Trans Film Mentorship
About Us
The Trans Film Mentorship (TFM) is an organization that runs hands-on career development programming for trans and nonbinary people with the goal of increasing the presence of trans filmmakers, key creatives, and crew in the film and television industry.
We work in partnership with production companies to turn their film/tv/media productions into hands-on learning opportunities for trans and nonbinary emerging professionals. With many of our programs, we provide our participants with mindfulness-based soft skills development, coaching support as well as the requisite hard skills training/production orientation.
Our programs conclude with career planning workshops that support participants in identifying their next steps and industry way-finding.
The TFM’s founding partnership was with the TIFF 2022 selected feature film Something You Said Last Night, directed and written by Sundance award-winning director Luis De Filippis. The program has since partnered with the Peabody Award-winning HBO/CBC show SORT OF, created by Bilal Baig and Banger Films on Any Other Way, the award-winning documentary about trans icon Jackie Shane, executive produced by Elliot Page.
The TFM is led by filmmakers Luis De Filippis and Gabrielle Zilkha. Their work includes De Filippis’ Sundance-winning short, For Nonna Anna and debut feature, Something You Said Last Night which received the TIFF Change Maker award, and Zilkha’s Queering the Script which received the Outfest Special Programming award and the Iris Prize shortlisted, Stop Calling Me Honey Bunny. When they are not creating their own films they are collaborating with productions to ensure trans and non-binary filmmakers are building the experience needed to tell their own stories, and they have a great time doing it - pictured above.