Support for the Indie Memphis Black Filmmaker Residency and Fellowship in Screenwriting is provided by the Remembering George Riley Fund and The Arthur F. and Alice E. Adams Charitable Foundation.
Through the Black Creators Forum, Indie Memphis continues its commitment to amplify and support Black filmmakers by expanding available opportunities with an additional screenwriter chosen for the 2020 Black Filmmaker Residency and Fellowship for Screenwriting -- as well as the launch of a new non-fiction filmmaking grant.
This year's national screenwriting residency includes two recipients -- Damon Davis with SINS OF THE FATHER and Seren Sensei with her screenplay, KITT. Each resident will receive a $7,500 unrestricted cash grant and a two month residency -- with the opportunity to reside in Memphis for two months, including travel and housing.
For Memphis screenwriters, this year's fellowship for screenwriting is awarded to Zaire Love to develop her screenplay SUE & THE MOTHER'S BOARD. Love will also receive a $7,500 unrestricted cash grant and two months of support to work on her project.
The 2020 screenwriting residents and Memphis-based fellow were handpicked by director Boots Riley from a selection of outstanding finalists.
“While selecting the winners of the 2020 Indie Memphis Black Filmmaker Residency and Fellowship for Screenwriting, there was such an abundance of talent to choose from that it got me excited for the future of filmmaking. I couldn’t choose all of them,” says Riley. “I chose the three winners based on their audacity of vision, their passion, and that they are films that I can’t wait to see. Congratulations to everyone.”
Moreover, Indie Memphis is excited to announce the launch of the Black Creators Forum Non-Fiction Filmmaking Grant -- presented alongside The CLTV and sponsored by Mark Jones. The grant will provide $5,000 in cash to a Memphis-based Black filmmaker to produce a non-fiction short film. Applications must be submitted by 11:59pm CST on August 9th, 2020.
“We are thrilled to partner with longtime collaborators The CLTV and to offer material support for Black filmmakers (and aspiring filmmakers) in Memphis,” said Miriam Bale, Indie Memphis Artistic Director. “This new grant plus our Residency and Fellowship continue our goal of making Memphis a hub of original, creative, and truly independent film for Black artists.”
Residency Winners
Damon Davis
for SINS OF THE FATHER
Damon Davis is an award-winning, post-disciplinary artist who works and resides in St. Louis, Missouri. His work spans across a spectrum of creative mediums to tell stories exploring how identity is informed by power and mythology. Davis is co-director of the critically acclaimed film Whose Streets? documenting the Ferguson Uprising. He is a 2015 Firelight Media Fellow, 2016 Sundance Music and Sound Design Lab Fellow, 2017 TED Fellow, and 2017 Root100 Honoree, his work is featured in the permanent collection at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, and he has exhibited at Art Basel Miami, the Museum of Contemporary African Diaspora Arts, and the San Diego Contemporary Museum of Art.
Seren Sensei
for KITT
Seren Sensei is a cultural critic, filmmaker, writer, and artist. Her cultural criticism has been printed in such publications as Riot Material and NYLON, and referenced in Jacobin Mag, Vulture, Complex, Newsweek, AJ+, People, Netflix, Vice, and more. Specializing in race, culture, and sociopolitical theory, she also facilitates an active community of over 43,000 subscribers and 7 million views on her YouTube channel, where she has released two seasons of the documentary web series ‘The [Black] Americans.’
Residency Finalists
Jessica Funches
for LOST PEOPLE
Jessica L. Funches began her career in EPK and DVD bonus feature production for major studios including Warner Brothers, Disney and Universal. She has worked as producer, writer and director on a wide range of projects including documentaries, short films, feature films, and television series. Jessica's short film, "Hope's Choice," played at the 2005 Cannes International Film Festival in the Kodak Emerging Filmmkaker's Showcase while her debut feature film, "Something is Killing Tate," won over a dozen festival awards and premiered on the Starz network in 2009.
Letia Solomon
for DOORS
Letia Solomon is an award-winning filmmaker based in Los Angeles. She graduated from USC's MFA program in TV & Film Production and received the award for Outstanding Director from the School of Cinematic Arts 2020 First Look Faculty Awards. Her thesis film, The Cypher, was nominated for the Best Student Film in the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival, featured in CAA’s 2020 Moebius Short Film Showcase, and selected in ABFF’s 2020 HBO Short Film Competition. Letia’s goals are to direct and produce for both film and television.
Fellowship Winner
Zaire Love
for SUE & THE MOTHER'S BOARD
Zaire Love is a filmmaker and music maker whose work honors and amplifies the voices of the Black South. She is a native of Memphis, Tennessee, and a graduate of Spelman College, Houston Baptist University, and the University of Mississippi. The South has always had cornbread to share; Zaire is just adding creative packaging and shipping it worldwide through her films and music.
Fellowship Finalists
Aisha Raison
for 4 Part Melodie
Aisha Raison is an award-winning midtown Memphis filmmaker and photographer who hails from Ripley, Tennessee. She has been a photographer since she was three, but took those skills later in life to create films starting in 2012 with films such as Girls Like Me: a self/love story (2017), Dancin' to the Blue Moon (2018) and Stolen Moments on the 8th Flo' (2020).
Brandi Nicole Payne
for SPIN
Brandi Nicole Payne is an artivist whose work has aired on television and screened at festivals across the globe. An HBO Writers Program Fellow, Emergence Filmmakers Grant recipient and proud member of RAINN's Speakers Bureau, her goal is to use story to create community and facilitate healing.
Andre Jackson
for BOLEY USA
Andre Jackson is an award-winning Broadway, film, and television actor and writer. He is the co-founder of GRANDchild Productions – a media production company whose first short film STOP earned nationwide critical praise and festival recognition, including an Official Selection by the Indie Memphis Film Festival! Originally from Forrest City, Arkansas, Andre has been a Memphis transplant for over 10 years and is proud to call the “River City” his home.
Support for the Indie Memphis Black Filmmaker Residency and Fellowship in Screenwriting is provided by the Remembering George Riley Fund and The Arthur F. and Alice E. Adams Charitable Foundation.
Programs such as the Indie Memphis Black Filmmaker Residency and Fellowship in Screenwriting are made possible with FilmCraft grant support from The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
The Indie Memphis Black Creators Forum Non-Fiction Filmmaking Grant is presented in partnership with The CLTV and sponsored Mark Jones.