The Momentum Fellowship: Raven Jackson, Sing J. Lee, Laura Moss & D. Smith Among 2024 Fellows

Featured prominently among the coverage from our media outlet, eight filmmakers in Raven Jackson (All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt), Savanah Leaf (Earth Mama), Sing J. Lee (The Accidental Getaway Driver), Laura Moss (birth/rebirth), A.V. Rockwell (A Thousand and One), D. Smith (Kokomo City), Aitch Alberto (Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe), and Erica Tremblay (Fancy Dance) have been selected for the 2024 Momentum Fellowship – the Sundance Institute’s incubator of sorts that helps mostly filmmakers who’ve previously delivered their feature debuts at the fest and are now gunning for the critical support for their next feature. It’s a snazzy support package.

Momentum provides participants with a full-year program of customized support around current goals they identify for themselves to level up in their craft and career, including an unrestricted artist grant; professional coaching offered by Renee Freedman & Company, supported by The Harnisch Foundation; and connection to the Sundance Institute’s ELEVATE professional development track with exclusive workshops and sessions. Application to the Momentum Fellowship is by invitation only. Additionally, as part of an ongoing partnership with Universal, the studio will provide support for select Momentum fellows working on fiction projects. Here are the mini bios:

Aitch Alberto is a writer-director born and raised in Miami, Florida. She is a Sundance Episodic Lab fellow and one of Variety’s 10 Directors to Watch for 2022. She wrote and directed Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe with Lin-Manuel Miranda producing. She has also written on Duster from J.J. Abrams and Little America.

Raven Jackson is an award-winning filmmaker, poet, and photographer from Tennessee. Her debut feature, All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt, made in partnership with Maria Altamirano, PASTEL, and A24, world-premiered in the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival and was recently nominated for two Film Independent Spirit Awards.

Savanah Leaf has transitioned from 2012 Olympian to award-winning filmmaker. Her directorial feature debut, Earth Mama, premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Her film The Heart Still Hums (2020) won Best Documentary Short at the Palm Springs International ShortFest. Her music video “This Land” for Gary Clark Jr. was nominated for Best Music Video at the 2020 Grammys.

Sing J. Lee is an award-winning writer-director. Following recognition from BBC’s Best of the North, Cannes Lions, Clios, and MTV VMAs, Lee was selected for Variety’s 2019 10 Storytellers to Watch and received the 2023 Sundance Film Festival U.S. Dramatic Directing Award for his directorial feature debut, The Accidental Getaway Driver.

Laura Moss is a filmmaker from New York City whose work has screened at Sundance, Tribeca, Rotterdam, and SXSW. Their debut feature, birth/rebirth, was distributed in theaters by IFC. Their short film Fry Day is featured on the Criterion Channel. Their award-winning screenplay Gordon, co-written with Brendan J. O’Brien, is currently in development.

A.V. Rockwell is a screenwriter, director, and producer from Queens, New York. Her directorial debut, A Thousand and One, won the U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. The film was released theatrically by Focus Features and most recently received the Gotham Award for Breakthrough Director.

D. Smith is a two-time Grammy-nominated producer, singer, and songwriter and made her film debut as the director of the documentary Kokomo City, released by Magnolia Pictures. The film earned awards at several major festivals, including Sundance and Berlin. Smith was recently nominated for a Film Independent Spirit Award.

Erica Tremblay is a filmmaker from the Seneca-Cayuga Nation. Her feature film Fancy Dance premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Tremblay has written and directed on the FX series Reservation Dogs as well as AMC’s Dark Winds. Tremblay lives in upstate New York, where she studies her Indigenous language.