Film Independent Announces Selected Fellows for 2008 Fast Track Program

Film Independent Announces Selected Fellows for 2008 Fast Track Program

Recipient Of Inaugural HBO Documentary Film/Film Independent Fellowship Also Announced

- 10 Promising Indie Projects Will Benefit From Industry Networking Program -

LOS ANGELES, June 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Film Independent announced today the selected Fellows and projects for its 6th annual Fast Track program. Sponsored by the Eastman Kodak Company, Fast Track is a film financing market designed to help narrative and documentary feature filmmakers move their current projects forward. Fast Track connects participants with financiers, production companies, and industry professionals during the Los Angeles Film Festival, which takes place this year from June 19 - 29 in Westwood Village.

Film Independent also announced the recipient of the inaugural HBO Documentary Film/Film Independent Fellowship which carries a production grant of $10,000. This new Fellowship was established to provide direct support to one exceptional documentary filmmaker selected for Film Independent's Fast Track program by giving him or her the necessary resources to help complete his or her film. The first-ever recipient of this Fellowship is Christian Bruno, who is currently directing the feature length documentary, Strand: A Natural History of the Cinema.

The HBO Documentary Film/Film Independent Fellowship combines HBO's funding with Film Independent's year-round support services to give documentary filmmakers the necessary tools to develop their craft.

"We could not be happier with this year's Fast Track selections," said Josh Welsh, Director of Talent Development for Film Independent. "We have a great mix of projects by emerging filmmakers and some remarkable films by more established filmmakers."

"HBO is such a stalwart champion of independent film and especially documentary film," said Dawn Hudson, Executive Director of Film Independent. "We are thrilled to be partnering with HBO in this way, and providing such direct and tangible support to exciting filmmakers like Christian Bruno."

The fellows selected for the 2008 Fast Track program will receive an Industry pass to the 2008 Los Angeles Film Festival and three days of intensive, high-level industry meetings at the Festival; a pass to Film Independent's Film Financing Conference taking place during the 2008 Los Angeles Film Festival; a pass to Film Independent's Filmmaker Forum, taking place in the fall of 2008; a one-year complimentary membership in Film Independent; and year-round support from Film Independent.

Previous Fast Track projects include Courtney Hunt's Frozen River, which won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival; Sterlin Harjo's Spirit Award-nominated Four Sheets to the Wind; Jennifer Westfeldt's Ira and Abby; Jessica Sanders' award-winning documentary After Innocence; Chris Chan Lee's Undoing; and Scott Prendergast's feature Kabluey, which had its world premier at the 2007 Los Angeles Film Festival.

The selected Fellows and their projects for the 2008 Fast Track Program are:

1. Basmati Blues

A young American scientist sent to India to promote a new kind of rice quickly finds herself wrestling with the real world effects of her work and the affections of two very different suitors.

Monique Caulfield, Producer, Basmati Blues

Monique Caulfield comes to Basmati Blues with 8 years of experience in the creative development of scripts. An entrepreneur, she is the founder of a manufacturing and marketing firm dedicated to socially and environmentally sustainable products. Starting with $5,000 in seed money, she established distribution in nine countries and manufacturing facilities on three continents. Caulfield sold the company and now focuses on producing films. Caulfield is the recipient of Film Independent's first annual Sloan Producers Grant.

2. Dynasty

The story of a middle-aged couple that decides to get out of their credit card debt by killing a black bear and selling its gallbladder on the black market for $10,000.

