ShortsLab: N.Y.C.

Brooklyn Academy of Music -  BAM Rose Cinemas
30 Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11217

Saturday, June 16
$150

Recognizing the important role shorts have in cinema, storytelling, and culture, Sundance Institute presents ShortsLab: NYC to help empower the next generation of artists. Filmmakers are invited to participate in this full day seminar of Sundance-organized screenings, panels, and discussions to offer firsthand insight and access into the world of story development,  production, and exhibition of narrative short-form storytelling. This all-day educational workshop includes the following parts and participants.

ShortsLab introduction and background on the Sundance Film Festival and the process of programming short films. (10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.)

Story Development:  Acclaimed filmmakers share their experiences making short films. These tales from the trenches will focus on conceptualization, script development, story, and dialogue. (11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.)
About the Panelists:

• After making short films at SUNY Purchase, writer-director Ilya Chaiken’s debut feature Margarita Happy Hour premiered at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival, followed by her short film The 100 Lovers of Jesus Reynolds at the 2004 Festival. She wrote, directed and edited her second feature, Liberty Kid, in 2007. Her new web-series, The Unlovables, debuted online earlier this year.
• Hal Hartley is a legendary independent New York filmmaker. Since his first feature The Unbelievable Truth (1989), his films have been staples at major film festivals and distributed to theaters worldwide. His many short films stretch from early works like Ambition (1991) to recent films including Accomplice (2010), and the three shorts that make up Flirt.
• Writer-director Nicole Kassell is a graduate of NYU, where she directed three short films including Jaime, which won the 1999 DGA Best Female Student Filmmaker Award, and The Green Hour, which played the 2002 Sundance Film Festival. Her first feature, The Woodsman, premiered at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival.
• About the Moderator - Nick Dawson is the managing editor at Filmmaker magazine. He is the author of Being Hal Ashby: Life of a Hollywood Rebel, Hal Ashby: Interviews and the forthcoming Dennis Hopper: Interviews.

Lunch (1:00 p.m. – 2:15 p.m.)

Collaboration: A panel of experienced cinematographers, editors, producers, and directors explore the collaboration process and the importance of having a good crew. (2:15 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.)
About the Panelists:

• Borderline Films is a New York-based production company that makes commercials, music videos, and short and feature films. Their films, including Buy It Now, Afterschool, Martha Marcy May Marlene, and Simon Killer have played and won awards at festivals such as Sundance, Toronto, and Cannes.
• Antonio Campos (writer/director/producer)
• Sean Durkin (writer/director/producer)
• Josh Mond (director/producer)
• Zachary Stuart-Pontier (editor)
• About the Moderator - Scott Foundas is Associate Program Director for the Film Society of Lincoln Center, where he also serves as a contributing editor to Film Comment magazine and as a member of the New York Film Festival selection committee.

Working with Actors: A conversation about the sometimes turbulent but always vital relationship between actors and directors. From rehearsals and blocking, to improv and timing, we look at what works best and what doesn’t work at all. (4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.)
About the Panelists:

• Brit Marling is a rising actress, writer and producer, whose emerging talent made an indelible mark at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival as the first female multi-hyphenate to have two films premiere side by side: Sound of My Voice and Another Earth. Her next projects include The East, Robert Redford's The Company You Keep, and Nicolas Jarecki's Arbitage.
• Since her film debut in Mira Nair's Mississippi Masala, Sarita Choudhury has made an exciting career in movies, theatre, and on television, with a lasting commitment to shorts and independent features, including the recent films Entre Nos, For Real, and Gayby.
• Adepero Oduye, a graduate of Cornell, first starred for writer/director Dee Rees as Alike in the award-winning short film Pariah, before reprising the role in the feature version. Among the other shorts that she has starred in are Gabriele Zamparini’s Water; Russell Costanzo’s The Tested, and Nadiah Hamzah’s Sub Rosa.
• About the Moderator - Matthew Ross is an award-winning filmmaker and journalist from New York City. He will direct his debut feature, Frank & Lola, later this year, with Killer Films and Parts & Labor producing. For more info: lolafilm.net.

Shooting in NYC: Veteran industry professionals discuss the rules and secrets of filming on the streets, in the subways, and everywhere else that looks good in New York and Brooklyn. (5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.)
About the Panelists:

• Scott Macaulay, film producer (Gummo, Raising Victor Vargas, The Good Heart) and editor of Filmmaker Magazine
• Mike S. Ryan, producer (Old Joy, Palindromes, Meek’s Cutoff, The Comedy)
• Michael Simmonds, cinematographer (Man Push Cart, Chop Shop, Goodbye Solo, Big Fan)
• Additional panelists TBA.