2025 BTTL ACTION GRANT - SHORTLIST
THE FOLLOWING feature PROJECTS ARE SEEKING FINANCE to COMPLETE PRODUCTION IN 2025/26.
The winner of the action grant will be revealed at sundance in january 2025.
Hover over images to reveal DIRECTOR AND PRODUCER BIOS
FINANCE PLAN, BUDGET AND SCRIPT AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST
SIMONE LING | Producer (she/her)
Moving between Los Angeles and London, Simone Ling has a particular interest in working with diverse voices behind and in front of the camera.
Narrative feature producing credits include Spirit Award nominated MOSQUITA Y MARI and Queer Palm and Camera d’Or nominated THEY, an Official Selection of the Cannes Film Festival. Recent short work include award-winning MOVING OUT, Outfest Audience Award winner MY LUNCH WITH SUKI, and Tribeca X Immersive Award winner EMERGING RADIANCE.
A member of the Producers Guild of America, MPEG/IATSE, and BAFTA/LA, Simone is Deputy Chair for BAFTA’s Learning, Inclusion and Talent (DEI&A) Committee, spearheads intersectional outreach for the Sundance Institute’s Feature Film Programs and is an Advisor for Sundance Co//ab’s producing and writing courses. In addition to curating and consulting for labs and festivals worldwide, including Tribeca’s International program and Mexico’s Cine Qua Non, she is a fellow of TAP (TransAtlantic Partners Producing Lab), TFI Network, Film Independent Fast Track and a Rainin Development Grant Fellow.
A Fulbright Scholar, she holds Masters degrees from the University of Oxford and Stanford University, and is a Senior Lecturer in story and development at AFI, The American Film Institute’s Conservatory.
BURNING WELL
DRAMA | PHILIPPINES, USA
On receiving news of his mother’s illness, a young trans man returns home to mend complicated relationships and rediscover what love and family really mean.
Producer:
simone ling
WRITER / DirECTOR:
M.G. Evangelista
M.G. EVANGELISTA | Writer, Director (they/them)
M.G. EVANGELISTA was born in Manila and grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Receiving a 2023 United States Artists Fellowship in Film, Evangelista joined a distinguished list of filmmakers whose past recipients include Barry Jenkins, Dee Rees, Lee Isaac Chung, and Kelly Reichardt. A current DWW AFI Fellow with their horror short proof of concept ANINO, they are also in development on their debut narrative feature, BURNING WELL, that received the 2020 Tribeca All Access Grant, a 2021 WIF x Sundance Finance Intensive Fellowship, an ARRAY + Google production grant, and the 2024 SFFILM Rainin Development Grant. The feature, having just gone through Film Independent's 2024 Screenwriting Lab, is based on their short film FRAN THIS SUMMER, an LGBTQ love story that won the Grand Jury Prize at Outfest and screened at the Sundance Film Festival. In 2022, the film participated in the Torino Feature Film Lab and the Film Fatales: Trans Stories Fellowship.
Playing with cinematic language and subverting narrative tropes, Evangelista delights in capturing people and places with poetry and pop. Featured on Amazon, Hulu, at the Brooklyn Museum, and in i-D Magazine, their body of work includes VR dramedy WATER MELTS, supported by Tribeca and Google, LA GLORIA, a Project Involve produced short, and an HBO Ibero-American Award Finalist and the award-winning documentary THEY CALL ME SUKI, about legendary AAPI activist Suki Terada Ports.
A DGA and AICP's Commercial Directors Diversity Program (CDDP), Evangelista has helmed commercials for Jeep, Gucci, and The Asian American Foundation. Their latest short documentary TO DANCE AGAIN carefully explored how the AAPI Elders of Monterey Park moved beyond the shooting tragedy of January 2023.
Receiving their MFA in Directing from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, they go by the nickname Grace.
