LOS ANGELES (October 12, 2009) - Film Independent, the non-profit arts organization that produces the Spirit Awards and Los Angeles Film Festival, has awarded Jenny Deller and Kristin Fairweather its 3^rd annual Sloan Producers Grant for their feature film project Future Weather. The announcement was made last night at a special reception concluding the 2009 edition of Film Independent's Filmmaker Forum. Deller and Fairweather will receive a $25,000 production grant, and participate in Film Independent's 2009 Producers Lab, as well as receive year-round support from the organization. Future Weather was also a finalist in the Netflix FIND Your Voice Film Competition and was selected to participate in Film Independent's 2009 Screenwriters Lab. The grant is funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, which seeks to create and develop new scripts and films about science and technology, and to see them into commercial production with national and international distribution.

"We are thrilled to have the continued support of our filmmakers from the Sloan Foundation, and their generous grant will help Jenny and Kristin take Future Weather to the next level," said Josh Welsh, Film Independent's Director of Talent Development. "This kind of backing is key to the success of our year-round programs, and we're excited to work with Naomi Despres in steering our 2009 Producers Lab filmmakers down a successful career path."

"We are delighted to partner with Film Independent in supporting this affecting blue-collar tale about three generations of women and one particularly gifted adolescent girl who uses science to navigate through rough waters," said Doron Weber, Vice President at the Sloan Foundation. "Future Weather is one more fine example of how science and technology perpetually surpise us with the personal and moving human stories in the most unexpected places."

Film Independent also announced this year's producers and film projects selected for its 9^th annual Producers Lab, sponsored by Technicolor. Taking place in Los Angeles from October 15 until November 23, the Producers Lab is an intensive seven-week program designed to help producers improve their craft, and move their current projects into production in a nurturing, yet challenging creative environment. Film and television producer Naomi Despres (Winged Creatures, Chapter 27) will be this year's Lab Instructor. Despres previously served as Executive Vice President at Tribeca Productions, and is currently preparing a slate of independently financed films for production in the coming year.

Under the tutelage of Despres, the filmmakers are advised on the craft and business of producing, and are also introduced to established producers and film professionals who act as advisors on their projects. They are chosen based on the strength of the submitted script, their business plan, and their creative vision. The Producers Lab is provided free to accepted producers, and upon completion, they become Film Independent Fellows, receiving year-round support including access to Film Independent's annual film educational offerings, on-staff Filmmaker Advisor, and the Los Angeles Film Festival.

Recent projects developed through the Lab include Suzi Yoonessi's Dear Lemon Lima, which premiered at the 2009 Los Angeles Film Festival; Morgan Stiff's Mississippi Damned, which won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2009 Outfest Film Festival; Scott Prendergast's Kabluey, which premiered at the 2007 Los Angeles Film Festival; Ted Kroeber's American Gun, which was nominated for three Spirit Awards in 2007; So Yong Kim's In Between Days, which was released by New Yorker Films in 2007; and Jessica Sanders' After Innocence, which was short-listed for the 2006 Academy Awards.

The 2009 Producers Lab filmmakers and projects are:

1. Mosquita y Mari - A timid 15-year-old Chicana's life changes when she develops a complex friendship with the rebellious new girl in her East Los Angeles neighborhood.

Charlene Agabao studied Film at Columbia College Chicago and graduated in 2005. Most recently, she was Associate Producer for her work on Peter Bratt's La Mission, which premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. She was also the Associate Producer for Nice Threads (2006), which was featured in the 2007 Asian American Showcase at the Gene Siskel Center. Her short piece American Beauties (2007), which she produced, wrote, and directed was featured on the Dove website for their "Pure Beauty" campaign.

2. Mullet - For the Frank family, a mullet is a rite of a passage, but for 16-year-old Danny Frank, it's a social death sentence.

Graciela Muraida-Del Toro started her producing career at NYU as an Associate Producer of the short film, Must Be Love, which was produced as part of the Coca-Cola Refreshing Filmmakers Award. After graduating from NYU and helping produce various award-winning NYU Grad Films, she took up residence at Anonymous Content, where she assisted on commercial production for high-profile clients such as Nike, Michelob, and American Express. Muraida-Del Toro moved on to the Broadcast Production department at JWT, where she produced commercials for clients including Domino's, Schick, T. Rowe Price, Smirnoff, and Pfizer. She has also produced a series of short animated interstitial films for the Sundance Channel network based on the poetry of Billy Collins. The Sundance Channel interstitials have won several industry awards, including a Silver ANDY Award for Cinema/Animation, and a Silver in Graphic Design for the Art Director's Club. She is currently working in the production department at WONGDOODY in Los Angeles. In her spare time, Muraida-Del Toro enjoys producing short films in preparation to associate produce her first feature film, Mullet.

