Dec 11, 2018
Artist Development
FilmHouse Community Expands to Include Growing Number of Filmmakers in Production Office Spaces for One-Year Residencies
San Francisco, CA – SFFILM has announced the latest filmmakers who have been awarded one-year FilmHouse residencies. This innovative program, made possible by the Kenneth Rainin Foundation with additional funding from the McBaine family, supports both narrative and documentary films by providing 12-month residencies to independent filmmakers actively engaged in various stages of production. Residencies include access to office space and additional mentorship, networking opportunities, and professional development resources through the SFFILM Makers community. A total of 40 filmmakers will start new year-long residencies in January 2019 and join a number of local and visiting fellows and grantees also receiving support under the FilmHouse banner.
FilmHouse, located in a beautifully renovated space in the innovative multicultural development at 644 Broadway in San Francisco, consists of a dynamic shared flexible use space for residents and a series of offices for working filmmakers, mentors, and advisors to the FilmHouse community. In addition to flex use workspace, FilmHouse Residents will be provided with dedicated rooms for writing and editing their features, and special access to established industry professionals offering mentorship, office hours, and deeper artistic guidance from their various areas of expertise. Other resident benefits will include a robust guest speaker series, featuring lectures and presentations by leading industry professionals; workshops led by prominent filmmakers and other members of the independent film industry; peer-to-peer support; work-in-progress screenings; bi-weekly production meetings; access to meaningful networking opportunities; and numerous other community-building programs.
A major component of the SFFILM Makers program, FilmHouse functions as a vibrant workshop and creative hub for filmmakers of all kinds. The mission of FilmHouse is to invest in artistic development and expand industry support around these filmmakers and their work to foster meaningful, sustainable careers, and continually strengthen the filmmaking community in the Bay Area.
The panelists who reviewed applicants’ submissions were Sofia Alicastro, Artist Development Coordinator, SFFILM; Sophie Gunther, Foundations and Artist Development Coordinator, SFFILM; Lauren Kushner, Senior Manager of Artist Development, SFFILM; Dawn Porter, filmmaker, Trilogy Films; Ted Russell, Associate Director, Arts Strategy & Ventures, Kenneth Rainin Foundation; Jenny Slattery, Associate Director of Foundations and Artist Development, SFFILM; and Caroline von Kühn, Director of Artist Development, SFFILM.
The jury noted in a statement: “This is an exciting time for Bay Area filmmaking, and we are thrilled to welcome the 2019 FilmHouse residents who exemplify the talent, diversity, and artistic originality that have long been present in this place we call home. These filmmakers are undertaking projects that span a wide range of styles and genres and include many stories that probe the meaning, joys, and challenges of living in the Bay Area. We are delighted to continue to expand the services we offer to these filmmakers and the broader Bay Area filmmaking community, and to champion these filmmakers who uplift that community in so many ways.”
The next application period opens in July 2019 for the term of FilmHouse Residencies beginning January 2020. For more information, visit sffilm.org/FilmHouse.
2019 FILMHOUSE RESIDENTS – 12-MONTH TERMS
(* denotes extension of previous residency)
Fawaz Al-Matrouk* – Anwar – narrative feature, screenwriting
Liz Anderson – Cordyceps – narrative feature, screenwriting
Joseph Applebaum* – Minister of Loneliness – documentary feature, production
Natalie Baszile – Good People – narrative feature, screenwriting
Yael Bridge – Socialism: An American Story (working title) – documentary feature, post-production
Javier Briones – Our Nightly Walk – documentary feature, development/pre-production
Christy Chan – Dear Wizard – narrative feature, screenwriting
Daniel Chein – Sonsplitter – documentary feature, post-production
Alexia Colette-Sauvageon* – Untitled – narrative feature, development
Darren Colston – Grandpa’s Hands – narrative feature, screenwriting
Maria Fortiz-Morse* – The Departure – documentary feature, development
Daniel Freeman – Teddy, Out of Tune – narrative feature, production
Jason Hanasik* – Pain Is Weakness Leaving the Body – documentary short, pre-production
Dee Hibbert-Jones – Run with It – documentary feature, production
Alexandra Hsu – Queens – narrative feature, screenwriting/development
Emily Cohen Ibañez – Fruits of Labor – documentary feature, production
Yvan Iturriaga – American Babylon – narrative feature, screenwriting
Joshua Losben – The Unbabymoon – narrative feature, screenwriting
Stewart Maddux* – Minister of Loneliness – documentary feature, production
Benjamin MulHolland* – The Lake Merritt Monster – narrative feature, development
Cameron Mullenneaux* – Untitled South Dakota Project – documentary feature, production
Hung Nguyen – TBD – documentary feature, production
Nicole Opper – The F Word: A Foster-to-Adopt Story – web series, production
Elena Oxman* – Outerlands – narrative feature, screenwriting/development
Erin Persley – Human Shield – documentary feature, development and pre-production
Tijana Petrovic – 10,000 Years – documentary feature, production
John Picklap – Perennial – documentary feature, development
Victor Pineda* – 12 Bends – documentary feature, post-production
Rajal Pitroda* – Untitled Race & Criminal Justice Project – documentary feature, post-production
Maria “Vicky” Ponce* – Washing Elena – narrative feature, screenwriting/development
Débora Silva – Black Mothers – documentary feature, production
Andrew Smith – Untitled Walt Whitman Project – narrative feature, screenwriting
Kristine Stolakis* – Pray Away – documentary feature, production
Molly Stuart – Bedding – documentary short, development
Cyrus Tabar – My Body Electric – narrative feature, screenwriting
Nomi Talisman – Run with It – documentary feature, production
Deniz Tortum – Hospital with two exits – documentary feature, post-production and distribution
Marcus Ubungen* – Beyond the Fields – documentary feature, production
Dawn Valadez – Fruits of Labor – documentary feature, production
Julie Wyman – Untitled Dwarfism Project – documentary feature, development/production
For more information about SFFILM’s artist development programs, visit sffilm.org/makers.
SFFILM’s FilmHouse residency programs offer unique opportunities and significant resources to filmmakers from the Bay Area and all over the globe, with an emphasis on fostering peer mentorship and career sustainability. FilmHouse residencies are a part of SFFILM Makers, SFFILM’s suite of artist development services, which provides significant financial and creative resources to independent filmmakers through grants, fellowships, residencies, fiscal sponsorship, and other professional development opportunities. SFFILM Makers has become one the largest nonprofit supporters of independent film, having disbursed more than $6 million to more than 150 film projects since its inception in 2009.
SFFILM Makers
SFFILM Makers (formerly “Filmmaker360”), the organization’s artist development program, provides significant financial and creative resources to independent filmmakers through grants, fellowships, residencies, fiscal sponsorship, and more. Since 2009, over $6 million has been disbursed to more than 150 film projects in various stages of production. Highlights include the SFFILM Rainin Grant and the SFFILM Westridge Grant, which together distribute the most nonprofit funding for narrative features in the United States; a joint effort with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to cultivate stories rooted in science and technology; and the Documentary Film Fund, a partnership with the Jenerosity Foundation. For more information, visit sffilm.org/makers.
SFFILM
SFFILM is a nonprofit organization with a mission to champion the world’s finest films and filmmakers through programs anchored in and inspired by the spirit and values of the San Francisco Bay Area. Presenter of the San Francisco International Film Festival, SFFILM is a year-round organization delivering screenings and events to more than 75,000 film lovers and media education programs to more than 12,000 students and teachers annually. In addition to its public programs, SFFILM supports the careers of independent filmmakers from the Bay Area and beyond with grants, residencies, and other creative development services. For more information visit sffilm.org.
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