PETER PHOK | Producer (he/him)
Peter Phok is an award-winning film producer, behind Ti West’s X, PEARL, and MAXXXINE. He has also produced Ti West’s revenge western, IN A VALLEY OF VIOLENCE, starring Ethan Hawke and John Travolta, with Blumhouse Productions. In 2012, Phok joined producers Eli Roth and Jacob Jaffke for West’s THE SACRAMENT, which world premiered at Venice International Film Festival and released through Magnolia Pictures. Phok began his career as Associate Producer on West’s first feature, THE ROOST. Shortly thereafter he co-produced West’s TRIGGER MAN with indie horror icon Larry Fessenden, joining Fessenden’s production company, Glass Eye Pix. Phok has also served as an IFP/Gotham Narrative Lab Mentor since 2008 and is a member of Film Independent and the Producer’s Guild of America.
COTTAGECORE
PSYCHOSEXUAL THRILLER | CANADA, USA
Tensions arise when a group of queer and polyamorous artists attend an idyllic forest ‘Intimacy Retreat’ to explore and unpack their darkest fears and fantasies. But when a beloved triad member disappears, the well-meaning retreat descends into violent chaos.
PRODUCER:
Peter Phok
WRITER / DIRECTOR:
Sonja O'Hara
SONJA O’HARA | Writer, Director (she/her)
Sonja O’Hara is an Emmy-nominated queer writer, director and actor who was selected as a “Filmmaker To Watch” by Independent Magazine. Past recipients include Moonlight’s Barry Jenkins. O’Hara’s debut feature Root Letter (TUBI) stars Danny Ramirez and received the ReFrame Award. She is set to direct Harvey Keitel, and Rita Moreno in her upcoming psychological thriller, Theirs. O’Hara created the Webby-winning Shudder limited series Doomsday, which was described by Indiewire as, “Part Midsommar, part Yellowjackets, promising salvation in the sexiest and scariest way possible.” O’Hara is a Film Independent Fellow, and a proud member of the Film Fatales. She is represented by VERVE Talent & Literary Agency and Gotham Group.
CARL EFFENSON | Producer (he/him)
Carl Effenson is an award-winning producer whose credits include Dee Rees’ MUDBOUND. The film starring Carey Mulligan, Mary J Blige, Jason Clarke, and Garrett Hedlund was nominated for 4 Academy Awards, was the recipient of the Humanitas Prize and Robert Altman Award at the 2018 Independent Spirit Awards in addition to being the Washington Post and LA Times' Best Picture of the Year.
Other producing efforts include HIDE AWAY starring Josh Lucas and James Cromwell, a Grand Jury prize winner for its cinematography at SXSW and acclaimed director Joe Dante's BURYING THE AX starring Anton Yelchin, Alexandra Daddario, and Ashley Greene. His film MENDING THE LINE starring SAG, BAFTA & Golden Globe winning actor Brian Cox, Sinqua Walls, and Wes Studi was recently released worldwide by Sony Pictures in 2023 to positive reviews and explores the therapeutic power of fly fishing for a marine with PTSD. The film debuted on Netflix in March 2024, reaching #1 on the Netflix US Top Ten.
He is currently in post-production as an executive producer on BOB TREVINO LIKES IT starring Euphoria breakout Barbie Ferreira and John Leguizamo. The film premiered at the 2024 SXSW film festival winning both the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award to rave reviews.
Carl’s films have premiered at some of the most prestigious film festivals around the world including Sundance, Toronto, SXSW, Venice, and London. He resides in Austin, Texas.
THE COW OF QUEENS
DRAMA, COMEDY | USA
A father and daughter ditch a dreaded doctor’s appointment to save a cow that has escaped from a slaughterhouse in Queens. Chasing an impossible dream like Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, their adventure unfolds like a joyride as the neighborhood rallies around them. But they must contend with the butcher, who wants his damn cow back, and dad’s cancer, which threatens to separate this inseparable duo.