3. Future Weather - When her flaky single mom runs away from home, a 13-year-old loner struggles to sustain her dream of saving the planet from climate crisis while searching for a safe place to put down roots.

Jenny Deller is a writer, director and actor living in Philadelphia. Her second feature-length screenplay, Future Weather, won the 2009 Showtime Tony Cox Award for Best Screenplay at the Nantucket Film Festival. The project was a finalist for the Netflix FIND Your Voice Film Competition. A recipient of a National Endowment for the Humanities Young Scholars grant, Deller has been writing fiction for over twenty years, and directing theater and film since attending high school at the Illinois Math & Science Academy. She has directed and edited eight short films with a range of budgets and formats, which have screened at such venues as Open Cine New York and EggFest. Most recently, she produced short video series for Drew University and women's retailer Anthropologie, where she also served as Senior Copywriter for four years. After graduating with a full academic scholarship from Lewis & Clark College, Jenny went on to study acting at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, and in New York at the Ward Studio Meisner Program and American Mime Theater. Her appearances include Law & Order and several Off-Broadway productions including Romeo & Juliet. Deller is currently preparing the project for production and starting a new screenplay at the Nantucket Screenwriting Colony.

Kristin Fairweather has worked in local politics and public finance in Philadelphia for the past ten years, managing public relations campaigns as well as large field efforts for local politicians - an experience that translated well to film production. Before going to work at both local and state levels in public finance and elective politics, she received her Master's in Government Administration from the University of Pennsylvania. In 2007, Fairweather launched the Philadelphia franchise of Metropolitan Moms, a service that organizes trips and cultural activities for moms and babies. As a producer, her entrepreneurial savvy has aided in development and marketing for Future Weather and will play a crucial role in managing pre-production. She was instrumental in producing Save the Future, Deller's companion-short to Future Weather for the Netflix FIND Your Voice Film Competition.

4. The Spirit Catches You - In 1980's Merced, California, the beliefs of a traditional Hmong family collide with those of American doctors trying to treat their epileptic child. The film is based on Anne Fadiman's National Book Critics Circle Award-winning non-fiction tome The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down.

Lynne Littman received an Academy Award for her documentary film, Number Our Days, based on the fieldwork of anthropologist, Barbara Myerhoff. Ten years later, her feature documentary, In Her Own Time, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, and chronicled Dr. Myerhoff's final fieldwork and her death at age 49. She made her feature film-directing debut with Testament, starring Jane Alexander, who was Oscar-nominated for Best Actress. Originally produced for American Playhouse, Testament premiered at the Telluride Film Festival, screened at the Berlin Film Festival and was distributed theatrically by Paramount Pictures. For the recent DVD release of Testament, Littman directed two new bonus feature documentaries. For the body of work she created at KCET, Littman has garnered 4 Emmys, a Columbia/Dupont Journalism Award, a Los Angeles Press Club Award, the Radio & TV News Association's Golden Mike, 2 Christophers, 3 Cine Golden Eagles, a George Foster Peabody Award and First Prizes at the Atlanta and San Francisco Film Festivals. Littman also spent one year as an Executive Producer of Movies for Television at ABC. She currently serves on the Board of Governors for AMPAS, is the Chair of the DGA Documentary Awards, and is on the Board of Directors for the IDA. Littman graduated from Sarah Lawrence College and the Sorbonne.

5. The Unexpected - A mail order bride must survive the winter with the man who tried to kill her during the Klondike Gold Rush of 1898. The film is based on the short story by Jack London.

Tom Putnam has been recognized as one of the "25 New Faces of Independent Film" by Filmmaker Magazine and was a participant in Film Independent's Fast Track program. His previous feature (as director and producer) Red White Black & Blue was lauded by Variety for its "unerring visual acumen" and ability to reveal the psychological scars of warfare. The documentary premiered at the Locarno International Film Festival, where it was the only American film chosen to be part of the festival's prestigious Critic's Week section, and had a Veterans Day broadcast on the PBS/ITVS series "Independent Lens." It is now on DVD through PBS Home Video. His previous short films include Broadcast 23, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and went on to play over 100 international festivals including the London Film Festival and Montreal's Just For Laughs Festival.

