The NYU Production Lab‘s flagship creative incubator, the Feature Film Development Studio, has announced its class of 2025.
The cohort-based program works with NYU grad students and alumni to develop their first features. And the program alums are some of the leading creatives today: Chloé Zhao, Cathy Yan, and Elegance Bratton all were part of the Production Lab.
IndieWire can now unveil the new fellows for the 2025 cohort, along with the six selected projects. Each creative team include the writers, producers, and directors of the film; at least one member of the project must be a student or graduate of New York University’s film programs.
The Feature Film Development Studio takes place across nine months, and includes workshopping feature-length scripts, creating business plans and pitch materials, and honing presentation skills. The program ends with a pitch session in September before a live audience and film professionals. The cohort will work with NYU Production Lab staff and industry professionals to prepare to take their respective features to market.
“This year’s cohort exemplifies the bold, diverse storytelling that is at the heart of what we champion,” Liz Nord, the head of Programs and Creative Development at the NYU Production Lab, said in a press statement. “From intimate explorations of grief and family dynamics to sharp critiques of societal systems, these films tackle deeply resonant themes with originality and heart. We are thrilled to support such a talented group of filmmakers as they bring these powerful stories to life.”
The projects were selected from submissions across NYU for originality and marketability, explains Liz Nord, head of Programs and Creative Development at the NYU Production Lab. The fellowship is unique because it emphasizes both the artistic and commercial forces that drive the industry, she says.
Check out the 2025 projects, with cohort resumes and language provided by the NYU Production Lab, below.
“Bastards of Young”
Writer Mickey Falcone and director/producer Kayla Marie Arend
Driven to the edge by loss, substance abuse, and a descent into self-destructive behavior, a rural Minnesotan teen must reunite with her addict father and confront a past she’s been trying to outrun for years in order to win the demolition derby and take back her life.
Mickey Falcone is a queer writer from New York who attended NYU for an MFA in Dramatic Writing. He has participated in the Circle of Confusion Fellowship, Austin Film Festival, and a mentorship with Issa Rae, and has held internships with The J’s Production Company, Citizen Skull, and Billy Porter’s production company, Incognegro Productions. His work explores themes of unlikely bravery, the complexities of grief, and the sometimes-paradoxical nature of God and religion, while elevating queer, trans, and non-binary representation to move the social outlook from pride to glory.
Kayla Arend is a Luxembourg-American writer/director and producer known for her surreal, suspenseful storytelling and rich portrayals of complex female characters. A kid with a camera who grew to study film directing at the New York Film Academy and later at Montana State University, Arend worked with legendary wildlife cinematographer Jeff Hogan on several BBC and National Geographic projects shot in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. She earned a graduate degree from NYU, where her thesis project, Leaving Yellowstone, was executive produced by Spike Lee. She is an adjunct professor at NYU Tisch.
“Father & Son’s Discount Meats“
Writer/director Robbin Rae McCulloch and writer/producer Darius Dawson
When an apathetic son decides to sell his family’s floundering East Oakland discount grocery store, he must first whip the joint into shape to pass their annual subsidy inspection.
Robbin Rae McCulloch is a California native who spent two decades teaching and developing digital media arts programs at various high schools in Oakland and Greater Los Angeles. She returned to school, earning an MFA from NYU. Her thesis film, Oakland in Blue, placed in the NYU First Run 2016 Film Festival and received accolades in film festivals nationwide. Currently, she works as a digital media arts teacher while producing short films and music videos that inspire and encourage change.
Darius Dawson is an award-winning filmmaker and educator whose short, A Rodeo Film, won the 2020 DGA Student Directing Grand Prize, the Golden Tadpole at Camerimage 2020, and was purchased by HBO to stream on HBOMax. He has directed for Peter and Bob Farrelly’s Quibi show, The Now, and led the second unit on The Greatest Beer Run Eve. Dawson teaches directing and visual storytelling for Sundance’s online learning platform, Sundance Collab. He attended NYU and the AFI Conservatory.
“If I Die In America”
Writer/director Ward Kamel and producer Emily McCann Lesser
After the sudden death of his immigrant husband, a young American man’s tenuous relationship with his foreign Muslim in-laws reaches a breaking point as he tries to fit into the funeral they’ve arranged in the Middle East.
Ward Kamel is a Syrian filmmaker based in Brooklyn who strives to depict underrepresented characters in grounded and relatable narratives. An Academy Nicholl fellow, a Sundance Feature Film fellow, and a Vimeo Breakout Creator, his short film, If I Die in America, premiered at SXSW®. His work has screened at Palm Springs Shortfest, Hollyshorts, Newfest, and NFFTY, where he won Best Director. He won Best Screenplay at Urbanworld, was accepted to the Stowe Story Labs and placed in Austin Film Festival multiple times. A graduate of NYU Tisch School of the Arts, he was a semifinalist in the Student Academy Awards for Aziz, a short film he produced.
