EXCLUSIVE: L.A. filmmaker Jacqueline Elyse Rosenthal has received the primary version of Stage 32 and Catalyst Studios’ Empowering Women Script Competition for her social impression movie Backlog.
The drama is impressed by the real-life U.S. Senate Hearing to finish the nationwide backlog of tens of millions of untested rape kits.
It follows a younger faculty sexual assault sufferer who turns into a key witness. After years of reclaiming her life following a brutal assault that was by no means introduced earlier than the courts resulting from an untested rape equipment, she musters her power to be a voice of hope for girls globally.
Rosenthal will obtain a $5,000 possibility and be eligible for as much as $3 Million in financing for the movie from Catalyst Studios.
She will even be mentored by outgoing Berlinale Managing Director Mariette Rissenbeek, who might be taking over some improvement and manufacturing tasks following her departure from the pageant on the finish of this yr’s version.
The profitable function venture expands Rosenthal’s award-winning 2023 brief movie of the identical title, which received the Oscar-qualifying Cleveland International Film Festival and was additionally within the collection of the Emerging Filmmakers Showcase on the American Pavilion in final yr.
Rosenthal is a latest graduate of USC’s Masters in Fine Arts in Film and Television Production. She is repped by 3 Arts Entertainment.
She was amongst 11 finalists chosen from greater than 1,000 scripts submitted to trade coaching platform Stage 32 & Catalyst Studios’ Empowering Women and Non-Binary Script Development Program from 37 nations.
“We are blown away by the incredible talent that came in from around the world from the Stage 32 community,” mentioned Stage 32 Managing Director Amanda Toney.
“It was clear that Backlog is a story that needs to be told, and Catalyst Studios and their commitment to inspiring change in storytelling is the perfect partner for this.”
The Catalyst group will collaborate with Rosenthal on improvement, whereas Stage 32 will present instructional assist for script improvement.
“Finding such a powerful voice in storytelling that can catapult a conversation to spark change is rare and we knew immediately that Jacqueline’s story needed to be told. We look forward to developing the script and beginning the conversation about such an important topic,” mentioned Catalyst President Holly Levow.
Catalyst Studios was launched in 2022 as a three way partnership between social entrepreneur Levow, producer Paul Kampf of Equitas Entertainment, and Mark Pennell of Beacon Pictures, with a give attention to rising expertise and various storytelling.
Levow, Pennell and communication head Giulia Lupetti are on the EFM this yr to safe European distribution for the primary accomplished movies and productions coming down the the pipeline which embrace Follow Me, Broken Bird, Alix and Switch and Bird.