Funded projects to be developed and produced in Baltimore
The Saul Zaentz Innovation Fund in Film and Media at Johns Hopkins University announced today that 10 projects from its inaugural incubator will receive $195,000 in funding to either begin production or support further project development. The Fund, launched earlier this year, empowers and emboldens new voices by bringing unique audiovisual projects to life.
The 11 artists who earned funding for their projects—all of which will be produced in Baltimore—are: Rahne Alexander, Barbara Asare-Bediako, Will Bryson, Charles Cohen, Dina Fiasconaro, Jaimes Mayhew, Taura Musgrove, Danielle Naassana, Annette Porter, Dean Radcliffe-Lynes and Laura Wexler (see below for details about each project and artist).
Eighteen projects were part of the Fund’s inaugural incubator, which included a robust mentorship program that centered around one-on-one consultancies from award-winning filmmakers; an intensive Lab where Fellows analyzed and improved their projects in partnership with established directors, producers and executives from all over the world; and Brain Trust Meetings where special industry guests led brainstorming sessions to try and solve project-specific challenges.
All of the work in the incubator led each Fellow to a final phase in which they submitted a project proposal outlining a plan and details for production or additional development. An eight-member advisory committee identified the projects to fund based on criteria evaluating creative merit, potential impact and practical feasibility including budgets, crews, equipment, etc.
"The projects selected for funding are as provocative, surprising and diverse as Baltimore and its thriving artistic community. We’re proud to continue to support these artists and look forward to our fruitful collaboration,” said Roberto Busó-García, director of the Fund and the University’s Master of Arts in Film & Media program.
Projects Funded
Commercial for the Queen of Meatloaf, Dina Fiasconaro: A domestic drama within a television commercial within a short film. In a surrealist 1950s commercial, a housewife prepares meatloaf for dinner and what emerges is “The Queen of Meatloaf” incarnate, who invades the homes of consumers and wreaks havoc on set. Dina is a Baltimore-based filmmaker. Her short films have screened at a variety of festivals, including Portland Underground, BlackStar and NYC International. She is a recipient of the ‘Generation Next’ screenwriting grant. Her feature documentary, Moms and Meds, is currently available on Amazon.
Curvy Ballerina, Barbara Asare-Bediako: Curvy Ballerina is a documentary that follows Tyde-Courtney, a classically trained ballerina, as she fights colorism and body stereotyping to build a brand of dance where all women can feel graceful and sensual. Actor, writer, producer, anthropologist and founder of Keoni Gurrl Productions, Barbara is currently a student in the M.A. Film & Media Program at Johns Hopkins University and has written several plays and a short film.
DINNER PARTY: A Virtual Reality Thriller, Laura Wexler: DINNER PARTY is a virtual reality thriller based on the true story of the 1961 Betty and Barney Hill UFO abduction case. Laura is a Baltimore-based writer and producer whose writing credits include a one-hour drama pilot sold to Amazon Studios, a narrative nonfiction book and several published pieces in news outlets such as The New York Times and The Washington Post Magazine.
It’s Not Who I Am, Dean Radcliffe-Lynes: It’s Not Who I Am is a full-length documentary that will closely follow the lives and experiences of three female ex-offenders over the period of a year. Finally released from prison, they are excited about the prospects of reuniting with their families and anxious to pursue the goals and dreams they had prior to incarceration. However, their feelings of excitement and hope are challenged when confronted by a closed and shaming social fabric. Dean is an Emmy Award-winning television producer with the mission of creating products that educate, encourage, enlighten and empower. She is determined to give a voice to the unheard and provide a forum for the unseen.
The LGBTQI+ Home Movie Quilt, Rahne Alexander & Jaimes Mayhew: Originally commissioned in 2016 for the Baltimore Museum of Art, The LGBTQI+ Home Movie Quilt is a crowd-sourced multimedia domestic portrait of Baltimore’s LGBTQI+ community. Artists Rahne and Jaimes Mayhew will explore ways to make the tools from the project available for other marginalized communities to create their own portraits.
