NFF also revealed the winner of the Showtime Tony Cox Episodic (30 Min) Screenplay Competition. The 22nd annual Nantucket Film Festival runs June 21-26, 2017.
Actor, writer, director, producer and NFF Board Member Ben Stiller (TROPIC THUNDER, MEET THE PARENTS) will host the 2017 Screenwriters Tribute on Friday, June 23, 2017.
As previously announced, Oscar®-winning writer/director Tom McCarthy will receive the Screenwriters Tribute Award and acclaimed documentary filmmaker Nick Broomfield will be honored with the Special Achievement in Documentary Storytelling Award.
Also honored at the Tribute will be Emmy-nominated writing team David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik, who will receive the Creative Impact in Television Writing Award, and Geremy Jasper, who will receive the New Voices in Screenwriting Award.
Additional programming was announced as part of the 2017 festival, including Matt Spicer’s INGRID GOES WEST, and Trish Adlesic and Geeta Gandbhir’s I AM EVIDENCE, produced by Mariska Hargitay (“Law & Order: SVU”) who will attend the festival. Eliza McNitt’s FISTFUL OF STARS has been added to the Enter the Story: Virtual Reality Experiences program, while the Teen Views Showcase will showcase short films created by Nantucket High School students who have participated in NFF’s year-round Teen View Filmmaking Labs.
Additional Signature Programs will include an In Their Shoes With… David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik conversation hosted by Ophira Eisenberg (host of NPR’s “Ask Me Another”), Script Reading Selections from Screenwriters Colony: Episodic Comedy, and the return of the Silent Film/Live Music Event, featuring THE FRESHMAN (1925) with a live score composed and performed by the Berklee School of Music on Tuesday, June 20th as a pre-festival kick off event.
NFF announced Kaitlin Fontana as the winner of NFF’s Showtime Tony Cox Episodic (30 Min) Screenplay Competition, for her pilot CASEY CAN’T. As part of her prize, Kaitlin wins a spot in the Screenwriters Colony: Episodic Comedy two-week immersive writing and mentorship program on Nantucket in June, presented by NFF and sister organization Screenwriters Colony.
The Episodic Screenplay Competition jury is comprised of Eric Gilliland, writer of “The Wonder Years”, “That ‘70s Show” and “Roseanne”; Matt Zoller Seitz, Editor-in-Chief of RogerEbert.com and TV Critic at New York Magazine and Vulture.com, and Actor/Director Gabourey Sidibe (PRECIOUS, “Empire”, THE TALE OF FOUR). Three additional emerging writers chosen by Screenwriters Colony will join Fontana for the Screenwriters Colony: Episodic Comedy, Meg Favreau for LET’S SHOP, Calvin Jai Jamison for RVA, and Joe Keohane for THE TIMES.
ADDITIONAL PROGRAMMING ANNOUNCED:
Feature Film Program additions:
I AM EVIDENCE
Documentary Feature
Directors: Trish Adlesic, Geeta Gandbhir
Produced by Mariska Hargitay (“Law and Order: SVU”), this eye-opening documentary investigates the alarming backlog of untested evidence kits that have denied justice to sexual assault survivors.
INGRID GOES WEST
Narrative Feature
Writer/Director: Matt Spicer
Writer: David Branson Smith
Ingrid (Aubrey Plaza) is excited to move to LA to be closer to her BFF, Taylor (Elizabeth Olsen) – a woman she only “knows” via an Instagram feed.
Enter the Story: Virtual Reality Experiences addition:
FISTFUL OF STARS
Project Creator: Eliza McNitt
Key Collaborators: Jess Engel, Courtenay Casey, Ross Marshall, Paola Prestini
Accompanied by The Hubble Cantata, Fistful of Stars creates an immersive encounter with the cosmos that deepens our understanding of the universe. Viewers are transported thousands of lights years away as they discover that humans and the stars are connected.
Shorts Program addition:
Teen View Showcase
The Nantucket Film Festival rolls out the red carpet for the diverse short films created by Nantucket High School students who have participated in our year-round Teen View Filmmaking Labs.
