Sundance Institute and Gold House Announce Second Cohort of 'One House Filmmakers Fund', Made Possible With Funding From the East West Bank Foundation

LOS ANGELES, October 28, 2024 (Newswire.com) - The nonprofits Sundance Institute and Gold House are thrilled to announce the second cohort of the Sundance Institute | One House Filmmakers Fund, providing unrestricted financing, educational support, and amplification for filmmakers from historically underrepresented communities. The fund is made possible by the generous support of East West Bank Foundation, the charitable arm of East West Bank, furthering their dynamic work within the entertainment industry, supporting storytellers of all backgrounds to create impactful cultural dialogues. The grantees were chosen by a selection committee of executives from the Sundance Institute, Gold House, East West Bank Foundation, and leading multicultural organizations, the Blackhouse, GLAAD, Latinx House, and the NAACP Hollywood Bureau.

To announce this cohort, Sundance Institute, Gold House, and East West Bank Foundation hosted the One House Filmmakers Fund Soiree on October 26 at the Academy Museum. The event also provided the grantees an exclusive opportunity to pitch their projects to financiers and distributors. 

As UCLA’s annual Hollywood Diversity Report shows, “America’s increasingly diverse audiences prefer diverse content in streaming film releases.” However, clear gaps in representation still exist behind the camera. Less than 1 in 3 streaming film directors and writers identify as BIPOC, and less than 1 in 3 streaming film directors and less than half of writers are women.

To address these gaps, Sundance Institute and Gold House, with curatorial support from a collective of multicultural organizations, launched the One House Filmmakers Fund this January, powered by the inaugural financial support of East West Bank Foundation.

The second cohort of filmmakers are:

• Pierre Coleman for Ricky
• Don Josephus Raphael Eblahan for Hum
• Colette Ghunim for Traces of Home
• Julia Kennelly for Clare
• Sofian Khan for Karachi Sky
• Naomi Ko for Marry Korean
• April Maxey for Work
• John Sutter for Planet A
• Angela Tucker for The Inquisitor
• Jing Wang for Ride With Delivery Workers

“By embracing diverse perspectives and narratives, we enrich our collective innovation and create a more inclusive environment where new ideas can thrive. Whether in entertainment or business, celebrating diverse cultural experiences not only broadens a market base but also builds stronger, more empathetic connections between communities, laying the foundation to allow everyone to reach further," said Dominic Ng, Chairman and CEO of East West Bank.

“With the generous support of Gold House, we are proud to continue our shared commitment to amplifying underrepresented voices and providing a platform for the grantees to explore bold, authentic narratives that resonate globally. Their work speaks to the transformative power of film, and we look forward to seeing the impact their stories will have on audiences everywhere,” said Hajnal Molnar Szakacs, Director, Artist Accelerator and Women at Sundance, Sundance Institute. 

For more information on the One House Filmmakers Fund, visit https://goldhouse.org/onehousefilmfund. 

Source: Gold House