Deadline: 6 October 2008 (early); 3 November 2008 (final)

DOWNLOAD APPLICATION
The application is in PDF format and you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to open it. Click here for a free download of Adobe Reader.

WHAT IS THE DIRECTORS LAB?

Designed to help directors who are prepping their feature films, the Directors Lab is an intensive eight-week program running in Los Angeles each spring. The primary focus of the Lab is on learning to work with actors and the rehearsal process. Under the guidance of the lab instructor, Directors Lab Fellows select short scenes from their scripts to workshop. Additionally, Fellows go through a mini-production, learning how to break down a script into a shot list, collaborate with cinematographers, and construct a scene in the editing process. Film Independent provides the Lab participants with camera and sound packages to shoot their scenes. All scenes will be shot on digital video and critiqued by the Lab Instructor as well as the other Lab participants.

A secondary goal of the program is to help advance the careers of the Lab Fellows by introducing them to film professionals who can advise them on both the craft and business of directing. Lab Fellows have one-on-one meetings with established directors and other industry professionals who act as advisors on the participant's projects.

A maximum of ten projects are selected.

Directors Lab Fellows receive:
A one-year membership with Film Independent
A pass to the Directors Series, which runs concurrently with the Lab
A pass to the Los Angeles Film Festival (Westwood Pass)
Year-round support from Film Independent

Past Directors Lab projects include Jennifer Phang's Half Life (2008 Sundance Film Festival), Scott Prendergast's Kabluey (2007 Los Angeles Film Festival), Mario de la Vega's Robbing Peter (2005 Spirit Award Nominee).

Past instructors include Allison Anders (Gas, Food Lodging, Things Behind the Sun), Anthony Drazan (Hurlyburly), Rodrigo Garcia (Passengers, Nine Lives), Keith Gordon (The Singing Detective, Waking the Dead), Charles Herman Wurmfeld (Kissing Jessica Stein, Legally Blonde), Nicole Holofcener (Friends With Money, Lovely and Amazing), and Jeremy Podeswa (Fugitive Pieces, The Five Senses).

Past guest speakers and advisors include Miguel Arteta (The Good Girl), Tom Bezucha (The Family Stone), Shane Black (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang), Bill Condon (Dreamgirls, Kinsey), Laura Dern (actor, The Prize Winner of Defiance Ohio, Wild at Heart), Rodrigo Garcia (Nine Lives), Catherine Hardwicke (Thirteen), Bronwen Hughes (Stander), and Mark Waters, (House of Yes, Mean Girls).

HOW TO APPLY

To be eligible, applicants must submit a completed application form, cover letter explaining one's interest in the Directors Lab and status of their project, one feature-length script to which they have the rights, a logline and short synopsis of the script (no more than two pages), resumes/bios of other key people attached to the project, if any, a DVD of director's previous work, and an application fee (checks should be made payable to Film Independent). Documentary projects are not eligible to apply.
The Directors Lab is sponsored by Kodak.

WHAT SELECTION CRITERIA ARE USED IN EVALUATING DIRECTORS LAB SUBMISSIONS?

We are looking for talented filmmakers who have feature length narrative film projects that are compelling, original, and demonstrate a filmmaker's uniqueness of vision.� We are open to first-time directors as well as filmmakers who previously directed shorts and features. If you do not have directing experience, it is important that you convey as much about yourself in your application as you can, i.e. what your artistic sensibility is, what you have been doing that will inform your work as a director?

WHAT DOES IT COST TO PARTICIPATE IN THE PROGRAM?
Aside from the application fee, there is no tuition to attend Film Independent's Talent Development Programs.

Film Independent offers the Filmmaker Labs as an intensive program in which writers, directors, and producers can develop their craft as well as their projects. We ask that projects that have been supported by the Labs, once they are made, contribute �% (.0025) of their production budget calculated after the first $1,000,000, with a cap on the amount to be paid to Film Independent not to exceed $25,000. These contributions will be used to fund future labs.

Film Independent also asks for the end credit "Developed with the help of the Film Independent Filmmaker Labs" to be run along with the Film Independent logo.

DEADLINES AND FEES

Early Deadline: 6 October 2008 (postmarked)
$35 Film Independent Members
$55 Non-members

Late Deadline: 3 November 2008 (postmarked)
$55 Film Independent Members
$75 Non-members

If you would like your script returned to you, include SASE

You will be notified via email as to whether or not you have been accepted into the program by February 1, 2009.

DOWNLOAD APPLICATION
The application is in PDF format and you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to open it. Click here for a free download of Adobe Reader.

For more information, please contact Filmmaker Labs Associate, Jennifer Kushner, at 310.432.1275 or JKushner@filmindependent.org.

2008 Directors Lab Participants

2007 Directors Lab Participants

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