Who We
are
We are a collective of filmmakers, scholars, and educators who believe that in order to shift culture and repair our world, we must transform the harmful production practices and storytelling paradigms that govern conventional filmmaking. Development and ideation should honor and reflect the lived experiences of the characters and participants in our work. Production spaces must be just and accountable for all members of the cast and crew. Marketing, outreach, and distribution should engage communities honestly and accessibly. And all phases of production should be environmentally sustainable.
Another world is possible. Let’s build it together.
What We
Do
While there’s ample documentation of the inequities at the intersections of race, gender, sexuality, and disability in the film industry, the solutions are few and far between. Where many diagnoses of industry-wide harm focus on quantifying diversity in front of and behind the camera, our aim is to examine and transform structural issues such as workplace hierarchies, production methodologies, normative storytelling paradigms, and other foundational practices that impact equity and inclusion within film production.
Our goal is to move past documenting barriers to finding research-based solutions, providing tools, and building a path towards more just, equitable, and trauma-informed filmmaking practices.
Research & Training
Our research initiatives develop evidence-based solutions for transforming film industry practices and supporting equitable filmmaking. We study production methods, provide training, and develop tool-kits for change. So far we’ve developed the following tools, trainings, and practices:
Tool-kits:
The Pillars of Trauma-Informed Production
Workshops:
Trauma-Informed Script Breakdowns
Designing Production Space Agreements
Production with Purpose
Storytelling for New Worlds
Grants
We support filmmakers through funding and professional development. Our grants and certification programs provide training and mentorship for justice-driven, and equitable filmmaking.
All grant applications for this cycle are now closed. Our next funding round will open in Winter 2027. Please check back then for new opportunities.
our mission
The Collective Futures Film Lab is dedicated to cultural change through transforming how films are imagined. Through research, grant-making, mentorship, and education, the lab aims to support emerging filmmakers while codifying aesthetic and structural innovations that foreground an equitable, inclusive, and sustainable media ecosystem.
Our Growing Impact
Since launching in 2023, we've been building a community of change-makers and developing concrete solutions for equitable filmmaking.
8
Filmmakers mentored
200+
participants Educated
4
Trauma-Informed Short Films
Our work solidifies DePaul’s School of Cinematic Arts’ reputation as a leader in inclusive and ethical film education while operationalizing the university's Vincentian mission by supporting students historically excluded from opportunity and empowering all film students to promote social justice and human dignity through their work.
Community Building
We've educated hundreds of students, faculty, and community members through workshops and seminars, creating a growing network of advocates for equitable, trauma-informed, and liberatory filmmaking practices.
Research & Innovation
We've launched 4 trauma-informed production projects focused on reparative filmmaking practices foster belonging, aesthetic and ethical alignment, and accountability.
Impact
MENTORSHIP
We mentor students throughout the lifecycle of a project from development through distribution through hosting trainings, consulting on student projects, and organizing events with values-aligned filmmakers and community organizations.
Community Partners
We believe transformative change happens through collaboration. We're actively seeking partnerships with organizations that share our vision and values.
Partnership Opportunities
We actively seek partnerships with industry organizations, community groups, educational institutions, funding partners, mentorship networks, sustainability organizations, and research institutions that share our commitment to equity, inclusion, liberation and trauma-informed and sustainable filmmaking practices.
About Us
Co-Directors
Jess is a Professional Lecturer and Chair of the Screenwriting Program Committee at the School of Cinematic Arts in DePaul University’s Jarvis College of Computing and Digital Media. Their creative scholarship reimagines screenwriting and filmmaking practices towards radical equity and social justice. King designs and instructs numerous original courses focused on infusing storytelling and production practices with an ethos of care and accountability. They published a ground-breaking first book, Inclusive Screenwriting for Film and Television, with Routledge in 2022. They currently serve on the evolutionary governing board for OTV, an intersectional artist incubator and independent television hub in Chicago.
Jess King (they/them)
Abby Plante (she/her)
Abby Plante is a multihyphenate writer, creative producer, and professor in Creative Producing and Screenwriting at DePaul University’s School of Cinematic Arts. She started as an adjunct professor in DePaul’s Los Angeles programs before joining the faculty full-time to spearhead the Creative Producing program in Chicago. She now serves as Co-Chair of the Creative Producing Program Committee. Her award-winning produced and written work can be seen on platforms including Netflix, Prime Video, NBCUniversal, SyFy, LOGO Network, and United Airlines’ Hemispheres, as well as production companies including Participant Media, SoulPancake and Funny Or Die. When she’s not teaching or creating, she can be found plotting social change to combat the culture of harassment & harm in the entertainment industry through trauma-informed producing practices as a Co-Director of the Creative Futures Film Lab at DePaul - or with her broomstick defying gravity. Abby is currently pursuing her MFA in Creative Writing at DePaul. She splits her time between Chicago and Los Angeles.
Anuradha Rana (she/her)
Anuradha Rana is a filmmaker, educator, and program leader whose work aims to catalyze a more diverse media ecosystem. She has produced and directed award-winning films internationally, supported by Kartemquin Films, Tribeca Film Network, If/Then, PBS, DOC NYC, IL Arts Council, Chicago’s DCASE, and CAAM. Anuradha is the Director of the School of Cinematic Arts and Vincent de Paul Professor at DePaul University. She is on the steering committee for the Asian American Doc Network (A-DOC) and has been named one of Chicago’s 50 Screen Gems, a DCASE esteemed artist, DOC NYC’s Documentary New Leader, part of the ArtEquity BIPOC Leadership circle, and most recently, a Rockwood Documentary Leadership Fellow.
