IFP Filmmaker Labs Open for Submissions
Published on Tuesday, 14 February 2012 20:57
IFP’s Independent Filmmaker Labs are a year-long fellowship supporting independent filmmakers when they need it most: through the completion, marketing, and distribution of their first features. Lab submission is open to all first-time documentary and narrative feature directors with films in post-production. Structured in three week-long components held over the year, the Labs offer personalized attention on post-production, audience building, and distribution strategies in the digital age, followed by continued support from IFP as the project premieres in the marketplace.
Deadlines to Apply: March 9 (Documentary) / April 6 (Narrative)
Recent Lab Project alumni now in theaters include Dee Rees’ Pariah (Focus Features), Alrick Brown’s Kinyarwanda (AFFRM), and Victoria Mahoney’s Yelling to the Sky (MPI), being released this spring. Premieres at 2012 festivals have included An Oversimplification of Her Beauty (Sundance), Welcome to Pine Hill (Slamdance, Grand Jury Award), Una Noche (Berlin), and The Light in Her Eyes and Smokin’ Fish (IDFA 2011) - with more Lab alumni set for upcoming festivals and broadcast.
NFF is proud to partner with IFP on this year's upcoming Script to Screen Conference, taking place Saturday, March 17 at 92YTribeca. This day long event is the place for writers and writer/directors to explore the art, craft, and business of writing. Last year, NFF partnered with IFP to present staged readings to two works in their Narrative Filmmaker Labs, and to bring in Academy Award-winning writer/director Barry Levinson (Diner, Rain Man) as the conference's keynote speaker. Levinson was NFF's Screenwriters Tributee in 2010.
More to come about the upcoming 2012 Script to Screen Conference.
To apply to IFP Filmmaker Labs or for more information, please visit http://www.ifp.org/programs/labs.
PHOTO ABOVE: Eugene Hernandez (Film Society of Lincoln Center) chats with writer/director Barry Levinson at last year's Script to Screen.
NFF Announces New Education Initiative: Teen View Writing Labs
Published on Friday, 03 February 2012 21:15
In keeping with the Nantucket Film Festival’s mission of highlighting screenwriters, the Festival is proud to announce the creation of a series of educational Writing Labs running over three weekends throughout the winter and spring of 2012. Nantucket teens will have an opportunity to develop the basic skills required to write for radio, stage and screen. The Teen View Writing Labs represent an expansion of the Festival’s educational program, which has been engaging local Nantucket youth since 2001. Veteran filmmaker and arts educator, Jay Craven, will lead the labs and bring his hands-on approach to working with students by engaging them in one-on-one story development sessions that serve to prime the creative pump.
The first Teen View Writing Lab will launch February 10-12. Students will meet at the Nantucket Athenaeum to immerse themselves in three days of writing “radio plays,” creating comic characters that will then be worked into sketches and monologues. The sessions will culminate in staged readings at the close of the workshop and each will be considered for a possible performance during the 2012 Nantucket Film Festival.
The additional Teen View Writing Labs will focus on short playwriting (March 9-11) and screenwriting (May 18-20). Nantucket students will also have the opportunity to participate in the week-long Teen View on NFF Filmmaking Program (June 17-24), taking place during the Nantucket Film Festival in June, where teens screen their finished short films on Closing Night.
Teen View Writing Lab director, Jay Craven, has worked with a number of teen arts projects including Circus Smirkus, Vermont Young Playwrights, and Fledgling Films, a month-long film intensive for teen writers and filmmakers. He made five feature films that played internationally and at festivals including the Nantucket Film Festival, Sundance, AFI Fest and South by Southwest. His work has screened at special engagements at Lincoln Center, The Smithsonian, Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, and New York’s Anthology Film Archives. Craven also directed and produced the Emmy-winning comedy television series Windy Acres, for PBS affiliates. Craven teaches and directs the film studies program at Marlboro College.
The Teen View Writing Labs mark a new and exciting addition to NFF’s program focused on educating teens about the power of the written word. Founded in 1996, the Nantucket Film Festival continues its mission of promoting cultural awareness and appreciation of the art of screenwriting in cinema.
The Teen View Writing Labs will operate with the support of the Nantucket Athenaeum. For more information and to register by email, contact: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
Catching Up With 2011 Screenplay Competition Finalists
Published on Wednesday, 25 January 2012 17:54
With our Screenplay Competition submission process well under way, we reached out to last year's 9 semi-finalists and finalists, and the winner of our Showtime's Tony Cox Screenplay Competition for an update on their work and careers. Here's what some of them had to say:
- Sarah Adina Smith, one of our three finalists, recently completed a successful Kickstarter campaign for her project, Good People. The film is scheduled to start shooting late spring/early summer, with renowned visual effects supervisor Peter Hjorth (Melancholia). Sarah also completed two new scripts this year!
