Since 2016, Chicken & Egg Pictures has opted into the Non-Fiction Core Application process. The Non-Fiction Core Application is a collaborative field-wide effort led by the Sundance Institute in partnership with IDA ”to standardize a set of questions that are used in nonfiction funding, fiscal sponsor or artist support opportunities”… “to alleviate the burden of proposal re-writing on applicants, foster greater access to sources of creative and financial support and build toward a more equitable and transparent nonfiction field.” (via IDA)
Chicken & Egg Pictures has consistently updated our application questions to be in alignment with the Core Application with the latest version created in 2022. The majority of our questions about the project information, key creative personnel, financial information/budget, and work samples are directly in line with the Core Application. Supplemental questions are few and have been added where we have noticed a repeated need to capture information that we need to inform our selection process. We acknowledge the effort it takes for filmmakers to complete any application and our team reviews our application processes each year to ensure the information we are requesting is necessary to our evaluations and decision making.
We were involved in the discussions around the most recent update of the Core Application specifically about how to standardize response lengths to allow both for word count limits as well as character count limits (for those organizations like ours whose application platform only works using character counts). As an outcome of these discussions, the Core Application v. 2022 has a word-to-character count equivalency listed on page 1 of the Application Proposal Checklist. Our applications follow this guideline of 100 words = 650 characters. We have this information available via our application platform, but understand that there is space to clarify it further on our program webpages as well as our application checklist documents. We have included this on our webpage and application checklist for the (Egg)celerator Lab, which is open for applications through May 22, 2024, to reflect this as well.
We are sharing this information now because an inquiry was raised about our application process via social media and it’s our practice to be responsive to filmmaker inquiries, but also because it is likely a question that has come up for many more filmmakers beyond this particular instance.
The 21st edition of CPH:DOX took place from Wednesday, March 13 to Sunday, March 24 in Copenhagen, Denmark. We are proud to see that 3 supported films and 13 supported filmmakers were part of the lineup and that many of our supported filmmakers also participated in the CPH:CONFERENCE and CPH: FORUM. Some of our team was also there to participate in person to support our filmmakers. See below for more details.
Still from Intercepted (Credit: Christopher Nunn)
2022 Chicken & Egg Award Recipient Brett Story’sUnion | International Premiere | F:act Award & Nine to Five sections | dirs. Brett Story, Stephen Maing | prods. Samantha Curley, Mars Verrone
2019 Chicken & Egg Award Recipient Lana Wilson’sLook Into My Eyes| International Premiere | Special Premieres & Stranger Than Fiction sections | dir. Lana Wilson | prod. Kyle Martin
2022 Critical Issues Fund Grantee Intercepted| Urgent Matters & Battlefields sections | dir. Oksana Karpovych | prods. Rocío B. Fuentes, Giacomo Nudi
The Stimming Pool| World Premiere dirs. The Neurocultures Collective, Benjamin Brown, Georgia Bradburn, Sam Chown-Ahern, Robin Elliott-Knowles, Lucy Walker, Steven Eastwood prod. Chloe White, Steven Eastwood
At CPH:FORUM, top producers and highly acknowledged directors from all over the world take the stage to pitch 30 carefully selected projects of documentary features and series in the intersection of nonfiction, fiction, visual art, journalism, and science. Six films from our community of filmmakers were presented.
The Listeners, UK/US/FR dir. & prod. Lindsey Dryden | prod. Samantha Steele
Victor, US dir. Stephani Victor | prods. Diane Becker, Melanie Miller, Matt Radecki
CPH: CONFERENCE
A 4-day industry event offering a range of inspiring talks with visionary thinkers, investigating current themes in documentary filmmaking, and creating an interactive and hands-on platform for exchange with other professionals of our documentary community. The theme this year was Re:Building Narratives – Accessibility And Equity In Documentary. Our filmmakers were well represented across the different activities from Tuesday, March 19 to Friday, March 22.
SOCIETY: STORIES OF OUR LIFETIMES
Tuesday, March 19
With Lizzie Gillett and Sigrid Dyekjær, producers of supported film Merkel, as keynote speakers for the Viva Independent Feature Docs section. Clara Vuillermoz, producer of 2020 (Egg)celerator Lab Grantee Polaris was a speaker in the A Conflict of Interest or an Interest in Conflict? section. Lindsey Dryden, supported through the QUEER FUTURES program, also participated in the LGBTQIA panel. Curated by 2023 Development grant recipient Derren Lawford.