Putnam also wrote, produced, and directed the short film phenomenon Tom Hits His Head, which has played over 200 international film festivals - more than any other short film in history - and has won over 15 major awards, including the Spirit of Slamdance Award at the Slamdance Film Festival and the Grand Jury Prize at Aspen Shortsfest, the world's premiere short film festival. In addition to The Unexpected, he is currently producing and directing a pilot for the PBS/ITVS documentary series Into the Fire, about Detroit firefighters. The series was created and developed by Putnam, his partner Jeff Malmberg, and Tremolo Productions. Other producing credits include the upcoming feature documentary Welcome to Marwencol, and the past two seasons of "The Action Sports World Championships" for CBS and FuelTV. While a student at the USC School of Cinema, Putnam also won a number of screenwriting awards, including The Jeffrey Jones Award and second place in the Jack Nicholson Screenwriting Competition.

Jeff Malmberg produced and edited Red White Black & Blue with Tom Putnam, with Variety citing "terrific editing by Jeff Malmberg." Malmberg's credits include the critically acclaimed BET documentary series American Gangster, A&E's "Biography," ESPN's "SportsCentury," and numerous shows for the History Channel. He has cut over 100 commercials for such directors as George Lucas, Errol Morris, TRAKTOR and Harald Zwart. Malmberg also produced the short film Tom Hits His Head, the Fox Searchlab short Broadcast 23, and the feature film Shafted! Malmberg is a graduate of USC School of Cinema-Television. He is currently in post-production on his directorial debut, the feature-length documentary Welcome to Marwencol, which is expected to be completed in late 2009. Other producing credits include the upcoming pilot for the PBS/ITVS series Into the Fire, created by him with partner Tom Putnam and Tremolo Productions.

6. Tallulah - A rootless young woman steals a baby and passes it off as her own child, transforming the lives of three women.

David Newsom graduated with a film production degree from Ithaca College, and worked in film and rock videos in New York City for 3 years before turning to acting. Between 1991 and 2004, Newsom appeared in dozens of comedies and dramas, including Quantum Leap, China Beach, Wes Craven's New Nightmare, Will & Grace, Homefront, CSI (Miami and Vegas), Without a Trace, Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang and The Mentalist. During this time, Newsom nurtured a fine-art photography career, and in 2005 published the critically acclaimed SKIP, published by actor/artist Viggo Mortensen's Perceval Press. In 2005, he produced his first short film, Mother, which was directed by Sian Heder for the prestigious AFI Directing Workshop for Women. In 2006, the film won several grand jury awards, including 3rd Place at Cannes Cinefondation, Seattle International Film Festival and Oxford Film Festival. Immediately following the success of Mother, Newsom produced Susan Cohen's Open Your Eyes for AFI's 2007 DWW, with the film going on to win 14 grand jury awards around the world. In 2008, Newsom field-produced, directed and hosted 14 segments for the show Word on Discovery's Planet Green. Recently, he produced the pilot The Line for A&E written by Matthew Carnahan and starring Anthony LaPaglia. The Line follows the lives of Russian organized crime figures in Los Angeles and the Federal Agents who prosecute them. In addition, Newsom is currently producing the feature film, Tallulah, with writer/director Sian Heder. Adapted from Mother, the film is a production with Station 3, has Kristen Stewart attached, and is set to begin filming in April/May of 2010.

7. Jefferson Kings - Attempting to share in the limelight with his golden-boy older brother Truck, starry-eyed freshman Ted seeks initiation into a group of boys called "The Kings" by joining a contest to have sex with freshman girls. But as corruption beneath The Kings is revealed, Ted must expose the ugly truth about the brother he once idolized.

Chase B. Kenney is an award-winning writer/director and hails from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Kenney studied film and television at the University of Minnesota and went on to complete his Master of Fine Arts at the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts. He worked as a writer, director, and producer on a number of short films including, White Light, First Time, Surprise Surprise, XII, and Secret Hour. He also produced and shot one of the most notable USC productions in recent years entitled, Wolves in the Woods (2005). The film has since appeared in over fifteen festivals and has received tremendous acclamations and awards. As of late, Kenney has produced, directed and edited a number of documentaries, short films, music videos and commercials. His unique visual style and artistic sense has landed work with clients such as Linda Perry (Four Non Blonds), Heineken, Gucci Group, the Australian pop sensation RAEN, Lifehouse, Ringo Starr and Dave Stewart. Jefferson Kings is the winning project from this year's Netflix FIND Your Voice Film Competition.

