Last week at Independent Feature Project’s (IFP) Independent Film Week in New York, Media Studies Faculty member Annie J. Howell won the Panasonic Digital Filmmaker Grand Prize Award for her feature-length film script, Black Kid.

Howell participated in the Emerging Narrative Program, pairing filmmakers with industry executives for meetings and consultation. Howell’s script was one of 40 projects chosen nation-wide from 500 applications, and was one of three grand prize winners.

Founded as a satellite program of the 1979 New York Film Festival, the nonprofit IFP has evolved into the nation's oldest and largest organization of independent filmmakers. Since its start, IFP has supported the production of 7,000 films and provided resources to more than 20,000 filmmakers—voices that otherwise might not have been heard.