Aloha!

We hope this note finds you well, happy, and ending 2018 on an up note.

In this newsletter...

  • Creative Lab Hawaii 2019 Media Programs announced.
  • Important Dates for 2019 Application Process.
  • Information Video Conference Session dates announced.
  • Deep Dives: Themed Quarterly Video-Conference Sessions
  • In The News: Creative Lab Hawaii Fellows updates.
  • Follow us: Social Media links.

As always, should you have any questions, recommendations and/or concerns, please feel free to reach out to us.

Lastly, please feel free to share this newsletter with anyone whom you believe would benefit from participating in our programs.

Mahalo!
Executive Director,
Facilitator and Primary Coach - Media Programs
______________________________________________________________
Interested in learning more about our programs? Check out our brochure . It contains info on our programs, partners, and successes. 
Weekend Ideation Program:
From shorts to long form content - A program for indigenous storytellers
June 1 & 2, 2019 - Oahu

This program targets indigenous storytellers who are interested in exploring strategies and ways in which they can prepare to execute a story they are committed to telling.

In the past, shorts had been used as a calling card for creative entrepreneurs to open doors to future employment opportunities. Unfortunately, due to the dynamic nature of the media business, and the enormous amount of free content now available, this no longer holds true. Moreover, shorts have always been incredibly hard to monetize.

So, if you are planning to create a short, what strategies should you employ from the get go in order to maximize your time, effort, and resources for future opportunities?

This weekend ideation program will support indigenous creative entrepreneurs in creating a plan for their projects and themselves. The program consists of a weekend immersive (Saturday and Sunday - 9am to 7pm), followed by a three-month coaching program.

In order to apply, indigenous creative entrepreneurs must attend an information session, have an idea that has been written down, registered with the Writers Guild of America, West, and the U.S. Copyright Office.

If you have questions on how to execute these pre-requisites, please reach out to us and we will help you fulfill on them.
Web-Series Immersive
June 3 to 7, 2019 - Oahu

We are bringing our Web-Series Immersive back to Oahu. The Web-Series Immersive targets creative entrepreneurs interested in producing narrative fiction short-form stories whose first distribution window is the web.

The program will support creative entrepreneurs in developing their storylines, and creating a one-year plan from which to execute next steps to realize their projects. We highly recommend that producers apply with a member of their production team.

The program consists of an immersive week (Monday to Friday, 9am to 9pm), followed by a 12-month coaching program.

In order to apply, creative entrepreneurs must attend an information session (see info in next section), have a minimum of a pilot for their series (additional episodes are highly encouraged), they must have produced some form of content and distributed it, and registered their pilot (and additional existing episodes - if any) with the Writers Guild of America, West , and the U.S. Copyright Office .
Writers Immersive
June 10 to June 14, 2019 - Kauai

Our Writers Immersive targets screenwriters writing half-hour television shows, one-hour television shows, limited series, and motion pictures under $2 million (preferably $500,000.00 and under).

The program will support creative entrepreneurs in developing their storylines, and creating a one-year plan from which to execute next steps to realize their projects. We highly recommend that producers apply with a member of their production team.

The program consists of an immersive week (Monday to Friday, 9am to 9pm), followed by a 12-month coaching program.

In order to apply, creative entrepreneurs must attend an information session (see info in next section), have written a minimum of three screenplays in the same format, and registered their screenplays with the Writers Guild of America, West , and the U.S. Copyright Office .

Partners for this program include the Kauai Economic Development Board and the Kauai Visitors Bureau .
Motion Picture Producers Immersive
June 17 to June 21, 2019 - Kauai

Our Motion Pictures Producers Immersive targets producers of motion pictures with a budget under $2 million (preferably $500,000.00 and under).

The program will support creative entrepreneurs in developing their storylines, and creating a one-year plan from which to execute next steps to realize their projects. We highly recommend that producers apply with a member of their production team.

The program consists of an immersive week (Monday to Friday, 9am to 9pm), followed by a 12-month coaching program.