8. El Flaco - When a street-smart Chicano teenager falls for the daughter of a man he and his father murdered, the boy must choose between loyalty to his family and loyalty to his heart.

Jeff Seymann has a broad background of work in both film and television as a director, editor and writer. Recently, Seymann was awarded a Fellowship in Screenwriting from the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA). In conjunction with his fellowship, Jeff's project El Flaco won the prestigious Geri Ashur Grant awarded to the foundation's highest ranked screenplay. Currently, El Flaco is a quarterfinalist for the Nicholl Fellowship, won the Martha Muñoz Award from the Latino Screenwriting Competition, placed as a Top Five Finalist in the Blue Cat Screenwriting Competition, and was accepted into Film Independent's 2009 Screenwriters Lab. In addition to Seymann's screenwriting laurels, he won the Best Director Award from the Chilean International Film Festival for his short, Earl & Puppy, which played at some of the top festivals in the world. His documentary Pitch Man was a finalist for the Independent Film Channel's short documentary award and was broadcast on PBS. Professionally, Seymann has directed numerous short videos for Yahoo! and has a long list of editing credits for networks such as National Geographic, History Channel and the BBC. He has an MFA in filmmaking from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and recently relocated with his family from Brooklyn to Los Angeles.

9. Things We've Made - Set in the near future, a human clone shattered by a recent diagnosis of lung cancer, embarks on a journey to find his originator.

An Tran is a graduate of the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts. In 2001, she was selected by Film Independent as a Project:Involve Fellow in writing and directing. Hailing from the Midwest, Tran has produced music videos for the bands Spoon, Clearlake and The Postal Service, along with the feature-length documentary Tran 5. Other producing credits include the documentary Puppets Over Sri Lanka (now in post), the short films Watts Up? and Mad Girl's Love Song, in addition to recent promos for the ARRI, the world's largest film equipment manufacturer. Things We've Made is a 2008 IFP Emerging Narrative Finalist and marks Tran's first feature film project as producer. As a journalist, Tran has covered entertainment technology and filmmaking for the past decade. Her articles and interviews have appeared in American Cinematographer, Filmmaker, Exposure, In Camera, Videography, LAist.com and the Los Angeles Times. She currently serves as a member of the American Society of Cinematographers Technology Committee.

ABOUT FILM INDEPENDENT TALENT DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

Film Independent's Talent Development Program was established in 2000 to develop and train the next generation of talented independent filmmakers by cultivating the careers of directors, producers, and screenwriters. Each year, Film Independent selects approximately 80 filmmakers-from a competitive pool of over 1,500 submissions-who become Film Independent Fellows. Fellows show promise in his or her chosen discipline and over 70% are from backgrounds traditionally underrepresented in the film industry. Tracks within the Talent Development Program include Fast Track at the Los Angeles Film Festival, Grant Winners at the Spirit Awards, the Directors Lab, Project:Involve, the Producers Lab, and the Screenwriters Lab. Annually Film Independent invests nearly $1,500,000 in its Talent Development Program, allowing the program to be offered free to selected filmmakers.

ABOUT FILM INDEPENDENT

Film Independent is a non-profit arts organization that champions independent film and supports a community of artists who embody diversity, innovation, and uniqueness of vision. Film Independent helps filmmakers make their movies, builds an audience for their projects, and works to diversify the film industry. Film Independent's Board of Directors, filmmakers, staff, and constituents, are comprised of an inclusive community of individuals across ability, age, ethnicity, gender, race, and sexual orientation. Anyone passionate about film can become a member, whether you are a filmmaker, industry leader, or a film lover.

With over 250 annual screenings and events, Film Independent provides access to a network of like-minded artists who are driving creativity in the film industry. Film Independent offers free Filmmaker Labs for selected writers, directors, and producers; provides cut-rate services for filmmakers; and presents year-round networking opportunities. Film Independent's mentorship and job placement program, Project:Involve, pairs emerging culturally diverse filmmakers with film industry professionals.

Film Independent produces the Los Angeles Film Festival, celebrating the best of American and international cinema and the Spirit Awards, a celebration honoring films and filmmakers that embody independence and dare to challenge the status quo.

For more information or to become a member, visit FilmIndependent.org.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Elise Freimuth, Film Independent

Tel: 310.432.1287 or EFreimuth@FilmIndependent.org

Attachments: 

09 Sloan&Producers Lab Release.pdf