Check out our Partner News for the Week of March 13, 2020!

Submissions OPEN: Just for Laughs Stand Up & Pitch 2019

Submissions are now open for the largest and longest-running comedy pitch program, the 10th annual Just For Laughs’ Stand Up & Pitch in Montreal. CBC Comedy, Project 10 Productions and Tubefilter return as presenters of this unique program, running from July 24-27, 2019 during ComedyPRO, Just For Laughs’ elite comedy industry conference.

Learn more on how to submit your pitch here! 

2019 IFP Filmmakers Labs - Apply NOW!

Now entering its 15th year, the IFP Filmmaker Lab annually selects 10 fiction features and 10 nonfiction features to receive support through the completion, marketing, and distribution of their work. 

The deadline to submit to the Documentary Lab is March 5, 2019. 

The deadline to submit to the Narrative Lab is April 17, 2019. 

Learn more about applying here! 

Applications for the 2019 Power of Diversity Workshop are OPEN! 

Advance your project through master classes on the art and business of creative producing with renowned professionals in film, TV and new media! Topics include: story, development, pitching, packaging, financing, scheduling and opportunities in new media. 

Only ten project wills be accepted, apply by March 18th! 

Apply here: www.producersguild.org

Sundance Institute Episodic Lab Applications 

Image courtesy of Sundance

About the Program: Offering one of the few training grounds for independent voices to develop an original series and pilot script, the Sundance Institute Episodic Program provides artists with the tools, training, and industry access to move their projects and careers forward.

The Sundance Institute Episodic Lab is a six-day program at the Sundance Resort in Utah that offers writers the opportunity to workshop an original pilot script, while developing their writing and pitching skills. Working with accomplished showrunners, non-writing creative producers and executives, the Fellows participate in one-on-one story meetings, pitching sessions, and simulated writers rooms, which together provide creative and strategic keys to success. 

The application for this Lab is currently open. Applications will be accepted for the 2019 Episodic Lab until March 13, 2019 at 6:00 PM PST. The application can be found at https://apply.sundance.org

Learn more: Sundance.org

Sundance Institute Indigenous Program + Workshop to be held in St. Paul, Minnesota

Image courtesy of Sundance

The Indigenous Program at the Sundance Institute has built and sustained an Indigenous film circle. The cycle of their work begins by scouting for and identifying Native American and Indigenous artists, bringing them through the mechanisms of support at Sundance Institute to get their work made and shown, then bringing the filmmakers and their work back to native lands. The Native Lab Fellowship has been a vital part of supporting Indigenous filmmakers full-circle since 2004.

The Sundance Institute Indigenous Program is offering an intensive workshop on Experimental Filmmaking, led by artist and filmmaker Sky Hopinka. This session will be offered to a group of select Indigenous nonfiction filmmakers from the St. Paul, MN area, with projects in the development phase. The workshop introduces experimental forms of filmmaking, and allows participants to receive constructive feedback on creative topics, and strategic guidance from national and local experts, which will help them optimize their vision for their films, and build relationships with a creative community that supports high-quality storytelling.

Deadlines vary by opportunity. 

Learn more: Sundance.org

Sundance Institute Feature Film Program 

Image courtesy of Sundance

The Sundance Institute Feature Film Program (FFP) advances original storytelling from distinctive voices by supporting independent filmmakers from development through distribution of their feature projects. 

Through Labs, mentorship, grants, and year-round customized strategic support, we are committed to fostering self-expression, risk-taking, collaboration, and community. The program has championed the unique visions of a next generation of feature filmmakers from around the world, and has become an international model for supporting artists.

More than 400 films supported by the FFP have been made and have connected with audiences worldwide, including:

Reinaldo Marcus Green’s Monsters and Men • Eliza Hittman's Beach Rats • Geremy Jasper's Patti Cake$ • Anna Rose Holmer's The Fits • Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert's Swiss Army Man • Marielle Heller's The Diary of a Teenage Girl • Damien Chazelle's Whiplash • Ryan Coogler’s Fruitvale Station • Benh Zeitlin and Lucy Alibar’s Beasts of the Southern Wild • Sean Durkin’s Martha Marcy May Marlene • Cary Fukunaga’s Sin Nombre • Dee Rees’ Pariah • Haifaa Al-Mansour's Wadjda • Ritesh Batra's The Lunchbox

Learn more: Sundance.org

WRITERS LAB FOR WOMEN OVER 40 IS OPEN FOR SUBMISSIONS

The Writers Lab is excited to return in 2019 for its fifth edition. Backed by Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman, produced by New York Women in Film & Television, with co-founders Elizabeth Kaiden and Nitza Wilon, The Writers Lab is an intensive narrative feature screenplay development retreat for women over the age of 40.

All 2019 applicants will have access to an exclusive webinar hosted by Academy and Sundance Award winning producer Lisa Cortes (Precious, The Woodsman).

The Writers Lab provides a unique and nurturing experience for 12 talented female screenwriters. Selected writers will attend a four-day retreat with outstanding female film mentors, engaging in panels, peer discussions and one-on-one meetings in an idyllic location in Chester, Connecticut in October 2019.

The Writers Lab is dedicated to amplifying the voices of women screenwriters and strives for a new landscape where audiences have access to stories and characters from the perspective of the female gaze, where the female narrative is heard in equal proportion to the male narrative. Applicants must be female and at least 40 years of age by August 1, 2019. Submissions must be feature-length narrative scripts in English.

Submissions are due March 14, 2019. Learn more and apply at https://thewriterslab.nyc/

LADIES FIRST: A CONVERSATION WITH CREATIVE WOMEN