The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles is expanding its efforts to engage the industry side of the business and in June will host its inauguralThe festival was founded in 2002 and, now in its third decade of operation, has pivoted to a strategy of year-round programming and events.
The center piece of the IFFLA Industry Day will be a pitch competition that involves selected emerging and established film and TV writers and directors who pitch their upcoming project to a panel of executives from different sectors of the industry. The executives and a live public audience will provide feedback and heighten the sense of discovery. The winner will receive a $10,000 development grant.
Other components include: mentorship roundtable sessions; sneak previews of new South Asian films and series; panel discussions on diverse aspects of the South Asian entertainment space; networking events and a closing reception where the pitch competition winner will be announced. The events are presented in association with India Center Foundation, a U.S. non-profit organization in the dedicated to supporting storytellers of the South Asian diaspora, and PRISM, a female-led collective supporting the diaspora and diversity.
“As we enter IFFLA’s third decade, we expand our mission beyond the enviable festival’s legacy of discovering and celebrating new talent.”, said Christina Marouda, IFFLA’s executive director. “We’re excited to partner with PRISM and the India Center Foundation , to launch the inaugural IFFLA Industry Day, creating a much needed platform for mentorship, funding and nurturing of the new vanguard of South Asian visionaries.
HIMANSHU