In order to apply, creative entrepreneurs must attend an information session (see info in next section), have produced some media content and distributed it, either hold an option and/or own the screenplay of the motion picture they plan to produce, and ensure that the screenplay has been registered with the Writers Guild of America, West , and the U.S. Copyright Office .

Partners for this program include the Kauai Economic Development Board and and the Kauai Visitors Bureau .
Information Sessions
Wednesdays, 6pm to 7pm HSTJan 2, 2019 to Feb 27, 2019
All applicants must participate in one information session prior to requesting and receiving an application. (See next section for details.)

Applications
Applications will be available beginning January 14, 2019 and are due back to us no later than March 31, 2019 end of day Hawaii. We strongly recommend that applicants turn in applications as soon as possible and not wait until the end of the process.

Selection Process
The selection process will be completed no later than April 30, 2019 and invitations to potential fellows will go out on May 1, 2019 .
Information Sessions

In order to empower potential applicants in making an informed choice, information sessions are a requirement for all individuals interested in applying into our programs.

Information sessions take place virtually via video-conference platform Zoom and are scheduled for each Wednesday , from 6pm to 7pm HST , beginning on January 2 and ending on February 27, 2019.

You may register for one of these session by going to our Eventbrite page . Please note that the registration process will require your full name and your email address.

Registration for each info session closes 48 hours prior to the session. As an example - the registration process for the January 2 session closes on December 31, 2018.

An email will be sent to individuals who have registered for each session containing a link to the video conference call 24 to 48 hours prior to each session.

Please familiarize yourself with the Zoom platform, wear headphones, and be in a quiet location to participate in the call. Individuals not adhering to these requests will be asked to leave the session and register for another.

We also request that individuals visit www.creativelab.hawaii.gov , and review pre-requisites for all our programs.

Questions? Write us at creativelab808@gmail.com .
Quarterly Themed Video Conference Sessions

As part of our commitment to continue to develop creative entrepreneurs who are active current fellows and/or graduate fellows of our programs, we have developed a series of quarterly video conference sessions beginning in 2019. The session themes were chosen based on the responses we received in a recent survey that targeted fellows and graduate fellows of our programs.

The themes we will be exploring in 2019 are:

Quarter 1 - Legal strategies for creative entrepreneurs.
Quarter 2 - Marketing your content online.
Quarter 3 - Crowdfunding.
Quarter 4 - Motion picture financing.

Please note that these programs are by invitation only.

Questions? Write us at creativelab808@gmail.com.
Amy Bircher, "Victorian Christmas"
Amy Bircher 's Creative Lab Hawaii 2017 project, originally titled "Victorian Christmas" and now titled "Christmas on Display" is currently in pre-production via American Cinema International.

The project will begin principal photography in Romania in March 2019.

Most recently, Bircher landed a story by credit on the 2018 Christmas movie titled "My Christmas Inn."

This follows her first credit in 2017 on Lifetime's mini-movie titled "Delivering Christmas."
Brayden Yoder, "Breakdown."
Creative Lab Hawaii Writers Immersive and Producers Immersive graduate fellow Brayden Yoder is now in India writing, and planning to direct, a motion picture adaptation of his award-winning short film titled "Breakdown."

India's Yoodle Films plans to produce and distribute the project theatrically, then via online streaming.

He most recently completed production and exhibition of his latest short film titled "Last Taxi Dance," via 'Ohina Showcase. It e njoyed a nearly sold-out benefit screening at the Hawaiʻi Theatre on #FirstFriday, 2nd November.

" Last Taxi Dance"  is currently featured in the December issue of American Cinematographer and now moves into a short festival run before its distribution on PBS Digital in the Summer of 2019 via Pacific Islanders In Communication.
Kaveh Kardan: "Orion," "Thoughts of Night," and "Final Night."
Creative Lab Hawaii, Writers Immersive graduate fellow Kaveh Kardan 's pilot titled "Orion" has attached Executive Producer and show runner Daniel Knauf (“The Blacklist,” “Dracula”), and making its way to SyFy and AMC.