Rob Devor, Writer/Director, Dynasty

Robinson Devor's last feature, Zoo, made its world premiere in the Documentary Competition of the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, then went on to play at the Cannes film festival in the Director's Fortnight section. In 2005, Devor's second feature, Police Beat, premiered in Dramatic Competition at Sundance. For his efforts, Devor was nominated for a 2006 Indie Spirit Award and 2005 Gotham Award. Named one of Variety's "10 Directors To Watch" in 2000, he made his feature film directorial debut with The Woman Chaser. A 2002 Fellow at the Sundance Institute, Devor collaborated with African-born journalist Charles Mudede on the feature script Superpower, the story of an African child soldier attempting to recapture his childhood after a civil war. In addition to Dynasty, Devor's current projects include The Cloud Room, an ensemble mystery that explores the social and psychological reverberations of cattle mutilations in a small Montana town, and You Can't Win, the autobiography of career criminal and opium addict Jack Black.

Scott Macaulay, Producer, Dynasty

Scott Macaulay is a New York-based producer and co-president of Forensic Films with Robin O'Hara. Since their first production in 1992, they have been lauded for producing daring and provocative independent feature films and for helping to launch the careers of some of today's most interesting directors. In 1998 they were awarded an Independent Spirit Award for their producing work in independent film. Their credits include Peter Sollett's Raising Victor Vargas, Jesse Peretz's comedy The Chateau, Harmony Korine's julien donkey-boy, Tom Noonan's What Happened Was...,and Frank Whaley's Joe the King. Macaulay is also the founder and Editor of Filmmaker Magazine, a national quarterly devoted to American independent film published by the Independent Feature Project. He is also Co-Editor of a new website launched by Focus Features, FilmInFocus.com.

3. Enter the Cipher

A sheltered white journalist befriends a Brooklyn gang member and aspiring rapper, and is drawn, moth-like, into the flames of his seductive and violent world.

Damon D'Oliveira, Producer, Enter the Cipher

Damon D'Oliveira produced some of Canada's most innovative feature films- Poor Boy's Game, RUDE, Love Come Down, H, Proteus & Lie With Me. D'Oliveira's films have been distributed internationally and have been selected for festivals around the world including Cannes, Berlin, Toronto, Sundance & Rotterdam. His most recent feature, Poor Boy's Game (starring Danny Glover and Rossif Sutherland), premiered as a Special Presentation at the 2007 Berlinale. It was also a Special Presentation at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2007, and has won best film and audience choice awards at the Atlantic Film Festival and Calgary International Film Festival.

Clement Virgo, Writer/Director, Enter the Cipher

Clement Virgo is one of Canada's foremost feature film directors. His latest feature, the boxing drama Poor Boy's Game, premiered at the 2007 Berlin Film Festival, and was presented as a Special Selection at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival. It won best film and audience choice awards at the Atlantic Film Festival and Calgary International Film Festival, 2007. Virgo's Lie With Me caused a stir at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival for its artistically daring portrayal of explicit sexual themes. Starring Lauren Lee Smith (The L Word) and Eric Balfour (Six Feet Under), Lie With Me had its European premiere at the 2006 Berlin Film Festival.

4. Hart's Location

A desperate woman sets off on a cross-country trip to hustle her wealthy father she never knew in hopes of saving her son.

Wendy Guerrero, Producer, Hart's Location

Following the philosophy that 'experience is life's best teacher' Wendy is excited to be producing her first feature. After spending many years producing and directing theatre in Los Angeles and New York she took a job as Bruce Dern's assistant. This relationship allowed her to cultivate a real passion for independent film and thus the organic process of becoming a producer began. When Mr. Dern decided to step behind the camera and form his own production company with partner Ashley Reed they trusted her to head up the shingle. Dern and Guerrero have been working for the past year on developing a slate of films for the company, their first project is Hart's Location, which will be directed by Bruce Dern.

