Zoya Akhtar (The Archies), Fawzia Mirza (Queen of my dreams) and Roshan Sethi (A nice Indian boy) will join the 1497 Features Lab as mentors.
Now in its fourth year, nonprofit 1497’s annual Features Lab will once again provide comprehensive mentorship, script development and industry access to elevate and advance the careers of screenwriters of South Asian descent. After expanding the lab to a face-to-face format last year, this year’s program will build on that success with an intensive retreat followed by a pitch day. The Lab Retreat will take place October 23-28, 2024 in Malibu.
The 1497 Features Lab, their signature impact program, involves three rounds of rigorous evaluation by independent selection committees to ultimately identify three mentees to invest in. Each mentee is then assigned a group of mentors – consisting of an established filmmaker, producer and industry representative, and a 1497 Features Lab Alum – from whom they receive comprehensive feedback on their scripts and access to exclusive resources and career navigation. In addition to meeting individually with their mentors during the Lab Retreat, mentees will also have the opportunity to work with Columbia Professor Adrienne Weiss to focus on the emotional journey of their film through workshops with actors, and participate in engaging masterclasses and fireside chats to provide additional support for professional development and creative inspiration.
“The 1497 Features Lab is a complete game-changer for South Asian filmmakers,” said Maya Bastian, Mentee 2023. “I gained valuable insights into both my script and my career and now have a clear direction on how to move forward. The attention to detail was wonderful and the atmosphere the team created was simply incredible.”
In addition to Akhtar, Mirza and Sethi, this year’s industry guests in the mentor groups include Talha Asad (HBO), Aanch Khaneja (Superspecial), Karim Lakhani (Head of Development at Yvonne Orji’s in and thru) and returning mentor Mohammad Ali (Authentic), Raj Raghavan (Issa Rae’s ColorCreative) and Priya Satiani (Entertainment 360). 1497 graduates Jaclyn Backhaus, Toby Fell-Holden and Swetha Regunathan will join the peer-to-peer support cohort. Additional guests will be announced shortly.
Taking into account all guests in the mentor groups and selection committees, as well as additional industry advisors, the 1497 Features Lab team will once again highlight representation from all eight recognized South Asian countries. These eight countries are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
“We always strive to create an inclusive space where people of all backgrounds feel recognized, while championing the voices of our community by empowering them to write without boundaries,” said the co-founders of 1497 in a joint declaration. “Over the past three years, we have witnessed first-hand the impact of our lab and are thrilled to witness the remarkable progress our mentees’ careers have made since their participation.” On the mentee’s notable achievements following her time at 1497 Lab features include acceptance into the Sundance Lab, receiving a Blumhouse Screamwriting Fellowship, and placement in a Netflix writers’ room. A mentee’s next project will be produced by Barry Jenkins’ Pastel.
“Our commitment to challenging the status quo is unwavering and we actively translate our principles into conscious action,” Ahmed, Khan and Shah continued. “We are proud of the growth of our organization, which allows us to provide value to our mentees and the South Asian creative community.”
Founded in 2020 by Adeel Ahmed, Kamran Khan and Lipica Shah, 1497 is an organization dedicated to supporting and promoting artists of South Asian descent and challenging their historical exclusion and underrepresentation in the American film and television industry. Their name represents the year before colonization began in the area now known as South Asia, and they have established themselves as a trusted leader in efforts to improve the authentic and diverse representation of South Asians in the entertainment industry.
In the last year alone, the organization hosted a launch event with Hasan Minhaj, produced the second annual 1497 South Asian Lodge at the Sundance Film Festival featuring speakers Mira Nair, Ritesh Batra, Alok Vaid Menon and others, and co-hosted a dinner celebrating South Asian filmmakers at SXSW with Lilly Singh and most recently an Eid event with Gold House.
Applications for the 2024 Features Lab opened on Friday, April 19, 2024 to global applicants exclusively on Coverfly. The application deadline is May 25, 2024 and the application fee will be waived until May 5. Filmmakers from all South Asian backgrounds, experience levels and geographic regions are encouraged to apply. Applicants must be at least 18 years of age, have a completed draft of a narrative feature film, and be authorized to reside in the United States for the duration of the Lab Retreat. For more details about the Features Lab, see the 1497 website and FAQ. Follow @define1497 on Instagram.