FILM INDEPENDENT FELLOWS
Film Independent, the non-profit arts organization that produces the Spirit Awards and the
Los Angeles Film Festival, presents our 2009 Film Independent Fellows.
Our mission is to champion the cause of independent film and support a community of
artists who embody diversity, innovation, and a uniqueness of vision. Each year, we invest
nearly $1,500,000 in our Talent Development Program that develops and trains the next
generation of great independent filmmakers. The program is offered free of charge to
filmmakers with strong, original voices and there are six separate tracks—Directors Lab,
Fast Track, Producers Lab, Project:Involve, Screenwriters Lab, and Spirit Awards grant
winners. Each track is a nurturing yet challenging incubator that helps the filmmaker
move his or her project forward and sustain a career in the film industry.
In 2009, six Film Independent Fellows were nominated at the Spirit Awards: Ramin
Bahrani (director, Chop Shop), Sean Baker (director, Prince of Broadway & Take Out),
Courtney Hunt (writer/director, Frozen River), Lance Hammer (writer/director, Ballast), Neil
Kopp (producer, Wendy & Lucy), and Darius Marder (director, Loot) and seven Fellows
were selected to exhibit their films at the Los Angeles Film Festival: Matt Bissonnette
(writer/director, Passenger Side), Cherien Dabis (writer/director, Amreeka), Larry
Fessenden (producer, I Sell the Dead), Steak House (producer, Weather Girl), Melissa
Lee (producer, Dear Lemon Lima,), Lynn Shelton (writer/director, Humpday), and Suzi
Yoonessi (writer/director, Dear Lemon Lima,). In addition, Courtney Hunt (2006 Film
Independent Fellow) & Scott Kennedy (2005 Film Independent Fellow) were nominated
at the Academy Awards
®
and Cherien Dabis (2005 Film Independent Fellow) won the
FIPRESCI Award at the Cannes Film Festival.
In this annual Talent Guide, we hope that you will find the film artists and professionals for
whom you are looking. This year, 85 new filmmakers were selected from a competitive
pool of over 1,500 applicants. These talented new artists and their projects are outlined
in the following pages. They are the future of independent film. We encourage you to
contact them directly or call us for more information.
Film Independent is deeply thankful to the James Irvine Foundation for funding the
creation of this Talent Guide and supporting diverse voices in the film community.
For more information on these programs and the Fellows who participated in them,
please visit: FilmIndependent.org
or contact Josh Welsh, Director of Talent Development, at
JWelsh@FilmIndependent.org

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