Additional Signature Programs:
In Their Shoes With… David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik
A conversation with the recipients of the 2017 NFF Creative Impact in TV Writing Award, David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik, known individually for “Friends” and “Mad About You” and together for the Emmy-nominated Showtime series “Episodes.”
Script Reading Selections from Screenwriters Colony: Episodic Comedy
A fun presentation of excerpts from four comedy pilots being workshopped at this June’s Episodic Comedy colony on Nantucket, in partnership between NFF, Screenwriters Colony, and the White Heron Theatre Company.
Silent Film/Live Music: THE FRESHMAN (1925)
Special pre-festival launch event on Tuesday, June 20, featuring THE FRESHMAN (1925), with a live score composed and performed by the Berklee School of Music
Showtime Tony Cox Screenplay Competition Winner:
Announcing the winner of NFF’s Showtime Tony Cox Episodic (30 Min) Screenplay Competition. Other Showtime Tony Cox Screenplay Competition category winners will be announced during the Festival.
CASEY CAN’T by Kaitlin Fontana
In this dark comedy, a flawed writer is blackmailed into managing a hipster music blog by its man-child owner, heir to a porn fortune.
As part of her prize, Kaitlin wins a spot in the Screenwriters Colony: Episodic Comedy, a two-week writers’ retreat on Nantucket in June presented by NFF and sister organization Screenwriters Colony where pilots will be workshopped, with guidance from industry mentors and advisors.
The three other Episodic Colony participants, selected by Screenwriters Colony, are:
LET’S SHOP by Meg Favreau
When award-winning TV journalist Jen Faulk is forced to take the fall for her CEO’s idiot son, her only option is to take a hosting gig at the low-rated Value Shopping Network.
RVA by Calvin Jai Jamison
An actress of color tries to work in Richmond, Virginia, but the only projects she can audition for are period pieces – and the occasional sassy best friend.
THE TIMES by Joe Keohane
A failing newspaper in a failing town get its revenge.
The 22nd Annual Nantucket Film Festival runs June 21-26, 2017. Passes and ticket packages are on sale now on the festival’s website (www.nantucketfilmfestival.org).
Over the past 21 years the Nantucket Film Festival has mixed highly anticipated awards contenders with the films of talented emerging filmmakers. NFF has brought together the film industry’s most recognized screenwriters and storytellers, including Oliver Stone, Steve Martin, Judd Apatow, Beau Willimon, Kathryn Bigelow, Sarah Silverman, Alexander Payne, David O. Russell, Diane Keaton, Robert Towne, Glenn Close, and Aaron Sorkin. NFF has also produced the All-Star Comedy Roundtable Presented by Ben Stiller; the ever-popular Late Night Storytelling event featuring personal stories with a specific theme from the likes of Mike Birbiglia, Tina Fey, Michael Ian Black, Lily Taylor, and many others; and the insightful conversation series In Their Shoes…, which has included Robin Wright and Beau Willimon with Chris Matthews, Molly Shannon with Michael Ian Black, and Bradley Whitford with Chris Matthews.
ABOUT THE NANTUCKET FILM FESTIVAL
The Nantucket Film Festival was founded by brother and sister team Jonathan and Jill Burkhart in 1996 to promote the cultural awareness and appreciation of the fine art of screenwriting in the world of cinema. Since then, NFF has become one of the premier destination film festivals in the world.
Visitors come from all over to experience the preview screenings, unique signature programs, and stand out hospitality on a magical island rich with history, a friendly atmosphere, and beautiful sandy beaches. In addition to screening over 75 films across six days, The Screenwriters Tribute, In Their Shoes… hosted by Chris Matthews, Late Night Storytelling, the daily Morning Coffee With… series, and much more.
The Nantucket Film Festival is supported by Showtime, The White Elephant Nantucket Island Resorts as Major Sponsors; A&E IndieFilms, BrandContent, and Delta Air Lines as Signature Sponsors; Diageo, Cape Air/Nantucket Airlines, Stella Artois, Entravision, Harborview Nantucket, Pure Leaf Iced Tea and Travel+Leisure as Producing Sponsors; and Lifetime, The Beachside on Nantucket, Citi, Maui Jim, Inquirer & Mirror, Nantucket Today, Nantucket Bank, SAGIndie, Festily, and the WGA East as Contributing Sponsors.
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