Jess dela Merced (left) and Terrance Daye (right)
The Sundance Institute has announced alumni Terrance Daye and Jess dela Merced as fellows of the Episodic Lab.
Terrance will be workshopping Mandingo. Mandingo is the portrait of a Black male athlete’s search for purpose and meaning in his life after he is released early from prison.
Jess is bringing her pilot On Soul, to the program. On Soul follows a habitual quitter who drops out of film school and impulsively buys a rundown Detroit roller rink to prove to her father (and to herself) she can turn it into a successful hotspot.
This year, Fellows were divided into either the Idea to Pilot Track, in which they developed an original pilot from a nascent early idea to a completed original polished draft, or the Series Track, in which they workshop an existing original pilot and develop a professional series pitch to sell.
Read more at Sundance.