The Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP), Filmmaker’s publisher, announced today the projects selected for the 2017 edition of its Narrative Labs.
A program designed for first-time filmmakers currently in post-production on narrative films, it provides resources and mentorship on all the activities that go into finishing a film and taking it out into the world, from work with music and sound, to locking picture, to festival and distribution strategies. The program begins today and runs through May 12 at the Made in NY Media Center by IFP located in DUMBO, Brooklyn.
Commented IFP Executive Director Joana Vicente in a press release, “The Narrative Labs continue to be a hotbed of discovery, shining a spotlight on bold storytellers whose work, though diverse in style and subject matter, is bound by their shared passion for pushing against the boundaries of independent filmmaking.”
Lab leaders this year are Susan Stover, Producer (Happy Accidents, High Art, Welcome to the Dollhouse) and Pierce Varous, Producer (Always Shine, H.); Founder, Nice Dissolve.
Noted film and television directors whose early features were supported by the labs include Andrew Dosunmu (Where is Kyra?), Alex Karpovsky (Girls), David Lowery (Pete’s Dragon), Terence Nance (18 Black Girls…), Dee Rees (Mudbound), Matt Ruskin (Crown Heights), Amy Seimetz (The Girlfriend Experience), Tim Sutton (Dark Night), and Chloé Zhao (The Rider). The Narrative Labs work with producer/director/editor teams, and producers who have taken part in the Labs include Jason Berman (The Birth of A Nation), Darren Dean (Tangerine), Chadd Harbold (Most Beautiful Island), Carly Hugo & Matt Parker (Bachelorette), Katie Mustard (Appropriate Behavior), and Adele Romanski (Moonlight).
Alumni of the IFP Narrative Labs currently in festival and theatrical release include Amman Abbasi’s Dayveon, Kris Avedisian’s Donald Cried, Claire Carré’s Embers, Matteo Norzi’s Icaros: A Vision, Rodrigo Reyes’ Lupe Under the Sun, Deb Shoval’s AWOL, and Joshua Z Weinstein’s Menashe.
This years’ IFP Narrative Lab Fellows and their films are:
American Thief (Thriller) Against the backdrop of the 2016 presidential election, a black teenage hacker is out to avenge his father’s killing by the police. Not knowing who he works for, he concentrates on his personal revenge unaware that it may lead to his own demise. Miguel Silveira (Director, Writer), Melissa Hernandez (Co-Writer), Michel Stolnicki (Writer, Producer).