About
Now in its 6th year, the Focus Features | JetBlue Short Film program is open to MFA students who have completed a short film within the last academic year. The showcase provides MFA students an incredible and unique commercial entry point into the industry.
Selected filmmakers receive a $1,000 grant and will have the opportunity for their thesis film to be shown for twelve months on JetBlue’s seatback entertainment systems under the “Gotham Selects” movie category and on Focus Features’ digital streaming platforms. They will also receive ongoing mentorship and screening opportunities throughout 2025.
This year’s program received projects from 27 graduate film schools, spanning all regions of the United States. A special jury of filmmakers and curators – including Faridah Gbadamosi (Senior Programmer, Tribeca Festival), Illyse Singer (Programming Director, Roxy Cinema), and Apoorva Charan (Producer) – selected the five winning filmmakers, who were recognized during the 2024 Gothams on Monday, December 2.
This year’s five winning filmmakers were Nicole Chi (Los Mosquitos, The University of Texas at Austin), a Costa Rican-Chinese writer, director, and producer; Reem Jubran (Don’t Be Long, Little Bird, University of California, Los Angeles), a Palestinian filmmaker and artist based in California; Sujin Jung (Cocoon, Loyola Marymount University), an LA-based writer-director originally from Gyeonggi-do province, Korea; Calleen Koh (My Wonderful Life, California Institute of the Arts), a Singaporean BAFTA-nominated animation filmmaker, writer, and artist; and Eva Steinmetz (Marina, Temple University), a Philadelphia-based theater director, filmmaker, and educator, creating new works that straddle the ordinary and extraordinary.
Notable alumni of the Short Film Showcase include: Saim Sadiq (Best International Film at the Independent Spirit Awards and Un Certain Regard Jury Prize at Cannes Film Festival for Joyland), Jorge G. Camarena (Latin Grammy Award and MTV Music Video Award nominee), Sushma Khadepaun (Filmmaker‘s 25 New Faces of Independent Film 2021), Sudarshan Suresh (Filmmaker‘s 25 New Faces of Independent Film 2019), Farida Zahran (Staff Writer on Hulu’s Ramy), and Akanksha Cruczynski (Sundance 2022 Official Selection for Close Ties to Home Country).
Past Recipients
2023-24
Kevin Haefelin (Fuse, Columbia University)
Xinying Lao (Xiaohui and His Cows, New York University)
Sisa Quispe (Urpi: Her Last Wish, City College of New York)
James Ross (Don’t Blink, Florida State University)
Mel Sangyi Zhao (Return to Youth, California Institute of the Arts and 2022 Gotham EDU Film and Media Career Development program graduate)
2022-23
Saleem Gondal (Post Term, Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema)
Yingtong Li (The Silent Whistle, Emerson College)
Taylor Mannsman (Obscura, University of Texas at Austin)
Shannon M. Sutherland (They Flew Like Blackbirds, Florida State University)
Cheryl Wong (Stigma, Style, New York University)
2021-22
Evan Bode (Thine Own Self, Syracuse University)
Jorge G. Camarena (Spaceship, American Film Institute)
Akanksha Cruczynski (Close Ties to Home Country, Columbia College)
Jun Hee Han (Uncle, University of California, Los Angeles)
J Sean Smith (#Whitina, University of Southern California)
2020-21
Edward Hancox (Things That Happen in the Bathroom, University of Texas at Austin)
Kristi Hoi (No Law, No Heaven, University of California Los Angeles)
Sushma Khadepaun (Anita, Columbia University)
Mandy Marcus (Cousins, Brooklyn College)
Molly Sorensen (Mud & Honey, Temple University)
2019-20
David Melvin Rosfeld (Bob and Dale, CUNY Brooklyn College)
Saim Sadiq (Darling, Columbia University)
Sudarshan Suresh (Mizaru, Columbia University)
Tiantian Wang (Keeper of Earth and Time, School of Visual Arts)
Farida Zahran (Youth, NYU Tisch)
Eligibility Criteria
2024-25 Nominee Eligibility
- — Must have received an MFA degree between September 23, 2023 and September 22, 2024, or must be currently enrolled in an MFA program.
- — Must be the director of the film
- — Each school can only nominate up to three (3) films
Short Film Eligibility
- — This opportunity is for fiction films only
- — There is no limitation on genre, format, or style (live action, experimental, animation, hybrid, etc.)
- — Less than 50 minutes in length
- — Completed within the last academic year (September 2023 – September 2024)
- — Film must be insured (A portion of the grant will be applied toward insurance if the film is not insured.)
- — The film does not need to be a thesis film, but it must be made within the duration of the student’s enrollment in the MFA program.
- — *Full terms available once selected.
Nominations are currently closed.
Questions? Please contact Yoko Kohmoto at [email protected]
Past Nominating Institutions
American Film Institute
Beaconhouse National University
California Institute of the Arts
Chapman University Dodge College
Columbia College Chicago
Columbia University
DePaul University
Emerson College
Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema, Brooklyn College
Florida State University
Full Sail University
Loyola Marymount University
MIT Sloan School of Management
New York Film Academy
New York University
Ohio State University
San Francisco State University
Savannah College of Art & Design
SCI-Arc (Southern California Institute of Architecture)
Stanford University
Stony Brook University
Syracuse University
Temple University
The City College of New York (CUNY)
The New School
The University of Texas Austin
University North Carolina Wilmington
University of California, Los Angeles
University of Central Florida
University of Miami
University of New Orleans
University of Texas Austin
USC Cinematic Arts
Vermont College of Fine Arts
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