Exclusive: The Gotham Film and Media Institute and HBO Documentary Films have set the cohort and mentors for the second edition of their Documentary Development Initiative. Launched in 2022, the initiative was designed for storytellers who identify as Bipoc, LGBTQ+, and/or storytellers with disabilities, the goal being to provide resources to develop thought-provoking, character-driven, contemporary ideas for documentary films and limited series.
This year’s participants are Rolake Bamgbose, Dan Chen, Elizabeth Lo, Andy Sarjahani, Krystal Tingle, and Monica Villamizar. Distinguished creatives serving as mentors will include Anthony Caronna, Zackary Drucker, David France, Dawn Porter, Fernando Villena, and Nanfu Wang.
Taking place throughout the fall of 2024, the second annual program will see selected filmmakers receive grants of $50,000 for research and creative development at an early stage. HBO and The Gotham will provide resources and mentorship to support the development of documentary projects and select grantees will have the opportunity to receive additional funding.
This year’s participants are Rolake Bamgbose, Dan Chen, Elizabeth Lo, Andy Sarjahani, Krystal Tingle, and Monica Villamizar. Distinguished creatives serving as mentors will include Anthony Caronna, Zackary Drucker, David France, Dawn Porter, Fernando Villena, and Nanfu Wang.
Taking place throughout the fall of 2024, the second annual program will see selected filmmakers receive grants of $50,000 for research and creative development at an early stage. HBO and The Gotham will provide resources and mentorship to support the development of documentary projects and select grantees will have the opportunity to receive additional funding.
- 1/9/2024
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
"So what do we do? Do we just allow it to happen, do we just continue to do what we been doin', and not prepared for the worst. Or – do we wake up?" Here's an excellent short doc film to watch and be inspired by. I'm Not An Activist is a 10-minute short film directed by filmmaker Dan Chen, who also directed the feature doc film Accepted recently. It introduces us to the "Dragon Combat Club" of New York City, a free self-dense course to help residents of New York City defend themselves against violent racism. It launched initially in early 2020 in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, when attacks on Asians around America were increasing. They decided to take matters into their own hands and turn the concept into a community outreach program, connecting with all kinds of different people. It's a beautifully-shot profile of this group, its founder,...
- 8/3/2023
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Exclusive: Netflix’s The Kissing Booth producer iGeneration Studios has struck a partnership deal with Square Zero Films to develop scripted features based on Square Zero’s socially relevant documentaries, and the pair have set first three projects.
The first three films to come from the partnership are Scrum, Soufra and Waiting for Mamu. The former tells the story of a Black rugby coach at a predominantly white university in south U.S., Soufra follows the lifelong resident of a Palestinian refugee camp as she rallies women around her to become entrepreneurs and Waiting for Mamu focuses on a social worker and her efforts to champion the rights of children of incarcerated parents. The likes of Erica C. Sutherlin, Francois Caillard and Dan Chen are attached.
iGeneration said the service programs profiled in the docs will benefit financially in the production and distribution of the narrative adaptations, with Square Zero...
The first three films to come from the partnership are Scrum, Soufra and Waiting for Mamu. The former tells the story of a Black rugby coach at a predominantly white university in south U.S., Soufra follows the lifelong resident of a Palestinian refugee camp as she rallies women around her to become entrepreneurs and Waiting for Mamu focuses on a social worker and her efforts to champion the rights of children of incarcerated parents. The likes of Erica C. Sutherlin, Francois Caillard and Dan Chen are attached.
iGeneration said the service programs profiled in the docs will benefit financially in the production and distribution of the narrative adaptations, with Square Zero...
- 1/18/2023
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Documentaries rarely turn out as originally conceived. They evolve once the cameras roll — unexpected characters may emerge or new facts come to light. It’s in the nature of an unscripted artform.
But in the case of the new film Accepted, that documentary truism reached an extreme. Director Dan Chen and producers Jason Y. Lee and Jesse Einstein thought they were embarking on a film with a predictable narrative when things suddenly and dramatically changed.
“The proverbial shit hit the fan,” says Lee.
The initial concept behind Accepted was to explore Tm Landry, a school in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana with a remarkable track record getting its students — mostly minority kids — into Ivy League or other prestige universities. The private K-12 school gained fame for viral videos that showed an anxious student in front of a laptop, surrounded by classmates, awaiting word on whether they had been accepted at Harvard, Yale,...
But in the case of the new film Accepted, that documentary truism reached an extreme. Director Dan Chen and producers Jason Y. Lee and Jesse Einstein thought they were embarking on a film with a predictable narrative when things suddenly and dramatically changed.
