by Carolyn Cohagan

The heat broke last night in Los Angeles just in time for FIND's special poolside screening of the 2009 Project: Involve short films, which were sponsored this year by Banana Republic and Vanity Fair. Project: Involve is Film Independent's signature diversity rogram, dedicated to increasing cultural diversity in the film industry by cultivating the careers of under-represented filmmakers.

This year, for the first time, the P:I Fellows made ten short films as part of the program thanks to the sponsorship of Banana Republic and Vanity Fair. Due to their sponsorship, the fellows were able to make three-minute short films with a sweet production package. Each film was given a $2000 cash stipend, $1500 production credit from NBC/Universal (for such things as wardrobe, grip electric, etc.), and camera and sound packages from Moviola and Canon USA.  Additionally, FIND provided production insurance and Banana Republic provided wardrobe for all the films. 

And thanks to the involvement of W Hotels the films will be playing on the W Vision In-Room Channel at W Hotels worldwide during September.

The filmmakers were divided into 10 teams and given a theme: "City Stories." The participants also used the French New Wave (Nouvelle Vague for you film snobs) as a jumping off point for the style. Needless to say all the films were fabulous looking.

Last night we all gathered at the W Hotel in Westwood to see the results of this wonderful film initiative. The filmmakers were dressed to kill (many of them wearing Banana Republic) and spent their time before the screening mingling and drinking "Nobelitas" (a fancy cocktail provided by Casa Noble Tequila).

And there was a little snafu that put things on hold for a bit (my theory is there was an over anxious director who wanted to get straight to the awards announcements) but no one seemed to mind, they were having such a good time.

So the itinerary was mixed around a bit and suddenly Cuba Gooding Jr. took the stage! He presented the Banana Republic Audience Award to the creative team responsible for Market Price (pictured to the left), about a young woman who learns how to stick up for herself by following the guidance of her grandmother. The film was made by Peter Chen, Helen Sam, Salvador Paniagua and Seung Hyun Yoo. Director/Writer Peter Chen was overwhelmed by the award and told me afterwards that Project: Involve was a lot better than he ever could have expected, and although he never went to film school he felt that P:I had been a wonderful substitute. He said that the group dynamic and energy was really the luck of the draw, and one could see from meeting them for even a few minutes the wonderful respect and enthusiasm this group has for one another.

Peter also added, "I really want to thank the sponsors, Banana Republic, Vanity Fair and Film Independent.  Without them, none of this would have been possible. Also, special thanks to the Tann Family, Tze Chun, Chip Johannessen, and Virginia Stock for their support and help! I also want to thank the band Dengue Fever and their terrific team (Josh Mills, Julie Lipsius, Gary Pappani) for allowing us to license their song ‘Seeing Hands'." 

Next up was Don Cheadle who announced the Vanity Fair Jury Prize winner, For the Last Sixth Time (On the right). The film is about love and obsession and finding the power to leave it behind and was made by Michael Dempster, Laura Somers, Xitlali Moreno, Graciela Muraida, Sarah Takahashi and Mako Kamitsuna. Director/Writer Michael Dempster spoke to me about his involvement with Project: Involve.

"The shoot was a bit chaotic.  We were kind of running through the streets of downtown LA, filming a bit here and a bit there... trying not to attract the attention of the police.  I'm sure that scenario sounds familiar to basically any independent filmmaker. We shot in this rather seedy hotel and midway through the scene, when we were already way behind schedule, the fire alarm went off.  All of this expensive equipment... our footage... our hardrives... everything we had was packed into two tiny hotel rooms, and we basically just had to grab what we could and flee.  We'd been shooting a post-coital scene of course, so our actors were just standing in the streets in skivvies and a bathrobe while the fire trucks pulled up and everyone waited to see whether or not the hotel would actually burn down.  It didn't, and everyone agreed to stay late and finish, despite how exhausted we all were.

"In retrospect I was just exceedingly lucky to have the cast and crew that I did.  I have to admit that I personally don't subscribe to the whole auteur thing.  I would love to say that I'm some sort of wunderkind and that I can just wake up and sneeze out a brilliant movie whenever I feel like it, but I really believe that your best work comes out when you're surrounded by creative, tireless people whom you can bounce ideas back and forth with.  When that's in place most of your work is already done.  I loved the people on my shoot. I really did."

All in all it was a wonderful night where the creative energy was palpable. Congratulations to all the filmmakers for completing such original films.

You can watch all of the 2009 P:I shorts here

For more information about Project: Involve and Film  Independent please click here