Faced with a surfeit of submissions, a documentary development grant inspired by the “Stay in L.A.” production movement has selected three films for financial support.
The Stay in L.A. Documentary Development Grant committee announced on Thursday that an untitled true crime film from Adam Saltzberg, Mobolaji Olambiwonnu’s The Village on My Block and Mackenzie Rohan’s Stepping Out of the Background will split the $30,000 award, which was originally intended for just one project. Each film will receive $10,000 to aid in their development and production as part of the grant’s goal to uplift L.A.-area stories.
The local documentary company All Facts originated the grant amid a downturn in local production. As film and television projects flee to other states and countries, the “Stay in L.A.” movement has advocated for production companies to stick around and employ local workers.
“The sheer number and quality of the submissions were staggering and speak volumes about the creative energy of this city,” says All Facts co-founder and documentary filmmaker Adam Bhala Lough. “These particular projects prove exactly why Los Angeles continues to be at the forefront of documentary filmmaking. They represent an incredible pool of talent that is uniquely L.A., and they underscore the critical need to invest in these storytellers.”
The subject of Saltzberg’s true-crime film is not being revealed at this time, but it focuses on “a beloved Los Angeles institution” and “the tragic fall of a prominent Los Angeles dynasty,” according to the grant committee. “What the public knew as a beloved institution, insiders knew as a powder keg of ambition and paranoia,” they say of the film’s subject. “Now, after 20 years of silence, family members finally reveal the dark secrets that led to a horrifying and bloody end.”
Saltzberg is an Emmy award-winning veteran nonfiction producer who has worked on projects including Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath, Duck Dynasty and Making Fun.
Olambiwonnu’s The Village on My Block narrates the formation of St. Elmo Village, an arts community in Mid-City that was founded by two Black men during the cultural and political change of the 1960s. “It was in this special place that gang members, city dignitaries, and Hollywood’s finest united to forge a revolutionary artistic community that offered hope to a fractured America,” the grant committee states. St. Elmo Village is still offering arts workshops and hosting festivals today.
A graduate of the University of California Los Angeles and the American Film Institute, Olambiwonnu previously directed Ferguson Rises, which won an audience award at Tribeca Film Festival.
Stepping Out of the Background from Rohan accompanies five background actors as they get ready for “The Blurries,” the annual awards show that honors the best in their intentionally low-key craft. “This feature documentary shines a spotlight on background actors, capturing their artistry, resilience, and dedication,” states the grant committee.
Rohan is a writer and filmmaker who is a 2024 Hollywood Radio and Television Society Foundation Fellow. A Syracuse University grad, she previously was selected for the Disney Entertainment Television PA Initiative.