“The proverbial shit hit the fan,” says Lee.
The initial concept behind Accepted was to explore Tm Landry, a school in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana with a remarkable track record getting its students — mostly minority kids — into Ivy League or other prestige universities. The private K-12 school gained fame for viral videos that showed an anxious student in front of a laptop, surrounded by classmates, awaiting word on whether they had been accepted at Harvard, Yale,...
- 7/8/2022
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Accepted Greenwich Entertainment Reviewed for Shockya.com & BigAppleReviews.net, linked from Rotten Tomatoes by Harvey Karten Director: Dan Chen Cast: Cathy Bui, James Dennis, Mike Landry, Adia Sabatier, Alicia Simon, Isaac Smith Screened at: Critics’ link, NYC, 6/14/22 Opens: July 1, 2022 The opening scene reminds me of the introduction to “Mulholland Drive,” namely a jitterbug […]
The post Accepted Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post Accepted Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 6/26/2022
- by Harvey Karten
- ShockYa
Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson’s “Summer of Soul,” released nationwide in theaters July 2 and simultaneously on Hulu’s streaming service, is the latest in a series of high-profile documentaries from L.A.-based Concordia Studio since it formally launched early last year.
Concordia snagged a quarter of the 16 slots in the 2020 U.S. documentary competition at Sundance and landed a then record-breaking deal for Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine’s “Boys State” with A24 and Apple TV. Garrett Bradley’s “Time,” which like “Boys State” won an award at Sundance, was picked up by Amazon Studios and went on to become nominated for an Oscar. Ramona S. Diaz’s “A Thousand Cuts,” meanwhile, won a Gotham Award.
Not to be outdone, “Summer of Soul” scored two awards at Sundance this year, and broke “Boys State’s” record distribution deal, nabbing more than $12 million from Disney-owned Searchlight and Hulu, the most ever...
Concordia snagged a quarter of the 16 slots in the 2020 U.S. documentary competition at Sundance and landed a then record-breaking deal for Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine’s “Boys State” with A24 and Apple TV. Garrett Bradley’s “Time,” which like “Boys State” won an award at Sundance, was picked up by Amazon Studios and went on to become nominated for an Oscar. Ramona S. Diaz’s “A Thousand Cuts,” meanwhile, won a Gotham Award.
Not to be outdone, “Summer of Soul” scored two awards at Sundance this year, and broke “Boys State’s” record distribution deal, nabbing more than $12 million from Disney-owned Searchlight and Hulu, the most ever...
- 7/1/2021
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
Most documentaries about the failures of the American education system end up, ironically, failing the kids at their center. They stubbornly stick to a point of view about the plight of poor, usually Black, students or the exhaustion of their educators. They line up experts, some more officious than others, to present anecdotes and statistics. The students become emblems of individual triumph, their stories lessons in hope.
Dan Chen’s Accepted thankfully avoids these pitfalls. Premiering at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival, the brilliant documentary follows four high-schoolers at T.M. Landry College Preparatory, an unconventional K-12 day school in rural Louisiana ...
Dan Chen’s Accepted thankfully avoids these pitfalls. Premiering at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival, the brilliant documentary follows four high-schoolers at T.M. Landry College Preparatory, an unconventional K-12 day school in rural Louisiana ...
- 6/28/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Most documentaries about the failures of the American education system end up, ironically, failing the kids at their center. They stubbornly stick to a point of view about the plight of poor, usually Black, students or the exhaustion of their educators. They line up experts, some more officious than others, to present anecdotes and statistics. The students become emblems of individual triumph, their stories lessons in hope.
Dan Chen’s Accepted thankfully avoids these pitfalls. Premiering at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival, the brilliant documentary follows four high-schoolers at T.M. Landry College Preparatory, an unconventional K-12 day school in rural Louisiana ...
Dan Chen’s Accepted thankfully avoids these pitfalls. Premiering at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival, the brilliant documentary follows four high-schoolers at T.M. Landry College Preparatory, an unconventional K-12 day school in rural Louisiana ...