PRODUCER:
Carl Effenson
WRITER / DIRECTOR:
Kate Marks
KATE MARKS | Writer, Director (she/her)
Kate Marks is a writer/director who comes from a long line of tricksters and grew up listening to tall tales. Her short films have screened at Tribeca, Slamdance, Edinburgh, Austin, Nashville, Atlanta, Cleveland, New Orleans, PBS, HBO, and more.
Back in the fourth grade, her teacher encouraged her to play the flute and she politely chose the trombone. She continues to reverse expectations in her work THE COW OF QUEENS (Academy Nicholl Winner), PEARL WAS HERE (69 million YouTube views), MANIC (NYTVF Best Drama), 7 DAY GIG (Barbara Boyle Award), MIRACLE MAKER (Queens World Best Short), and HOMEBODY (Beutner Award).
Kate’s fellowships include HBO Access, New York Foundation of the Arts, Jerome Foundation, Film Independent Screenwriting Lab, Fast Track, and Project Involve. At HBO, she shadowed Tim Van Patten on three episodes of PERRY MASON and Scott Ellis on one episode of DIVORCE. After graduating from Brown, she spent nine years writing and directing plays in NYC where The New York Times named her a “superb director.” But she fell in love with filmmaking and ran off to get her MFA in film directing at CalArts. She is currently in development with her features THE COW OF QUEENS with producer Carl Effenson and GO BACK TO BED with producers Laura Rister, Krista Parris, and Shweta Katyal.
She is neurodivergent and her writing often centers the struggles of oddballs and misfits. As a director, her leadership style is informed by her work as a teaching-artist, organizer, and mom. She enjoys giving fellow New Yorkers the random high-five and is deeply motivated by her love of community and the desire to collaborate and connect across difference. Additionally, she is a reckless dancer, a stilt-walker, and a witch (but don’t tell anyone).
NICOLE DOCTA | Producer (she/her)
Nicole Docta is an award-winning documentary filmmaker who has focused her career on producing socially provoking BIPOC stories and managing their impact campaigns. She offers her unique viewpoint as a transracial Korean-American adoptee raised in the Midwest. Nicole last worked as a producer on the Emmy Award-winning BELLY OF THE BEAST (HRWFF 2020) and duPont Award-winner THROUGH THE NIGHT (Tribeca 2020) which aired on PBS’ Independent Lens and POV. Not only does Nicole work to improve outcomes for the communities in her films, she strives to enhance the documentary industry. Nicole served as the Special Initiatives Producer at Firelight Media co-curating the Beyond Resilience Series and helping to implement new artist programs to support BIPOC filmmakers. She currently volunteers for A-Doc and is on the DPA’s Equity and Inclusion committee. Nicole is also a USC CPD NextGen Creative Fellow, one of DOC NYC’s 40 Under 40, a PGA Create alum, Sundance Producer Fellow, and Impact Partners Producer Fellow.
THE DEAD ZONE
DOCUMENTARY | USA
Amidst a nation polarized between “lock’em up” and “abolish” politics, four daring insiders race against time to end a deadly pretrial system in pursuit of a blueprint for change. Their reforms offer hope for those trapped by a failing system.
PRODUCER:
Nicole Docta
DIRECTOR / PRODUCER:
Emily Thomas
EMILY THOMAS | Director, Producer (she/her)
Emily Thomas is a documentary filmmaker, cinematographer, and founder of Lemon Tree Productions. Her work is rooted in intimately documenting the human experience to bring light to pressing social justice and environmental issues with nuance, visual evidence, emotion and hope. Her award-winning films have been featured on PBS, the New Yorker, Vimeo Staff Picks and screened at SF Film Fest, Big Sky, Hot Springs, and D.C. Environmental Film Fest. She recently directed LAST DAYS AT PARADISE HIGH which premiered with The New Yorker and aired on PBS and VOA. It screened at SFFilm, Hot Docs and several other festivals. She recently produced THE GREAT THIRST: WILLIAM MULHOLLAND for PBS and directed Betty Kilby’s story for the docuseries, STORIES OF A GENERATION on Netflix. As a DP, she has worked on films for VICE, The New Yorker, CBS, The Guardian, PBS, VOA, and Frontline. Prior to Lemon Tree she was a journalist reporting on crime, politics and breaking news for VICE and The Huffington Post, and was a human rights investigator at the Human Rights Center and Storyful. She is winner of Fast Company's World Changing Idea Awards and a PGA Create Fellow. She is a graduate of UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism and lives in Baltimore, MD.
