The best job site Indeed, Emmy winner Lena Waithe (Master of None, Twenties) and her company Hillman Grad Productions announced today the ten filmmakers chosen for the second edition of their Rising Voices program: Cara Lawson, Gbenga Komolafe, Georgia Fu, Jalmer Caceres, Justin Floyd, Leon Cheo, Shanrica Evans, Tara Motamedi, Travis Wood, and Urvashi Pathania.
Indeed: Rising Voices was intended to discover, invest in, and distribute stories created by BIPOC filmmakers across the United States. Participants' screenplays were chosen from a pool of 900 submissions by executives from Hillman Grad Productions, Indeed, and Ventureland. Each will be given a $100,000 production budget to create a short film of less than 15 minutes in duration that will premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in June.
Indeed has tripled the investment made in the first cycle of Rising Voices for the latest edition, adding $3 million to the program, as well as a new Production and Development Lab for filmmakers from the first cycle, including Johnson Cheng, Stacy Pascal Gaspard, and Gabriela Ortega.
"Indeed's Rising Voices not only levels the playing field for BIPOC creators in Hollywood by providing opportunities for individuals to be seen, heard, and represented, but it also empowers the next generation of storytellers by providing access to funding, on-site skill, career development, and mentorship," Waithe explained. "Our ongoing objective at Hillman Grad Productions is to ensure that program mentees are truly set up for success as they advance in their respective industries.
"In fact, the organization's aim is to assist people in finding work. Indeed CEO Chris Hyams remarked, "Season one of Rising Voices proved our view that talent is universal but opportunity is not." "We are excited to add 10 amazing new voices to the story of the power of work to alter lives in Season Two."
The first season of Rising Voices resulted in the creation of almost 650 employment, with the films of the finalists premiering in June of last year. More information about the program is available here.
