FiSpo Spotlight: Pride All Year Long
Welcome to Fiscal Spotlight, a special monthly round up of projects—at all stages of production—working their way through Film Independent’s Fiscal Sponsorship pipeline. Enjoy!
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Even though Pride Month is rapidly coming to an end, we’re not slowing down on promoting and sponsoring LGBTQIA+ Members and films.
You can keep the pride going yourself by sponsoring these three projects. This month, we’re featuring a cross-cultural story about finding yourself with Me, After You, a bathhouse slasher in Steam, and a perilous journey across a snowy old West with In Bloom. Our Fiscal Sponsorship program lets filmmakers take advantage of Film Independent’s 501c3 status and accept tax-deductible donations.
Keep reading to learn more, including how you can support these projects.
IN BLOOM
Project type: Fiction Feature
Project status: Development
Writer/Director: Kylie Mungenast
Producer: Destiny Greer, Liz Davis
About the Project: A matriarch, a prostitute, and a teacher, yearning to heal their own internal wounds, embark on a perilous journey through the snowy west, to try to save a young girl from parenthood.
Meet the Filmmaker: Kylie Mungenast is an experimental/narrative filmmaker from the greater Boston area. Mungenast is currently pursuing her Master of Fine Arts in Film at California College of the Arts. With an acute focus on directing the actors to engage intimately with their characters, Mungenast is drawn to a sapphic female gaze within classical, predominantly cis-male dominated genres.
STEAM
Project type: Fiction Feature
Project status: Production
Writer/Director/Producer: João Dall’Stella
About the Project: On the last night of an underground gay bathhouse, a group of friends confront their deepest desires and face unimaginable horrors to survive.
Meet the Filmmaker: João Dall’Stella is a Brazilian writer, director, and producer based in Los Angeles, known for his bold, genre-blending storytelling that explores human psychology and self-expression. His award-winning short Día De Las Carpas won the DGA Grand Prize for Latino Directors and screened at prestigious festivals, including CAA Moebius and SAG-AFTRA Foundation. His LGBTQ+ short Stalls screened at over 50 festivals worldwide, including OUTFEST 2020. João’s work pushes creative boundaries across multiple mediums.
ME, AFTER YOU
Project type: Fiction Feature
Project status: Development
Producer/Writer/Director: Ruben Navarro
Producer: Jose Carmona
About the Project: A thirty-year-old Spanish writer in Los Angeles embarks on a journey of self-discovery in the midst of his first love story with a man and his last with a woman, all while facing the added isolating reality of being a foreigner.
Meet the Filmmaker: Rubén Navarro is a Spanish-American filmmaker based in Los Angeles with over a decade of experience in directing and editing. A 2018 Film Independent Project Involve Fellow, his work focuses on emotionally rich stories that explore identity, love, and belonging. His award-winning short films have screened at over 100 international festivals, including Oscar-qualifying events such as Palm Springs ShortFest, Outfest Los Angeles, Edmonton International Film Festival, Out On Film Atlanta, and BFI Flare. As an editor, his credits include Apple TV+’s Lady in the Lake directed by Alma Har’el and starring Natalie Portman, and Sam & Kate, starring Dustin Hoffman and Sissy Spacek.
Learn more about Fiscal Sponsorship, including its benefits and eligibility requirements by visiting our website. See which projects are currently being supported via our Sponsored Projects page.
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