Completed Projects
Four projects developed at the Feature Film Program Labs premiered at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival. Festivalgoers bestowed the Audience Award for a Dramatic Feature to Josh Marston’s Maria Full of Grace (2003 Screenwriters Lab), which went on to receive the Silver Bear for Best Actress (Catalina Sandino Moreno) and the Alfred Bauer Prize at the 2004 Berlin Film Festival. Produced by Paul Mezey and HBO Films, the film will be released by Fine Line Features in July. Also premiering in Park City was Down to the Bone (1999 Screenwriters and Filmmakers Labs), directed by Debra Granik who collaborated with Richard Lieske on the screenplay. At the Festival, Granik earned the Dramatic Directing Award and lead actor Vera Farmiga was recognized with a Special Jury Prize for her performance in the film, which was produced by Anne Rosselini and Susan Leber. The Best Thief in the World (2002 Filmmakers and Screenwriters Labs), written and directed by Jacob Kornbluth, also premiered at the Festival. Tim Perell and Nicola Usborne produced the film, which stars Mary Louise Parker, for Showtime. Also premiering at the Festival was Evergreen (2000 Screenwriters Lab ), written and directed by Enid Zentelis, starring Addie Land, Mary Kay Place, and Bruce Davison and produced by Eva Kolodner, Yael Melamede and Norma Straw.

Winter Solstice (2001 Screenwriters Lab), written and directed by Josh Sternfeld, will premiere at the 2004 Tribeca Film Festival. The film stars Aaron Stanford, Anthony LaPaglia, and Allison Janney and was produced by John Limotte and Doug Bernheim. Michael Burke’s The Mudge Boy (2000 Filmmakers and Screenwriters Labs), which premiered at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival and won Best Feature at the 2003 Los Angeles Outfest, will be released in May by Strand Releasing. Stanley Tucci, Beth Alexander, and Allison Benson produced the film, which stars Emile Hirsch, Richard Jenkins, and Thomas Guiry.

Post-production
Lab films currently in post production domestically include Doug Sadler’s Swimmers (2002 Screenwriters and Filmmakers Labs), starring Sarah Paulson and Shawn Hatosy and produced by Melanie Backer, David Leitner and Michael Yanko; Laura Collela’s Stay Until Tomorrow (2000 Filmmakers and Screenwriters Labs), produced by Amy Geller; Michael Kang’s The Motel (2002 Filmmakers and Screenwriters Labs), produced by Miguel Arteta, Matthew Greenfield, and Gina Kwon; Mysterious Skin (1997 Screenwriters Lab), based on the novel by Scott Heim and directed by Gregg Araki; Jordan Roberts’ Around the Bend (1996 Filmmakers and Screenwriters Labs), starring Michael Caine, Josh Lucas, and Christopher Walken and produced by Elliott Lewitt; and Shainee Gabel’s A Love Song for Bobby Long (1999 Screenwriters Lab) starring John Travolta and Scarlett Johansson and produced by Bob Yari, Paul Miller, and David Lancaster.

International projects in the post-production phase are Gjergi Zhuvani’s Goodbye Enemies (Albania, 2002 Sundance/NHK Award Winner); Juan Pablo Rebello and Papla Stoll’s Whisky (Uruguay, 2003 Sundance/NHK Award Winner); Przemyslaw Nowakowski’s Strangers (Poland, 2002 Screenwriters Lab); Sebstian Cordero’s Cronicas (Ecuador, 2002 Sundance/NHK Award Winner); and Yesim Ustaoglu’s Waiting for the Clouds (Turkey, 2002 Screenwriters Lab, 2002 Sundance/NHK Award Winner).

In Production
Currently three projects developed at the Labs are in production: David Jacobson’s Down in the Valley (2003 Screenwriters Lab), starring Edward Norton and Evan Rachel Wood and produced by Holly Weirsma, Edward Norton, Adam Rosenfelt, and Bill Migliore; Forty Shades of Blue (1998 Screenwriters Lab), written and directed by Ira Sachs, starring Rip Torn and Dina Korzun and produced by Margot Bridger; and Women Without Men (2003 Screenwriters Lab), the first narrative feature directed by visual artist Shirin Neshat. The film is shooting in Morocco, and is produced by Hamid Fardjad and Sol Tyron. In April the international project Paradise Now, written and directed by Hany Abu-Assad and produced by Bero Beyer, will begin production.