- As the winner of last year's competition for The Murphys, Kaitlin McLaughlin was invited to the Screenwriters' Colony in October. She called the experience, "[the] best month of my life!" After NFF, the screenplay was accepted into Film Independent's Screenwriters Lab. Kaitlin is looking to bring a casting director to the project in spring. Additionally, she was hired to write an independent feature set for production in spring as well.
- Semi-finalist Bridget Flanery-Fownes submitted her screenplay, Gossamer Folds, to our Script Analysis. Our script doctor offered, "great suggestions," and Gossamer Folds has since been a finalist in two other festival competitions. Bridget is now finishing her new screenplay, Blue Star.
- Steven Arvanites, a semi-finalist for Grilled Cheese Virgin, is the founder of NYCScreenwriter.org, the city's largest rewriting organization. He is now currently working with a casting director to produce his script Beaner Jumping, expected to shoot in June.
- Semi-finalist Andrew Eisen is currently in talks with leading producers to get his project, Youth in Oregon, into production for 2012. In addition to workshopping Youth in Los Angeles last fall, Andrew is wrapping up a first draft of a pilot and working through another feature film script for Matt Baer Films.
Best of luck to all!
NFF Seeks Operations/Outreach Intern for 2012
Published on Thursday, 08 December 2011 18:27
UPDATE: This position is currently available as of January 31, 2012. Please email our Bill Curran, Operations Manager, to apply: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
The Nantucket Film Festival is looking for a dedicated and enthusiastic Operations and Outreach Intern interested in working for school credit or post-graduate educational experience, starting in ASAP and leading up to the Festival, June 22-26, 2011.
The internship will involve planning for the 17th Annual Nantucket Film Festival and will provide hands on education and experience in arts administration, festival production, and outreach and social media coordination. Operations and Outreach Intern will work directly under the supervision and guidance of the Operations Manager, along with the support of the Film Festival staff. Duties include: assisting with execution of social media, marketing, and other outreach plans (Facebook, Twitter, e-blasts, etc.); maintaining and updating festival website; research for marketing and programming operations; assisting Operations Manager with data entry and maintenance of Festival’s database; and general office duties.
Applicants should be attentive to detail, mature, savvy with social media, passionate about film, and have strong organizational and communication skills. Applicants with exceptional knowledge of design software, particularly Adobe Suite programs (e.g. Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign), will be considered first. Familiarity with web design, web content management systems (Joomla, Wordpress), FileMaker Pro, and/or Microsoft Office is a plus.
The time commitment is flexible, but interns will be expected to work between 10-20 hours per week (2 days per week), from now to May 2011, at the Festival's New York office.
Application Instructions:
Interested applicants should email resume and cover letter to Bill Curran, Operations Manager, at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Please put NFF OPERATIONS INTERN in the subject line. This is an unpaid internship. School credit and letters of recommendation are offered.
NFF Seeks Programming Interns for 2012
Published on Thursday, 10 November 2011 17:23
Internship Opportunity: Screenplay Competition/Programming Department
The Nantucket Film Festival is looking for a limited number of enthusiastic and dedicated interns interested in working for school credit, starting in January 2012 and leading up to the Festival, June 20-24, 2012.
The internship will involve planning for the 17th Annual Nantucket Film Festival and will provide hands on experience in arts administration, festival programming, and festival production. Duties include: assisting the staff with Festival's call for film and script entries, manage film and script submissions, screening and reading committee coordination, outreach, and general office duties. Additional tasks include screening films and reading scripts, research film acquisitions and contact distribution companies and filmmakers requesting screeners. Applicants should be attentive to detail, and have strong organization and communication skills. Office skills are a must (familiarity with general office software such as word and excel is necessary). Knowledge of FileMaker Pro and design software, as well as some familiarity with web design, is a plus.
The time commitment is flexible, but interns will be expected to work between 10-20 hours per week, from January to May 2012, at the Festival's New York office.
Application Instructions:
Interested applicants should email resume and cover letter no later than November 30th, 2011 to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Please write the word "internship" in the subject line. Resumes without a cover letter will not be considered. This is an unpaid internship. School credit and letters of recommendation are offered.