🔦 Ashanti Sharrieff; Berlinale; Monkeypaw Productions

New Year, New Talent, Grants and Opportunities

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MiFILM Admin
January 31, 2024

Spotlight on: Ashanti Sharrieff

Image description: A headshot of Ashanti Sharrieff, a brown woman wearing a cream-patterned hijab, and a cream jacket with gold unilome earrings. She is in front of a tan backdrop.

Ashanti Sharrieff is the Founder and Producer at True Tone Collective, a media production company based in Queens, New York. She continues to empower artists of color by hiring them on her production and focusing on clientele that prefaces equity, diversity, and inclusion in their brand. True Tone Collective (TTC) also offers production mentorship to help filmmakers break into the industry and get the opportunity to crew up on projects. Ashanti is a producer, director, writer, DP, and editor. TTC is a full-service production company that empowers filmmakers and clients with an opportunity to collaborate from development to post-production. Delivering high-quality products, each partner walks away with the best experience we can provide. 

Brittany Frankin, Founder & President of MIFILM, sat down with Ashanti to uncover what fuels her creativity and inspired the launch of TTC.

Img description: Ashanti wears a red hijab and matching fitted cap. She uses an iPhone to snap a picture of a model posing with brown curly hair and a green dress with bell sleeves.

Img description: Ashanti is on a beach at night, filming a client who is standing in the water, wearing a long shimmery dress, long oily hair, and a sultry look. They are lit in a blue light held by an assistant.

B: Queens in the House! Tell me, how did you make your way into filmmaking? What’s your origin story?

A: I started in the film industry ironically through fine arts. I studied to become an artist, but after failing my auditions and being accepted into the Academy for Careers in Television and Film as a high school student. I found my spark at that institution and found my community at The Apollo Theater. I found in those spaces that I loved being on set and empowering people of color to create stories across all digital mediums. 

B: What fuels your creativity now?

My passion to push myself to try a new project and new approach to directing and producing. I want to always improve as a company owner, producer, director, and writer. I want to always find a new way to become an efficient filmmaker in the independent film industry. I love amplifying work environments that manifest the best out of people, from their stories to the crew to picture loc.  I love the day in and day out of being a filmmaker. 

B: Any projects you’re currently working on? Do you have a favorite?

My favorite two projects are the children's medical book dedicated to my mom. This is the company's first book representing Afro-Latina women/girls in medicine. The book is being animated by a black animator based in Atlanta, JeQuavius "Kuhway" Pope. I hope this book inspires young doctors to start their passion for medicine early on. I am currently working on a short film script with MoorethanEnuff Media Inc. (owned by MiFILM Branded Lab Fellow Okema T. Moore). I am excited to make my narrative directorial debut with this project. I am grateful for these two partnerships and looking forward to working with our most consistent client Elite Music Media Entertainment Group who continues to book our crew to capture their live music performances. It has been a wonderful start to 2024. We are excited for what's next!

B: How can others support you in your career?

Send us projects that you need to crew up for, and we will help you crew up. Send us your flyers for links to your project so we can direct our community to support your work. College students/Recent Grads, send us your reels, resumes, and CVs so you can join our crew-up pipeline and mentorship program, and we can help you break into the industry. Sign up to be a part of our mentorship workshops and crew-up workshops so we can meet you one-on-one. Share our company with your actors, friends, local businesses, musicians, etc. Repost any content we share, and tag us!

Follow us on all our social media IG: @truetonecollective / @ashanti.sharrieff_henderson. Contact us with your film, photo, live entertainment, or script ideas via DM or Email at [email protected].

Image Description: Ashanti is wearing a t-shirt, green cargo pants, and sneakers, carrying equipment through a park. There is a Ferris wheel in the background.

Meet MiFILM Founder at the European Film Market during Berlinale from February 16 - 20th. Whether you are a MiFILM member, an underrepresented filmmaker, or a seasoned veteran eager to learn how to partner with our collective, we’re down to chat.

Grants & Resources 🔌

  • The MĂŤRALA FILM FESTIVAL (MFF) showcases the work of independent women of color filmmakers amidst the beautiful backdrop of Santa Monica, California. MFF is about women of color, filmmakers, audiences and film professionals establishing a relationship and supporting underrepresented filmmakers in film. Deadline: February 10, 2024. Submit Here

  • What’s your biggest fear? What monsters lurk in the deepest corners of your inner thoughts? Monkeypaw Productions’ NO DRAMA Powered by the Universal Filmmakers Project and TIFF, challenges filmmakers to produce a short film that explores monsters across genre, cultures, time, and society. Deadline: February 29th, 2024. Submit Here

  • NeXt Doc aims to create space for non-fiction filmmakers of color ages 21-25 years old who have historically not had access to development programs that build their documentary storytelling skills and expand their networks of support. The 2024 NeXt Doc Fellowship kicks off with a week-long in-person convening that takes place Wednesday, May 22nd to Tuesday, May 28th at Galusha Hill Farm Lodge, a 600 acre artist retreat space and farm in Topsham, Vermont. The intensive is followed by a year of tailored one-on-one mentorship, peer-mentorship, skill-shares, online masterclasses, access to film festivals and key industry convening’s, and one-of-a-kind access to the diverse community and offerings brought forth by Youth FX, the organization behind the NeXt Doc fellowship program. We highly encourage women, people of color and LGBTQIA filmmakers to apply. Deadline: Monday, February 26th, 2024. Submit Here

  • A-DOC STORYTELLING INITIATIVE 2024: OUR STORIES, OUR VOICES
    The Asian American Documentary Network (A-Doc) has utilized its resources and network to support its Storytelling Initiatives, beginning with the microdocs series Asian American Stories in the Time of Coronavirus in 2020, and Asian American Stories of Resilience and Beyond in co-production with WORLD Channel and CAAM in 2022. Deadline: February 2nd,2024. Submit Here

