Congratulations to the Three Queens Who Are Reel Sisters 2023 Fellows!
First, we want to thank the more than 77+ women of color for submitting their stories to our Reel Sisters Micro Budget Film Fellowship — we hope you find the support you need to produce your short film, pilot or web series!
The final choice was so difficult to make because we received so many excellent screenplays with complex and interesting characters.
Our jurors chose the three micro budget fellows from a very competitive pool of 11 finalists. It is our sincere wish we could have supported our finalists.
We are asking you to support finalists who are featured on our Fellowship page as Honorable Mentions!
A special extra thanks to our jurors for making incredibly hard decisions.
INTRODUCING REEL SISTERS 2023 MICRO BUDGET FELLOWS
FILM PROJECT: Finding JaMia's Spirit
Logline | A little girl looks for her dad’s ancestor spirit.
Candace D. Patrick
Candace D. Patrick is a writer, director, and producer who was born and raised in Los Angeles, CA. She first became passionate about screenwriting in high school after her drama teacher encouraged her to apply to the Scriptwriters Network High School Fellowship Program, of which she was accepted. Participating in that fellowship led her to earn a Screenwriting degree from Loyola Marymount University, where she developed her voice focusing on stories that authentically displayed human journeys. Having had the opportunity to travel to 25+ countries while working as a marketing director for Semester at Sea, a study abroad program, Candace learned that the feeling of joy is universal, but the path to joy and healing are uniquely traveled and often include laughter. Her writing often explores grief & healing, mental health and finding joy, and debunking the Strong Black Woman concept.
She earned semifinalist rankings for her first feature, “Glow,” in the 2010 StoryPros contest, and the 2017 Screencraft Film Fund for her short script, “Cycle.” In 2019, she wrote, directed, and produced the short film, “The 5th Room,” which received awards and nominations for Best Short, Best Writer, and Best Director. Since then she has worked on several independent film and web projects. Her 1-hour family drama pilot, “Harrington’s Crossing,” advanced to the finalist round of the Spring 2021 WeScreenplay Diverse Voices competition.
When not writing, Candace loves to travel, and fight with her cat, Nougat, for the most comfortable seat in her apartment.
Micro Budget Fellow Statement:
I am extremely honored and grateful to have been selected as an awardee for the Reel Sisters Micro Budget Film Fellowship Program! Being an independent filmmaker comes with many challenges, and having financial support tends to land right at the top of that list of battles to overcome. Receiving this grant and having the support of mentorship over this next year will make all the difference in taking this vulnerable story I wrote and seeing it on film. This film is inspired by and dedicated to my father, whom I lost at age 11 due to stomach cancer. "Finding JaMia's Spirit" aims to challenge conventional narratives surrounding grief, particularly in the context of children's understanding and processing of loss, and I hope it will resonate with children, families, and individuals who have experienced loss and are now on their healing journey. Thank you so much to Reel Sisters for supporting me and our production team on this filmmaking journey!
website: candacedpatrick.com/
Social Media Links:
Instagram Personal: https://www.instagram.com/candacedpatrick/
Finding JaMia's Spirit: https://www.instagram.com/jamiaspiritfilm/
FILM PROJECT: 29 Hour Famine
Logline | When a devout teenager discovers evidence of someone eating at her church youth group’s annual fasting event, she goes to absurd lengths to catch the culprit.
Vivienne Shaw
Vivienne Shaw is a Taiwanese-American screenwriter and director currently pursuing her MFA in screenwriting from Columbia University. She works primarily in comedy and horror with particular interest in Asian-American, queer, and female-centered stories. Vivienne is the recent recipient of an Alfred P. Sloan Screenplay Grant and a current Sloan Grand Jury Prize nominee for her psychological thriller feature script KILLING JAR. In addition to her own projects she has worked in development at multiple production companies, including ViacomCBS, Cinetic Media and Gamechanger Films, and has also served as a script reader for the former Sundance Asian-American Fellowship. Outside of film Vivienne also works in video art and projection design for theater, pursuing her continued interest in interactive storytelling. She received her BA from Wellesley College in computer science and cinema and media studies.
Micro Budget Fellow Statement:
I'm so grateful to have been selected as a Reel Sisters Microbudget Fellow for my short film "29 Hour Famine", a passion project I've been developing for the past year. It's incredibly exciting to know that Reel Sisters believes in this story and the comedic lens with which it's told, and the much-needed funding and support will go a long way in helping this film get from script to screen. Enormous thanks to Reel Sisters and African Voices for continuing to invest in female POC filmmakers.FILM PROJECT: Cold Feat
Logline | A suburban physical therapist has committed her life to helping others while sitting on the sidelines of her own dreams of ballroom dancing. After an embarrassing encounter with the new instructor in town, she must choose between listening to critics who tell her that her body is too big and ethnic for ballroom dancing, and purse the flame in her heart that longs to waltz.
Morgan Alicia Smith
Morgan Alicia Smith is a New York based filmmaker who has spent her lifetime in love with film, television, and theatre. After directing her first play at age 17, Morgan earned her undergraduate degree in Geology while also getting minors in Music and Theater. She found ways to keep her passions for storytelling alive by writing and producing stories for Milwaukee PBS, and broadcast news in Wisconsin and Texas. Morgan's path took a circuitous route when she found herself creating animated/graphical content, and running the in-game entertainment efforts for the Texas Stars, a minor league hockey team in Austin. Still, Morgan made time for her personal creative endeavors by writing plays for local festivals. She even wrote and performed a one-woman show, which took her to the finals of a fringe play competition. But when COVID hit and she was laid off from her job, Morgan took a chance at school again, and found herself in Columbia University's Creative Film Producing MFA program. Morgan hopes to put her degree to work telling stories about women, and for women who are underrepresented in mainstream media.
Micro Budget Fellow Statement:
I am beyond grateful that Reel Sisters exists as a resource for artists like me. Being chosen as a Reel Sisters Fellow is an incredible opportunity, and a leap toward making my thesis film, which seeks to honor women who dare to dream in a world that too-often encourages them to give up. Reel Sisters actively offers a helping-hand that converts hopes into reality, and I am humbled and honored to be included.