FILM:MAKERS IN DIALOGUE
Wednesday, March 20
With 2022 Chicken & Egg Award Recipient Brett Story, Stephen Maing, producer of supported film Union, and Yance Ford, director of supported film Strong Island.
SCIENCE: WAYS OF KNOWING AND SEEING
Thursday, March 21
With 2023 Chicken & Egg Award recipient Lisa Jackson as a keynote speaker in the Stars: Indigenous Ways of Knowing section, and Mila Aung-Thwin, producer of 2020 (Egg)celerator Lab participant Midwives, as a speaker in the Action: Legacies of science, cinematic justice section.
2022 Chicken & Egg Award Recipient Margreth Olin is also considered an expert at the conference.
Meet our Team at CPH:DOX
Our Senior Program Manager Elaisha Stokesand Program Director Kiyoko McCraeattended and took 1:1 meetings with filmmakers.
We are proud to congratulate a longtime collaborator and advisor in our labs, Carla Gutierrez, for the international premiere of her new documentary, Frida.
Post written by Communications Assistant Tess Caldwell
Chicken & Egg Pictures is proud to announce our newest Board Member, Deepa Donde. Deepa is an independent film, television, and radio producer based in Austin, Texas. Her work has appeared on the following outlets: NPR, Huffington Post, PBS, BBC, CBS, and NBC. In addition to her work with the Futuro Media Group, Deepa also serves on the board of The Austin Film Festival. She has in the past served on the advisory boards of Fusebox: Contemporary Multi-Disciplinary Art Festival, Youth Radio (NPR’s premier provider for youth-oriented content), Girls Impact The World Film Festival, as well as on the board of Ballet Austin.
Deepa received her Bachelor of Arts degree with Honors in Medieval History from Brown University. She is close to completing her first independent narrative feature film, PERIPHERY, and developing a documentary feature.
Deepa says of joining our Board, “Documentary filmmaking is one of the most powerful forms of truth-telling. Chicken and Egg Pictures transforms our world with creativity, freedom, and the unique expression of storytelling. I love how this incredible organization champions both emerging and veteran filmmakers from all over the world. I am honored and delighted to join this Board, which so strongly supports women and now gender-expansive voices to be global catalysts for change. Let’s celebrate the next generation of storytellers like Maite Alberdi whose film, The Eternal Memory, a beautiful love story, captures the power of optimism, courage, and hope.”
Welcome to the Chicken & Egg Pictures Board, Deepa!
We extend our heartfelt congratulations to the 2020 Chicken & Egg Award recipient, Maite Alberdi, and her team, whose film The Eternal Memory (La memoria infinita) has received an Academy® Award nomination for Best Documentary Feature. This follows the nomination of her previous film, The Mole Agent (El agente topo), for the same category.
The Eternal Memory debuted at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, where it received the World Cinema Documentary Award. It has since garnered critical acclaim and numerous award nominations, including Berlinale’s Audience Award, Cinema Eye Honors for Outstanding Direction and The Unforgettables Honor, and Maite’s third Goya Award nomination for Best Documentary. This is the second time she has been nominated for both a Goya and an Oscar® Award simultaneously.
Earlier this year, Maite was honored with the Sundance Film Festival Vanguard Award for Non-fiction. She is the founder and director of Micromundo, which has produced her signature films such as The Lifeguard (El salvavidas) and Tea Time (La once).
Maite Alberdi is the first Chilean woman to receive an Oscar® nomination, and the first Latin American woman to earn this nomination twice.
We are proud to support Maite’s groundbreaking career.
The Eternal Memory screening in NYC. From left to right: Translator, Film Participant Paulina Urrutia, 2017 Chicken &Egg Award Recipient Kirsten Johnson, and 2020 Chicken & Egg Award Recipient Maite Alberdi.
It’s been an amazing year of remarkable growth here at Chicken & Egg Pictures as we put our 2023–2025 Strategic Plan into action. We are excited to share with you our Best of the Nest, a showcase of the incredible work we were able to accomplish in 2023, thanks to the hard work and dedication of our amazing team, the guidance of our supportive Board Members, and the generous backing from our supporters.