  • The A-DOC Impact Fellowship seeks social justice-oriented leaders, filmmakers, impact strategists, thinkers, doers, and believers with ideas for projects that organize within and support AAPI communities to bring about long-term, equitable social change by leveraging nonfiction film, narrative strategies, or storytelling. A-Doc will award three (3) Impact Fellows a grant ($20,000) towards the implementation of their Impact project and a year-long fellowship program (12 months, March 2024 – March 2025). Deadline: February 8th,2024. Submit Here

  • Filmmaker in Chief Downtown Alliance Grant: One filmmaker will win up to $50,000, plus two months in a paid luxury Mint House apartment and two months’ stipend to produce, direct, and edit a short film in New York City’s Lower Manhattan neighborhood. The Alliance for Downtown New York has opened a call for submissions from January 16  for filmmakers interested in a creative residency opportunity in the summer of 2024 in Lower Manhattan. Deadline: February 16, 2024. Submit Here.

  • For More Artist Opportunities in February and March 2024, visit Creative Capital.

Jobs đź’¸

Trevor Zhou is currently seeking a Lead Producer for a feature film, Ann Arbor (annarbormovie.com), which will be shooting in October 2024. The position is paid and the film falls under the SAG Moderate Low Budget Agreement.

What we’re looking for:
-Experienced with at least a feature or more in the independent film space
-Has experience in film financing.
-Preferably LA or Michigan-based, but open to the right person.
-Excited about telling a unique story in a visually distinct style.
-Enjoys puns.

The heart of our film, Ann Arbor, is about stepping into the person you’re truly meant to be. It speaks to the immigrant experience 35 years in and explores the meaning of home from both the immigrant and American perspectives while considering the intersections of privilege, expectations and cultural generational trauma. We’re currently in late development and recently shot some B-roll late last year. We have a script, deck, mood reel, and a title concept. Once we find our Lead Producer, we’ll be moving into casting. Check out the mood reel for a sense of tone and aesthetic.
Please reach out if you or anyone you know might be a good fit.

Location: NY

ROLE OVERVIEW: SpringHill lifestyle brand is seeking an experienced, creative, detail-oriented Creative Producer/Director with a speciality in short and long form content creation with a background in brand integration who will be responsible for developing, producing, directing and overseeing post-production on several videos and shows across the SpringHill brand. If you ever dreamed of being at the forefront of culture, creating entertaining and engaging social-first content, is plugged into the local creator community in fashion, art, music and entertainment, enjoys working with creatives, and has experience creating thumb-stopping content that's timely, brand-friendly, and FUN, keep on reading.

The ideal candidate puts the unique style of forward-thinking short & long-form content creation first in order to empower our diverse style of storytelling and is fluent in all things lifestyle. 

Amant is seeking an Associate Curator to join our team. Successful candidates should have experience curating projects across cultural media, including visual, literary, performance, film, and music.

Amant is a non-profit arts organization in Brooklyn, NY, founded in 2019. The core of Amant’s mission is to advance the presentation of contemporary art and provide a platform for innovation through exhibitions of visual art, multimedia productions, live performances, and public engagement programs.

Seemia Theatre is seeking a UK based Development Producer.

The Development Producer will work as an essential part of Seemia Theatre’s organization and future and will be responsible to the company’s Artistic Director (Sara Amini) and Producer (Robin Paley Yorke). This role is pivotal for Seemia Theatre to work on project development and delivery, focusing on establishing and building partnership connections, fundraising, and feeding into longer-term planning for the company.

There is the potential for re-employment on a project basis, depending on future funding and fundraising. We are interested in developing this role into a longer-term position and would like to work with a producer who has the interest and capacity to do this. 

Launched in 2023 with the support of Creative MEDIA Europe, Cannes Makers is the Marché du Film’s innovative training & mentoring program, dedicated to thoroughly exploring the international sales process at every stage. Call-for-Participants for Cannes Makers 2024 is now open until 4 March! Apply here via our online form. Participants will be announced towards the end of March.

Lede New Orleans is currently accepting applications from creative professionals, ages 18-25, for its Community Reporting Fellowship program. Fellows are paid a total of $2,000 over the course of 16 weeks plus an additional $500 stipend for transportation assistance to learn the fundamentals of multimedia journalism, working alongside experienced journalists and creatives to produce original multimedia reporting exploring an issue relevant to underrepresented communities in New Orleans. Applications are due by Wednesday, January 31, 2024 at 11:59pm CST.

The Ruckus Society is a multi-racial network dedicated to providing the tools, preparation, and support to build direct action capacity for social movements. We work with communities of color and working class communities on the front lines organizing for liberation, equity, justice, direct democracy, and ecological resilience. We define “frontline communities” as directly affected grassroots communities organized for action to confront injustice. We are a member of the Center for Third World Organizing (CTWO) Hub. The Ruckus Society is in search of a full-time program manager and part-time coordinator. Both positions are remote.

The Southern Documentary Fund is seeking a Social Media Intern, a Convening Intern, and a Database/ Research Intern to become valuable assets to our team! General information for the three positions is listed below followed by highlights on each position. Remote – Based in North Carolina – local to Triangle/Triad area
Terms: Part-Time Internship (up to 10 hours weekly- typically 5 hours per week)Equipment Requirements: Computer & Smartphone
Pay:  $15/hour

Art House NYC is expanding and hiring for multiple in-person positions. Deadline: January 31st, 2024. Interested applicants should email Email [email protected]

Work With Us.

Did you know you can commission the MiFILM collective for productions, including branded work and docs? With access to hundreds of BIPOC talent of varying abilities, MiFILM can be your next ethical production partner. Reply to this email if you have a project in mind.

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