Announcing Fall 2015 Short Film Production Fund Grant Recipient!

by ScreenCraft - updated on February 24, 2016

After extended deliberations, leading development consultancy and screenplay discovery platform ScreenCraft and Beverly Hills-based media financier Bondit, have announced the recipient of the inaugural Short Film Production Fund. We're thrilled to announce the Fall 2015 grant recipient:

13, written by Natasja Maria Fourie and Robyn Pete, to be directed by Fourie

Based on the short story Dertien by acclaimed South African writer André P. Brink, 13 centers on a London immigrant factory worker who falls further and further into a cycle of psychological trauma as he struggles to make any kind of connection with the world at large.

ScreenCraft and Bondit have awarded 13 a $20,000 production grant and will actively develop the project with Fourie and her creative team.

Fourie’s debut short film, The Man With The Heavy Leg, was shot on location in Cape Town and has been accepted into the prestigious Cannes Short Film Corner. Also an acclaimed international photographer, Fourie’s feature screenplay Blood On The Water was shortlisted for the prestigious Sundance Screenwriters Lab in 2015 and was also a 2014 ScreenCraft Fellowship finalist.

Natasja Fourie

Producing 13 is Kate Wilson. Having graduated from UCLA with a BA in English, Kate received a comprehensive training as a film producer at Jodie Foster’s Egg Pictures and at Paul Thomas Anderson’s Ghoulardi Film Company, developing feature film projects with some of the industry’s most highly regarded producers, writers and directors.

Kate Wilson

Now based in London, Kate is a producer and fundraiser for a range of film and arts projects and served as the Head of Development at the London Film School until September 2014. She is a Partner at More Partnership, a premier fundraising consultancy in the charity sector and a Trustee of Cinemagic, a children’s film education charity with outlets in Belfast, Dublin, London, New York and Los Angeles (www.cinemagic.com). Kate has an MA in Text and Performance from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and she is a member of the Bar of England and Wales.

“Selecting an inaugural grant recipient out of more than 1,100 submissions was no easy task, particularly given the exceptional quality of the projects we received. But 13 stood out to us and our partners at Bondit as a short screenplay of clear vision and resonance, with a poised and formidable creative team behind it. We’re excited to support the filmmakers and the project, which we believe has international appeal,” said ScreenCraft’s Cameron Cubbison.

Bondit CEO and co-founder Matthew Helderman added "Our full team is passionate about quality storytelling and world-class filmmaking — which isn’t always the case with indie productions on any budget. Awarding Natasja and her vision for the film “13” - we’re excited to be working with such a talented filmmaker on a meaningful project that we’ll collectively develop further throughout the process going forward."

The Short Film Production Fund, administered quarterly, offers between four and ten production grants per year in amounts up to $20,000 to talented filmmakers for short film and online series that display originality, vision & exceptional development potential. Additionally, the program offers matching funds up to $5,000 for crowdfunding campaigns, while ScreenCraft pledges ongoing creative development and BondIt and Buffalo 8 Productions pledge production guidance and resources.