Emily McCann Lesser is a producer born, raised, and based in New York City whose films have premiered at festivals including Sundance, TriBeCa, SXSW, and Outfest and have been distributed by HBO, Samuel Goldwyn Films, Orion Pictures, IFC Films, and more. She is committed to telling powerful and entertaining commercial stories about underrepresented communities and working with diverse filmmakers. She has been selected to participate in the Gotham Week Project Market twice, as well as Film Independent’s Fast Track program, the Inside Out Film Finance Forum, and the Producer’s Guild Mentorship program.
“Satoshi”
Writer/director Sara Crow and producer David Rafailedes
The potentially true story of a teenage anime-obsessed hacktivist who, after losing her scholarship to Stanford, returns home to Arizona to become the mysterious inventor of a new digital currency.
Sara Crow is a Brooklyn-based writer/director whose stories focus on subcultures and misfits. She is a 2024 Sundance Screenwriters Lab Fellow and the recipient of the Sloan Sundance Fellowship with Satoshi, which also received the $100,000 Sloan Feature Film Prize at NYU. Her debut narrative short film Bluebird won Best Short Film at the Montana International Film Festival and the New Jersey Film Festival. It received the Black Family Film Prize at NYU’s Graduate Film program. Cros is a Martin Scorsese Scholar at NYU and her upcoming thesis film, Why I Am an Anarchist, received NYU’s AnnaRose King Award for Comedic Storytelling.
David Rafailedes is a Detroit-based writer/director/producer whose work focuses on satirizing the modern (and mostly Midwestern) American experience. He is a 2024 Sundance Screenwriters and Directors Lab Fellow and the co-recipient of the Sloan Sundance Fellowship, NYU/Sloan Feature Film Prize with Satoshi. Rafailedes is the co-playwright of the hit off-Broadway play, Cellino v. Barnes, which won Time Out New York’s Best Comedy of 2024 and received critical acclaim from the Wall Street Journal, New York Magazine and the New York Times. His debut short film, Never Been Kissed, premiered at the Cleveland International Film Festival and won the audience award at the SOHO International Film Festival. He is a recent graduate of the NYU Graduate Film MFA/MBA Dual Degree program.
“Squatter”
Writer/director Derrick Woodyard and producer Andrew Long
While grieving the loss of his mother, Jamal’s efforts to save his family home from foreclosure become even more complicated when his new roommate, Che, is revealed to be a squatter.
Derrick Woodyard is an award-winning African-American artist whose work includes directing, writing, and cinematography, and fine arts and drawing. Born in New Jersey, Derrick is currently based in Brooklyn and has an MFA from NYU Tisch School of the Arts. His thesis film, Love Taps (executive produced by Spike Lee) was nominated for Best Live Action Short Film at the Chicago International Film Festival. Woodyard received the Martin Scorsese Young Filmmakers Scholarship and was selected as the 2020 BAFTA NY HBO Scholar. His work has screened at festivals throughout the United States and has been supported by the Spike Lee Production Award, the Sandra Ifraimova Production Fund, the Riese Post Production Award, and the Roy W. Dean Short Film Award.
Andrew Long is a New York-based writer and director best known for co-writing Nigerian Prince, which premiered at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival. Born in Washington, D.C., he earned his bachelor’s degree from Howard University and later completed his MFA in film at NYU. His short film Clearing House, executive produced by Paul Dano (There Will Be Blood, The Batman, Prisoners), debuted at the 2022 Atlanta Film Festival. Long is the recipient of multiple screenwriting honors, including Tribeca All Access and the NYU Kings Screenwriting Award for Clearing House.
“Sweetwater”
Writer/director Cassidy Batiz and producer Natalie Novak Remplakowski
A teenage girl navigates the thorny and complex world of adolescence, sex, and the criminal justice system in a small Texas town.
Cassidy Batiz is a filmmaker from Dallas now based in Brooklyn. She is currently an MFA film candidate at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, where she’s been awarded the Tisch School of the Arts Graduate Scholarship and the W.T.C Johnson scholarship. Her narrative short, Big Lot, has screened at festivals nationally and was nominated for a Best Screenplay Award. She is the recipient of the Alan Landsburg Documentary Production Award for her upcoming short documentary, Metal Dad. She is currently in post-production on her narrative short, Jejune. Her photographs have appeared in Phaidon, Vice, and Radius Books, among others.
Natalie Novak Remplakowski, founder and president of Citrine, is a Polish-Canadian filmmaker based in Toronto and New York City with over a decade of experience in both scripted and creative nonfiction work for all platforms. Citrine is currently in post-production on the debut feature, Seahorse, written, directed by, and starring Aisha Evelyna and also starring Joseph Marcell (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air). Currently a student in NYU’s Tisch Graduate Film Program, she has been a producer on award-winning films and series that have been recognized by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television and festivals worldwide including Venice, TIFF, Sundance, Cannes, New York Film Festival, and SXSW. Recent credits include the short films Freak, Three Keenings, and Nola. Prior to NYU, she worked as an associate producer for Scythia Films, based in Toronto, for principal Daniel Bekerman (The Apprentice).
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