Rahne is a multidisciplinary artist from Baltimore. Her film and video art has been screened in galleries and festivals across the country, including the Baltimore Museum of Art, MIX (New York City), Freewaves (Los Angeles), Homoscope (Austin) and Cinekink (New York City).
Jaimes is an interdisciplinary artist whose artwork is collaborative, and based in his interests in social and cultural phenomena, particularly as it pertains to LGBTQ bodies, nature and land use. His work has been shown at The Baltimore Museum of Art, Arlington Arts Center, Eyebeam (New York City), Mass MoCa (Massachusetts), Conflux Festival (Brooklyn), The Chapel of St. Cecilia (Brooklyn, NY), The Red Dawns Festival (Slovenia), 808 Gallery (Boston), The Transmodern Festival (Baltimore, MD), Goucher College (Baltimore, MD) and Hoffmannsgallerí (Reykjavík, Iceland) among others.
Milo’s Misfits, Will Bryson: Milo's Misfits is an LGBTQ-friendly, all-ages web series. Each episode follows a cast of kooky roommates (both human and puppet alike) as they learn to solve problems, get along and pay their rent. Will is a Baltimore director and producer who has worked on narrative films, experimental films and music videos. He is most passionate about increasing minority representation in all media, especially children’s entertainment.
Nour, Danielle Naassana: Nour is a film about a girl, Nour, who is torn between two identities after students at her new school make fun of her for wearing a hijab. Nour decides to stop wearing her hijab and begins to distance herself from her culture and roots. The film follows her story as she struggles to find a balance between fitting in with her peers and staying true to her traditional parents and values. Danielle is a senior at Johns Hopkins University majoring in Film & Media Studies and Writing Seminars, and minoring in Entrepreneurship & Management. This past year, Danielle wrote her first feature-length screenplay, and directed a short film for her Narrative Productions class.
To Free Our People—The Lillie May Carroll Jackson Interactive Technology Project, Taura Musgrove: To Free Our People creates an interactive technology experience of Baltimore civil rights leader Dr. Lillie May Carroll Jackson that will connect a new generation to her leadership, vision and strategies for non-violent activism. Taura is an African-American filmmaker from Baltimore, a producer, an educator and a graduate student in film at Johns Hopkins University. She has held many roles in the film industry including an actor's executive assistant, short independent film producer-director-writer and production manager for the Documentary Department of Pixar Animation Studios.
Riding Wild, Charles Cohen: Riding Wild follows BMX bike-enthusiast Dink and his cohorts as they bushwhack secret trails in urban woods to escape the nearby tough streets of Baltimore, although the city has a way of finding them at times. Charles has produced and directed several documentaries and has served as a published staff writer for publications such as The New York Times, The Christian Science Monitor, The Washington Post and Baltimore City Paper.
UNLOCKED, Annette Porter: Combining 360° VR filming technology and the art of video diary, UNLOCKED pioneers the model for a series of immersive films that connect viewers with the human story of imprisonment. A documentary filmmaker, Annette spent nearly 20 years advising some of the world’s most successful companies on strategy and communications before following her passion into the world of professional photography and documentaries. Her work has been featured on the BBC, Voyage (Fox International), Sky TV, NBC and in The Washington Post, The Guardian, Vogue Italy and The Independent.
The Saul Zaentz Innovation Fund in Film and Media at Johns Hopkins University was launched in March 2016 through a $1 million grant from the Saul Zaentz Charitable Foundation. Zaentz, who died in 2014, was a three-time Academy Award-winning producer whose work included One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Amadeus and The English Patient. The Fund’s inaugural class of Fellows, chosen from more than 75 proposals, included 18 projects from prospective filmmakers and visual artists. The application period for the Fund’s second incubator program closed on August 31. Fellows selected for the second incubator will be announced soon and the program will begin in October with a Documentary Lab.
About The Saul Zaentz Innovation Fund in Film and Media
Founded in 2016, The Saul Zaentz Innovation Fund in Film and Media at Johns Hopkins University seeks to further the pioneering legacy of Mr. Zaentz by connecting the Baltimore creative community with prestigious artists, veteran executives and successful entrepreneurs in an incubator program designed to seek and develop groundbreaking project ideas that will advance the art and craft of audiovisual media. www.zaentzfund.com