GABRIEL MAYERS | Producer (she/her)
Gabriel is the Head of Film at Killer Films and a firm believer in developing and sharing local narratives with global audiences. She works with early career filmmakers as well as veterans to support and usher original and unique stories to production. Gabriel feels by producing narratives while keeping local audiences in mind, stories can be amplified to greater communities. She is drawn to this work because she feels storytelling helps audiences build social empathy and develops the inroads toward societal change. She now uses her financial knowledge and production and development experience to further the renaissance of the most original and diverse narratives in cinema. Her first feature A DIFFERENT MAN written and directed by Aaron Schimberg premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival and competed at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival where Sebastian Stan won the Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance. It will be released by A24 Fall of 2024.
IN CASE OF APOCALYPSE
SCI-FI, FANTASY | USA
This is a creation myth set during a very psychedelic looking apocalypse. In Detroit. With gays. And a techno soundtrack.
PRODUCER:
Gabriel Mayers
WRITER / DIRECTOR:
Olivia Peace
OLIVIA PEACE | Writer, Director (they/them)
Olivia Peace is a non-binary director from Detroit, Michigan living in Los Angeles. Their series, "Against Reality," is a surreal psychedelic autobiography about learning to lucid dream. Part 1 of “Against Reality” premiered at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival and went on to win Gold at the 2022 student Academy Awards.
Olivia's debut feature film, TAHARA, premiered to rave reviews at the 2020 Slamdance Film festival and went on screen at TIFF Next Fest and won awards around the world. TAHARA was acquired by Film Movement and opened in theaters June 2022, becoming a New York Times Critic’s Pick and topping Best Movies of 2022 Lists.
Their work has been championed by grants and fellowships from the Sundance Institute, SFFilm, Adobe, The Academy, and GLAAD. Their upcoming film, In Case of Apocalypse, is a creation myth set in the city of Detroit.
Their work has been supported by fellowships at the Sundance Institute, Adobe, The Academy, and GLAAD. Links to their work can be found below:
CAMILLA HALL | Executive Producer (she/her)
Camilla Hall is an award-winning documentary film Director and Executive Producer. She is a co-founder of the Los Angeles and London-based Lady & Bird Films, alongside Rita Baghdadi and Jennifer Tiexiera. Camilla has directed award-winning independent films as well as commissioned films/series with Discovery, HBO Max Europe, Sky, BBC, and Arte. She has produced alongside Ryan Murphy, Maya Rudolph, and Natasha Lyonne and shown films at festivals around the world including Sundance, Tribeca, and SXSW. The latest film she executive produced is Black Barbie: A Documentary, which premiered at SXSW and sold to Netflix.
LES HIJABEUSES (working title)
DOCUMENTARY | UK
In Paris, one of the world’s most glamorous yet divided cities, a team of young Muslim women come together to sue the French Federation of Football for the right to wear their hijabs on the field. As the case draws international attention, and with their community and their future at stake, they must decide what sacrifices they’re willing to make, in a fight that becomes so much bigger than football.
