Asian American Film Lab
The Film Lab's mission is to promote and support gender and ethnic diversity in film and television through AAFL TV, its production arm; the 72 Hour Shootout, an annual global filmmaking competition showcasing diverse filmmakers; and through regular monthly programming ranging from screenings to educational seminars to screenplay workshops and readings. The Film Lab's programming includes: (1) Unfinished Works: writers can submit screenplays, shorts, pilot, and other written pieces to Lorna Nowve for consideration. If chosen, professional actors from the Film Lab's Actor Directory will perform the piece publicly and Lorna will workshop the piece in a constructive, structured manner for the writer, allowing the audience to participate in the creative process. Email UnfinishedWorks@film-lab.org and visit us online for more at www.asianamericanfilmlab.org. (2) Industry Spotlight: this program is an educational tool for creatives and involves industry professionals sharing tips, tools, experiences, and feedback to help support and educate entertainers of color. Programs range from screenings to seminars to workshops to Q&As for everyone from directors to storyboard artists to sound and audio engineers to actors. For more information, please visit us online at www.asianamericanfilmlab.org or email IndustrySpotlight@film-lab.org. (2a) Part of the IS program is our annual 72 Hour Shootout Filmmaking Competition. The 72 Hour Shootout celebrates diversity and artistic empowerment and occurs annually under the auspices of and in collaboration with Asian CineVision. The Shootout is a worldwide competition run by the Film Lab in which filmmaking teams are given a common theme at the start and then have 72 hours to write, shoot, edit, and complete short films up to five minutes in length. Teams compete for cash, prizes and the chance to have their films screened at the prestigious Asian American International Film Festival (“AAIFF”), New York’s leading festival for independent Asian and Asian American film and video, and the first and longest-running U.S. festival of its kind. As an integral part of AAIFF, the Shootout celebrates the creativity and genius of the directors, their casts and crews as they share stories by, about and for Asian Americans and other filmmakers of color with the world. (3) Connections: Connections encompasses social and networking events such as the Film Lab's annual Holiday Gala and the world wide 72 Hour Shootout filmmaking competition, which occurs every summer in conjunction with Asian CineVision and the Asian American International Film Festival. (4) The Film Lab created a production arm in the fall of 2013 to address the need for diversity in contemporary entertainment programming, AAFL TV. AAFL TV's mission is to create and share diverse stories showing the multi-cultural and cosmopolitan canvass of US society today; to show the United States as it truly is – diverse and cosmopolitan, through multi-ethnic and multi-cultural viewpoints and stories. The original four AAFL TV pilots include the following: MY NOT SO subCONSCIOUS A woman's life is upended when her inner thoughts - literally!- take on a life of their own. Dani is a 20-something New Yorker with plenty of friends, a reliable boyfriend and a decent - albeit boring - job. Dani's biggest problem in life is getting her boyfriend to propose until, one day, her inner thoughts literally take on a life of their own. Dani's subconscious and a friend named Nisha take Dani on a series of New York adventures she never could have imaginedeven in her own wildest inner thoughts. Treasure Hunt An interactive mystery/suspense pilot. When a college student can't afford to go back to school, he tries to win a fortune by solving a chain of riddles left behind by a missing billionaire. The Pantheon Project A struggling grad student starts a blog about her adventures moving to New York City, only to discover that her new roommates are actually the goddesses Pele and Guan Yin. What follows is Real World meets Olympus…New York style. The Asian American Film Lab is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. Membership and all contributions are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law. All events are open to the general public unless specified otherwise.
