Sundance Institute announced today the 12 fellows chosen to participate in its first-ever Episodic: Pilot to Series Lab.
Sundance Institute announced today the 12 fellows chosen to participate in its first-ever Episodic: Pilot to Series Lab, designed as an immersive two-part experience hosted on Sundance Collab, where selected emerging TV writers will workshop an original pilot and develop a series overview.
Beginning with the Lab, Fellows will benefit from a full year of customized, ongoing support from Feature Film Program staff, Creative Advisors and Industry Mentors, led by Founding Director of the Sundance Institute Feature Film Program, Michelle Satter and Director of the Episodic Program, Jennifer Goyne Blake. Working with accomplished showrunners, the Fellows will participate in one-on-one story meetings, craft workshops, and Writers' Rooms, which together provide creative and strategic tools for success. Creative Advisors joining this year's Lab are Erica Rivinoja, Danny Chun, Sanjay Shah, Graham Yost, Teresa Hsiao, LaToya Morgan, Shalisha Francis, Lee Eisenberg, Charles Eglee, Malcolm Spellman, Katori Hall and Jenny Bicks.The upcoming gathering of the Episodic Lab: Pilot to Series will take place October 10-12, 2020; fellows will reconvene in February 2021 with a polished draft of their Lab project to participate in pitch sessions, group conversations about the episodic landscape, and meet with producers and creative executives to discuss next steps and career goals. Industry mentors include: Kathryn Tyus-Adair, Justin Rosenblatt, Yvette Urbina, Tiffany Hawthorne, Carrie Gillogly, Marta Fernandez, Sarah Timberman, Deniese Davis and Candace Rodney.
"Sundance Institute champions independent creators," says Satter, "and we need to stay nimble and responsive across formats, media and narrative structure. By convening emerging talent together with established advisors, we aim to create a basis for sustainable careers, even among an ever-evolving industry. With the ongoing support of our Episodic team and Advisors, many of our writers have been staffed on shows, and a growing number are now developing their pilots at a variety of networks.
"We're excited to support these visionary writers at this pivotal stage in their artistic development - providing a targeted intervention to empower and nurture them as they hone their craft and give shape to their ideas," adds Goyne Blake. "As the episodic space rapidly evolves, TV writers need sustained, meaningful mentorship to build sustainable careers."The projects and fellows selected for the 2020 Episodic Lab: Pilot to Series are:
The Cavi
Desperate to leave their previous lives behind, a trio of street hustlers look to solve the clues behind an underworld myth called The Cavi, a West Coast tall tale that is said to lead to a hidden treasure for the ages.
Justin Calen Chenn was a homeless teenager when a fly-ass Black man who drove a mad chicken blue Chevy took him under his wing. Growing up as a motel kid, he got involved in a life of street hustle and organized crime, but left that world behind after witnessing a horrific incident in 2016. A former participant in the Imagine Impact accelerator, Justin is writing and/or producing projects with notables such as eOne, Chernin Entertainment, Lucas Foster, Sly Stallone's Balboa, Justin Lin, Matt Jackson, and Imagine Entertainment. He is also working with Jari Jones, Stephen "Dr" Love's Made With Love, Amy Jephta, Don Lee, Stephan James, Young Thug's 300 Entertainment, and Regina King's Royal Ties.
A Dignified Death
A by-the-book former ICU nurse starts working at a hospice agency where she clashes with her rule-bending veteran supervisor, and learns what it really means to provide patients with a dignified death.
fiftyTWO
When a die-hard New York Baby Boomer and his Gen Z granddaughter move to Baltimore and become unlikely roommates, they must navigate their new city and deal with their own questionable life choices.
From Guantánamo, with Love
When an 18-year-old Yemeni is mistaken for a battle-hardened al Qaeda general, he's sent to the world's most notorious military prison, where he fights to survive, regain his humanity, and win back his freedom. Based on true stories.
Hannah with the Dogs
After leaving her relationship, quitting her job, and cutting ties with her religion, Hannah copes the only way she knows how: by talking to lots of dogs-who also talk back to her.
Mandingo
Mandingo is the portrait of a Black male athlete's search for purpose and meaning in his LIFE AFTER he is released early from prison.
Terrance Daye is an award winning poet and filmmaker from Long Island, New York. His creative work reimagines traditional representations of black masculinity and male identity and invests strongly in destigmatizing mental illness within the black community. Terrance received his Bachelor's degree from Morehouse College and his Master's in Fine Arts in filmmaking at NYU Tisch School of the Arts. Terrance is a two-time Spike Lee Production Fund recipient and a 2018 Sundance Ignite Fellow. His most recent film project -Ship: A Visual Poem was awarded a Short Film Jury Award for U.S. Fiction at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival.
Somewhere Else
In this surreal comedy, eight sixty-somethings living out their golden years in an otherworldly suburb find their way of life threatened by the arrival of a mysterious newcomer with no memories of her past.
Born and raised in North County St. Louis, Johnny Alvarez is a queer writer/filmmaker and second-generation Cuban American. He is an alumnus of OutSet: The Young Filmmakers Project and Actuality Media's Documentary Outreach Program. Johnny's short film Victory Boulevard premiered at the 2018 Outfest Film Festival and went on to play at festivals in Chicago, Seattle, and North Carolina. His short documentary Tu Calle, Nuestro Estrado, shot on location in Cochabamba, Bolivia, premiered at the 2017 My Hero International Film Festival. His writing has been featured in LEVEL, Plenitude Magazine, The Hunger Journal, and Quiet Lightning. Johnny is a graduate of Columbia College Chicago's film and television programs and currently resides in Los Angeles. Alvarez has been recognized with the Sundance Institute | Comedy Central Comedy Fellowship.
Tinderbox
Iran's most revered assassin is living an idyllic family life in the U.S. after she betrayed her terrorist father and delivered him to the CIA. But she's forced back in the field when he escapes, kidnaps her son, and launches a global war.
Too Long at the Fair
A failing writer and struggling choreographer hatch a plan to find financial security by fulfilling the role-playing fantasies of the Los Angeles ultrarich.
The Sundance Institute Episodic Program is made possible by Founding Supporters Lyn and Norman Lear and Cindy Harrell Horn and Alan Horn. Leadership Supporters are AMC and SundanceTV, Comedy Central, Netflix, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, STARZ, and WarnerMedia.
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