2024 Chelsea Film Festival Incubator Finalists Announced
The 12th Annual Edition of Chelsea Film Festival (CFF) is releasing the 2024 incubator finalists selected at this year’s edition.
The 2024 Chelsea Film Festival Screenwriting Incubator supported by TD Charitable Foundation, is a highly selective initiative dedicated to offering 10 New York-based BIPOC directors the opportunity to have their films produced by the Chelsea Film Festival. The incubator supports the cohort through a 9-month process, with screenwriting and producing mentorship sessions, and state-of-the-art equipment sponsored by AbelCine and Lux Lighting. Filmmakers receive guidance through pre-production and production, as well as a cash grant for post-production.
Five Short Films received a guaranteed slot in the 2024 Official Lineup to premiere their film.
The Official List of Films is below, which also includes the Run Time, Genre, Country of Origin and Director(s).
As Ingrid Jean-Baptiste, Founder of The Chelsea Film Festival, stated: “Making the World a Better Place by Giving a Voice to the Unheard.”
CFF will hold its twelve edition both in-person at Regal Theatres 14th St. October 16-20 (in-person) and online on FilmFestival+ (https://filmfestivalplus.com, also accessible through AppleTV) from October 16-31, 2024.
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ALEXANDRA GREY
Submissions for the 2025 incubator program opens August 1st via FilmFreeway and is open to all
NY-based BIPOC filmmakers.
Grey is a screenwriter, director, actress, and musician best known for her role as Parker Philips on the fifth season of CBS's action-adventure series 'MacGyver.’ She played transgender characters on shows like ‘How to Get Away with Murder’, ‘Drunk History’, ‘Chicago Med’ and critically acclaimed ABC miniseries 'When We Rise' directed by Oscar winner Dustin Lance Black.
Grey continues her journey from actress to filmmaker, having directed the short ‘Promise Me A Lie’ that premiered at the OutFest and Fusion Film Festivals, in 2012. Over the years, she studied filmmaking through various Masterclass Programs, including being a fellow of OutFest’s Outset young filmmakers’
program. In 2023 she starred, and executive produced the award-winning short ‘Intended Parents’ and the upcoming feature film ‘Lost & Found.' ‘The World Between Us’ marks her most recent feature project in development. Grey penned the screenplay, which was selected as a Top 8 semi-finalist at the Slamdance 2023 Screenplay Competition.
As a proud trans woman of color, Alexandra continues to use her platform to blaze a trail for her community.
JAMAL HODGE
Hodge is a multi-award-winning writer & filmmaker who has won over 100 awards. Jamal has directed the first season of Investigation Discovery Channel's ‘Primal Instinct’, was a Segment director for the PBS doc-series, ‘Southern Storytellers’ (2022), and directed episode 5 of ‘The Table’ on Black Oak TV (2024) currently working as a producer on the Animated feature film 'Pierre the Pigeon Hawk' (starring Snoop Dog, Jennifer Hudson, Jennifer Coolidge, and Whoopi Goldberg).
Jamal’s writing has been nominated for a 2021 & 2022 Rhysling Award and his poem 'Colony' won 2nd place at the 2022 Dwarf Stars. He is in anthologies with such notable writers as Stephen King, Chuck Palahniuk, and Josh Malerman. His collection ‘The Dark Between the Twilight’ has been published for a May 2024 release along with his anthology, Bestiary of Blood: Modern Fables & Dark Tales scheduled for an October 4th, 2024 release. Bestiary of Blood notably has over 14 Stoker-award winners and 3 Grand Masters in Horror and science fiction within its pages.
JORGE ARZAC
Jorge Arzac (writer/co-director) is a first-generation Mexican American filmmaker with experience in screenwriting, producing, directing, lighting, cinematography, and editing, including but not limited to narrative films, documentaries, commercials, music videos, social media content, corporate video, and even live surgeries. He has worked for brands like Adidas, Coca-Cola, and Clinique, and organizations like the National Parks Association, American Cancer Society, and Global Citizen. His narrative work has screened at the Chelsea Film Festival as well as Oscar-qualifying and Canadian Screen Award-Qualifying film festivals and won a Best Cinematography Award for Schmeh Films CASHED (Amazon Prime Video).
JUSTINA ADORNO
Adorno is a Bronx New York native. In high school, Justina attended a magnet program for acting called PCA (Palmetto Center for the Arts) where she fell in love with theater, later attended South Carolina Governor School for the Arts and Humanities, and graduated with her BFA in acting at Coastal Carolina University when she then moved back to NYC. Justina has booked national commercials and appeared in the NBC 2016 Diversity Showcase. She has appeared in hit television shows such as Netflix's Seven Seconds with Emmy winner Regina King, the ABC Grand Hotel series regular as Yoli with executive producer Eva Longoria directed by Ken Olin, FX's Mayans M.C alongside Clayton Cardenas and Emmy- winning Edward James Olmos.
LOURIC RANKINE
Raised in East New York, Brooklyn, Louric Rankine has dedicated his career, hobby, and personal time to cinema and visual arts. Rankine, for the last three years, has worked in post-production and media distribution, concerned with the marketing strategies used to promote international black and brown films in American cinema markets and global film festivals as well. He worked as a Global Media Operations Coordinator at Paramount, Creative Project Coordinator at Warner Bros. Discovery, and now as a Media Campaign Coordinator at DISH Media. In his free time, Rankine volunteers at film festivals such as Chelsea Film Festival and PAs for local short films and visual projects. He co-produces Bronx Girl at Heart, a creative entrepreneurship podcast hosted by Hook Arts Media alum Alanis Lantigua, and Rina Under Construction, a home-buying YouTube channel hosted by his older sister. Rankine is pursuing his MFA in Creative Producing from Columbia University, starting his production company, and working in film production and global media distribution.