ABOUT THE RIFF ARTS INSTITUTE: The RIFF Arts Institute (RAI) was born as a result of the Richmond International Film Festival’s (RIFF) annual artist programming work and fulfilling a need to further develop educational programming, artist and leadership development, and workforce development initiatives. As an offshoot of the festival, in 2018 RAI was formed as a 501(c) 3 nonprofit organization that develops artists, emerging leaders, and projects, which helps provide production opportunities and elevates careers.
RAI’s programs also include a variety of industry programming geared towards exhibition, promoting and mobilizing artists, and refining the artistic voice. Year-round, RAI provides community engagement programs, networking events, business development programs, artist labs, artist in residency and fellowships. RAI also co-presents the FLOW Collective Conference and the annual Outreach Day each year at the Richmond International Film Festival.
For more info on the 14th annual Richmond International Film Festival, visit their website at www.rvafilmfestival.com or their Facebook page
NEWS
The 2024 Winter / 2025 Spring Fellowship Program applications are open. Visit the Fellowship page to learn how to apply.
The RIFF + RAI Winter Writing & Film Lab Series begins December 13, 2024 with our AI, Ideation and Best Practices Panel in collaboration with Belltower Pictures. Join us for this free event from 8:00am - 10:00am to hear from special guest panelists including Andy Edmunds (Virginia Film Office Director), Craig Martin (Belltower; RAI; The Good Road); and Heather Waters (RIFF; RAI). Others TBA. Location: In Your Ear Studios
Past Labs —
Speakers and topics for the next Labs: May 2024
Crafting the Perfect Brand: Combining the Art and Science of Branding Your Next Creative Project
To sign up, email staff@riffartsinstitute.org and cc staff@rvafilmfestival.com then submit your $40 payment including name, address, and email in the memo line.
Guest Speakers: J. Dontrese Brown, 2024 RVA Community Maker Honoree, CEO + Co-Founder, Hidden In Plain Site (HiPS™) & BROWNBAYLOR™, Hezekiyah Baylor, Creative Director & Thought Leader & Co-Founder, BROWNBAYLOR™, and André Johnson, Creative Lead | Brand Builder | Artist.
JOIN US MAY 6 FOR THE SPRING WRITING & PRODUCTION LAB SERIES.
SPRING & SUMMER WRITING & PRODUCTION LABS.
If you or someone you know may be interested in taking part of RAI’s year-round programming events as a Sponsor or Community Partner, we would love to speak with you. Please contact us at staff@riffartsinstitute.org. Interested in donating to the RIFF Arts Institute Fellowships or General Programming? Make Donations to the Institute Here
YEAR-ROUND INSTITUTE PROGRAMS
FELLOWSHIPS
Film, music, screenwriting, and producing fellowships are offered twice per year as a complimentary program provided by RAI. The Fellowship program is a hands on development program that takes place year-round based on RAI’s availability and current openings. It includes creative, project, and industry development. Select Fellowships may also be custom fit for each Fellow. Fall/Winter applications are open. Visit the Fellowship page to apply.
ARTIST DEVELOPMENT
RAI has year-round artist development programs for film, music, screenwriting, and producing. These programs are less intensive than RAI’s Fellowship Program, but may take place over a longer length of time via mentorship, labs, or training.
FILM & MUSIC FUNDS
Select Film and music funds may be offered to Fellowship Candidates who complete the program and excel in their respective field. Fiscal Sponsorship applications and select Fund applications open in the winter of 2024.
FELLOWS
Brendan Riley is an American film director and screenwriter, known for his dark humor, distinctive cinematic style, and exploration of controversial themes. Each of his films strives to reinvent itself, showcasing his versatility and commitment to pushing creative boundaries.
Born in Richmond, Virginia, Brendan’s formative years were marked by culture-bending family trips abroad, socially challenging school experiences, and a heightened sensitivity to the conflicts around him. These experiences fueled his desire to confront difficult topics directly, seeking to understand these conflicts rather than be controlled by them. This drive is reflected in his writing and visual storytelling, which adeptly capture both internal and external conflicts.
Trinity Waters You is an emerging singer songwriter who splits her time between Costa Rica and Nashville, TN.
With a voice that is both delicate and sweet, Trinity transports listeners to an ethereal scene of shimmering melodies and thoughtful lyrics.
