OUTSET: THE YOUNG FILMMAKERS PROJECT
In collaboration with the Los Angeles LGBT Center, Outfest selects a group of diverse 16-24-year-old young emerging filmmakers to embark on a 6-month film lab with courses in screenwriting, pre-production, production and post-production, instructed by industry experts. The program culminates in their final thesis project presented at the Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ Film Festival.
2021 Filmmaking OutSet Fellows
Noah Causey
REVELATIONS
(Director, Writer)
(he/him)
Revelations relates the coming-out experience to the apocalypse as described through the Book of Revelations, while showing the pain of being gay with a pastor father.
Noah Causey hails all the way from Georgia, where his father’s involvement as a goofy, helmet-wearing fool in his church’s bible-story series led him to want to be an actor. Continuing with this into college, he got his Acting BFA at the University of Minnesota/Guthrie Theatre Actor Training Program, with a minor in Creative Writing.
After his time in the BFA, he now has found great passion for writing and directing as well, and has lived in LA for the past two years to embrace his great passion for cinema. Throughout the past four years, Noah wrote and starred in four self produced films (most notably #GayBoy2019), and just released an album Painting My Madonnas (2021) under the stage name Granola Sam.
Jacob Charton
I WISH I NEVER FUCKING MET YOU
(Director, Writer)
(he/him)
On a neon-lit Los Angeles night, two young men reunite and reflect on how differently they perceived their past relationship.
Jacob Charton is a queer Mexican Jewish director/writer in Los Angeles. His films are soft, emotional portraits exploring identity, love, and heritage. He adores Xavier Dolan’s “Mommy”, Sofia Coppola, Beach House, the city at night, and neon lights.
Yen Dinh & Nicolas Jara
LUV, ME
(Co-Directors and Co-Writers)
(they/them) & (he/they)
Two nerdy roommates struggle to agree on the definition of love while watching a K-drama.
Yen Dinh (they/them) is an actor and filmmaker, passionate in striving for more queer and trans BIPOC representation and beyond. Besides narrative films, Yen has worked on a few documentaries that got screened at film festivals.
Raised by two Vietnamese immigrants, Yen grew up in the Bay Area most of their life before moving to Los Angeles for college. Initially on the track for pre-med, Yen took the risk to pursue a creative career in the hopes of defying racial capitalism and colonialism.
Now fresh out of college, they are looking to get more experiences in the film industry.
Nicolas Jara (Nic) is a filmmaker who hails from the Bay Area. Committed to telling stories that showcase the lived experiences of underrepresented peoples, Nic’s work often explores underexposed foundations of knowledge and ways of being through a cinematic language as a tool for empathy building.
Nic currently works as video producer at a design startup and has produced shorts that have screened at SCAD, Raindance, NewFest, San Francisco Black Film Festival, Oakland International, Outfest, and Outfest Fusion. Nic recently wrote, directed, & produced a queer psychedelic short film set in Joshua Tree and recently launched their crowdfunding campaign.
Stephanie Mata
IS THIS THE ONE?
(Director, Writer)
(she/her)
Two friends catching up reveal having the common trait of being indecisive in their lives in their own way
I am a queer, first generation storyteller with the aspiration to diversify what is on screen not just for myself, but for others with slice of life narratives filled with beautiful nuances. I was raised in Bakersfield, went to school in Santa Barbara, and lived in Arizona for a while. Now I reside in LA working at Trader Joe`s and as a Post PA as I continue to write. I also enjoy playing video games with my brothers to nurture our bond, hanging out with friends, eating good food, and watching movies.
Yuelei Song
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, YOU MADE IT
(Director, Writer)
(they/them)
In the stillness of her childhood home, a woman spends her birthday like any other, solitary day – until she becomes lost in the reverie of past memories and dreams.
As a queer, nonbinary Chinese-American filmmaker, Yuelei has always been driven by one thing: the need to find and tell stories. Whether that’s as a writer, director, or editor, they have always turned to the camera as a way of making sense of the world. Their films study the nuances of memory, family, and love, in a world both more surreal and real than our own. They have a soft spot for Taika Waititi, campy and/or thoughtful horror pieces, and skateboarding films.
2021 OutSet Fellows
OutSet Mentors and Instructors
Our Mission
OutSet: The Young Filmmakers Project from the Los Angeles LGBT Center and Outfest empowers LGBTQ youth ages 16-24 to share their stories through film. This program selects 15 diverse fellows to participate over the course of 6 months (January-July) in a storytelling and filmmaking lab focused on collaboration and mastering a successful production, culminating in 5 short films.
Curriculum
OutSet fellows participate over the course of 6 months in a storytelling and filmmaking lab focused on collaboration and mastering a successful production. Fellows are paired with both filmmaking mentors as well as life mentors, to help students through the filmmaking process as well as with any career, school, or home issues that may arise. Each fellow is educated on the short filmmaking process from development, pre-production, production and post-production. The program is broken into six components:
Classroom Instruction
Master Classes
LGBTQ Film History
Team Building and Collaboration
Hands-on Production
Festival Circuit
OutSet Is Made Possible In Part By
Donate Today
We are currently exploring new ways of meeting the growing needs of our LGBTQIA+, non-binary, indigenous, women and people of color communities through our career development programs. Make a donation to support the future of Outfest whose programs empower artists to transform the world through their stories.