NYU Production Lab announces six feature films will be produced in 2025. As a creative incubator for those putting their first feature film on the screen this year, the lab will help 12 directors and producers see the real development of their films.

Filmmaker teams on these six projects include at least one NYU student or graduate of New York University's film programs. The next 9 months will have NYU Production Lab staff and industry professionals available to workshop their feature-length scripts, create and polish business plans and pitch materials, and also hone their presentation skills. In September, the pitch session in front of professionals in film and a live audience will take place.

The following projects were selected for the 2025 Lab:

Writer Mickey Falcone and Director/Producer Kayla Marie Arend

Mickey Falcone is a queer writer from New York who attended NYU for an MFA in Dramatic Writing. He has participated in the Circle of Confusion Fellowship, Austin Film Festival, and a mentorship with Issa Rae, and has held internships with The J's Production Company, Citizen Skull, and Billy Porter's production company, Incognegro Productions. His work explores themes of unlikely bravery, the complexities of grief, and the sometimes-paradoxical nature of God and religion, while elevating queer, trans, and non-binary representation to move the social outlook from pride to glory.

Kayla Arend is a Luxembourg-American writer/director and producer known for her surreal, suspenseful storytelling and rich portrayals of complex female characters. A kid with a camera who grew to study film directing at the New York Film Academy and later at Montana State University, Arend worked with legendary wildlife cinematographer Jeff Hogan on several BBC and National Geographic projects shot in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. She earned a graduate degree from NYU, where her thesis project, Leaving Yellowstone, was executive produced by Spike Lee. She is an adjunct professor at NYU Tisch.

Writer/Director Robbin Rae McCulloch and Writer/Producer Darius Dawson

Robbin Rae McCulloch is a California native who spent two decades teaching and developing digital media arts programs at various high schools in Oakland and Greater Los Angeles. She returned to school, earning an MFA from NYU. Her thesis film, Oakland in Blue, placed in the NYU First Run 2016 Film Festival and received accolades in film festivals nationwide. Currently, she works as a digital media arts teacher while producing short films and music videos that inspire and encourage change.

Darius Dawson is an award-winning filmmaker and educator whose short, A Rodeo Film, won the 2020 DGA Student Directing Grand Prize, the Golden Tadpole at Camerimage 2020, and was purchased by HBO to stream on HBOMax. He has directed for Peter and Bob Farrelly's Quibi show, The Now, and led the second unit on The Greatest Beer Run Eve. Dawson teaches directing and visual storytelling for Sundance's online learning platform, Sundance Collab. He attended NYU and the AFI Conservatory.

Writer/Director Ward Kamel and Producer Emily McCann Lesser

Ward Kamel is a Syrian filmmaker based in Brooklyn who strives to depict underrepresented characters in grounded and relatable narratives. An Academy Nicholl fellow, a Sundance Feature Film fellow, and a Vimeo Breakout Creator, his short film, If I Die in America, premiered at SXSW®. His work has screened at Palm Springs Shortfest, Hollyshorts, Newfest, and NFFTY, where he won Best Director. He won Best Screenplay at Urbanworld, was accepted to the Stowe Story Labs and placed in Austin Film Festival multiple times. A graduate of NYU Tisch School of the Arts, he was a semifinalist in the Student Academy Awards for Aziz, a short film he produced.

Emily McCann Lesser is a producer born, raised, and based in New York City whose films have premiered at festivals including Sundance, TriBeCa, SXSW, and Outfest and have been distributed by HBO, Samuel Goldwyn Films, Orion Pictures, IFC Films, and more. She is committed to telling powerful and entertaining commercial stories about underrepresented communities and working with diverse filmmakers. She has been selected to participate in the Gotham Week Project Market twice, as well as Film Independent's Fast Track program, the Inside Out Film Finance Forum, and the Producer's Guild Mentorship program.

Writer/Director Sara Crow and Producer David Rafailedes

Sara Crow is a Brooklyn-based writer/director whose stories focus on subcultures and misfits. She is a 2024 Sundance Screenwriters Lab Fellow and the recipient of the Sloan Sundance Fellowship with Satoshi, which also received the $100,000 Sloan Feature Film Prize at NYU. Her debut narrative short film Bluebird won Best Short Film at the Montana International Film Festival and the New Jersey Film Festival. It received the Black Family Film Prize at NYU's Graduate Film program. Crow is a Martin Scorsese Scholar at NYU and her upcoming thesis film, Why I Am an Anarchist, received NYU's AnnaRose King Award for Comedic Storytelling.

David Rafailedes is a Detroit-based writer/director/producer whose work focuses on satirizing the modern (and mostly Midwestern) American experience. He is a 2024 Sundance Screenwriters and Directors Lab Fellow and the co-recipient of the Sloan Sundance Fellowship, NYU/Sloan Feature Film Prize with Satoshi. Rafailedes is the co-playwright of the hit off-Broadway play, Cellino v. Barnes, which won Time Out New York's Best Comedy of 2024 and received critical acclaim from the Wall Street Journal, New York Magazine and the New York Times. His debut short film, Never Been Kissed, premiered at the Cleveland International Film Festival and won the audience award at the SOHO International Film Festival. He is a recent graduate of the NYU Graduate Film MFA/MBA Dual Degree program.

Writer/Director Derrick Woodyard and Producer Andrew Long

Derrick Woodyard is an award-winning African-American artist whose work includes directing, writing, and cinematography, and fine arts and drawing. Born in New Jersey, Derrick is currently based in Brooklyn and has an MFA from NYU Tisch School of the Arts. His thesis film, Love Taps (executive produced by Spike Lee) was nominated for Best Live Action Short Film at the Chicago International Film Festival. Woodyard received the Martin Scorsese Young Filmmakers Scholarship and was selected as the 2020 BAFTA NY HBO Scholar. His work has screened at festivals throughout the United States and has been supported by the Spike Lee Production Award, the Sandra Ifraimova Production Fund, the Riese Post Production Award, and the Roy W. Dean Short Film Award.

Andrew Long is a New York-based writer and director best known for co-writing Nigerian Prince, which premiered at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival. Born in Washington, D.C., he earned his bachelor's degree from Howard University and later completed his MFA in film at NYU. His short film Clearing House, executive produced by Paul Dano (There Will Be Blood, The Batman, Prisoners), debuted at the 2022 Atlanta Film Festival. Long is the recipient of multiple screenwriting honors, including Tribeca All Access and the NYU Kings Screenwriting Award for Clearing House.

Writer/Director Cassidy Batiz and Producer Natalie Novak Remplakowski

Cassidy Batiz is a filmmaker from Dallas now based in Brooklyn. She is currently an MFA film candidate at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, where she's been awarded the Tisch School of the Arts Graduate Scholarship and the W.T.C Johnson scholarship. Her narrative short, Big Lot, has screened at festivals nationally and was nominated for a Best Screenplay Award. She is the recipient of the Alan Landsburg Documentary Production Award for her upcoming short documentary, Metal Dad. She is currently in post-production on her narrative short, Jejune. Her photographs have appeared in Phaidon, Vice, and Radius Books, among others.