This year’s Best of the Nest features a summary of our year with impressive numbers, a celebration of our filmmakers and the remarkable stories they tell, an update and spotlight on all of our programs, and, of course, a heartfelt thank you to all of those who make our work possible.
Thank you for being a valued member of our community.
Chicken & Egg Pictures is proud to see three nominations from Chicken & Egg-supported films, and six nominations from our community of alumni at this year’s Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards. The honors will be presented this Sunday, November 12, in New York City. Congratulations to everyone nominated!
Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project – Nominated for Best Biographical Documentary dirs. & prods. Michèle Stephenson, Joe Brewster
Poisoned: The Dirty Truth About Your Food – Nominated for Best Science/Nature Documentary dir. & prod. Stephanie Soechtig prods. Ross Girard, Ross Dinerstein, Kristin Lazure, Rebecca Evans
Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields – Nominated for Best Biographical Documentary dir. Lana Wilson prods. Jack Turner, Christine O’Malley
The Lady Bird Diaries – Nominated for Best Archival Documentary & Best Historical Documentary dir. & prod. Dawn Porter prod. Kim Reynolds
Victim/Suspect – Nominated for Best True Crime Documentary dir. & prod. Nancy Schwartzman prods. Julie Goldman, Christopher Clements, Alice Henty, Rachel de Leon, Amanda Pike
Post written by Communications Intern Tess Caldwell
We are egg-stremely proud to announce that six Nest-supported films and four AlumNest filmmakers were in the lineup for the first-ever edition of DC/DOX Fest!
Chicken & Egg Pictures is proud to see three Nest-supported films in Berlinale 2023 lineup. El eco/The Echo and Hummingbirds will have their world premiere, and the recent Sundance winner of the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: DocumentaryThe Eternal Memory will have its European premiere. The festival takes place from Wednesday, February 16 to Sunday, February 26.
El eco / The Echo will have its world premiere in the Encounters section and was supported through Tatiana Huezo’s 2021 Chicken & Egg Award. Get your tickets here.
prods. Juan de Dios Larraín, Pablo Larraín, Rocío Jadue
Still from The Eternal Memory
The Eternal Memory will have its European Premiere in the Panorama Section and was supported through Maite Alberdi’s 2020 Chicken & Egg Award. Get your tickets here.
dirs. Silvia Del Carmen Castaños, Estefanía “Beba” Contreras
co-dirs. & prods. Jillian Schlesinger, Miguel Drake-McLaughlin, Diane Ng, Ana Rodriguez-Falco
prods. Leslie Benavides, Rivkah Beth Medow
Still from Hummingbirds
Hummingbirds will have its world premiere in the Generation 14plus section and is a 2022 (Egg)celerator Lab finalist. Get your tickets here.
From the AlumNest
My ne zgasnemo / We Will Not Fade Away dir. Alisa Kovalenko prods. Valery Kalmykov, Oleksiy Kobelev World premiere in the 14plus competition of Berlinale Generation
Meet the newest member of our team: Program Assistant Will Tamura
As Program Assistant, Will supports the Program team’s growing efforts.
Prior to Chicken & Egg Pictures, Will resided in the San Francisco Bay Area, working as a Civil Rights Legal Assistant and Assistant Manager of an independent bookstore. They have also held Marketing and Distribution intern positions at Cinetic Media and A24 in New York City. Will holds a BA in Film and a BA in Political Science from UC Berkeley, and an MA in Film and Media Studies from Columbia University. Outside of Chicken & Egg, Will can be found at any repertory cinema or perusing the shelves of a used bookstore.
“I’m delighted to join an organization that imbues social responsibility and equity in its films. The sheer talent and commitment to our mission within our team, as well as our supported filmmakers, is truly inspiring!”
We are excited to welcome an egg-stra special new team member in our Nest. To learn more about them, visit our team page.
Chicken & Egg Pictures is egg-static to see 2021 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee Against the Tide, 2020 Chicken & Egg Award recipient Maite Alberdi, and Nest-supported filmmaker Michèle Stephenson receive Jury awards. We were also proud to see AlumNest filmmaker Jess Devaney be the recipient of the 2023 Amazon Studios Nonfiction Producers Award.
Congratulations to all awardees and their teams!
Winner of the World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award: Verite Filmmaking