- 6/28/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Filmmaker Dan Chen planned to make an inspiring doc about a group of high-achieving students attending a most unconventional school in rural Louisiana, one that had a 100 percent college acceptance rate and sent its Bipoc kids to the likes of Harvard, Yale and Stanford. Well, so much for best laid plans. Unfortunately, right in the midst of production, the Ivy League dreams of Alicia, Adia, Isaac and Cathy, along with the rest of their classmates who were already under immense pressure from the unrelenting boot camp tactics of the school’s founder Mike Landry, morphed into a slow-motion nightmare. Even […]
The post “… the Convergence of Many Different Narratives Clashing All at Once”: Dan Chen on his Tribeca-Debuting High School and College Admissions Doc, Accepted first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “… the Convergence of Many Different Narratives Clashing All at Once”: Dan Chen on his Tribeca-Debuting High School and College Admissions Doc, Accepted first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 6/14/2021
- by Lauren Wissot
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Filmmaker Dan Chen planned to make an inspiring doc about a group of high-achieving students attending a most unconventional school in rural Louisiana, one that had a 100 percent college acceptance rate and sent its Bipoc kids to the likes of Harvard, Yale and Stanford. Well, so much for best laid plans. Unfortunately, right in the midst of production, the Ivy League dreams of Alicia, Adia, Isaac and Cathy, along with the rest of their classmates who were already under immense pressure from the unrelenting boot camp tactics of the school’s founder Mike Landry, morphed into a slow-motion nightmare. Even […]
The post “… the Convergence of Many Different Narratives Clashing All at Once”: Dan Chen on his Tribeca-Debuting High School and College Admissions Doc, Accepted first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “… the Convergence of Many Different Narratives Clashing All at Once”: Dan Chen on his Tribeca-Debuting High School and College Admissions Doc, Accepted first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 6/14/2021
- by Lauren Wissot
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
The New York Indian Film Festival (Nyiff) announced the full lineup last night for their 14th year of celebrating independent, art house, alternate, and Diaspora films from/about/connected to the Indian subcontinent (May 5 – 10) at the SoHo Tiffin Junction. Dedicated to bringing these films to a New York audience, the festival will feature 34 screenings (23 narrative, 11 documentary) –all seen for the first time in New York City.
The festival highlights various cinemas of India’s different regions – Marathi, Bengali and two films from the Northeast. In addition the festival covers cinemas from the neighboring South Asian countries – four films by Pakistani filmmakers, two from Sri Lanka – a feature and a documentary, and one from Nepal.
The festival’s Marathi films include Postcard and multiple-award winning films Astu and Fandry. Directed by Nagraj Manjule, Fandry received rave reviews in India, winning the grand jury prize at the Mumbai Film Festival in October...
The festival highlights various cinemas of India’s different regions – Marathi, Bengali and two films from the Northeast. In addition the festival covers cinemas from the neighboring South Asian countries – four films by Pakistani filmmakers, two from Sri Lanka – a feature and a documentary, and one from Nepal.
The festival’s Marathi films include Postcard and multiple-award winning films Astu and Fandry. Directed by Nagraj Manjule, Fandry received rave reviews in India, winning the grand jury prize at the Mumbai Film Festival in October...
- 4/10/2014
- by Press Releases
- Bollyspice
Festival heads announced on December 9 the Special Screenings, Beyond and Shorts programmes for the 20th anniversary event.
The expanded short film programmes include 62 American and international productions, of which 24 are world, five are North American and eight are Us premieres.
The 2014 Shorts showcase includes Narrative, Documentary, Animation, Anarchy and the new Experimental Programme. Jury Awards are presented to short films in all categories and all films are eligible for the Spirit Of Slamdance Award judged by the film-makers themselves.
Films in the Beyond and Special Screening programmes are eligible for the audience awards.
Special screenings include the world premiere of La Bare (pictured) by Joe Manganiello, the North American premiere of Cheatin’ by Bill Plympton and Waiting For Mamu from Thomas Morgan, Francois Caillaud and Dan Chen.
The Beyond Programme includes the world premiere of Who Took Johnny from David Beilinson, Suki Hawley and Michael Galinsky, Forever Not Alone by Monja Art and Caroline Bobek and Three Night Stand...
The expanded short film programmes include 62 American and international productions, of which 24 are world, five are North American and eight are Us premieres.
The 2014 Shorts showcase includes Narrative, Documentary, Animation, Anarchy and the new Experimental Programme. Jury Awards are presented to short films in all categories and all films are eligible for the Spirit Of Slamdance Award judged by the film-makers themselves.
Films in the Beyond and Special Screening programmes are eligible for the audience awards.
Special screenings include the world premiere of La Bare (pictured) by Joe Manganiello, the North American premiere of Cheatin’ by Bill Plympton and Waiting For Mamu from Thomas Morgan, Francois Caillaud and Dan Chen.
The Beyond Programme includes the world premiere of Who Took Johnny from David Beilinson, Suki Hawley and Michael Galinsky, Forever Not Alone by Monja Art and Caroline Bobek and Three Night Stand...
- 12/9/2013
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
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