CO-DIRECTOR / PRODUCER:
Erin Sayder
CO-DIRECTOR / PRODUCER:
Rita Baghdadi
Executive producer: camilla hall
ERIN SAYDER | Co-Director, Producer, Cinematographer (she/her)
Erin Sayder is a Turkish-American-British filmmaker, born and based in London. She is the Co-Producer of the feature documentary SUPER/MAN: THE CHRISTOPHER REEVE STORY (Sundance 2024), and has worked on acclaimed documentaries like BAFTA-nominated QUEENS OF RAP, ERIC CLAPTON: A LIFE IN 12 BARS (TIFF 2017) and CHASING CHAPLIN (Telluride 2021). She has produced 5 short films on the topics of family relationships, the immigration crisis and modern slavery. She is currently in production on her directorial debut feature documentary.
RITA BAGHDADI | Co-Director / Producer / Cinematographer (she/her)
Rita Baghdadi is an Emmy award-winning Moroccan-American director known for the intimacy of her cinematic, character-driven films. Her film SIRENS premiered at Sundance in 2022 and won the Grand Jury Prize at Outfest. It was praised as “smartly crafted,” “deeply moving” and “a bold rebellion.” Recently, her film FINDING THE LIGHT premiered on Disney+. Rita’s previous films include MY COUNTRY NO MORE (Independent Lens, winner of Best Feature at Big Sky Documentary Film Festival) and CITY RISING (Emmy award for Best Social Issue Film). Rita is a 2024 Concordia Fellow, a 2023 Sundance Momentum Fellow and DOC NYC’s ‘40 under 40’ class of 2022.
VALERIE STEINBERG | Producer (she/her)
Named one of Variety’s 10 Producers to Watch in 2023, Valerie Steinberg is a producer based in Los Angeles. Her feature film producing credits include “Karmalink,” a Cambodian sci-fi that opened Venice Film Critics’ Week, executive produced by XYZ Films. She is Executive Producer of “War Pony” (dir. Riley Keough/Gina Gammell), winner of the Caméra D’Or at Cannes 2022, as well as Executive Producer of A24’s “The Inspection,” world premiere TIFF 2022, Golden Globe and Indie Spirit nominee. Valerie also served as EP of Disney's “Bite Size Halloween” series, streaming on Hulu, overseeing budgets and production globally with 20th Digital Studio.
With her slate of films in development, Valerie has taken part in film training programs and labs around the world, including Breaking Through the Lens projects “Not Your Average Queen” and “Little Lying Wild,” as well as Berlinale Talents (2024, 2021), Sundance x Women in Film Financing Intensive (2021), Frontières (2024), Rotterdam Lab (2021), Venice Biennale College Cinema (2020), Gotham Week (2020), Film Independent Producing Lab (2019), Tribeca All Access (2019), and the Hong Kong Asia Film Financing Forum (2018). She mentors for SXSW, Soho House, NYU, Columbia, and Yale, and has served on the jury at Aspen Shortsfest, Palm Springs ShortFest, Sun Valley Film Festival, and SeriesFest.
Valerie has a proven track record of discovering and breaking new talent, as evidenced by her award-winning short films – distributed on Criterion Channel, HBO Max, and Hulu – including “Hair Wolf” (dir. Mariama Diallo, Sundance winner 2018), “Fry Day” (dir. Laura Moss; SXSW, Tribeca winner 2017), “The Breakthrough” (SXSW 2023), “Neo-Dome” (SXSW 2024 Audience Award winner), “Coffee Shop Names” (dir. Deepak Sethi; Soho House winner, streaming on Max), and “Blocks” (dir. Bridget Moloney; Sundance, SXSW, AFI DWW). Valerie graduated from Yale University with a degree in Philosophy and Chinese.
LUX NOCTIS
Drama, Horror, Magical Realism | mexico, USA
In an isolated matriarchal community, facing the brutal coming-of-age rituals women must go through to ensure their survival, Lina develops a forbidden relationship with a man and burns the status quo to the ground, lighting the path for a new way of life.
