(May 11, 2006) Film Independent’s Project:Involve Holds Directors Showcase
MAY 11, 2006 - Project:Involve — Film Independent’s signature diversity program—celebrates its third annual Directors Showcase on Tuesday, May 16. The event - co-hosted by Michael Ealy (Jellysmoke, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Sleeper Cell) and Jay Chandrasekhar (The Dukes of Hazzard, Arrested Development, Super Troopers) - begins at 7:00 pm and will be held at IVAR (6356 Hollywood Blvd., one block west of Vine St.). The Directors Showcase is free and open to the public.

The Showcase is a culmination of the film education and mentoring provided to underrepresented filmmakers by Project:Involve. A list of the short films in this year’s Showcase along with bios of the filmmakers is at the end of this release. For more information, call Project:Involve at 310-432-1280, email ProjectInv@FilmIndependent.org, or click here.

Each year, 40 highly motivated and talented filmmakers from culturally diverse backgrounds are accepted into the Project:Involve program and paired with one-on-one mentors in the industry. Project:Involve serves as a valuable incubator for diverse voices in the industry and has cultivated the talents and careers of over 450 filmmakers of color, many of who are now working in the industry.

Several Project:Involve graduates—including Effie T. Brown, producer of Real Women Have Curves; Mario de la Vega, director of four-time Independent Spirit Award nominee Robbing Peter; and Jessica Sanders, director of Academy Award shortlisted After Innocence - went on to make lauded feature films after their participation in the program.

Project:Involve is made possible, in part, by grants from the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, Workplace Hollywood, Washington Mutual and by the generous support of the Eastman Kodak Company, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and HBO. Special support provided by the Academy Foundation and the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.


About Film Independent

Film Independent, the largest non-profit membership organization for independent filmmakers, cultivates the careers of independent filmmakers, builds the audience for independent films, and increases diversity in the film industry. Film Independent provides its members with more than 250 annual events and screenings, along with professional advice, educational programs, affordable camera and equipment rentals, and discounts to hundreds of industry-related businesses.

Film Independent also offers Filmmaker Labs, giving filmmakers the opportunity to develop their projects, and Project: Involve, a mentorship and job placement program that pairs filmmakers from culturally diverse communities with film industry professionals. Film Independent produces the Independent Spirit Awards and Los Angeles Film Festival, celebrating the best of American and international independent cinema. For more information, visit FilmIndependent.org.

2006 PROJECT:INVOLVE DIRECTORS SHOWCASE LINE-UP

Patrick Epino - Void
An experimental take on sadness in the modern world.

Amyn Kaderali- Call Center
A parody of modern-day customer service.

Cedar Sherbert- Gesture Down (I Don’t Sing)
A graceful and highly personal interpretation of the poem “Gesture Down to Guatemala” by the late Blackfeet/Gros Venture writer James Welch.

Andrea Janakas - Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves
As an adolescent girl struggles to find identity in a small town in 1979, echoes of a missing girl and a student uprising in Iran reverberate throughout the night.

Naveen Singh - Orphans
Photographed in stark black and white, the story tells of a group of masked soldiers in ruthless pursuit of a small band of refugees.

Oscar Daniels – Among Thieves
When Travelle, a self-centered criminal, flees a robbery gone awry, the only place he finds to hide is in the home of a spirited, yet bedridden, elderly woman.

Aurora Guerrero - Viernes Girl
Sibling rivalry takes a turn when a brother and sister discover they have more in common than they think.


FILMMAKER BIOS

Patrick Epino (P:I year 2006)
Patrick is a Bay Area native. He earned his BA in Sociology from the University of Chicago and his MFA in Cinema from San Francisco State University. Currently, Patrick is developing a feature-length dark comedy about a Saddam Hussein body-double who comes to Los Angeles in 1990 looking for a new start. Patrick lives in Los Angeles and works as a graphic and web designer. He prefers dive bars.
www.empireandsleep.com - 213.422.6432 - Patrick@empireandsleep.com.

Amyn Kaderali (P:I year 2005)
Amyn is a graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts Graduate Film Program and recipient of the Martin Scorsese Young Filmmaker Award along with the Perry Ellis Breakthrough Filmmaker Award. His previous short films, Little Man and Take the 'A' Train, have been screened at festivals worldwide and have received numerous awards, including Best Short Film at Slamdance and an NYU Wasserman Award. Amyn lives in L.A. and is preparing for his first feature-length film, Kissing Cousins, shooting this summer in Los Angeles.
www.amynkaderali.com - amynk@hotmail.com

Cedar Sherbert (P:I YEAR 2005)
Cedar is a member of the Santa Ysabel Band of Diegueño (Kumeyaay) Indians. He holds an MFA in film production from the University of Southern California School of Cinema/Television, where as an undergraduate he also earned an academic minor in Critical Studies. Gesture Down has been in numerous festivals including Sundance (World Premiere) and the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. Cedar is currently finishing work on a full-length adaptation of the short story The Life and Times of Estelle Walks Above by Sherman Alexie.
213.749.8921 - iipay@hotmail.com

Andrea Janakas (P:I year 2001)
A native Bostonian and graduate of the Journalism program at Emerson College, Andrea has recently completed her MFA in Directing at The American Film Institute. A recipient of an AFI scholarship, she was recently awarded the 2005 FUJI Student Filmmaker Award for her script Gypsies, Tramps, & Thieves. She currently works for HBO Films in Los Angeles.
323.571.3095 - FallinAglP@aol.com

Naveen Singh (P:I year 2006)
Naveen’s filmmaking roots began at a young age in Michigan. Currently, Naveen is in the midst of completing his Master's Thesis project, 27,000 Days, at the USC School of Cinema-Television. In addition to his work as a writer-director, Naveen has edited several other projects. Besides filmmaking, Naveen enjoys writing, art, and watching the Detroit Pistons basketball team. He doesn't like bugs.
323.481.0870 - naveen.paul.singh@gmail.com

Oscar Daniels (P:I year 2006)
Oscar is a recent graduate of the American Film Institute where he cut more than twenty films in three years. He holds an M.A. in Film and Video from American University in Washington D.C. and a B.S. in Japanese Language and Literature from the University of Michigan. Among various awards, he has won the Hollywood Reporter/Key Art Award for Best Student Trailer Editing. Oscar currently edits the ESPN TV show Jim Rome is Burning and is writing a feature film script inspired by some of his experiences working for the National Security Agency.
323.719.0999 - www.amongthievesmovie.com

Aurora Guerrero (P:I year 2000)
Aurora was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay area by Mexican immigrant parents. She received her B.A. in Psychology and Chicano Studies from UC Berkeley, then obtained an MFA in film directing at Cal Arts. Aurora has been the recipient of various awards, including the 2005 HBO/NYILFF short film competition for Viernes Girl, along with the 2005 Sundance Ford Fellowship and the 2005 Paul Robeson Development Grant. She was selected to participate in the Hedgebrook Writers-in-Residency program for her script Mosquita Y Mari. She co-founded Los Angeles based Womyn Image Makers (WIM) and is a filmmaking member of Chica Luna Productions, Inc.
323.788.2424 - aurog2004@yahoo.com