FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media Contact: March 15, 2018 Spencer Alcorn ​ ​ 310.360.1981 [email protected] Sundance Institute Announces Fellows for Two Focused Intensives Diverse Group of Filmmakers Convene for Customized Support and Mentorship 12 Fellows Join Screenwriters Intensive, Supported by the Will & Jada Smith Family Foundation; 10 Join FilmTwo, Supported by Universal Filmed Entertainment Group LOS ANGELES -- This spring, Sundance Institute advances the new work of writers and directors through two focused tracks of support under the auspices of the Feature Film Program: the Screenwriters Intensive, taking place March 15-16, and the FilmTwo Intensive, convening March 22-23. “It’s imperative that we support storytellers at multiple points in their careers, and with tailored programs that address specific challenges,” said Michelle Satter, Founding Director, Sundance Institute Feature Film Program. ​ ​ These Fellows will advance the art and craft of their work under the guidance of experienced filmmakers and ​ ​ ​ ​ industry leaders, while serving the Institute's commitment to introduce the industry to an inclusive pipeline of exciting new storytellers. Under the creative guidance of Satter, the programs are led by Labs Director Ilyse ​ McKimmie (Screenwriters Intensive) and Senior Manager Shira Rockowitz (FilmTwo). ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Screenwriters Intensive Launched in 2013,, the Screenwriters Intensive provides emerging screenwriters with the opportunity to hone ​ ​ their craft in a two-day concentrated workshop focused on the further development of a fiction feature screenplay. Past projects supported at the Screenwriters Intensive include Spa Night, written and directed by Andrew Ahn, ​ ​ and Monsters and Men, written and directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green; both filmmakers return as advisors for ​ ​ this year’s program. The Sundance Institute Screenwriters Intensive is made possible with leadership support from the Will and Jada Smith Family Foundation. ​ ​ The 2018 Screenwriters Intensive Fellows are: Clara Aranovich (writer/director, Mayacamas), Iyabo ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Boyd (writer/director, Kayla and Eddie, en Français), Emma Dudley (writer, Eggshells), Melissa Hickey ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ (writer/director, Panic), Tani Ikeda (co-writer/director, Sealskin Woman), A-Ian Holt (co-writer, Sealskin ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Woman), Tory Kamen (writer, Eleanor Invisible), Gabriella Moses (writer/director, Leche), Alicia D. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Ortega (writer, Righteous Acts), Meedo Taha (writer/director, Other People), Roger Ross Williams ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ (co-writer/director, The Life and Death of Cassandro) and David Teague (co-writer, The Life and Death of ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Cassandro). More information about the Fellows and their supported projects is below. ​ 2 Advisors for the 2018 Screenwriters Intensive include Andrew Ahn (writer/director, Spa Night, an ​ ​ ​ ​ alumnus of the Intensive), Reinaldo Marcus Green (writer/director, Monsters and Men, an alumnus of ​ ​ ​ ​ the Intensive), Chad Hartigan (writer/director, Morris from America), Sian Heder (writer/director, ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Tallulah), So Yong Kim (co-writer/director, Lovesong), Sarah Koskoff (screenwriter, Hello I Must Be ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Going), Dana Stevens (screenwriter, Safe Haven), Joan Tewkesbury (screenwriter, Nashville), Ligiah ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Villalobos (screenwriter, Under the Same Moon), Malik Vitthal (co-writer/director, Imperial Dreams), ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Tyger Williams (screenwriter, Menace II Society), and Andy Wolk (screenwriter, From the Earth to the ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Moon). ​ FilmTwo Intensive FilmTwo was created to support independent filmmakers in response to the challenges they face when developing and completing their second feature film, which is often the greatest obstacle to a sustainable career. These barriers are heightened for women and people of color. The Intensive, which launches this annual program, provides specialized creative and tactical guidance for Fellows. The Sundance Institute FilmTwo Initiative is made possible with generous support from Founding Supporter Universal Filmed Entertainment ​ Group. ​ The 2018 FilmTwo Fellows are writer/directors Ana Asensio, Christina Choe, Deborah Chow, Nia ​ DaCosta, Andrew Okpeaha MacLean, Josh Mond, Nijla Mu'min, Olivia Newman, Celia Rowlson-Hall and Heidi Saman. More information about the Fellows is below. ​ ​ 2018 FilmTwo Creative Advisors include Semi Chellas (Screenwriter, Ophelia), Gyula Gazdag ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ (Filmmaker, Artistic Director, Sundance Directors Lab), Rodrigo Garcia (Writer/Director, Last Days in the ​ ​ ​ Desert), Phil Hay (Screenwriter, The Invitation), Kourtney Kang (Co-Executive Producer, Fresh off the ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Boat), Michele and Kieran Mulroney (Co-Screenwriters, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows), Peter ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Sollett (Director, Freeheld), Joan Tewkesbury (Screenwriter, Nashville) and Alex Tse (Screenwriter, ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Watchmen). ​ 2018 FilmTwo Industry Advisors include Stephanie Allain (Producer, Hustle & Flow), Melissa Breaux ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ (Manager, Management 360), Ian Bricke (Director, Content Acquisition, Netflix), Christine D’Souza ​ ​ ​ Gelb (Agent/Partner, Global Finance & Distribution, Endeavor Content), Ali Herting ​ ​ (Production/Acquisitions Executive, A24), Lynette Howell Taylor (Founder, 51 Entertainment), Tendo ​ ​ ​ Nagenda (Executive Vice President, Production, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures), DanTram ​ ​ Nguyen (SVP, Production, Fox Searchlight), Kim Roth (President of Production, MACRO) and Tristen ​ ​ ​ ​ Tuckfield (Executive Vice President, 30West). ​ 3 The 2018 Screenwriters Intensive Fellows are: Clara Aranovich Writer/director, Mayacamas ​ Clara Aranovich is the daughter of two immigrants, an Argentine physicist and a Chilean market researcher/author. She holds a BA from Dartmouth in Literature/Creative Writing and an MFA from USC's School of Cinematic Arts in Film Production. Her narrative fiction work has competed in festivals around the world, from SXSW to Stockholm Film Festival, and has been featured by curators such as the Flux Screening Series at the Hammer Museum, NOWNESS.com and Le Cinéma Club. Her original web series, Tantalum, stars Marcus Henderson (Get ​ ​ ​ Out) and will premiere in 2018. Her commercial work has received various awards, ​ including a Bronze Lion and several Clios. When not writing or on set, she can usually be found watching films, on a mountain somewhere, or volunteering at a women’s clinic with LA 4 Choice. She is also a certified Wilderness First Responder. Mayacamas: Seven years ago, a small haphazard group of strangers got locked into a 2-mile radius enclosure ​ ​ by a mysterious, impenetrable barrier. One day, someone new suddenly appears on the inside and his presence irreversibly divides the group. Iyabo Boyd Writer/director, Kayla and Eddie, en Français ​ ​ Iyabo Boyd is an independent screenwriter, director, and producer. She was a 2016/2017 Sundance Creative Producing Fellow and a 2016 Impact Partners Creative Producers Fellow. Boyd recently produced the feature documentary For ​ Ahkeem, which had its international premiere at the 2017 Berlin International Film ​ Festival, and its US premiere at the 2017 Tribeca International Film Festival. She previously held positions at filmmaker support institutions Chicken & Egg Pictures, Tribeca Film Institute, Hamptons Film Festival, IFP, and Kickstarter. She has served on juries for the Camden International Film Festival, Antenna Documentary Film Festival in Australia, DOC NYC, and others. Boyd is the founder of Feedback Loop, a documentary consulting firm, and started the Brown Girls Doc Mafia, a collective for women filmmakers of color. Kayla and Eddie, en Français: When aging dad Eddie Williams finds out his estranged filmmaker daughter ​ ​ ​ Kayla will be premiering a film in Paris, he decides to crash her trip as a means to reconnect. But his sudden, 4 rambunctious presence quickly derails Kayla’s professional aspirations, and unearths their longstanding tension around family, addiction, and living in your own shadow. Emma Dudley Writer, Eggshells ​ A native of Berkeley, California, Emma Dudley is a writers’ assistant and script coordinator on an upcoming half hour comedy at DreamWorksTV. She graduated as valedictorian from University of California, Los Angeles’s undergraduate film school in 2017, where she concentrated in screenwriting and minored in English. While at UCLA she was honored with the Peter Stark Memorial Scholarship and the Theater Film & Television Executive Board Scholarship for her accomplishments in screenwriting. Dudley is a contributor at Reductress and has written for sketch teams at iO West and The Second City Hollywood. She has had over a dozen short stories published in literary magazines such as Hanging Loose Press, Stone Soup, Creative Kids, Adolescent, and Matchbox. Eggshells: When an aspiring writer turns 18, she receives a letter releasing the identity of her sperm donor ​ father. The only problem: she must endure a cross country road trip with her borderline personality disorder mother to meet him. Melissa Hickey Writer/director, Panic ​ After earning her master's in Directing from the American Film Institute, Melissa Hickey’s short film, Ni-Ni, premiered at Clermont Ferrand, won a number of Jury ​ ​ and Best Short awards, and was recognized by the DGA with a Diversity Award for Female Director. The recipient of the Daniel Petrie Scholarship, the Women in Film Scholarship, and the Richard P. Rogers Spirit of