The AT&T Untold Stories Award is the world’s largest filmmaking award of its kind. Each year, hundreds of filmmakers apply to be considered for a prize that includes $1.2 million and a network of mentorship and support to help them make a film. Those candidates are narrowed down to five finalists who get a chance to pitch their film in front of a packed audience and a panel of judges at the Tribeca Festival. Win them over, and you might get a chance to bring your cinematic vision to life.
David Fortune knows just how impactful the prize can be. The filmmaker, who won the 2023 AT&T Untold Stories Award, used the grant to make his 2024 feature “Color Book,” which is now streaming on Netflix.
The film, which tells the story of a single father raising a son with Down syndrome who takes him to his first baseball game, is exactly the kind of project that the program exists to support. It tells a nuanced story about Black single parenthood that we had seldom seen on screen, all filtered through the voice of one distinctly talented filmmaker.
During a conversation at IndieWire’s Future of Filmmaking Summit, presented by AT&T, Fortune explained how he approached an opportunity that turned out to be life-changing.
“I would say preparation,” Fortune said when asked to give advice to future contestants. “You can’t control if you win or lose, but you can control how you prepare. I knew I was gonna be nervous as hell, but even in my nervousness I wanted to make sure I was able to pitch correctly and present myself in a way that gave me my best chance to win. I just wanted to be the most prepared person in the room.”
That preparation saw him pushing his body to his limits to ensure that nothing would shake him when it was time to pitch in front of a crowd.
“I jumped in the shower, and I put it on the most ice cold level you could put it in. And I jumped in and said ‘Say your pitch now,’ he said with a laugh. “I had to pitch with hypothermia! Because if you can’t pitch in a chokehold, how are you going to pitch on stage?”
Of course, Fortune’s process is not the only approach that can work. The presentation also featured a video message from Lilian T. Mehrel, who won the 2024 competition and used the prize money to make her feature debut “Honeyjooon.” She recalled her own process of pitching her film, and the validation that she received when she was finally able to show the finished product to audiences.
“That day that I pitched, I knew if I could make audiences laugh and cry and feel emotional and get a sense of the auteur cinematic comedy stamp that is my voice, then I would win. And I did!” Mehrel said, adding that the film went on to play over 50 festivals. “Being in the audience, hearing people laugh and get emotional together… it was just this electric experience. It gave me the fuel to know that this film needs to be released in theaters.”
Watch the complete conversation with Fortune in the video above.
IndieWire Future of Filmmaking 2026 Summit is presented by AT&T Untold Stories, an impactful multi-year collaboration between AT&T and Tribeca Festival that awards $1.2 million dollars, mentorship, and comprehensive support to the next generation of filmmakers looking to bring their films to the big screen. For more information, visit here.
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