We’re looking for Black filmmakers with new doc projects who would like to spend a week on our creative campus in Downtown Wilmington The final deadline to apply for this year’s Works-in-Progress Lab is only fifteen days away! Social Justice documentary projects at various stages of production can apply up until midnight on Wednesday, April 27.
The Cucalorus Works-in-Progress (WiP) Lab supports social justice documentaries with a focus on projects being made by Black filmmakers. Co-designed and coordinated by Working Films, participating artists receive feedback on their work-in-progress and explore audience engagement strategies through workshops, consultations, and community screenings during an immersive residency on the Cucalorus creative campus in downtown Wilmington, North Carolina that takes place September 25th to October 2nd, 2022. Now in its fourteenth year, the Works-in-Progress lab was launched in 2008 through a partnership between Working Films and Cucalorus and has supported an amazing list of projects that have gone on to premiere at festivals like Sundance and Tribeca.
Selected filmmakers come to Wilmington for a weeklong residency which includes training, workshops and community engagement screenings. Participating filmmakers are joined by mentors who are experienced documentary filmmakers. Previous mentors include Byron Hurt, Natalie Bullock Brown, Jacqueline Olive, and Lana Garland. In addition to one-on-one sessions with mentors, filmmakers work on creating impact campaigns, discussing fundraising strategies, and exploring festival and distribution opportunities. Filmmakers screen their work-in-progress footage with organizations and individuals who are working on the issues which their film addresses. These intimate screenings provide valuable feedback for filmmakers as they continue to edit and plan for how their film can make an impact once it’s completed.
Cucalorus and Working Films provide full travel support and per diems for all selected filmmakers. To find out more about the program, email Chief Instigating Officer Dan Brawley at dan@cucalorus.org. Further program details can be found on the Cucalorus website and the full application can be found here.