puerto Rico, 1955. After preventing her best friend\u2019s coerced sterilization, a broke and desperate nurse is recruited to conduct experimental human trials of the first birth control drug. But as women in her community clamor for the pill, she wrestles with her conscience when unusual side effects emerge.\u2028\u2028<\/p>\n\n\n\n Courtney Loo<\/strong> (Writer-Director) with Bangbang Teahouse<\/strong> (U.S.A.): Hayley and Mimi \u2014 an Asian American music duo \u2014 stop at absolutely nothing to convince their label to release their long-awaited album over a raucous, self-destructive 48 hours in New York City.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sarah Mokh<\/strong> (Writer-Director) with Diary of a Muslim Cynic<\/strong> (U.S.A.): Desperate to escape her midwest small town in the aftermath of a tragedy, a teen girl\u2019s pursuits of love, school, and big city dreams are upended by the ghosts of her past and mystical encounters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Eirini Vianelli<\/strong> (Co-Writer-Director) and Andrew Gilchrist<\/strong> (Co-Writer) with Human Negligence<\/strong> (Greece): As a devastating fire ravages the countryside, four generations of women struggle to navigate their toxic and abusive relationships after they\u2019re forced to evacuate the family home following an emergency government mandate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nolam Plaas<\/strong> (Writer-Director) with pecan<\/strong>. (U.S.A.): Junie, a boy from Cancer Alley, Louisiana, is on the precipice of becoming a man. Influenced by his religious yet promiscuous uncle, his peers, and newfound access to porn, Junie attempts to maintain an intimate relationship with his girlfriend, Monique, but his quest for manhood may compromise all that they\u2019ve cultivated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Amy Adler<\/strong> (Writer, Co-Director) and Ekiwah Adler-Bel\u00e9ndez<\/strong> (Co-Director) with Rag Dolls<\/strong> (U.S.A.): A young Mexican American woman living with cerebral palsy seeks independence from her overprotective mother. When she falls in love with a woman who also uses a wheelchair, she faces the emotional and physical challenges of letting go of the only life she has ever known.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Arthur Elias Gay<\/strong> (Co-Writer-Director) and Rali Chaouni<\/strong> (Co-Writer) with When the Goats Came<\/strong> (New Zealand): Cyrus and his adoptive mother, Flora, return to their hometown in New Zealand in search of Cyrus\u2019 long-lost father. However, when the real motive behind Flora\u2019s desire to return is revealed, the two must reconcile the resentments they hold for a life they never had and accept each other\u2019s love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lindsey Villarreal<\/strong> (Writer-Director) with Woman Hollering<\/strong> (U.S.A.): After she and her brother are abandoned and forced to move in with her estranged aunt and cousin, a young girl in South Texas fears the uncertainty of her burgeoning adulthood. Little does she know that her imminent transformation will not be into womanhood, but rather into a half owl, half witch called The Lechuza. Recipient of the Sundance Institute Horror Fellowship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sundance Institute announced today the fellows selected for its 2024 Screenwriters Lab and Screenwriters Intensive programs, which provide emerging artists with a creative and nurturing space to develop their first and second independent features. Out of over 3,400 submissions, 12 projects were selected for the annual Screenwriters Lab, where 16 fellows will further develop their… Continue reading Sundance Institute Announces 2024 Screenwriters Lab and Screenwriters Intensive Fellows<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8766,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20933","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/SundanceInstitute.jpg?fit=200%2C151&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20933","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20933"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20933\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20933"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20933"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20933"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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The following artists\u2019 projects were selected for the 2024 Screenwriters Intensive:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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