PRODUCER:
VALERIE STEINBERG
WRITER / DIRECTOR:
DAMIANA ACUÑA
DAMIANA ACUÑA | Writer, Director (she/her)
Born and raised in the countryside in the state of Morelos, Mexico, Damiana holds an M.F.A. in Film Directing from the American Film Institute Conservatory. Her short film Lux Noctis won the Oscar®-qualifying Grand Jury Award for Best Narrative Short at the Florida Film Festival and was considered for the 2023 Academy Awards Best Live Action Short Film category. Her visual poem Aurum, shot with her phone during the pandemic, premiered on Pantaya and Dish Latino and her most recent short film Campos de Oro was commissioned by the National Basketball Association and won first place at the Films For Fans initiative against eight male directors.
She was selected by HBO and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) for the Tomorrow’s Filmmakers Today program and participated in Cine Qua Non’s Script Revision Lab and Storylines Lab in 2023 with the support of The Academy and Tribeca.
Damiana has also directed national and international commercials for major brands such as Walmart, McDonald’s and Coca-Cola and is represented in the US by Sharon Horgan's Merman.
She currently works as a mentor of the Youth Cinema Project teaching film to students from underrepresented communities in Los Angeles.
Lux Noctis will be her debut feature.
VERONIQUE ZERDOUN | Producer (she/her)
With a Master's degree in Cultural Management after a Master's degree in comparative literature, Veronique began her career at UGC in the marketing department of theatrical film distribution.
She became a producer at IMA Films and then created her own production company "Attention moteur" in 2000, where she produced, films such as “Nos enfants chéris” by Benoit Cohen which attracted more than 380,000 tickets in France. She then worked as a producer at Libris Films and later at the Alliance de Production Cinématographique (APC).
She joined the Tabo Tabo Films team in 2013 where she develops films and series projects. She has been running the company since 2020, and has produced four fictional films for cinema in the last three years. Most recently, she produced the film “La Voie Royale” by Frederic Mermoud which premiere at the Locarno International Film Fest in 2023 and was nominated for a Cesar Award.
GUILLAUME MALANDRIN | Producer (he/him)
Altitude 100 Production is a Brussels based production house founded by Guillaume Malandrin in 2012.
Dedicated to create auteur films with strong European potential, we are particularly interested in projects by directors with authentic, cinematographic and artistic vision.
Guillaume Malandrin produced several feature films such as, in 2004 Aaltra by Benoît Delépine and Gustave Kervern, in 2010 Kill me please by Olias Barco.
He essentially produced feature, as In Syria in 2017 and The Wall in 2023 directed by Philippe Van Leeuw, and also in 2023 Bye Bye Tiberias a documentary by Lina Soualem
MAY YOU OUTLIVE US
DRAMA | Lebanon, France, Belgium
Six days in Beirut, four women caught in the whirlwind of life, between joy and melancholy, traditions and the hope of renewal. Four women living in the same house navigate a destroyed city and their own upended lives.
PRODUCER:
Veronique Zerdoun
Guillaume malandrin
WRITER / DIRECTOR / Producer:
Isabelle Mecattaf
ISABELLE MECATTAF | Writer, Director, Producer (she/her)
Isabelle is a French-Lebanese Filmmaker based in New York City. She studied English Literature and Philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania, and holds an MFA in Filmmaking from NYU Tisch.
Isabelle has worked on projects in Beirut, New York, Paris and Los Angeles. Titles include Sweet Thing by Alexandre Rockwell (Crystal Bear at Berlinale 2020, Critics’ Choice at Tribeca Film Festival 2021), Plaisir by Molly Gillis (SXSW 2021 premiere, Aspen Shortsfest 2021 Youth Jury Award), Ebb & Flow by Nay Tabbara (Tribeca 2024 Winner, palm Springs, Nashville), and more.
Her most recent short film Beity (2021) was officially selected to TIFF, Aspen, and Hollyshorts (where it won an award) - among others. It was purchased by The New Yorker and is now streaming on their platform.
