Faculty member receives grant from the Sundance Institute

From a UNT News Service press release

Eugene Martin

Eugene Martin, assistant professor of radio, television and film, has received a $20,000 Work-In-Progress Grant from the prestigious Sundance Documentary Grant Fund that he will use to finish a documentary on the Anderson Monarchs Girls Soccer Club.

Martin was one of 21 filmmakers from around the world to receive a grant during Sundance's spring 2010 cycle. More than 750 filmmakers living and working in 111 nations applied for Work-in-Progress grants, which recognize "works of great artistry and humanity." Filmmakers who receive these grants are eligible for additional support from the Sundance Foundation.

Martin received international recognition for his unfinished documentary in April, when he was one of eight recipients selected for The Good Pitch@Tribeca during the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City. He presented a trailer for the film and answered questions during The Good Pitch event, which brings together specially selected foundations, social entrepreneurs, broadcasters and other media professionals to expand the resources aimed at maximizing the impact of social-issue documentaries. The goal is to have the selected filmmakers create a unique coalition around each film to accelerate its impact and influence.

A faculty member since 2009, Martin has written and directed six feature-length films, including Two Plus One, Edge City, Diary of a City Priest and The Other America. The film, Diary of a City Priest, was an official selection of the 2001 Sundance Film Festival. Edge City won the Grand Jury Prize at the 1998 Hamptons International Film Festival. 

Martin plans to complete his feature-length documentary on the Anderson Monarchs by January 2011 and have its premiere in June or July 2011 before the FIFA Women's World Cup soccer finals.

The Anderson Monarchs were formed in 1998 from a small group of girls who regularly went to Philadelphia's Marian Anderson Recreation Center. The Anderson Monarchs is now a full-scale athletic, mentoring and tutoring organization, with three travel teams competing in the best leagues in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and New Jersey. It also has a recreational/intramural team with nearly 100 members. The teams are named for the recreation center, which is named after a famous opera singer, and for Jackie Robinson's first baseball team, the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro League Baseball Players Association.

Watch a preview of the Anderson Monarchs movie >>

Nancy Kolsti with UNT News Service can be reached at nancy.kolsti@unt.edu.

Read other stories in this issue:

• President's Note
• Moving Forward: Start-ups join Discovery Park
• UNT football part of Century in the Making
• Nationally acclaimed Moby-Dick composer named artist-in-residence
• Travel with faculty in new program, register for classes for 50 and over adults
• Faculty Focus: Eugene Martin
• Traditions: Family Weekend
• Featured Link: YouTube videos show off UNT’s assets
• UNT Alumni Association