2018 YEAR IN REVIEW

 

 

As 2018 comes to a close, we are thrilled to toast a year that gave us much to celebrate:
 

• Our launch of a new partnership, the Roux Carré Filmmakers Program, with Good Work Network , thanks to an Our Town grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. This program will allow #CreateLouisiana to bring an immersive film finance workshop with producer Stu Pollard to New Orleans in Spring 2019 (stay tuned for registration details in January!). 
   

• The world premiere of our inaugural French Culture Film Grant! "Le Grand Remix" to a sold out audience at the 2018 French Film Festival. The short narrative film went on to a broadcast nationally on TV5MONDE USA, the grant's lead sponsor. In 2019, TV5MONDE USA will be working to develop an educational curriculum for the film that will be available to over 60,000 French teachers worldwide! 
   

• The awarding of our second $30,000 French Culture Film Grant to On Va Continuer!, an hour-long rockumentary told through the music of Lost Bayou Ramblers. Brought to you by the team at Worklight Pictures, the documentary dives into how one Cajun band is striving to preserve a language + culture. Stay tuned for news on the film's world premiere in early 2019! 
   

• In May, the Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP) announced that TWO 2017 #CreateLouisiana grantees, Lost Bayou and Bloodthicker, were selected for
  IFP Filmmaker Labs, a very competitive year-long fellowship program for first-time filmmakers currently in post-production on their debut feature.
   

• In February, the very first #CreateLouisiana grantee, a short narrative film "Plaquemines (dir. Nailah Jefferson + prod. Jon Wood), had a national broadcast on HBO! 
   

• Supporting two #CreateLouisiana grantee projects—"Le Grand Remix" and On Va Continuer!—with hands-on mentorship from #CreateLouisiana founders Scott Niemeyer + Sian McArthur to access Louisiana's Motion Picture Production Tax Credit for local productions with micro-budgets < $300K. 
   

• Helping support the successful launch of the Alliance for Louisiana Filmmakers (ALF), a coalition of Louisiana filmmakers + film organizations designed to connect + support filmmakers statewide. Excited to announce that #CreateLouisiana Executive Director Jolene Pinder will be on the road across Louisiana in early 2019 with ALF partners as part of a series of Listening Sessions + Landscape Survey to learn about the needs of the state's filmmakers. Hope to catch ya in Shreveport, Thibodaux, Lake Charles, Baton Rouge, or Natchitoches in early 2019! Thanks to those filmmakers who offered their input in 2018 at our listening sessions at the New Orleans Film Festival + the Southern Screen Film Festival!