Bruce Dern, Director, Hart's Location

Through decades of critically acclaimed performances, Bruce Dern has acquired the reputation of being one of the most talented and prolific actors of his generation. A celebrated stage actor, Dern was trained by famed director Elia Kazan at The Actor's Studio and made his film debut in Kazan's Wild River. In the 1960's, Dern also found success as a distinguished television actor, appearing in contemporary Western TV-series as well as Alfred Hitchcock's television series. Hitchcock was such a fan of Dern, he cast him in both Marnie and Family Plot. He received critical success for films such as They Shoot Horses, Don't They? and Drive, He Said, and went down in history for his role as Long Hair in The Cowboys in which he became the first man ever to kill John Wayne. Dern then starred in such classic films as The King of Marvin Gardens, with Jack Nicholson and Ellen Burstyn, and played Tom Buchanan in The Great Gatsby. It was his brilliant and powerful performance in Hal Ashby's Coming Home that earned him both an Academy Award and Golden Globe nomination. Dern co-starred with Charlize Theron in Monster, and can currently be seen on the HBO series Big Love.

5. Late Winter

When her boyfriend leaves her, a young woman returns to live with her mother. As she struggles with issues of identity and failure, she comes face to face with her mother's darkest secret.

Pavlina Hatoupis, Producer, Late Winter

Pavlina Hatoupis grew up in Africa and Greece before moving to the States to study Chinese History at Yale University. In 2004, she produced the digital indie feature, The New Guy, directed by Bilge Ebiri. In the past few years, Pavlina has been developing projects with women writers and directors. Most recently she produced Janet Grillo's short format directorial debut, Day at the Beach, starring Lucinda Jenney, and Flying Lessons, starring Dana Delany. She also produced her second independent feature, It's All Good, which is currently in post-production. She is attached to co-produce Susanna Styorn's new feature, Things About the Fire, Jeff Zimablist's (Favella Rising) first fiction feature, Santo di Paolo, written by Sebastian Boneta, and Andrea Janakas's Late Winter, written by Justine Cogan. Finally, she is developing Prom King with comedian Tara O'Brien and East of Hollywood with Sasha Isaac Young.

Andrea Janakas, Director, Late Winter

A native Bostonian and graduate of the Journalism program at Emerson College, Andrea Janakas earned her MFA in Directing at The American Film Institute. Her short films cross genres and examine the human condition and political preoccupations of various eras. Her meditations on small town life and the need for social change are evident. A recipient of an AFI scholarship, she was awarded the 2005 Fuji Student Filmmaker Award for her script, Gypsies, Tramps, & Thieves. The film premiered at the Seattle International Film Festival and Los Angeles Film Festival in 2006, and stars Annie Quinn (Criminal Minds, House) and Amanda Seyfried (Mean Girls, Nine Lives). Gypsies received the Jury Prize at the Palm Springs International Shorts Festival, and IndieWire named the film one of the Top Ten Outstanding Shorts at Outfest. Andrea's directing credits include David's Walls, Average Joe, Karma Sutra, SKAL, and White Noise. She most recently shot a 30 second spot in support of Same Sex Marriage Rights for GLAAD and directed the well- received multi-media play Save for Theater of Note in Hollywood.

6. Operation June Black

A charismatic Christian teen finds himself on the wrong side of piety when he sleeps with a sexy single mom on welfare.

Bridget Bedard, Writer/Director, Operation June Black

Bridget Bedard is a New York based writer/director, who originally hails from Utah. She has been commissioned to write comedies for both studio and independents and most recently wrote for the first season of the hit television series Mad Men, which won a Golden Globe and Writer's Guild Award for Best New Series. As an award-winning graduate of NYU's prestigious MFA film program, she has written and directed numerous award-winning shorts and was named Best Female Student director by the Director's Guild of America East. Her work has screened worldwide at festivals and on cable, including the Sundance Film Festival, the Sundance Channel, Canal Plus, and Channel Four among many others. She is attached to direct several original scripts, including one, which is being produced by Lisa Kudrow, who will also star. Her work has been supported by numerous grants and foundations, including Screen Gems, Inc., the National Endowment for the Arts, and The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. She is represented by Industry Entertainment.

7. Refresh, Refresh

Three boys in the high desert of Oregon battle heartbreak and explore the redemptive power of violence when their fathers are called to duty in Iraq.

