The news about diversity in the film business is almost never good. (Sample headlines: “Lights Camera Struggle? Hollywood Latinos Speak Out,” “Hollywood’s Irrational Allergy to ‘Black’ Films,” “GLADD Surveys Movie Studios; Is Disappointed” and “The Bamboo Ceiling: Hollywood Shuns Asians.”) So every year when we get to announce the 30 newest Fellows to join Film Independent’s Project Involve family, it’s a refreshing break from the status quo—echoing the point of the whole program. Project Involve helps under-represented filmmakers get a proverbial foot in the door. The free program kicks off in October, and for nine months the Fellows attend master workshops taught by the best in the business, build their network of collaborators, learn from one-on-one mentors and team up to make short films, which are screened at the Los Angeles Film Festival. Over the course of its 21-year history, Project Involve has helped foster the careers of a whole host of talented artists who have since gone on to do innovative, acclaimed work in film, including Sheldon Candis (LUV), Javier Fuentes-León (Undertow), Jon Chu (Step Up 3D, Step Up 2: The Streets) and Cherien Dabis (Amreeka). One of the past year’s breakout writer/directors, Justin Simien, was a Fellow in 2010. As a recent film school grad, Simien came to the program with a draft of a script and a creative vision. “At Project Involve, I met a really great mentor (screenwriter Antonio Macia) who encouraged me with the script, who read several drafts of it. That was an invaluable experience because just to have that vote of confidence—’yes that story’s worth telling’—from someone who’s in the industry was really great. His insights were great because he’s a brilliant writer and has a great career. To have somebody in the industry doing what I wanted to do give me that kind of vote of confidence for my work, validated me, made me feel like it was worth continuing.” It wouldn’t be the last time that the Project Involve community would provide crucial momentum for Simien’s directorial debut, Dear White People. Simien drew upon the Project Involve community for key roles on the film including executive producer Stephanie Allain, producers Effie Brown and Ann Le and associate producer Mel Jones. In 2014 Dear White People premiered in Dramatic Competition at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Prize for Breakthrough Talent. Simien also was named one of Variety’s 10 Directors to Watch. Dear White People was selected for the prestigious Gala section at the Los Angeles Film Festival this June, and is slated for theatrical release this fall. “Diversity in the film industry is of the utmost importance because we are storytellers, and the stories feed the culture and the culture is everything,” says Simien, “and if you grow up and you don’t see yourself in the culture, whatever you are, that’s a kind of death. If you grow up and you don’t see stories that reflect your experience out there, it can make life harder. It can make your ambitions and dreams that much further out of reach.” Here’s the next crop of diverse filmmakers to keep an eye out for in the coming years, the 2014 Project Involve Fellows: Katherine Borda, Producer Gloria Bradbury, Industry Track: Acquisition/Distribution Erick Castrillon, Screenwriter Mary-Lyn Chambers, Director Mark Columbus, Director Melissa Finell, Director Shatara Michelle Ford, Screenwriter Jorge Garcia, Producer Carlos Garza, Producer Alexander Georgakis, Screenwriter Maritte Go, Director Ludovica Isidori, Cinematographer Peter Wonsuk Jin, Director Robert Lee, Editor Janet Lee, Producer Marvin Lemus, Director Gabrielle Lim, Screenwriter Stephen Love Jr., Producer Sean Ludan, Editor Moira Morel, Cinematographer Jason Park, Screenwriter Dehanza Rogers, Director Sultan Sharrief, Director Michael Solidum, Cinematographer Frederick Thornton, Producer Ryan Velasquez, Director Steven Wang, Editor Erica Watson, Director Ed Wu, Cinematographer David Yoon, Screenwriter Pamela Miller / Website & Grants Manager
