Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy (IMSA) Class of 1994 graduate and writer/director Jenny Deller’s feature film project Future Weather was named one of 10 semi-finalists in the Netflix FIND Your Voice Film Competition.

Carbondale native and IMSA Class of 1994 Graduate Jenny Deller.

A Carbondale native, Deller and her team produced a three-minute short film for the next round of the competition, designed to capture the themes of the full-length feature. The short film features rising star, Perla Haney-Jardine (Spiderman 3, Untraceable) and the public will get to vote on it along with the other nine semi-finalist shorts until July 5, 2009 at the Netflix FIND Your Voice website: NetflixFindYourVoice.com. Voters do not have to be a Netflix subscriber and there is only one vote per valid email address.

The ultimate winner will be decided by a combination of online voting and a panel of judges and will receive a $350,000 production grant sponsored by Netflix and Film Independent (FIND).  More than 2,000 submissions nationwide were sent to the competition.

Deller credits her IMSA experience for learning how a person’s passion for science can be used to improve mankind, such as in the fight against global warming, the subject of her movie.

“One of my goals for Future Weather is to show math and science in a positive light,” Deller said.  “My understanding of these disciplines comes from my experience at IMSA:  the scientific process is a creative process and starts with curiosity, with experiencing the world, and with the desire to solve problems,” Deller said.  “This is something that everyone  — even if they don’t think of themselves as science-minded-can relate to.”

The five shorts receiving the most five-star votes will be judged by a panel of industry experts, led by competition chair, Josh Brolin (Milk, No Country for Old Men), to determine one contest winner.

Future Weather is a coming-of-age tale about a 13-year-old environmentalist. In the midst of a forestry experiment she believes will save her town from global warming, the girl is abandoned by her mother. Forced to move in with her grandmother and stuck in a depressed rural community, she must prepare to face an uncertain future. In Deller’s stand-alone short for the Netflix competition, the protagonist reimagines a day in her life as a public service announcement, blurring the lines between family struggles and fear of environmental apocalypse.

Future Weather represents a creative partnership between Philadelphia filmmaking team of Deller and Kristin Fairweather. The duo have been developing Future Weather since 2007, forming local alliances with Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, the Greater Philadelphia Film Office, Greenfest Philly and Betty’s Tasty Buttons, as well as national partnerships with the National Museum for Women Artists, Trees for the Future and the Seattle-based Sustainable Group.

To watch the short film, visit NetflixFindYourVoice.com

About Future Weather Productions

Future Weather was recently awarded the Showtime Tony Cox Screenwriting Award from the Nantucket Film Festival and was finalist for the Sundance Screenwriters Lab. Exec producers are Cora Olson and Jennifer Dubin of Present Pictures, whose films (Good Dick, The Babysitters) have played Sundance and the Toronto Film Festival. A sustainable production is slated for Fall 2009 in the Philadelphia area. To learn more about the inspiration behind Future Weather along with environmental news and commentary, visit the filmmakers’ blog at futureweathermovie.blogspot.com.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Kristin Fairweather; Future Weather Productions LLC
215-519-6065
kfairweather8@yahoo.com
futureweathermovie.com

For more information about IMSA, please contact brenda@imsa.edu