Los Angeles, CA - Sundance Institute today announced the 11 original projects selected for its third annual Episodic Story Lab. The spec pilots, which range from dystopian sci-fi to historical comedy, explore themes of personal and social identity, family dysfunction, political extremism, and the limits of human understanding. The Episodic Story Lab is the centerpiece of the Institute's year-round support program for emerging television writers. During the Lab, the 13 selected writers (the Fellows ) will participate in individual and group creative meetings, writers' rooms, case study screenings, and pitch sessions to further develop their pilot scripts with guidance from accomplished showrunners, producers and television executives. Beginning with the Lab, Fellows will benefit from customized, ongoing support from Feature Film Program staff, Creative Advisors and Industry Mentors, led by Founding Director of the Sundance Institute Feature Film Program, Michelle Satter, and Senior Manager of the Episodic Story Lab, Jennifer Goyne Blake.
With the Episodic Story Lab, we're continuing to identify and amplify the most creative emerging voices in independent storytelling, said Michelle Satter. We hope that bringing together this diverse group of Fellows, Advisors and Mentors, with their broad ranges of storytelling experiences and perspectives, will spark conversations and learning about the writing process, navigating the industry, and how the episodic format continues to evolve.
The Sundance Institute Episodic Story Initiative and Lab is made possible by Founding Supporters Lyn & Norman Lear and Cindy & Alan Horn; Leadership Supporters A&E, Netflix, SundanceTV, Amazon Studios, BET and Time Warner Foundation/HBO; Discovery Supporters RT Features; and Supporter BBC America, all of whom provide financial and advisory resources to the Lab and its artists.
Creative Advisors for the Lab include: Chris Brancato (Co-Creator and Showrunner, Narcos), Daniel Chun (Head Writer, The Office), Chic Eglee (Writer/Producer), Kerry Ehrin (Co-Creator and Executive Producer, Bates Motel), Lee Eisenberg (Co-Creator, Hello Ladies), Ali LeRoi (Executive Producer and Director, Survivors Remorse), , Glen Mazzara (Creator, Damien), Jeff Melvoin (Executive Producer, Army Wives), Erica Rivinoja (Co-Executive Producer, The Last Man On Earth), Meredith Stiehm (Executive Producer, Homeland), Liz Tigelaar (Showrunner and Executive Producer, Casual) and Daniel Zelman (Executive Producer, Bloodline).
Industry Mentors include: Bob DeBitetto (President, Brand Strategy, Business Development and A+E Studios, A+E Networks) Dante Di Loreto (President of Television, Chernin Entertainment), Susie Fitzgerald (Executive Vice President of Scripted Programming, AMC and SundanceTV), Peter Friedlander (Vice President, Original Series, Netflix), Charles King (Founder/CEO, MACRO), Zola Mashariki (Head of Original Programming, BET), Francesca Orsi (Co-Head of Programming, HBO), Katherine Pope (Head of Television, Studio 8), Gina Kwon (Development Executive, Amazon Studios), Sarah Timberman (Producer and Principal, Timberman-Beverly Productions) and David Zucker (President of Television, Scott Free).
Artists and projects selected for the 2016 Sundance Institute Episodic Story Lab:
Devil's Due
By Connie O'Donahue & Jeremy Nielsen
Set in the 1950's, this alternate-history western follows a wounded veteran in the aftermath of the Second Atomic War, as he sets off across the radioactive wasteland of the new American frontier to find the men who massacred his platoon and murdered his family. In the process, he will uncover a rising political conspiracy with global implications.
A California native, Connie O'Donahue is an award-winning screenwriter currently living in Riverton, Wyoming, where she produces and films documentary shorts for Wyoming PBS. She's an Official Artist of the 2015 New York Television Festival and alumna of the ABC Daytime Writers Development Program.
Jeremy Nielsen is currently the only film professor in the state of Wyoming. With an MFA in Film and Media Arts from the University of Utah, Nielsen has over 15 years of teaching experience in the juvenile justice system, higher education, and at Spy Hop, a non-profit youth media studio in Salt Lake City.
DMV
By Marlena Rodriguez
This half-hour comedy follows Melanie Lopez, who is unexpectedly forced to drop out of college and find a job after a family financial crisis. Now, she must learn to navigate the roads of adulthood as the newest employee of the Chicago DMV.
Marlena Rodriguez is a comedian currently based in New York City, after spending four years in Chicago where she studied and toured with The Second City. She's written and starred in web series, including, We Have To Move, and the Broadway Video/Mas Mejor-produced Bouncers. Most recently, Marlena wrote for Season 2 of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.
Illegal
By Rafael Agustin
Sixteen-year-old Rafa has it all -- he's junior class president, homecoming prince and is all-but-guaranteed a scholarship to UCLA. But this all-American high school student's life is turned upside down when he discovers he may not be American after all.
Rafa is the co-writer and co-star of the award-winning, autobiographical comedy, N*GGER WETB*CK CH*NK. He is a recipient of the Emerging Leader Award by LA Times' Latinos De Hoy, as well as the Alumnus of the Year Award by Mt. San Antonio College. Rafa is the Executive Director of Edward James Olmos' Latino Film Institute Youth Cinema Project. He received his BA and MA from UCLA's School of Theater, Film & Television, and is an alumnus of the CBS Diversity Comedy Showcase.
Lovely Women
By Eboni Freeman
After the death of her father, fourteen-year-old Cori is forced to relocate from the Midwest to Co
