NFMLA Announces 2024 NewNarratives Award Winners

NewFilmmakers Los Angeles alongside Warner Bros. Discover announced their NewNarratives award winners for 2024. The program was started in 2021 with the goal of sporting independent filmmakers throughout a wide range of projects at any stage of production including short, feature, episodic series, documentaries, experimental works, and animation works. 

The Rhulen Family Foundation provided a $20,000 cash grant in honor of the independent film producer Anthony Rhulen who worked on films like “The Butterfly Effect” among others. From this, each of the selected group of creators received a $5,000 grant.

The initiative received a diverse range of applications upwards of 250 from over 30 countries, including Australia, Bolivia, China, Cuba, India, Italy, South Africa, Venezuela and more. “It was incredible to witness such a strong commitment to the vision we and our previous recipients have crafted for this program. The overwhelming number of outstanding projects is a testament to the insightful and impactful portraits of the human experience that the artists we support this year will create,” stated NFMLA’s Executive Director Larry Laboe and Programming Director Bojana Sandic in a joint statement. 

A full list of the 2024 NFMLA NewNarratives grant winners is available below. 

Alex Nystrom – developing his narrative feature film “Spiral”.

Born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota Alex Nystrom is an enrolled member of the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians. He was selected for the inaugural 2024 NYU Tisch Empowering Indigenous Voices Film Directing Intensive in Santa Fe. “Spiral” will be Nystrom’s first feature film which is based on his dramatic short film “Four Nights and a Fire.” The short premiered at the Palm Springs International ShortFest 2023, where it earned a Top 5 Programmer’s Pick. It also received Best Sound Design at NewFilmmakers LA’s 2024 Best of NFMLA Awards and a nomination for Best Drama Short. 

“Spiral” is set in an isolated cabin where an Ojibwe man cares for his grandmother who has dementia. Soon, however, a series of disturbing events lead him to believe that they are being haunted by his late father’s spirit.

Nystrom is not new to screenwriting as his pilot script for “Between” was selected for the 2nd annual Indigenous List (2022) on The Black List. Nor is he new to production as he also worked on the South by Southwest 2024 feature film “Yasmeen’s Element” and one of the Warner Brothers 100th Short Film Initiative features “The Prince and the Pauper.”

Jacqueline Elyse Rosenthal – post-producing her narrative short film EUROPA.

A recent graduate from USC School of Cinematic Arts with a MFA in Film Production, Rosenthal has previously won a Student Emmy Award and a DGA Student Grand Prize Award. Her script adaptation of her short film “Backlog” secured a developmental deal after it won the Stage 32 and Catalist Studios’ Empowering Women Script Competition. “Backlog” was also a Cannes and NFMLA selection.  

“Europa” which was produced at Sony Studios is a sci-fi film that follows three astronauts into the future who land on Jupiter’s moon, Europa. Their mission is to save humanity by collecting a water sample from the moon’s core as there is none left on Earth. Yet, Yvette, the team’s oceanographer, is tested by an ethical decision once she begins to communicate with Europa. A decision that holds humanity at its stake. 

Rosenthal was honored in 2021 by the United Nations Development Programme. She is an alum of the Creator’s Playlab, the Fox Fellowship, The Athena Writer’s Lab and Stowe Story Labs. Her next film “Gaslight” is set to begin production in 2025.

Jonathan Pickett – producing his short documentary film “Sing At My Wake”

Pickett is an Emmy-nominated producer and director, as well as a 2024 BendFilm: Basecamp fellow. His short documentary “Chicken Stories” was acquired by The New Yorker and selected as a Vimeo Staff Pick after winning the jury prize for Artistic Vision at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival. 

“Sing At My Wake” is an observational documentary exploring the idea of green end-of-life care plans. It does so by following both the innovative company which makes it possible and a family who chose to try the new method care plan out. The project is produced by Stept Studios in association with People People Media, alongside Josh Polon, Sarah Stewart, and Pickett. 

His work has been released through countless publications, including  GQ Magazine, New York Times, The Atlantic, ALTER, NoBudge and Short of the Week. His projects have premiered at festivals like Sundance, Tribeca, Seattle, Mountainfilm, Palm Springs, and HollyShorts — where his latest project won Best Shot on 16mm Film.

Kameishia Wooten – developing her narrative feature film “Your Secret Is Safe With Me” 

Recently awarded the WIF Directing Fellowship supported by Netflix and a participant of the Ryan Murphy’s Half Initiative program, Wooten is a writer and director with 7 short films in her repertoire. Her latest short, “Choices” was recognized at many festivals including Cannes, Hollyshorts, Chicago International Children’s Film Festival and NFMLA. Kameishia’s storytelling style is one of depth and soul, reflecting her African American southern culture. 

“Your Secret Is Safe With Me” is set in an elite San Fernando Valley high school where two girls find themselves faced with the difficulties of teen pregnancy. One is an overachieving, selfish, wanna-be prom queen and the other a naive preacher’s daughter. A once-in-a-lifetime trip to Paris forces them to face their fears, secrets, and acknowledge their choices. Uncovering throughout the true meaning of friendship and resilience. 

Since its inauguration in 2021, NewNarratives has awarded nearly $250,000 in funding for independent creators, receiving more than 800 entries from over 60 countries.