Richard Bever, Producer, Refresh, Refresh

Richard Bever is a Los Angeles-based producer and co-president of the production company Chill Films. Bever is the former Head of Development and Production at Andrew Lauren Productions, which produced the Oscar nominated film The Squid and the Whale during his tenure. Also during his years at Andrew Lauren Productions, Richard orchestrated the marketing and self- distribution of the Christopher Scott Cherot film G onto over 500 screens nationally. Richard subsequently worked with writer/director Chris Jaymes on his feature film In Memory of My Father, winner of the CineVegas Film Festival and the Santa Barbara Film Festival. Chill Films is currently in post- production on their first feature, Peter Callahan's Against the Current and are currently packaging Callahan's next feature, Halfway Home. Chill Films is developing the film adaptation of Pagan Kennedy's novel Confessions of A Memory Eater, with writer John Brownlow, director Brad Anderson (The Machinist, Transsiberian) and producer Tripp Vinson and Contrafilm. Richard and Chill Films are also packaging the Latina horror project Sever with Exit5 Entertainment.

James Ponsoldt, Writer/Director, Refresh, Refresh

James Ponsoldt was born and raised in Athens, Georgia, received a BA in English from Yale, and an MFA in directing from Columbia University's Graduate Film Program (where his thesis film, Junebug and Hurricane, which starred Janeane Garofalo, won the Student Choice Award for Best Film). Ponsoldt's short films and debut feature, Off the Black (starring Nick Nolte, Timothy Hutton, Trevor Morgan, and theatrically distributed by THINKFilm), have played at more than 100 festivals worldwide, including Sundance, Tribeca, Stockholm, Clermont-Ferrand, Edinburgh, and Hamptons. His screenplay, Refresh, Refresh, was developed at the 2007 Sundance Screenwriters' Lab received the Lynn Auerbach Screenwriting Fellowship, was a finalist for the Sundance/NHK International Filmmakers Award and was recently included in the 2008 Hampton's Screenwriters' Lab. Ponsoldt's new documentary, We Saw Such Things, will be premiering at the 2008 Sarasota Film Festival.

8. Simon and the Stranger

Two men looking for a second chance at life meet on the soccer field as Vietnam plays in the Asia cup.

Stephane Gauger, Writer/Director, Simon and the Stranger

Born in Saigon, Vietnam and raised in Orange County, California, Stephane Gauger's feature directing debut, Owl and the Sparrow, shot on location in Vietnam, premiered at the 2007 Rotterdam Film Festival and was winner of nine festival awards, including the audience award for best narrative feature at the 2007 Los Angeles Film Festival. Gauger was featured in Filmmaker Magazine's 25 new faces of 2007. He was also nominated for breakthrough director at the Gotham Awards and the John Cassavetes award at Independent Spirit Awards. He served as co-writer and second unit director on Powder Blue, starring Forest Whitaker, Ray Liotta, and Jessica Biel, He is now in post- production on Vietnam Overtures, a documentary on the National Symphony Orchestras of Vietnam.

9. Strand: A Natural History of Cinema

Charts the rise and demise of movie going in one American city -- San Francisco -- while revealing the transformation of post-war urban America.

Christian Bruno, Writer/Director, Strand: A Natural History of Cinema

Christian Bruno's films have played around the world, from Needles, CA to Tehran, Iran. The short documentary Pie Fight '69 (made with Sam Green) received numerous awards, including from the Sundance, Black Maria, and Chicago Underground Film Festivals, and continues to play worldwide. He has received commissions from the SF Arts Commission for film and film-based installations, and is a recent fellow of the MacDowell Colony. As a cinematographer, Christian's work appears in Natalija Vekic's award-winning short Lost & Found, and the 2007 feature films Revolution Summer by Miles Montalbano, and David Lewis' Rock Haven. He lives in San Francisco.

10. The Summer We Drowned

The idealistic but troubled Whiting family retreats to the woods of Maine to build an eco-friendly dream house, only to find themselves way over their heads.

