Dec 18, 2013
Artist Development
The San Francisco Film Society announced today the filmmakers who have been awarded FilmHouse Residencies starting in February 2014. This innovative program, made possible by the generous support of the Kenneth Rainin Foundation, supports narrative feature films by making office space available free of charge for six- or twelve-month residencies to independent filmmakers actively engaged in various stages of film production. These four filmmakers join three other teams already in residence. In addition to office space, FilmHouse residents benefit from a robust guest speaker series, featuring lectures and presentations by leading industry professionals; resident-led workshops and work-in-progress screenings; access to SFFS networking events; and numerous other community-building programs and events. A major component of the Film Society’s Filmmaker360 program, FilmHouse functions as a vibrant workshop and creative hub for filmmakers of all kinds.
The panelists who reviewed the applicants’ submissions were Rivkah Beth Medow, filmmaker and Kenneth Rainin Foundation board member; filmmaker Marc Smolowitz; SFFS Corporate Development Manager Amanda Todd; Director of Filmmaker360 Michele Turnure-Salleo; and Trinity West, FilmHouse Coordinator. The jury noted in a statement: “We were very impressed by the breadth and depth of the experience of each of the applicants for this round of FilmHouse Residencies, and it was extremely difficult narrowing the field to just four. The selected filmmakers will make fantastic additions to the FilmHouse family, and we’re excited to support their projects so early in their process. We see great potential in these stories, and we look forward to watching the films come to life.”
The next application period opens in spring 2014 for the next term of FilmHouse Residencies beginning in in the fall. For more information, visit sffs.org/Filmmaker360/FilmHouse-Residencies.
Elena Greenlee – Birds of Paradise, screenwriting, 6-month residency
Elena Greenlee was born and raised in Brooklyn and her influences reflect the diversity of her hometown. Greenlee’s 2010 short Mariachi screened at festivals across the country. Her MFA thesis short Nasceu Maria won a Spike Lee Fellowship Award, Clive Davis Award, Fotokem Award and Fuji Film Award at NYU’s Graduate Film Program, from which she holds an MFA. In 2012 Greenlee became a Film Independent Producing Fellow for her first feature production Manos Sucias, winner of two SFFS / KRF Filmmaking Grants, as well as the Canon Camera Award. In 2013 she was awarded a finalist fund from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
About Birds of Paradise: Louise is a talented neuroscientist running from the burn of her first failure to retreat in a jungle “utopia.” Unable to stop her inquiring mind from digging deeper, Louise uncovers a criminal underworld and becomes a catalyst for trouble in paradise.
Liam Hughes – The Lake, development, 6-month residency
Liam Hughes is an actor and filmmaker from San Anselmo, CA. After starting out in Bay Area theatre, he traveled to London to earn an MA in Screen Acting at the Drama Centre, where he also developed a passion for writing and directing. Hughes cowrote and self-produced his directorial debut, Greed, which screened at the Cannes Short Film Corner and the Mill Valley Film Festival. His first feature length script, titled Let Me Go, won a place in the prestigious Writing Drama for Film and TV script lab at the London Screenwriters’ Festival in 2012.
About The Lake: A precipice. A massive lake a mile below. A choice: Jump. Or die. In a parallel world, a violent young man must confront the demons of his past and embrace his true identity-or face losing his pregnant girlfriend when he wakes up in the real world.
Matthew Riutta – Man Up Above, development, 6-month residency
Matthew Riutta has worked for more than 12 years as a writer, location manager, producer and director in the film and television industries. He was a fellow at the Squaw Valley Screenwriters Workshop in 2006. Riutta has received the California On-Location Award for Location Team Of The Year for his work on Memoirs Of A Geisha, Moneyball and Fruitvale Station. He has directed the shorts Dress Up (which screened at the Indianapolis LGBT film festival), Kids Club and I Don’t, and was associate producer on All About Evil, which premiered at the 2010 San Francisco International Film Festival.
Man Up Above is about a black gay club promoter who witnesses the suicide of a young gay man. His life starts to unravel-until he meets the victim’s straight father.
Laura Wagner – Plumb Unstoppable, preproduction, 6-month residency
Laura Wagner founded Bay Bridge Productions, which produces independent films, theatre projects, videos and social media strategies for films, artists and theatrical productions. She produced the critically acclaimed feature film It Felt Like Love, which premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. Wagner produced the feature film Memorial Day by Josh Fox (Gasland), which premiered at the CineVegas Film Festival; was Associate Producer of the PBS documentary John Leguizamo: Tales from a Ghetto Klown; and was Associate Producer of Pulse: A Stomp Odyssey, the award-winning and critically acclaimed Imax film that has played in theaters and museums around the globe.
About Plumb Unstoppable: In a small American town obsessed with competitive running, 21-year-old star athlete Plumb Marigold rebels against her parents, coaches, agents and teammates just weeks before the upcoming Olympic Trials.
Filmmaker360 is a leader in the field of non-profit support of the independent cinema and offers unparalleled assistance and opportunities designed to foster creativity and further the careers of independent filmmakers nationwide. Filmmaker360 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 at every stage of production. Other services offered by Filmmaker360 include project development and fiscal sponsorship, Off the Page script workshops, and more. For more information visit sffs.org/filmmaker360.
Recent Filmmaker360 success stories include Ryan Coogler’s debut feature Fruitvale Station, which won the Prize of the Future in the Un Certain Regard section of the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, and both the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award in the narrative category at Sundance 2013; Short Term 12, Destin Daniel Cretton’s sophomore feature which won both the Narrative Grand Jury Award and Audience Award at South by Southwest 2013; and Beasts of the Southern Wild, Benh Zeitlin’s debut phenomenon which won Sundance’s Grand Jury Prize and Cannes’ Camera d’Or in 2012, and earned four Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture.
Kenneth Rainin Foundation is a private family foundation that is dedicated to enhancing quality of life by promoting equitable access to a baseline of literacy, championing and sustaining the arts, and supporting research that will lead to relief for those with chronic disease. The Foundation focuses its efforts on the San Francisco Bay Area and specific medical issues. It utilizes its networks, resources, and commitment to socially responsible practices to support innovation, collaboration and connection in the service of inspiring world-changing work. For more information visit krfoundation.org.