Sep 13, 2012
Artist Development
The San Francisco Film Society today announced the reopening of FilmHouse, the residency program designed to offer free working space to filmmakers in various stages of production and provide a collaborative environment where they can share talents and resources with their peers. Located in the bustling Fillmore District of San Francisco, FilmHouse opens its doors this month on 4,800 spacious square feet of fully equipped, newly renovated office space. The latest expansion of Filmmaker360, the Film Society’s filmmaker services program, FilmHouse is made possible by generous funding from the Kenneth Rainin Foundation and additional support from the San Francisco Film Commission.
“FilmHouse is a perfect example of the kind of innovative support Filmmaker360 excels at providing to filmmakers,” said Ted Hope, executive director of the San Francisco Film Society. “It’s amazing what a difference it can make to an artist to have a dedicated working space to develop their project–in whatever stage of production–and the collaborative element included in the FilmHouse program will surely lead to many unforeseen opportunities and some truly inspired filmmaking.”
Located at 1426 Fillmore Street, FilmHouse features eight secure, dedicated production-office spaces for filmmaking teams of 1-4 people. Open to both narrative and documentary filmmakers, FilmHouse offers residencies of six or twelve months to selected applicants with projects that, through plot, character, theme or setting, explore social issues of our time. In addition to office space, FilmHouse residencies provide filmmakers access to additional programs such as script review, guest speakers, peer-to-peer workshops, work-in-progress screenings, SFFS production interns, and exposure of projects through various SFFS marketing and PR opportunities. FilmHouse is also the new home to all of the Film Society’s classes and workshops, which are designed to provide practical professional development opportunities to filmmakers of all kinds. More information about SFFS Professional Development can be found at sffs.org/Filmmaker360/Professional-Development.
The next FilmHouse application period opens October 1, for residencies that will begin in February 2013. The early deadline for applications is October 31; the final deadline is November 7. For more information and to apply, visit sffs.org/Filmmaker360/FilmHouse-Residencies.
The FilmHouse residency program was originally launched in August 2008 as part of the Film Society’s expansion into filmmaker services upon its absorption of programs previously provided by the Film Arts Foundation. In its original location on Pier 27 on San Francisco’s Embarcadero, FilmHouse was open until the spring of 2011. The new FilmHouse provides nearly twice as much space to a much greater number of filmmakers in a central location and more comprehensive access to the full suite of Filmmaker360 programs.
“I’m absolutely thrilled to relaunch FilmHouse in its gorgeous new Fillmore location,” said Michele Turnure-Salleo, director of Filmmaker360. “It’s such a pleasure to provide tangible support to the filmmakers in our orbit, from the local friends with whom we frequently collaborate to our newly discovered partners across the country. I am particularly looking forward to seeing the films that will be incubated in the FilmHouse space, and to providing this unique opportunity to a whole new round of filmmakers when we invite applications for the next round of residencies next year.”
The first round of filmmakers currently in residence were hand-picked by Filmmaker360 from recent SFFS grant winners, teams that are fiscally sponsored by the Film Society and filmmakers involved in various other programs. For more information about their projects, visit sffs.org/Filmmaker360/FilmHouse-Residencies/meet-the-residents.
FILMHOUSE RESIDENTS
Anthony Cianciolo: The Art of Sainthood, development
Anthony Cianciolo is a pioneering animator and artist who has worked in the film industry for over 17 years. His credits include blockbuster animated feature films such as The Iron Giant, Space Jam, Osmosis Jones and Looney Tunes Back in Action. He helped establish Warner Brothers’ Feature Animation division and was involved in such roles as art director, production designer, technical director and proprietary animation software designer.
Carlton Evans and Matthew Lessner: Ross, development
Carlton Evans is an independent film producer and screenwriter whose productions have screened at top festivals worldwide, including Sundance, Tribeca, and Rotterdam. He has taught film theory, art history and architecture at Stanford, San Francisco State University and SF Art Institute, and lectures frequently about film and new media.
“I was overjoyed to be selected for Filmmaker360’s new FilmHouse program,” said Evans. “The space, educational opportunities and meaningful contact with fellow filmmakers are absolutely crucial to the cultivation and development of independent projects like my own. I’m confident that the program will help to build and shape the Bay Area film community as a whole.”
Matthew Lessner is an award-winning writer/director whose credits include The Woods, which is credited as the first feature selected by Sundance to use Kickstarter for production funding; Darling Darling, which won the Tom Berman Most Promising Filmmaker Award at the Ann Arbor Film Festival; and By Modern Measure, which was dubbed “the best short of 2007” by Indiewire.