His short film titled "Thoughts of Night" premiered at the 2018 Honolulu Rainbow Film Festival, and he is adapting his latest sci-fi short film titled "Final Night" into a motion picture which he plans to produce in 2019.
Jeff Orig, "Waikiki, PD"
Jeff Orig's Creative Lab Hawaii, Web-Series Immersive award-winning project "Waikiki PD," was showcased in the L.A. WebFest, Seoul WebFest, and the prestigious ITVFest. The series averages 50,000 views per episode, and just landed a video-on-demand deal with Hawaiian Telcom.

Its motion picture adaptation, a project in the 2018 Producers Immersive, is currently wrapping post-production.
Orig is in discussions with several distributors after a successful round of meetings at the American Film Market.
Chad Martin, "WAO AKUA - Realm of the Gods."
Chad Martin, a current Creative Lab Hawaii, Web-Series Immersive fellow, is self-producing his Hawaiian mythology animated web-series, "WAO AKUA - Realm of Gods."

The prologue and first episodes of the series will be released on Instagram, @waoakua, via playable video shares in early 2019.

For more information and updates of follow @waoakua on Instagram, and join the email list at  waoakua.com .
Gina Surles, "Triple Threat"
Web-Series Immersive graduate fellow Gina Surles , completed principal photography on episodes three and four of her web-series titled "Triple Threat."  

The series follows three mature women who become undercover detectives for an 80-year-old philanthropist who refuses to be defined by her age.
Stephanie Youngker Lewis,
"The Waiting Game"
Current Writers Immersive fellow Stephanie Youngker Lewis ' short film "The Waiting Game," which she wrote and directed and is the inspiration for her one-hour drama, screened at the San Francisco Veterans Film Festival.

There, she was accompanied by the film's executive producer and editor Deborah Glazier .

Deborah, a graduate of our Weekend Ideation Program in Transmedia, had a second short titled "Dillon" premiere at the Louisville Kentucky Festival of Film.
Ren Hanami, "Ninja Mom"
Creative Lab Hawaii, Writers Immersive graduate fellow Ren Hanami recently published a book adaptation of her motion picture screenplay "Ninja Mom."

The illustrated children's book, titled "Ninja Mom and Tengonis in the Tiki" can be purchased on Amazon.
"The Edge of Paradise" lands three-year run on Der Spiegel TV.

After a successful, limited run of documentary film festivals, John Wehrheim and Robert Stone 's "The Edge of Paradise" lands a three-year run on Germany's Der Spiegel TV.

Wehrheim is currently seeking additional distribution for the documentary and plans to market the project to companies in 2019.

We also take a moment to honor Robert Stone who passed away this past November.
...and
Spencer Hyde, a current Web-Series Immersive fellow, has completed the pilot of his series titled "Hawaii High," along with pitch materials and plans to pitch buyers in early 2019.

GB Hajim , a current Producers Immersive fellow, has garnered interest from several production companies and distributors for his motion picture horror-comedy titled "The Big Pig" after a successful stint at the American Film Market.

Writers Immersive graduate fellow Toan Doran is currently working on his new motion picture project titled "Under the Plumeria Rain."

Producers Immersive graduate fellows Tony Young and Joji Yoshida plan to attend the American Film Market 2019 with their motion picture project "Sacred Hearts Coven."

Rich Figel, a graduate of the Writers Immersive and the Animation Immersive programs, plans to shoot his first web-series titled "Kahuna" in 2019.

A'lmosh Ta'ltosh, a graduate fellow of our Writers Immersive program has has recently directed three shorts, "Three Reasons to Kiss" (Winner, Award of Recognition, Accolade Global Film Competition, Semifinalist, Los Angeles Cinefest, and
Official Selection, Chinese American Film Festival), "Precious Little Things," and "Aiuchi" (both in post).
He continues to work on his motion picture screenplay titled "Carmen."

Brian Kohne , Writers Immersive graduate fellow writer/director/ producer of the motion picture titled "Kuleana," and now retitled "Maui," has accepted an offer to lead the University of Hawaii, Maui College, Creative Media Program.
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