Atlanta Film Festival 2025 (Day 6) - Case Study: How We Made Our Award Winning Feature Color Book

From the venue:

Case Study: How We Made Our Award Winning Feature Color Book

Join ATL-based filmmakers, Director David Fortune and Producer Kiah Clingmank, as they share their journey from their award winning pitch to Opening Night film at Atlanta Film Festival. The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, after Fortune was awarded $1 million to produce the film at the 2023 festival through AT&T’s Untold Stories, a pitch competition that is committed to providing resources and mentorship to underrepresented filmmakers to produce their films.

Moderator: Cardellia Hunter, Director of Film and Entertainment for the City of Atlanta Mayor's Office

Panelists:

Director David Fortune

David Fortune is a writer and director based in Atlanta, Georgia. He was named Variety’s 10 Directors to Watch in 2025 and received the AT&T Untold Stories Award, which provided a $1 million grant to direct his feature film, Color Book. In addition to these recognitions, David was nominated for the 2025 NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Breakthrough Creative.

Producer Kiah Clingman

Kiah Clingman is a Cincinnati native turned Atlanta advocate who uses storytelling to uplift unheard voices and bring awareness to misunderstood topics, ensuring her work reflects the spirit and diversity of her second home. She produced the feature Color Book (2024), which premiered at Tribeca after receiving the $1M Tribeca-AT&T Untold Stories grant, and went on to win major awards at multiple film festivals. A Southern Producers Lab alumna and multi-grant recipient, Kiah is making her solo directorial debut with Her Pretty Vagina (2025), a personal film about endometriosis and women’s health that recently won the Shore Scripts Finishing Funds Prize.