Tips to Help You Transform Your Short Into Your First Feature According to Adamma and Adanne Ebo

By Stephanie Ornelas

When a short is expanded and reimagined into a feature film, it allows audiences to dive deeper into a story that captivated them in just a short amount of time. Many viewers might not even be aware that some of the most talked-about feature films in recent years started out as shorts, such as Bottle Rocket, Emergency, Saw, and Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (just to name a few).

As many filmmakers can attest, reshaping a short into a feature can be complex, and the process is different for every artist - just ask Adamma and Adanne Ebo, twin sisters and the creators of Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. Their feature, which was supported through Sundance Institute's 2019 Screenwriters Intensive, is partly filmed in faux-documentary style and follows the first lady (Regina Hall) of a prominent Southern Baptist megachurch as she attempts to help her pastor-husband (Sterling K. Brown) rebuild their congregation after a huge scandal. The film joined the ever growing list of movies that leaped from short to feature when it premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival.

I highly recommend all the [Sundance] Labs. I did the intensive with Honk [for Jesus. Save Your Soul.], and we also did the Episodic Lab together with one of our TV projects, says writer-director Adamma Ebo. They take care of you at Sundance. They're invested in your career throughout. We wouldn't be full-time creatives without them. The Sundance Screenwriting Intensive was as described: intense. But it was transformative. The advisors helped take my screenplay to the next level, but one of the most momentous things about it was we got linked up with Daniel Kaluuya, also a Sundance alum.

Kaluuya's production company, 59%, would eventually produce the feature, his first feature film as a producer. Shortly after its world premiere at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, the film was acquired by Focus Features, Peacock, and Jordan Peele's Monkeypaw Productions.

LINK:	https://www.sundance.org/blogs/strongtips-to-help-you-transform-your-s...
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