Adapting an Indie Feature into a Hit TV Series with the Creator of A Teacher on FX HULU

Tuesday, December 15, 2020 at 7:00 PM CST on Zoom

Join FILMCollective for a Conversation Featuring

Hannah Fidell — Creator of the FX HULU Series A Teacher

Holly Herrick — Head of Film and Creative Media at Austin Film Society

NOTE: THE ZOOM LINK WILL BE SENT VIA EMAIL TO REGISTERED GUESTS

*******************************************************

ABOUT THE PANELISTS

Hannah Fidell is an accomplished writer, director and producer in both television and film.

Fidell made her feature film directorial debut with the independent drama A Teacher, which premiered to critical acclaim at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. FX Networks ordered A Teacher  as a 10-episode limited series starring Kate Mara and Nick Robinson.

Recently, Universal Pictures released her film The Long Dumb Road, which she wrote, directed and produced. Michael Rechtshaffen from Los Angeles Times stated, “Neither long nor dumb, Hannah Fidell’s The Long Dumb Road is, in reality, a terrifically entertaining odd-couple road comedy expertly navigated by costars Tony Revolori and Jason Mantzoukas.”

Prior to that, Fidell wrote and directed the feature film 6 Years, a romantic drama that was released by Netflix. The film premiered at the SXSW Film Festival in 2015, while its European premiere was at the Champs-Élysées Film Festival the same year.

On the small screen, Fidell has directed acclaimed episodes of Hulu’s The Act and Casual and the Facebook series Sorry For Your Loss.

Fidell has received multiple titles and awards in recognition of her work including the SXSW Chicken & Egg Emergent Narrative Woman Director Award for A Teacher in 2013, being named one of the 25 new faces of indie film in Filmmaker Magazine in 2012 and being inducted into the director’s branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, making her one of the youngest members of the organization.

Holly Herrick is Head of Film and Creative Media at the Austin Film Society (AFS), where she has played a key leadership role in the expansion of AFS’s film exhibition and artist services programs, including the establishment of the AFS Cinema. She oversees the AFS Grant, an annual production grant for emerging filmmakers, and works to make connections between Texas filmmakers and the global film community. Previously, she was Director of Programming at the Sarasota Film Festival and Deputy Programs Director at the Hamptons International Film Festival, and has worked on the producing team of several independent feature films. 

This project is supported in part by the Cultural Arts Division of the City of Austin Economic Development Department. FILMCollective is a project of Moving Image Arts & Education, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.

Discover the Power of Pitch Decks, Bibles, Lookbooks & Sizzle Reels with Erika L. Johnson, Kit Steinkellner, Kristi Frazier & Ya'Ke Smith

Tuesday, December 1, 2020 at 6:00 PM CST on Zoom

Join FILMCollective for a Workshop Featuring

Erika L. Johnson — The Good Lord Bird, The Village, Queen Sugar

Kit Steinkellner — Sorry for Your Loss, Quince

Kristi Frazier — The Secret Life of Lance Letscher, The Fifi Chronicles 

As We Discuss Crafting a Killer TV Series with Our Moderator

Ya’Ke Smith — Katrina’s Son, dawn.

NOTE: THE ZOOM LINK WILL BE SENT VIA EMAIL TO REGISTERED GUESTS

About the Filmmakers

Erika L. Johnson is a Co-Executive Producer of the new Showtime limited series, THE GOOD LORD BIRD, starring Ethan Hawke, based on the National Book Award winning novel by James McBride. She was also a Co-Executive Producer on NBC’s THE VILLAGE. Prior to that, Erika was a Supervising Producer on the OWN series, QUEEN SUGAR and NBC’s SHADES OF BLUE.

After earning her BA in Film and Television at UCLA, Erika held down several industry jobs, however, the opportunity that lead her into TV writing was landing an Assistant job on the groundbreaking ABC series, LOST. From there, Erika was accepted into the Disney|ABC Writing Program, and staffed on UGLY BETTY, where she remained for two seasons. She then spent three seasons on the hit BET drama, BEING MARY JANE.

Erika is the co-founder of Black Women Who Brunch (BWB) - a network of Black women TV writers. BWB was featured in The Hollywood Reporter’s 2018 Women In Entertainment issue, which was their biggest photoshoot ever. Erika is a Southern California native who resides in Los Angeles.

Kit Steinkellner is best known as creator/executive producer of the critically-acclaimed Facebook original series SORRY FOR YOUR LOSS starring Elizabeth Olsen. She is currently adapting her debut graphic novel QUINCE, winner of the Independent Publishers Book Awards Gold Medal for Best Graphic Novel, into a feature for Netflix. Steinkellner is also currently writing features for Lionsgate and Sony, and a pilot for FX. 

Kristi Frazier is an award-winning documentary producer with multiple films and national advertisements to her credit. Recently, she directed the feature film Take Pains. Be Perfect., marking a third-time collaboration with Academy Award-nominated editor Sandra Adair. Kristi is a creator and writer, developing a half-hour action-comedy spy-fi series, The FiFi Chronicles, as well as many other projects. She thrives on collaboration and has enjoyed mentoring numerous up-and-coming filmmakers.

Ya’Ke Smith, known for his unflinching and veracious style of storytelling, is a rising voice in independent cinema.

His films have received world-wide acclaim, screening and winning awards at over 100 film festivals. The Director’s Guild of America, the Student Academy Awards, HBO, Showtime, the City of Buffalo, NY, which proclaimed February 23, 2013 as Ya’Ke Smith Day and the city of Cincinnati, OH which proclaimed October 6, 2019 as Ya'Ke Smith Day, have honored him.

He has been featured on NPR, CNN, HLN, Ebony Online, Indiewire, Filmmaker Magazine and Shadow&Act.

Ya’Ke graduated with his B.A. from the Communication Arts Department at the University of The Incarnate Word, where he later became the youngest recipient of the Alumni of Distinction for Professional Achievement award. He received his M.F.A. from the University of Texas at Austin’s film program, where he is currently an Associate Professor of film and the Associate Dean of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the Moody College of Communication. Variety magazine named him one of the best film educators “from across the globe.”

This project is supported in part by the Cultural Arts Division of the City of Austin Economic Development Department. FILMCollective is a project of Moving Image Arts & Education, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.

Celebrating Julie Taymor’s new film THE GLORIAS on Saturday, October 3rd

Producer Alex Saks will join moderator Monique Walton on Zoom at 8:20 PM CST to answer your questions about this inspiring film and the vision for the project

How does a Watch Party work?

• Rent THE GLORIAS on Amazon for streaming on your own device or television

• Start THE GLORIAS at 7:00 PM EST / 6:00 PM CST / 4:00 PM PST

• Join our Zoom with Producer Alex Saks and Monique Walton at 9:20 PM EST / 8:20 PM CST / 6:20 PM PST

How do I join the Zoom call?

• Click the button below to register at the Eventbrite link below for the Zoom call

• ZOOM LINKS WILL BE EMAILED TO YOUR INBOX ON THE DATE OF THE EVENT

• Dial in at 9:20 PM EST / 8:20 PM CST / 6:20 PM PST

Tuesday, September 29, 2020 at 7:00 PM CST on Zoom

Join FILMCollective for panel with filmmakers

Aurora Guerrero — Mosquita Y Mari, Queen Sugar, 13 Reasons Why

Meera Menon — Equity, Farah Goes Bang, Glow, The Walking Dead

As We Discuss Directing Independent Film and Television With Our Moderator

Annie Silverstein — Bull, Skunk, Noc na Tanečk

ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS