That’s a wrap! Year 2

Our filmmakers have finished their films. Watch them all now.

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How the challenge works

Award-winning director Carlos López Estrada writes an opening scene that is sent out to the GFS network. Emerging filmmakers from all over finish the script with their unique stories. 



Four winners are awarded a $25,000 grant to make their film and provided with access to Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos to use in post. Throughout the entire filmmaking process, they’re mentored along the way by Carlos, Dolby, and GFS. We’ve now chosen our winning filmmakers and they’re headed into preproduction.

… did we mention the final films get the red-carpet treatment and premiere in LA?

Year 2 recap

Drop in on our Year 2 filmmakers and get an in-depth look at their process from the writers retreat and scripting to production and post-production with Dolby Vision® and Dolby Atmos®. Follow along on their journey as they finish the script.

Writers retreat

We brought our winning filmmakers together in sunny Los Angeles for a three-day creative workshop. They got to meet each other and team Dolby, exchange ideas in the writers’ room, bond over dinner in Hollywood, and oh yeah, workshop their scripts with award-winning director, writer, and producer Carlos López Estrada (Summertime, Raya and the Last Dragon).

Scripting

Each filmmaker had a chance to get in-depth feedback on their script with Carlos López Estrada who helped them bring out the strengths in their work. Carlos wrote a prompt, a first scene, that all the filmmakers used as a springboard for their own stories. Check out the original prompt here.

Production

Our filmmakers learned to navigate the ins and outs of hands-on filmmaking from budgeting, scouting locations, to casting and working with a crew and actors. They brought their story from the page to the set and to life, on camera.

Post-production

The filmmakers got to work 1-on-1 with Dolby expert re-recording mixers and a master colorist. Their sound designers, composers, DPs, and producers also got the chance to participate. There was a Dolby Atmos dub stage and a Dolby Cinema screening room at their disposal where they could work in Dolby Vision.

Theatrical premiere

Finally, all four films received the red-carpet treatment and a theatrical premiere in Dolby Vison and Dolby Atmos at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles. The filmmakers, their cast and crew, as well as members of the Dolby and GFS creative community were all on-hand for the big screen premiere.

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Don’t miss a minute of Year 3

We’re kicking off another round of Finish the Script this fall. New Filmmakers. New Script. Sign up to our newsletter below to receive up-to-date information on the challenge and see who will finish the script.

 

Latest news

Ghetto Film School
With locations in New York City, Los Angeles, and London, Ghetto Film School (GFS) is an award-winning nonprofit founded in 2000 to educate, develop, and celebrate the next generation of great storytellers. For complete Finish the Script 2024 entry information and guidelines click here.

The Dolby Institute
The Dolby Institute was created to educate, inspire, and empower the next generation of content creators. Through events, instruction, and awareness, we help creatives think critically and creatively about sound and image, unlocking the power of technology to help tell their stories.