The Next Generation: Project Involve
Welcomes 30 New Fellows for 2019
The Indie Spirit Awards are days away so stay tuned as we bring you all the fun, the day of the event, Saturday, Feb 24th. In the meantime, we wanted to introduce you to some of the new fellows under Project Involve, Film Independent’s signature mentorship and diversity program, now in its 26th year. 2018 saw the longrunning Artist Development program hit its silver anniversary—check out their Instagram for special shout-outs from some of their favorite PI Fellows of yesteryear, an illustrious group that includes names such as Effie T. Brown, Jon M. Chu, Justin Simien and more.
Let's meet ... The Next Generation: Project Involve … Part Two
Brandon Porter (Editor)
Q: What's your passion? What's the big dream for your career?
BP: Right now I have a pretty successful career cutting tv spots. My dream would be to not completely leave that behind, but balance it between working on a tv series and also film. Bouncing back between the three depending on what my schedule is. Basically, be as versatile as possible. I also promised my mom I would take her to the Emmys or the Oscars one day. So a nomination for those wouldn't be bad either!
Q: How is Project Involve helping you?
BP: It's been great meeting such a diverse group of my peers working in the industry. I personally have not met many people of color working as editors in my field. To give you an example, I'm the only black editor at a company that spans 3 states and another continent! That's no slight on them, but I think it shows the lack of exposure for young people to carry on and pursue the creative arts as a career.
Q: What's the best advice, to date, that you've received?
BP: It's cliche, but never give up on what you want to achieve in this life.
Q: I am an _______ because________?
BP: I am a big dreamer because I believe those dreams are the basis for which my inspiration comes from.
Christine McAuliffe (Editor)
Q: What's your passion? What's the big dream for your career?
CM: I would love to work on a narrative television show in post-production.
Q: How is Project Involve helping you?
CM: Project Involve is helping me connect with other professionals with similar goals and colleagues with whom I can go to for advice and information.
Q: What's the best advice, to date, that you've received?
CM: When collaborating with people, underpromise and over deliver.
Q: I am an _______ because________?
CM: I am a filmmaker because I love connecting with people through thoughtful, well crafted narrative projects.
Jerell Rosales (Director)
Q: What's your passion? What's the big dream for your career?
JR: Directing. My dream is to have a body of work that moves audiences emotionally, creates empathy and contributes to diversity, equity, and inclusion in front of and behind the camera.
Q: How is Project Involve helping you?
JR: Community. Mentorship. Network. Creative and professional development.
Q: What's the best advice, to date, that you've received?
JR: In regards to directors collaborating with their writers: "Respect their craft as much as you respect yours." -Ligiah Villalobos
Q: I am an _______ because________?
JR: I am a director because I believe that you can reach people's hearts and minds to create empathy and empowerment through the power of visual storytelling.
Jhanvi Motla (Producer)
Q: What's your passion? What's the big dream for your career?
JM: My passion is being able to make stories about the world that often go unseen. My big dream is to produce South Asian stories that transcend stereotyping and show the depth of my culture in its truest form.
Q: How is Project Involve helping you?
JM: Project Involve is helping me in several ways. First of all, we get to make a film which will be showcased to the Film Independent community. We are also assigned industry mentors and are constantly having conversations with inspiring members of the film community. I think it's important to receive this exposure and creative stimulation to enrich our storytelling abilities.
Q: What's the best advice, to date, that you've received?
JM: Don't complain.
Q: I am an _______ because________?
JM: I am a filmmaker because stories have the power to change minds without force or aggression.
Morgan Cooper (Cinematographer)
Q: What's your passion? What's the big dream for your career?
MC: I am passionate about culture, faces, micro-expressions, color, and expressing myself through visual language. A big dream for my career is to use my platform to give back to my community and mentor the next generation of young black storytellers
Q: How is Project Involve helping you?
MC: Project Involve has been an incredible experience thus far. I've learned so much through interacting with the other fellows and have felt a tremendous amount of support from this organization. It really does feel like a family, and I'm excited to continue developing my craft through Project Involve.
Q: What's the best advice, to date, that you've received?
MC: The best advice I received is to "keep it jazz" when approaching art. It's important to prepare & test as a cinematographer, but it's equally important to be flexible and open to spontaneity during production.
Q: I am an _______ because________?
