Tribeca Launches Program To Support Emerging Women Filmmakers

In the midst of increasingly prominent conversation about the barriers faced by women breaking into the film industry, Tribeca, in partnership with Chanel, has launched Through Her Lens: The Tribeca Chanel Women’s Filmmaker Program.

The program is a three-day workshop that will provide project support, master classes, peer-topeer sessions, and mentorship to seven emerging female filmmakers of short form narrative films. Topics to be covered during the workshop include script to screen development, story structure, casting, finding collaborators, and festival strategy and distribution. The workship will end with a pitch session in front of a jury of industry experts, including Patricia Clarkson and Julianne Moore, with one of the participants receiving a $75,000 award to producer her film with the support of Pulse Films and the Tribeca Film Institute. The inaugural event takes place October 26-28

The selected filmmakers and projects are:

Jezebel
Written by Haitian-born actress, writer, and filmmaker Numa Perrier, cofounder of Black&Sexy TV. The short follows Tanya, a young woman who, during the last days of her mother’s life, crashes with five family members in a Las Vegas studio apartment. In order to make ends meet, her sister introduces her to the world of internet cam girls.

The Last Shift
Written by 2014 AFI Directing Workshop for Women fellows Roja Gashtili and Julia Lerman. The story is about a young nurse who grows obsessed with a locked door in the ward where she works, as a revolution unfolds beyond the hospital walls. Gashtili and Lerman premiered their short Rita Mahtoubian Is Not A Terrorist at the Tribeca Film Festival and are currently adapting it for a feature.

Ma
Written by actor/filmmaker Vera Miao whose first feature Best Friends Forever is available on Hulu, Amazon, iTunes and DVD. Ma is about a seemingly “perfect” Chinese daughter, Mona, who loves her sternly loving Ma more than anything, but comes into conflict with her mother when she takes a romantic interest in the man who lives next door.

One Cambodian Family Please For My Pleasure
Written by Anna Martemucci, whose debut film was the coming of age drama Hollidaysburg. In One Cambodian Family Please For My Pleasure, a young mother living in the bleakest of American landscapes seeks to help a refugee family despite her own hardships and through her desire, reveals truths about herself, America, and the nature of the word “freedom.”

Valentine
Written by Christina Voros, the film follows a runaway girl who encounters a stranger in the West Texas desert. They secrets they keep will change the course of their lives forever.

Wig Shop
Written by Kat Coiro, who is currently developing a semi-autobiographical comedy for ABC, Wig Shop is a dark comedy centered on an Orthodox Jewish woman who, over the course of getting her wigs styled, discovers that her African American hairdresser might be her husband’s lover. Based on the personal experiences of producer Jessica Neuman, the short explores a particular stretch of Pico Boulevard in Los Angeles where people from varied backgrounds co-exist, mingle and, sometimes, intertwine.

Jurors for the first event are actor Patricia Clarkson (Learning To Drive, Pieces of April), director/writer Mary Harron (I Shot Andy Warhol, American Psycho), producer Mynette Louie (Land Ho!, The invitation), director/writer Rebecca Miller (Maggie’s Plan, The Private Lives Of Pippa Lee), and actor Julianne Moore (Freeheld, Still Alice).

Mentors taking part in workshop sessions include writer/director Anna Boden (Mississippi Grind, Half Nelson), writer/producer Debora Cahn (Vinyl, West Wing), director/writer Leslye Headland (Bachelorette, Sleeping with Other People), producer Donna Gigliotti (Silver Linings Playbook, Shakespeare In Love), producer Riva Marker (Beasts of No Nation, The Kids Are All Right), and actor/writer/producer Emily Mortimer (Doll & Em, Hugo).

Masterclass teachers for the event are producer Celia Costas (Angels In America, Charlie Wilson’s War), director/writer Catherine Hardwicke (Miss you Already, Thirteen), casting director Ellen Lewis (Boardwalk Empire, The Wolf Of Wall Street), and producer Lydia Pilcher (Darjeeling Limited, The Talented Mr. Ripley).

Participating industry advisors include producer Amy Hobby (Secretary, Lucky Them), casting director Meghan Rafferty (Louie, The Leftovers), producer Jane Rosenthal (Meet the Parents, Wag the Dog), producer Christine Vachon (Carol, I’m Not There), producer Paula Weinstein (The Perfect Storm, Grace and Frankie), and producer Maria Zuckerman (Bessie).