Steak House, Producer, The Summer We Drowned

Independent producer Steak House produced the indie classic By Hook or By Crook, a 2002 Sundance premiere and five-time Best Feature winner. House's films have long enjoyed success on the festival circuit, screening at Tribeca, the Los Angeles Film Festival, Outfest and four trips to Sundance with By Hook or By Crook; Phase 5 starring Mink Stole; Billy's Dad is a Fudgepacker; and Silas Howard's What I Love About Dying. Her documentary about passionate Dolly Parton fans, For the Love of Dolly, is distributed by Wolfe Video and broadcasts on MTV's Logo. In 2007, House line produced three feature films, Uncross the Stars, The Hustle, and Chain Letter. She is currently post- supervising The Hustle and Chain Letter, along with Weather Girl (Mark Harmon, Jane Lynch, Jon Cryer), a romantic comedy she also produced. Steak is currently in development on several projects including The Summer We Drowned, Seed and House Broken.

Abigail Severance, Director/Co-writer, The Summer We Drowned

Writer-director Abigail Severance's first film, Pump, won five Best Short awards. Her work has screened at many festivals, including the Los Angeles Film Festival and Sundance. Severance has been included in several distinguished museum exhibits, including San Francisco's Bay Area Now at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and the Roy & Edna Disney CalArts Theater (REDCAT) in Los Angeles. In addition to writing and directing, she is on the faculty at CalArts and has also taught at UC San Diego and the Art Institute of California. Severance holds an MFA in Directing from UCLA where she received the school's Spotlight Award for Directing two years in a row as well as a Wasserman Fellowship in Film Production and the Carl David Memorial Scholarship. Severance co-wrote The Summer We Drowned with Mo Perkins.

ABOUT FAST TRACK

Designed to help filmmakers move their current projects, narrative as well as documentary, forward, Fast Track is a film financing market that connects them with financiers, production companies, and other industry professionals. This highly selective program is open to established as well as up-and-coming filmmakers with exceptional projects still seeking funding.

In past years, the program was restricted to alumni of the Los Angeles Film Festival and graduates of Film Independent's Talent Development Programs -- the Filmmaker Labs, Project: Involve, and the Spirit Award grant winners. Selected filmmakers would get a pass to the festival and one day of industry meetings. This year, we have opened the program to all filmmakers, both national and international, who have strong feature films seeking their financing.

Fast Track is one of four Talent Development programs offered by Film Independent. Film Independent's talent development programs are incubators for the next generation of independent filmmakers. Cultivating strong, original voices, our Talent Development programs help filmmakers develop new work and advance their filmmaking careers in a nurturing yet challenging creative environment.

ABOUT FILM INDEPENDENT

Film Independent is a non-profit membership organization that champions independent film and supports a community of artists who embody diversity, innovation, and uniqueness of vision. Film Independent helps filmmakers make their movies, builds the audience for their projects, and works to diversify the film industry. Anyone passionate about film can become a member, whether you are a filmmaker, film industry leader, or a film lover.

With over 250 annual screenings and events, Film Independent provides access to a network of like-minded artists who are driving creativity in the film industry. Film Independent also offers free Filmmaker Labs for selected writers, directors, and producers; provides cut-rate services for filmmakers; and presents year-round networking opportunities. Film Independent's mentorship and job placement program, Project: Involve, pairs emerging culturally diverse filmmakers with film industry professionals.

Film Independent produces the Los Angeles Film Festival, celebrating the best of American and international cinema, and the Spirit Awards, a celebration honoring films and filmmakers that embody independence and dare to challenge the status quo. For more information or to become a member, visit FilmIndependent.org

First Call Analyst:
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Source: Film Independent

CONTACT: Julie Siegel of Film Independent, +1-310-432-1287

Web site: http://www.filmindependent.org/

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Profile: International Entertainment