FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact: Alia Quart Khan, Film Independent
aqkhan@filmindependent.org

Seanna Hore, Ginsberg/Libby
seanna.hore@ginsberglibby.com
 

LOS ANGELES (May 5, 2020) — Film Independent announced today the six directors selected for its annual Directing Lab, now celebrating its twentieth year. The Lab is an intensive program designed to support emerging independent film directors on their feature films. This year’s creative advisors and guest speakers include Daniel Barnz, Alex O’Flinn, Susanna Fogel, Sheila Hanahan Taylor, Karyn Kusama, Wyatt Garfield, Lisa Robertson and Chloé Zhao.

Under the guidance of their Creative Advisors, Directing Lab Fellows receive script feedback, discuss their visions, and select short scenes from their screenplays to workshop. In a major change necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 Lab will be a two-part program: the first part will be a two week lab that will take place virtually May 4 – May 15, with the second component being a 3-day workshop to be held in Los Angeles later this year.

“In these uncertain times, Film Independent vows to continue our mission to support filmmakers whose bold visions embody independence and diversity.” said Lisa Hasko, Director of Artist Development at Film Independent. “As we celebrate twenty years of this Lab, we are pleased to present another group of incredible directors with the limitless potential to spark conversation, explore ideas and transform our world.”

Past Directing Lab Fellows include Film Independent Spirit Award winner Andrew Ahn with Spa Night (2017 Sundance Film Festival), Sheldon Candis with LUV (2012 Sundance Film Festival), Cherien Dabis with Amreeka (2010 Film Independent Spirit Award Nominee, FIPRESCI Award Winner at 2009 Cannes Film Festival), Christina Choe with Nancy (Winner, Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award, 2016 Sundance Film Festival), Sian Heder with Tallulah (2016 Sundance Film Festival), Hikari with 37 Seconds (Winner C.I.C.A.E. Award and Panorama Audience Award, 2019 Berlin Film Festival) and Robbie Pickering with Natural Selection (2012 Spirit Award Nominee; Winner SXSW Grand Jury Prize, Audience Award). Other directors supported through our Directing Lab include Ana Lily Amirpour, Ruben Fleischer, Tina Mabry, Maggie Kiley and Jennifer Phang.

Film Independent Artist Development programs promote unique independent voices by helping filmmakers create and advance new work through Project Involve, Filmmaker Labs (Directing, Documentary, Episodic, Producing and Screenwriting), Fast Track finance market, Fiscal Sponsorship and our Grants and Awards, which provide over one million dollars annually to visual storytellers. For more information on any of the Labs or the projects that have been developed in them, please contact Angela Lee, Associate Director of Artist Development, at 323 556 9362. Additional information and an application form can be found at filmindependent.org.

The Directing Lab is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.

The 2020 Directing Lab participants and their projects are:

 
Title: The Flat Earth
Director/Writer: Laura Nasmyth
Logline: When he can no longer afford his diet of energy drinks and jellybeans, a young man enters into a surreal journey through a world of alternative facts and conspiracy theories, across the flat earth he lives on.

Title: Frybread Face and Me
Director/Writer: Billy Luther
Logline: Two adolescent Navajo cousins from different worlds bond during a summer herding sheep on their grandmother’s ranch in Arizona, as they learn about their family’s past and themselves.

Title: Late Bloomers
Director: Lisa Steen
Logline: Louise, 28, aimless, recently single, sort of a musician, millennially depressed without admitting to it, drunkenly slips down a set of icy stairs and breaks her hip, landing her in a therapy ward full of elderly women. There, she makes an 86-year-old friend and faces the truth about aging: it happens to everyone.

Title: Little Con Lili
Director/Writer: Gabriela Garcia Medina
Logline: A ten-year-old girl determined to see her dying father, is forced to partake in small-time scams by her con artist mother.

Title: Malpelo
Director/Writer: Victoria Rivera
Logline: A headstrong female free-diver makes the perilous voyage to Malpelo Island to track hammerhead sharks, aboard a fishing boat with an all-male crew who prove to be as dangerous as the predators she’s after.

Title: Our Own Devices
Director: Nicole Perlman
Logline: In the 22nd century, an artificially intelligent SmartHome prides itself on taking proper care of its Owner, despite the fact that she (along with all of humanity) have long-since perished. Then one day a mysterious trespasser breaks into the hermetically sealed house in search of food, shelter and the hope of human connection.
 

ABOUT FILM INDEPENDENT

For over 38 years, Film Independent has helped filmmakers get their projects made and seen. The nonprofit’s mission is to champion creative independence in visual storytelling and support a community of artists who embody diversity, innovation and uniqueness of vision.

In addition to producing the Film Independent Spirit Awards, the organization supports creative professionals with Artist Development programs, grants and labs, and signature mentorship program Project Involve fosters the careers of talented filmmakers from underrepresented communities. Weekly Education events and workshops (currently virtual) equip filmmakers of all ages and experience levels with tools and resources. International programs include Global Media Makers, a cultural exchange program that provides career-building opportunities for international film professionals. Film Independent Presents is a year-round program offering screenings, conversations and other unique cinematic experiences to Members in Los Angeles and beyond, also currently available online.

While working to make the entertainment industry more inclusive, Film Independent provides access to a network of like-minded artists. Filmmakers, film lovers, industry professionals and anyone passionate about visual storytelling can become a Member at filmindependent.org and connect with @FilmIndependent across social platforms.