Rideback Rise Sets Inaugural Cohort Of 16 Creators To Develop Mainstream TV And Film Projects
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Rideback Rise, the 501c3 non-profit BIPOC content accelerator launched by producer Dan Lin (LEGO movies, It, Aladdin) to advance racial equity, has selected its inaugural cohort of 16 writers and filmmakers who will be financially and creatively supported as they seek to develop their own market-ready mainstream TV and film projects.
The cohort revealed Tuesday is composed of six “fellows” who will receive $50,000 grants for the year-long fellowship, and 10 “residents” who each receive $10,000 in funding. Fellows are additionally eligible to access an Intellectual Property Fund to secure underlying rights to material as well as a Visuals Fund to create presentations and reels for their projects.
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The Fellows and Residents, selected from more than 400 applicants, will work from Rise’s offices located at Rideback Ranch in Los Angeles’ Historic Filipinotown.
A key feature of the Rise initiative is the collaborative approach that brings Fellows and Residents together to become familiar with each other’s projects to offer feedback and support. They also will have to access senior executives and creative professionals, and can participate in Rise programming and networking events aimed at career growth. Fellows and Residents own their projects and determine where they are set up or sold.
The six Rideback Rise Fellows are Akil Rashad Anderson, who worked as a staff writer on MGM+’s Beacon 23 and is a two-time recipient of USC’s George Lucas Family Foundation Fellowship; Tasha Henderson, who most recently was an executive story editor on ABC’s Home Economics and a co-producer on Amazon Freevee’s Blessed and Highly Favored; Gabriela Garcia Medina, who wrote and directed several award-winning short films including Little Con Lili, which was distributed by Max and is being adapted into a feature at Mandalay Pictures; Miguel Ortega and Tran Ma, the duo who wrote and directed the animated short The Voice in the Hollow, made entirely in Unreal Engine 5, and whose combined credits in VFX, creature design, character design, software look dev, modeling and texturing include Thor, The Mist, Underworld, Night At The Museum, Godzilla 2, Krampus, Enders Game, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, and Alice In Wonderland; and Julia Prescott, whose writing credits include Fox’s The Simpsons, Netflix’s Archibald’s Next Big Thing and Nickelodeon’s upcoming Rock, Paper, Scissors, The Simpsons podcast Everything’s Coming Up Simpsons! and Round Springfield.
The Rideback Rise Residents are writer-comedian Biniam Bizuneh (story editor on FX’s Dave and writer on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live!); writer Nate Burke (staff writer on CW’s Riverdale); writer-director-producer Marissa Diaz (Netflix’s Orgasm Inc: The Story of Onetaste, Sundance Episodic Lab Fellow for Cochinas); writer Crystal Ferreiro (staff writer on Disney+’s Diary of Future President, writer on Netflix’s Trinkets, CW pilot Hermanas, untitled biopic at TriStar); writer-director Victor Gabriel (Netflix and 40 Acres and A Mule’s The Incredible Heist of Hallelujah Jones, in development based on his Sundance short); writer-director-poet Raven Jackson (A24’s All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt, which just scored a Spirit Award nomination today; story editor on Apple TV+’s Surface); writer-director Omar S. Kamara (feature African Giants, award-winning short Mass Ave); writer-director Eric Lu (executive story editor on Fox’s The Resident); comedy writer Min-Woo Park (staff writer on Netflix series (unannounced), sold untitled comedy to ABC); and writer-Paramount Pictures IP scout Ran Ran Wang.
“We are tremendously excited to have identified this inspiring and diverse group of talented writers and filmmakers, and we’re committed to not only supporting the development of their projects but also to driving successful outcomes as these series and features enter the studio and streamer marketplace,” said Tracey Bing, Head of Content for Rideback Rise. “Our ultimate objective at Rise is get these projects made, to normalize more stories about people of color on screen, and to reshape public opinion wherever possible using the immense power of popular entertainment.”
The 2023 Rise cohort officially commenced its 12-month term December 2 at a day-long Rise Cohort Kick-Off event at Rideback Ranch, with guest speakers including Rideback and Rideback Rise founder Lin, writer Jessica Gao (She Hulk: Attorney At Law, Silicon Valley), and filmmakers Phil Lord and Kemp Powers (Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse).
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