(Egg)celerator Lab
The 2021 (Egg)celerator Lab supports ten feature-length documentaries with $400,000 total in grant funding, mentorship, and creative support. By working with emerging directors, Chicken & Egg Pictures supports a new generation of artists as they lay sustainable foundations for lasting careers in the field.
Promising films exploring urgent social issues by emerging filmmakers
Acts of Reparation
dirs. Selina Lewis Davidson, Macky Alston (US)
prods. Selina Lewis Davidson, Macky Alston
Still from Against the Tide
Against the Tide
dir. Sarvnik Kaur (INDIA)
prods. Sarvnik Kaur, Koval Bhatia
Is There Anybody Out There?
dir. Ella Glendining (UK)
prod. Janine J Marmot
Mija
dir. Isabel Castro (MEXICO / US)
prod. Tabs Breese
Q
dir. Jude Chehab (US / LEBANON)
prod. Jude Chehab
Still from Seeds
Seeds
dir. Brittany Shyne (US)
prods. Brittany Shyne, Danielle Varga
Testament
dir. Zippy Kimundu, Meena Nanji (KENYA / US)
prod. Zippy Kimundu, Meena Nanji
The In Between
dir. Robie Flores (US/MEXICO)
prod. Robie Flores, Alejandro Flores, Kellen Quinn
Still from The Last Nomads
The Last Nomads
dir. Biljana Tutorov, Petar Glomazić (SERBIA / SWEDEN)
prod. Biljana Tutorov, Veliša Popović
Still from The Tuba Thieves
The Tuba Thieves
dir. Alison O’Daniel (US)
prod. Rachel Nederveld
A closer look at our filmmakers’
(Egg)celerator Lab year
January – February
One-on-one mentorship with our Senior Creative Team & monthly cohort calls
March
First Retreat: Special Focus on Story
Guest mentors include: Rabab Haj Yahya (editor on Speed Sisters) and Jialing Zhang (2021 Chicken & Egg Award Recipient)
Workshops: Strategic planning toward career sustainability, conversations about complexities that arise in relationships with film characters, guidance for changes in story, discussions around money and access, and more
April – May
One-on-one mentorship with our Senior Creative Team & monthly cohort calls
June
Second Retreat: Pitch Training at Sheffield Doc/Fest + MeetMarket
Guest Mentors: Previous (Egg)celerator Lab grantees Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh (Writing With Fire), Violet du Feng (Hidden Letters), and Farah Kassem (We Are Inside)
Workshops: Pitch training; introduction to film markets and guidance for 1:1 meetings; information on co-productions, sales, and distribution
In addition to a week-long retreat, filmmakers participate in an exclusive Chicken & Egg Pictures pitch at Sheffield DocFest in the UK, which is open to international funders, broadcasters, distributors, and festival-goers and seen by 400+ attendees.
July – October
One-on-one mentorship with our Senior Creative Team & Monthly cohort calls
November – December
Third Retreat: Wrapping Up the Program Year
Guest Mentors: Composer Laura Karpman and Michele Stephenson (2016 Chicken & Egg Award recipient)
Workshops: Distribution strategy and impact; Career trajectory stories with an advanced career filmmaker; strategic planning
A Little Eggstra Fund
Our 2021 (Egg)celerator Lab was unable to meet in-person this year, so to include some of the elements of the program that would have been fulfilled in-person retreat and to acknowledge the toll that our new “virtual reality” is also taking on filmmakers’ mental, emotional, and creative energies, we disburbed the “A Little Eggstra Fund.” The no-strings-attached flexible fund of $2,000 was awarded to Lab filmmakers to be used for professional development, networking/film forum-related travel, childcare support, or creative needs.