Isabelle is developing her first feature film titled May You Outlive Us. The script was selected to the TIFF Filmmaker's lab in 2022, where it won the Every Story People's Fellowship. It was a winner of the BlackList-inspired NYU purple List in 2023, an official selection of the NYU Production Lab Slate in 2023 and a Black Family Grant Finalist in 2023. The film is a French-Lebanese-Belgian co- production set to shoot in 2025 in Lebanon.
LYNN-WOOD FIELDS | Producer (she/her)
Award-winning filmmaker, producer, and educator, Lynn-Wood Fields graduated with her MFA in digital filmmaking from the University of Montana. Her work has since gone on to screen at over 50 film festivals and venues globally including “Are We There Yet” screening at the Indie Memphis Film Festival, 2016; Western History Association Conference, 2015; Frozen River Film Festival, 2014. Her current projects include the television series “Perma Red” in pre-production, “House Calls”, premiering on PBS in 2022, “Social Impact” with the Institute for Family, “Snqweyɫmistn” a documentary on Salish forever foster homes, and “Return to the Blanket.” Lynn-Wood considers herself a film advocate for Montana. She owns Montana Film Tax Credits which has consulted on $20MM of credit transfers and Media Training Center which focuses on training Montana filmmakers. She is also the president of the Montana Media Coalition(MCM) which is working on legislation around the MEDIA Act (Montana Economic Development Industry Advancement) that focuses on tax credits and cap raises. She is passionate about working with AccelerateMT to connect Montanans to film and media rapid training courses for them to economically benefit from this industry through workforce development.
ELSA RAMO AND TIFFANY BOYLE | Producers (she/her)
Elsa Ramo and Tiffany Boyle founded Vested Interest with the goal to discover, develop, and produce unique filmmaking voices and stories. Credits include JOYLAND, which won the 2023 Spirit Award for Best International Feature, was short-listed for the 2023 Oscar’s International Feature category, and was Cannes 2022’s Un Certain Regard Jury Prize winner; Paul Schrader’s THE CARD COUNTER, starring Oscar Isaac and Tiffany Haddish, executive produced by Martin Scorsese; CHICK FIGHT, starring Malin Akerman and Bella Thorne; and Mayim Bialik’s feature directorial and writing debut AS THEY MADE US, starring Dustin Hoffman, Simon Helberg, and Dianna Agron. Upcoming they have BORDERLAND, starring Felicity Jones and Mark Strong, and SWEET SUE. Stuart Arbury has worked with Elsa & Tiffany for over five years. Prior to this Stuart served executive posts at Captivate Entertainment (THE BOURNE IDENTITY franchise) and Dimension Films, overseeing MTV’s SCREAM TV series.
PERMA RED
THRILLER | USA
A haunting true-life thriller set on the Flathead Indian Reservation in Perma, Montana. It is the story of Louise White Elk, a Salish teenager coming of age in the 1940’s during a time when government-run boarding schools are destroying the Indigenous tribes.
PRODUCERS: LYNN-WOOD FIELDS, ELSA RAMO & TIFFANY BOYLE
WRITER: Wenonah Wilms
DIRECTOR:
Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers
ELLE-MÁIJÁ TAILFEATHERS | Director (she/her)
Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers is a writer, director, producer and actor. She is a member of the Kainai First Nation (Blood Tribe, Blackfoot Confederacy) as well as Sámi from Norway. Tailfeathers made her feature co-directorial debut with THE BODY REMEMBERS WHEN THE WORLD WAS BROKE OPEN, which won several awards including Best Canadian Feature Film from Toronto and Vancouver Film Critics Associations. Her feature documentary KÍMMAPIIYIPITSSINI: THE MEANING EMPATHY explores addiction and recovery in the Kainai First Nation and premiered at Hot Docs 2021, receiving multiple accolades. Her short documentary "Bihttos" was included in the 2015 TIFF Top Ten Shorts and was commissioned for the imagineNATIVE Embargo Collective. It won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary Short at the Seattle International Film Festival. Tailfeathers is also a member of several film academies and organizations,
APOORVA CHARAN | Producer (she/her)
Apoorva Charan is an LA based producer who was born in India, raised in Northern California, and started her career as a digital producer in Singapore.
Her producorial feature debut, JOYLAND premiered at the Cannes Film Festival (2022) and won the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize, the Queer Palm, and Best International Film at the Independent Spirit Awards (2023). The film was Pakistan's entry to the 95th Academy Awards, was the first film from Pakistan to make the shortlist, and has screened at festivals around the world including Sundance, TIFF, and BFI London Film Festival.
An alumnus of Columbia University's MFA Film program, Charan has produced multiple award- winning short films including LONELY BLUE NIGHT which won the Audience Award for Best Short Film at AFI Fest 2020 and is available to stream on HBO Max, 空间 DISTANCE which won Film Pipeline's Best Film Award in 2020, and INTERIORS which premiered at TIFF in September 2018. She has also served on the jury for Palm Springs Short Film Festival.
Charan was a 2019 Project Involve Creative Producing fellow, a 2020 Film Independent Creative Producing Lab fellow, a 2021 Women in Film Emerging Producers fellow, a 2022
Sundance Creative Producing Lab fellow, a 2023 BAFTA Breakthrough, a 2024 Gotham-Cannes Producers Network fellow and has worked in development at Big Beach, Walt Disney Studios' live action department and at Blue Harp. She has also taught at Columbia University as an Adjunct Professor for the School of the Arts.
Through her film and tv production company, All Caps, Charan aims to produce unique narratives for a global audience.
PURPLE COTTON
drama | BRAZIL, USA
On a trip to the Amazon, pregnant Leo falls madly in love with Nadia, an aspiring musician. Their reckless romance leads to a miscarriage - a tragedy that binds them over chapters of their lives, reconciling with their ideas of womanhood, motherhood, and nature.
PRODUCER:
APOORVA CHARAN
WRITER / DIRECTOR:
Jasmin Tenucci
JASMIN TENUCCI | Writer, Director (she/her)
Jasmin Tenucci is a writer and director based in São Paulo, Brazil.
Her directing work includes the short film AUGUST SKY, which won the Special Mention at Cannes 2021 Official Selection, and four episodes of the Brazilian television series SHOP TUDO (Glaz Entretenimento/Fall 2023). Her screenwriting work includes co-developing and writing on Netflix's upcoming VALENTINA's 12 SIGNS (2024) and Globo’s AS FIVE (2020).
She has also adapted the novel HOTEL ON THE CORNER OF BITTER AND SWEET for Oscar-nominated director Bing Liu and the Brazilian novel THE PEDIATRICIAN for Anonymous Content Brazil. In parallel, she has been an ongoing script consultant in several feature projects in Brazil and teaches screenwriting workshops in underrepresented communities in her city, São Paulo.
Tenucci served as editor on JOYLAND (2022), which won the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize at Cannes in 2022 and Best International Film at the Spirit Awards in 2023; NICE TALKING TO YOU (2018) TIFF and Palms Springs; produced DARLING (2019), which won Best Short Film at The Venice Film Festival and SJAUMST (2017) which won the xxxx.
Tenucci holds a BA in Film from São Paulo University and an MFA in Writing and Directing from Columbia University Film School, where she also taught filmmaking in the film undergraduate program. She is currently developing two feature films that she will direct: PURPLE COTTON, which participated in Cannes Focus Co-Pro 2023, the Nouveau Festival Market 2023 and won the Arte Kino Award, as well as THE SMALLEST WHALE IN THE WORLD, which won the 2017 Columbia Alfred P. Sloan Development Grant and the Sloan TIFF Pitch Award 2023.