MC: I am an artist because I care deeply about growing in my craft.
Nasir Kenneth Ferebee (Producer)
Q: What's your passion? What's the big dream for your career?
NK: My passion is pursuing my life's purpose as a filmmaker and building things from the ground up. The big dream for my career is to follow in the footsteps of moguls like Oprah Winfrey, David Geffen, and George Lucas who have created global enterprises that will live on beyond them.
Q: How is Project Involve helping you?
NK: Project Involve is helping me by providing access to industry veterans and intensive classes. I chose to forgo graduate school, but this program feels likes a mini-graduate education program. Also, just being associated with the brand of Project Involve is a huge privilege. Other alumni of the program that I admire include Kahlil Joseph and Mel Jones so I recognize the esteem of having gone through this fellowship.
Q: What's the best advice, to date, that you've received?
NK: The best advice that I've ever received is to always take a meeting.
I do coffee meetings twice a month with someone in the industry that I do not know. We meet up, chat about the business, and I always make it a point to ask the questions, Is there anything that I can do for you? How can we support one another?
Q: I am an _______ because________?
NK: I am a filmmaker because it is my divine calling in this world. I always say that filmmaking for me is not just a profession, it's a purpose.
Omer Levin Menekse (Writer)
Q: What's your passion? What's the big dream for your career?
OLM: Learning about people and sharing that insight with them to engender more empathy in all. To me, a movie is successful when I feel like I'm learning something new about the human condition and I try to inject that sense of humanity into my projects as well.
Q: How is Project Involve helping you?
OLM: So far, it has given me an infrastructure of people. I haven't met a single person in the program who does not have an interesting POV of life. It has been fun and insightful to be a part of this community.
Q: What's the best advice, to date, that you've received?
OLM: When you walk into a room, every other person in there is also worried about how they are being perceived.
Q: I am an _______ because________?
OLM: I am a cosmological joke because my dad is Jewish and my mom is Muslim and I immigrated to America just as Trump became president.
Stephanie Adams-Santos (Writer)
Q: What's your passion? What's the big dream for your career?
SAS: My dream is to create a body of work that honors my family, my lineage, my experience as a queer woman of color. Work that honors the glory and weirdness of being an outsider and honors and encourages tenderness. Beneath it all, I have a duty to poetry. The poet is, as Wallace Stevens said, "a priest of the invisible", and my duty and pleasure as a writer are to uphold always the gift and burden and beauty of life's mystery. I want to do my part to build a bridge across our fears: From Audre Lorde: "Poetry is not only dream and vision; it is the skeleton architecture of our lives. It lays the foundations for a future of change, a bridge across our fears of what has never been before.”
Q: How is Project Involve helping you?
SAS: Project Involve is a beautiful family! It grows its Fellows and supports our development through an emphasis on community. As a poet without a traditional filmmaking background, it's wonderful to know that my work is welcome and valued‚ from the beginning I have felt embraced by our wonderful cohort of fellows and our fantastic program leaders Dea and Francisco and the staff at Film Independent. Aside from the tremendous gifts of mentorship, workshops, in-kind and financial support for our short films‚ and many other benefits‚ the embrace of our individual creativity has been extraordinary and empowering.
Q: What's the best advice, to date, that you've received?
SAS: Find your people. Go towards those who embrace *all* of you, those who see your potential as though it's already manifested, those who embrace your awkwardness and strangeness and make you feel flawless, those who love you unconditionally, those who champion your vision and remind you what you're capable of. Surround yourself with those who want to see you succeed and in whose company you feel yourself shining. Find your best people and in that tender and loving community, you will grow!
Q: I am an _______ because________?
SAS: I am a writer because all my eyes are open underneath. I am here to witness life and lift up to the surface the submerged language of that witnessing.
Steve Kim (Producer)
Q: What's your passion? What's the big dream for your career?
SK: Filmmaking. To create cinema that is meaningful to me and to others.
Q: How is Project Involve helping you?
SK: Project Involve is helping me network, explore all different facets of filmmaking, and learn even more about my passion.
Q: What's the best advice, to date, that you've received?
SK: No matter your position or where you are in your career, always continue to learn.
Q: I am an _______ because________?
SK: I am a producer because it is incredibly fulfilling to aid in the creation of meaningful art, from its inception as a kernel of an idea to the final product.
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