Evans and Lessner have also received two SFFS / KRF Filmmaking Grants for development of Ross.
Guetty Felin-Cohen: Ayiti Mon Amour, development
Born in Haiti, reared in America and coming of age cinematically in France, Guetty Felin-Cohen is an award winning filmmaker with a very eclectic and rich background in the film and television industry. She has worked on over 70 hours of documentary and narrative films in various roles: distributor, marketing/outreach director, screenplay reader, voice-over narrator, curator and teacher.
Lisa Fruchtman: Sweet Dreams, outreach
Producer/Director Lisa Fruchtman is an Academy Award-winning editor who has worked in both feature film and television. Among her many film projects are Apocalypse Now, The Right Stuff, Children of a Lesser God, The Godfather Part III, The Doctor, My Best Friend’s Wedding, Dance with Me and The Woodsman.
Ian Hendrie and Jyson McLean: Mercy Road, screenwriting
Ian Hendrie is a San Francisco based director, screenwriter, producer and the co-founder of Fantoma Films, a production company and independent DVD label which has been releasing premium edition DVDs of films by such famed auteurs as Francis Ford Coppola, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Samuel Fuller, Fritz Lang, Kenneth Anger and Alex Cox, among others, since 1999.
Jyson McLean attended Art Center College of Design in Pasadena and shortly thereafter began directing commercials and music videos, which have aired nationally and overseas. He has won the ITVA PEER award three years in a row, and has worked with numerous award-winning advertising agencies including DDB Los Angeles, BBDO London and Fred & Farid, Paris.
Hendrie and McLean have also received a SFFS / KRF Filmmaking Grant for Mercy Road.
Chris Mason Johnson: Test, postproduction
Before attending Amherst College to study filmmaking, Chris Mason Johnson had a successful career as a dancer with major ballet and modern companies. His first narrative feature, The New Twenty (2009), won Best Lead Actress at Outfest, Best Screenwriting at FilmOut San Diego, Best Director/First Feature at Ft. Lauderdale, and was Closing Night Presentation at Montreal’s prestigious image+nation Gay & Lesbian Film Festival. Johnson has also received a SFFS / KRF Filmmaking Grant for Test.
Jennifer Phang: Advantageous, development
Jennifer Phang is a San Francisco-based filmmaker with more than ten years of experience. She was commissioned by ITVS to create the short film Advantageous for their Futurestates series; it has screened at film festivals worldwide and she is currently developing the project into a feature film. Phang has an MFA in directing from AFI and a BA in media studies from Pomona College.
Filmmaker360 offers unparalleled assistance and opportunities designed to foster creativity and further the careers of independent filmmakers nationwide and oversees one of the largest film grant programs in the country, which disperses nearly $1 million annually to incubate and support innovative and exceptional films. Other elements of Filmmaker360 include project development consultation, membership discounts and benefits, fiscal sponsorship, grants, professional development classes and information resources. Recent Filmmaker360 success stories include Beasts of the Southern Wild, Benh Zeitlin’s debut phenomenon which received two SFFS/Kenneth Rainin Foundation Filmmaking Grants totaling $105,000 for postproduction, and went on to win both Sundance’s Grand Jury Prize and Cannes’ Camera d’Or. For information visit Filmmaker360.
Kenneth Rainin Foundation is a private family foundation that funds inspiring and world-changing work. The Foundation is dedicated to enhancing quality of life by promoting equitable access to a baseline of literacy, enabling inspiration through the arts and supporting research that will lead to relief for those with chronic disease. The Foundation will focus its efforts on the San Francisco Bay Area and specific medical issues and will utilize its networks, resources, and commitment to socially responsible practices to support innovation, collaboration and connection. For more information visit krfoundation.org.
Since 1989, the San Francisco Film Commission has served to encourage the recognition of film as an art form with widespread economic, social and cultural benefits for the city. The Film Commission supports a variety of film related activities in the city and promotes San Francisco as a film production destination. While stimulating community awareness of the film art form, the Commission is also committed to promoting long-range investment in projects originating in San Francisco, liaises with groups, councils, organizations and institutions related to the film industry and provides perspective for both the Mayor and the board of supervisors with respect to long-range promotion, development and planning for a significant film arts base in San Francisco. For complete information visit FilmSF.org.