Mentors - Filmmakers 2: Narrative
Every filmmaker has a story to tell. Get advice, or share those stories with experienced filmmakers in our Narrative Filmmaker Mentor category.
Mentor session signup is open to all Film, Gold and Platinum badge holders at a first-come, first-served basis. Registrants who signed up online must check-in 30 minutes before your mentor time slot to guarantee your spot. Limited on-site signup is also available for a small number of mentor sessions spots and will begin 30 minutes before the first time slot of each session.
To sign up for a mentor session click on the link for the mentor you are interested in meeting with:
Andrew Bujalski -- http://mentor.sxsw.com/mentors/32
Bryan Poyser -- http://mentor.sxsw.com/mentors/31
Cherie Saulter -- http://mentor.sxsw.com/mentors/34
Janet Grillo -- http://mentor.sxsw.com/mentors/28
Jennifer Cochis -- http://mentor.sxsw.com/mentors/33
Jordan Vogt-Roberts -- http://mentor.sxsw.com/mentors/29
Sean Durkin -- http://mentor.sxsw.com/mentors/30
Presenters
Andrew Bujalski wrote & directed the films Funny Ha Ha, Mutual Appreciation, and Beeswax.
Bryan Poyser is a two-time Independent Spirit Award nominee. His second feature LOVERS OF HATE premiered in the US Dramatic Competition at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for the John Cassavetes Award at the 2011 Independent Spirit Awards. LOVERS screened at over a dozen other festivals around the world and was released theatrically by IFC Films. Bryan Poyser was nominated for the Independent Spirit “Someone to Watch” Award in 2005 for his first feature, DEAR PILLOW. Bryan lives and works in Austin, Texas and goes into production on his third feature, THE BOUNCEBACK, in the Spring.
Cherie Saulter has worked as an independent film producer for the last five years. Award-winning Medicine for Melancholy, which marked her first feature credit as a producer, played at the 2008 Toronto Film Festival and earned Cherie an NAACP Image Award nomination. The film received three Independent Spirit Award Nominations and was distributed by IFC. Cherie has since Associate Produced The Myth of the American Sleepover which premiered at South by Southwest in 2010 and was one of the few American indies playing at the Cannes Critic’s Week in 2010. Cherie’s first feature as a writer/director, No Matter What, premiered at SXSW in 2011 and is being distributed by Film Movement.
Recently Cherie wrapped production on "This is Martin Bonner" (dir. Chad Hartigan) and "Never" (dir. Brett Allen Smith). Both will be complete later this year.
Janet Grillo is an Emmy Award winning producer, an award winning filmmaker and a former studio executive at NEW LINE CINEMA.
Most recently, Janet wrote/directed/produced the acclaimed indie feature FLY AWAY, which premiered in Dramatic Competition at SXSW in 2011, and has been in ongoing distribution since then, via FLATIRON FILMS/NEW VIDEO. It was just nominated for a Prism Award. The event will be televised on FX in April 2012. In Feb, LA TIMES sited FLY AWAY as one of the four indie films most overlooked for an Oscar Nomination.
Janet produced, executive produced or associate produced the following Sundance Award winning films: David O. Russell's SPANKING THE MONKEY, JOE THE KING, HANGIN WITH THE HOMEBOYS and HOUSE PARTY, as well as PUMP UP THE VOLUME and SEARCHING FOR PARADISE. She executive produced the HBO Documentary, AUTISM: THE MUSICAL, which won two Emmys in 2008, including Best Non Fiction Feature.
Janet currently teaches at the NYU Tisch School Film Department, and is a blogger for HUFFINGTON POST.
Jennifer Cochis is a film and music video producer; in 2011 she produced the feature film SMASHED and co-produced the documentary film THE OTHER DREAM TEAM. Both films went on to have their world premieres in US Dramatic and US Documentary Competitions respectively at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival where SMASHED was awarded the Special Jury Prize for Independent Producing. In 2010 she was named a Fellow of the Sundance Institute's Creative Producing Lab and was awarded the Sheila C. Johnson Fellowship. In addition to film, she has produced numerous music videos working with some of the most exciting directors and musicians in Los Angeles. Currently, Jennifer is collaborating with other filmmakers in developing several multi-genre feature film projects that she will produce.
Jordan Vogt-Roberts is a writer / director, his short film Successful Alcoholics played at SXSW, his TV show "Mash Up" is in production on a full season order for comedy central, he makes web content, commercials and is directing a feature this summer - He also thinks the internet is the most important invention since modern medicine.
SEAN DURKIN – MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE is the debut feature from writer/director Sean Durkin, a project that was developed at the 2010 Sundance Screenwriter’s and Director’s Lab. The film premiered in the U.S. Dramatic Competition section at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. Fox Searchlight quickly acquired worldwide theatrical distribution rights, and Sean went on to receive the Sundance prize for Best Director. MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE also screened as part of Un Certain Regard at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival and was awarded the Prix de la Jeunesse (Youth Prize). Other prestigious festivals where the film was shown include Toronto, New York, San Sebastian and London. Fox Searchlight released MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE theatrically in the U.S. The film received three Gotham Award Nominations (Breakthrough Director for Durkin, Breakthrough Actor for Elizabeth Olsen, and Best Ensemble Cast) and has been nominated for three Independent Spirit Awards (Best First Feature, Best Female Lead for Olsen, and Best Supporting Male for John Hawkes). Sean’s most recent short film, “Mary Last Seen,” premiered at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival and made its European premiere at 2010 Director’s Fortnight in Cannes, where it won the PRIX SFR for Best Short, before going on to screen at New York Film Festival, London, and AFI.
Tuesday, March 13
