Each fellow will receive $5,000 to produce a project from script to screen!
It News Wire
New York, NY- Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival & Lecture Series, the first Academy qualifying festival devoted to women filmmakers, recently announced their winners for their Micro Budget Film Fellowship. The fellowship offers creators an opportunity to produce the pilot for a web series or a short film!
“We received more than 110+ outstanding short scripts by women of color from Brooklyn to Kenya! With the COVID-19 pandemic making funding more challenging during these times for BIPOC creatives to get their projects off the ground, it was important for us to be able to give back,” says Carolyn Butts, founder of African Voices (parent company of Reel Sisters) and Reel Sisters.
Each fellow will receive $5,000, access to mentors and scholarships to Scriptwriting Essentials: The Art of Creating Strong Female Characters™ and Reel Sisters film production workshops!
Introducing The 2022 Reel Sisters Micro Budget Fellows:
FILM PROJECT: Gro Up
Ollie, BK, and Carmichael are three girls who are NOT going back to Juvie. When given the opportunity to stay locked up or to “GRO UP”, they decide to spend the summer sifting through soil and their shit. “GRO UP”, a web series, was written by a writing team of 3 BIPOC women (African American/Jamaican, Puerto Rican/Italian, and South Asian American)
Camille Simone Thomas (she/her)
Camille Simone Thomas is still looking for a concise way to define the identities that matter most to her. She’s a fifth generation native Detroiter. A fourth generation Black college graduate. A third generation way maker. A second generation oldest daughter of an oldest daughter and a half first generation Jamaican-American. Maybe one day she’ll have a neater way to say that but being messy also defines who she is. Camille is a creative actor,writer, and producer who believes it is her duty and her honor to tell the stories of all the various generations contained inside of her. Her plays have been featured at The National Women’s Theatre Festival, Lime Arts Theatre Company, American Slavery Project, Blackboard playwriting series, The Red Curtain Theatre and The Playground Experiement. Currently she is working as a teaching artist for Broadway’s Manhattan Theatre Club and Dreamyard in the Bronx as well as line producing for Moxie Theatre company and working as an Associate Artist for Sanguine Theatre Company. Follow Camille on Instagram @Camille4reel. View Camille’s website.
Nina Lucia Rodriguez (she/her)
Nina Lucia Rodriguez is a multidisciplinary artist based out of Brooklyn, New York. She received a degree in acting and a minor in comedy (yes, that’s real) from Emerson College in 2019. Her work spans across mediums but always centers on community and authenticity. She strives to tell truthful stories that encapsulate and enhance the communities that surround her art. A proud Latina, she works hard to represent the underrepresented and is not above squaring up to do so. Follow Nina on Instagram @ninaluciarodriguez. Visit Nina’s website.
Jasmine Sharma (she/her)
Jasmine Sharma is a South Asian-American actor/writer/activist based in Los Angeles, and a recent graduate of Northwestern University. Jasmine and her writing have recently been supported by AlterTheater Ensemble (First Acts commission), The Road Theatre (Under Construction 2), AGE: Ignite the Arts, Ashland New Plays Festival (New Voices), and Lime Arts Productions. Jasmine has also contributed to iWeigh, worked with the 24 Hour Plays both as an actor and writer, and serves as Script PA on several Broadway musicals. Currently, Jasmine is commissioned by Moxie Arts NYC, Jackalope Theatre, North Shore High School, and developing her first world premiere with Shattered Globe Theatre. She is elated about bringing GRO UP: A Web Series to life with this team. jasminesharma.org | @jasminesharmaa
