36 Films Submitted to Spring Grant from Filmmakers You’ll Be Hearing from in Future
For each Roy W. Dean Film Grant, there are a select group of films submitted with excellent concepts and talented filmmakers, that just miss making our group of finalists. From the Heart Productions, the sponsor of the grant, honors them by designating them Hot Films in the Making. The Roy W. Dean Film Grant for Spring 2022 produced 36 films that share that honor.
“The Sound of Hope”
“The goal of this list is to shine a light on these potentially great films and the brilliant filmmakers who are creating them.” said Carole Dean, President of From the Heart Productions. “We expect them to be in our finals in the future.”
From the Heart Productions showcases these films in the hope that they will find fans and followers to help them complete their films.
The films chosen for Hot Films in the Making include documentary features, fiction features, short films and web series. They represent projects from the United States and around the world.
The Hot Films in the Making for the Roy W. Dean Film Grant for Spring 2022 are:
| Title | Type | Filmmaker |
| Susan | Documentary Feature | Amber Patee |
| Intent 2 Win | Fiction Feature | Dontai Keith |
| Family Story | TV,Web or New Media | Joel Clark |
| Scintilla | Fiction Short | Laura Valtorta |
| Who the Hell Is Johnny Otis? | Documentary Feature | David Ziegler |
| SOL | Fiction Short | Taylor Leigh |
| Miss-Diagnosed | Documentary Short | Yvonne Montoya |
| The Book Keepers | Documentary Feature | Phil Wall |
| Dog Walk Home | Documentary Feature | Vicki Topaz |
| The Sound of Hope | Documentary Feature | Emanuele Michetti |
| Stronghold | Fiction Feature | Julia Camara |
| Angels and Saints – Eros and Awe | Documentary Feature | Vic Compher |
| The Cemetery of Cinema | Documentary Feature | Maud Martin |
| More Than Our Skin | Documentary Feature | Tonia Magras |
| Serena | Documentary Feature | Gillian Zinser |
| Staten Island Graveyard | Documentary Feature | Heather Quinlan |
| Food Synergy | Documentary Feature | Vivian Davidson |
| The Insurance Man | Fiction Feature | Alex Lage |
| Revelations of Divine Love | Fiction Feature | Caroline Golum |
| Dear Luke, Love, Me | Fiction Feature | Mallie McCown |
| Trusted Sources | Documentary Feature | Don Calacino |
| Orchestrated: Ignatz Waghalter and the Negro Symphony Orchestra | Documentary Feature | Natalia Iyudin |
| Prison Park | Documentary Feature | Juliet Belmas |
| Zero Hour | Documentary Feature | Cristina Hanes |
| Community in Conflict: The Santa Fe internment Camp Marker | Documentary Short | Claudia Katayanagi |
| Last Time On Earth | Fiction Feature | Paromita Dhar |
| King Luck | Documentary Feature | Emile Graham-Handley |
| Voice From Behind the Glass | Documentary Feature | Gloria Kurnik |
| Rolling Chairs | Documentary Feature | David Goodman |
| Vision of the Ages | Documentary Feature | Chief Phil Lane |
| Ducey | Fiction Short | Calvin Dutton |
| The Long Rescue | Documentary Feature | Jennifer Huang |
| Disposable Humanity | Documentary Short | Cameron Mitchell |
| Portraits in Black: Honoring Our National Treasures | Fiction Short | Monda Webb |
| Salsa, A Caribbean Swing (Salsa, un tumbao caribeño) | Documentary Feature | Beni Marquez |
| Slab City | Documentary Feature | Lauren Vance |
Each finalist is given the opportunity to post information on their contending film on the From the Heart Productions website. Filmmakers can include an image from the film, filmmaker info, and loglines. If they have available, filmmakers can include a link to their film’s website, Facebook page, or relevant social media connection.
About the Roy W. Dean Grant
Now celebrating its 30th year, the Roy W. Dean Grant has awarded over $2,000,000 in cash and donated film services to independent films. The grant is awarded to films budgeted under $500,000 that are unique and make a contribution to society. It has been an important lifeline for independent filmmakers that help to get their projects started or finished. Without assistance from the grant, many excellent and important films may never have been made.
Past winners of the grant include 2021 Emmy winners Belly of the Beast and The Love Bugs , as well as Sundance Film Festival selection Raise Hell: The Life and Times of Molly Ivins, and acclaimed documentary Kusama-Infinity.
About From The Heart Productions
From The Heart Productions is a 501(c)3 non-profit dedicated to helping filmmakers get their projects funded and made. Besides providing funding through the grant, they offer film fiscal sponsorship to filmmakers. This allows donations made to films they sponsor to be tax deductible. From The Heart has helped independent filmmakers raise over $30 million through their fiscal sponsorship program. President Carole Dean is the best-selling author of The Art of Film Funding: 2nd Edition, Alternative Financing Concepts and the new online class “How to Fund Your Film”.
