The Saul Zaentz Innovation Fund in Film and Media at Johns Hopkins University will continue its mission of empowering innovative audiovisual artists in Baltimore with its third Incubator program. As the Fund approaches its first anniversary – a year in which it contributed $195,000 to the development and production of 10 film, television, virtual reality and technology-centered projects and provided mentorship and production assistance to 37 artists – it is accepting applications for the 2017 Bold Voices, New Paradigms Incubator. The Incubator will feature a Screenplay Lab, Documentary Lab, a Mentorship Program and two Brain Trust Meetings.

“Baltimore and the Johns Hopkins community are rich with artists, entrepreneurs and storytellers with unique voices and projects. Today, these essential voices are more important than ever,” said Roberto Busó-García, director of the Fund and the University’s Master of Arts in Film and Media program. “Our 2017 development and production programs will build upon the success of our inaugural year as we continue to fuel the growth of the film and media industry in Baltimore.”

The Fund, which is the only one of its kind at any university in the country, connects participants with prestigious artists, veteran filmmakers, executives and technologists from the industry to further develop and produce their projects. Initiatives of the Fund include a team-building process that pairs each project with two top-level filmmaking talents in the form of mentor-mentee relationships; and Brain Trust Meetings, where special industry guests come together for a series of candid, in-depth discussions on current problems in audiovisual production and solutions to project-specific challenges. During a Screenplay Lab in late April and a Documentary Lab in early September, Fellows with screenplay and documentary projects will work one-on-one with veteran artists to guide their pre-production and development process.

The Saul Zaentz Innovation Fund launched in March 2016 through a $1 million grant from the Saul Zaentz Charitable Foundation. Zaentz was a three-time Academy Award-winning producer whose work included One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s NestAmadeus and The English Patient. Baltimore residents, students from Johns Hopkins, MICA and Peabody, and Hopkins alumni with film, television, virtual reality or technology-centered projects can fill out and submit an application for free online at www.zaentzfund.com until March 31, 2017.

About The Saul Zaentz Innovation Fund in Film and Media

Founded in 2016, The Saul Zaentz Innovation Fund in Film and Media at Johns Hopkins University seeks to further the pioneering legacy of Mr. Zaentz by connecting the Baltimore creative community with prestigious artists, veteran executives and successful entrepreneurs in an incubator program designed to seek and develop groundbreaking project ideas that will advance the art and craft of audiovisual media. www.zaentzfund.com

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