LIFE AFTER THE LABS

Completed Projects
The 2004 Gotham Awards have nominated two Lab alumni, Debra Granik and Josh Marston, for the Breakthrough Director Award. Granik developed Down to the Bone at the 1999 Screenwriters and Filmmakers Labs, and Marston developed Maria Full of Grace (for which star Catalina Sandino Moreno was also nominated as Breakthrough Actor by the Gotham Awards) at the 2002 Screenwriters Lab. Other Lab films recently honored include Laura Colella’s Stay Until Tomorrow (2000 Filmmakers and Screenwriters Labs), which won the 29th New England Film and Video Festival, and a Special Jury Prize for Directing and the Best Actress Award at the Ft. Lauderdale Film Festival. Juan Pablo Rebello and Papla Stoll’s Whisky (2003 Sundance/NHK International Filmmakers Award Winner, Uruguay), won the 2004 Tokyo International Film Festival. And more good news for Gregg Araki’s Mysterious Skin (1997 Screenwriters Lab) – after a successful festival run, the film was picked up for distribution by Tartan Films and TLA Releasing and will be in theatres in Spring 2005.

In Post Production
Many Feature Film Program projects are nearing completion, including Miranda July’s Me And You and Everyone We Know (2003 Screenwriters and Filmmakers Labs), starring John Hawkes and Miranda July; Laurie Collyer’s Shall Not Want (2001 Screenwriters and Filmmakers Lab), starring Maggie Gyllenhaal; David Jacobson’s Down in the Valley (2003 Screenwriters Lab), starring Edward Norton and Evan Rachel Wood; Abdi Nazemian and Micah Schraft’s Dot (2004 Screenwriters Lab), directed by Jamie Babbitt and starring Elisha Cuthbert, Camilla Belle, Edie Falco, and Martin Donovan; and Ira Sachs’ Forty Shades of Blue (1998 Screenwriters Lab), starring Rip Torn. Other Lab-supported films in the post-production stage include Michael Kang’s The Motel (2002 Screenwriters and Filmmakers Labs), Doug Sadler’s Swimmers (2002 Screenwriters and Filmmakers Labs), Henry Barrial’s True Love (2003 Screenwriters Lab), and the international productions of Hany Abu-Assad’s Paradise Now (2003 Screenwriters and Filmmakers Labs) and last year’s Sundance/NHK winner Andrucha Waddington’s House of Sand (2004 Sundance/NHK Award winner, Brazil).

In Pre-Production
Several more Lab projects are moving forward, including David Ayer’s Harsh Times (1997 Screenwriters Lab), beginning production in December with stars Christian Bale and Freddy Rodriguez; Orlando “Dito” Montiel’s A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints (2004 Screenwriters and Filmmakers Labs), to begin shooting in the spring with Robert Downey, Jr.; Kieran and Michele Mulroney’s Paper Man (2004 Screenwriters and Filmmakers Labs), gearing up for a Spring 2005 start; and the international productions of Dror Shaul’s Sweet Mud (2003 Filmmakers and Screenwriters Labs) and Teboho Mahlatsi’s Scar (2003 Filmmakers and Screenwriters Labs), both aiming for projected Spring 2005 starts. And Sterlin Harjo’s Four Sheets to the Wind (2004 Screenwriters and Filmmakers Labs) has added a key member to the creative team, bringing on Ted Kroeber as producer.

Finally, Richard Press project Virtual Love (2004 Filmmakers and Screenwriters Labs) has received the 2005 Maryland Producers Club Fellowship. Established to help alumni of the Feature Film Program bring their projects to the screen, the annual fellowship provides financial support once the selected project has left the Sundance Labs. The fellowship provides a $10,000 bridge grant to assist with expenses such as casting, budgeting, and location scouting. Press’ Virtual Love is the true story of National Book Award-winner Paul Monette’s harrowing friendship with Tony Johnson, a charismatic 15-year-old abuse survivor and cause celebre. As Tony continued to become one of the most important people in Paul’s life, Paul began to suspect that Tony may not actually exist. Prior to Virtual Love, his first feature film project, Press wrote and directed several short films, including 2÷3, Rambles, and Expecting, all of which appeared at the Berlin International Film Festival.