Growing up surfing on the beaches of Costa Rica, she found solace in the natural beauty of the world around her, drawing inspiration from the ebb and flow of the tides and colorful skies. Her music reflects this sense of awe and wonder, weaving together delicate guitar lines, lush harmonies, and introspective lyrics that decipher chaos into sense.
Drawing on a range of musical influences, from indie folk to acoustic pop, Trinity's songs are a tapestry of emotions and experiences. Her music explores themes of love, loss, and her journey with Jesus in a world that can often feel overwhelming and uncertain. As she continues to evolve and grow as an artist, Trinity remains dedicated to creating music that speaks to the heart and soul of her listeners and brings glory to God. With each new song, she invites us to slow down, to connect with God, and to experience the beauty and complexity of human emotion. Trinity is a RIFF Arts Institute Music & Songwriting Fellow for the Feb 2023 - December 2024 Program.
ALUMNI FELLOWS
Mary Lucia Thao Darst, 2023-2024 Fellow is a doctoral candidate in music at Oxford University. She holds an MA in History and Literature from Columbia University.
Mary Lucia has produced films for the Oxford University Filmmaking Foundation. Her own films explore the relationships between individuals and between individuals and their environments. She trained in film, first as an intern then fellow with the Moving Picture Institute, then at the London Film School’s Directors’ Workshop.
Mary Lucia is also a classically trained violist and avid linguist. She is a RIFF Arts Institute Film & Business Fellow for the January 2023 - January 2024 Program.
Robert Catalusci, 2023 Fellow is an acclaimed artist, writer, director and producer. He trained as a sculptor before studying Fine Art and Film History in London, France, Italy and Greece. He holds a BFA in Performance Art and Video from San Francisco Art Institute, returning the following semester as visiting artist faculty (SFAI).
His residencies include; Capp Street Project, Southern Exposures Gallery, San Francisco CA, San Francisco Municipal Railways, SF Bureau of Architecture, The 5th Chengdu Up-On International Live Art Festival, Chengdu China with the Sichuan University Art Museum, China, The Sichuan Conservatory of Music Chengdu, China, JZFZ Art Space Museum, China, Five Points Contemporary Art Museum Victoria, Texas and the Station Contemporary Art Museum, Houston Texas. Roberts creates mind-bending original stories designed to transport audiences into a different reality-the twilight of human destruction. His writing challenges the way we perceive the after life and evokes haunting elements of sci-fi that will stick with you and make you question what comes next. Robert is featured in Details Magazine, Art Week, Art Papers, Los Angeles Times, SF Weekly, Vault CCA and Art and Architectural Magazine. Robert is currently based in Richmond VA. He is a RIFF Arts Institute Film & Screenwriting Fellow for the Spring/Summer 2023 Program.
Ella Floyd, 2022-2023 Fellow is an interdisciplinary artist based in Richmond, VA and Southwest Virginia. Using photography as a primary medium, her work serves as an autobiographical response to an unique upbringing in rural Appalachia. Ella’s artistic background explores the industrial and creative side of visual culture and communication through personal work and collaborations with other local artists. Through her work, she explores the complexities of human experience and behavior, as well as the effects their physical and social environments impress upon them. With images often featuring mundane, rural backgrounds, the viewer becomes isolated with the subject, further developing the unique environment of small town America. Using soft focus and dreamlike coloring, her work touches on feelings of nostalgia, loss, and unease.
Ella is pursuing her BFA in Photography + Film at Virginia Commonwealth University. She serves on the Core Team Committee at the Richmond International Film Festival and in 2022, Ella received the Volunteer of the Year Award. She is a RIFF Arts Institute Photography, Film & Business Fellow for the November 2022 - October 2023 Program.
SHALEMAR COLOMA, 2020-2021 FELLOW. Shalemar is a filmmaker based in Richmond, VA and New York. She is inspired by the Filipino melodramas, rom-coms, and B-movies in her youth. As she watched, her mother would occasionally translate the dialogue as Shalemar couldn’t understand Tagalog. Because of this language barrier, it was the bold aesthetics and exaggerated performances that commanded her attention when language was inaccessible. Her experience with these films reflected how she navigated the world. They would influence her to indulge in mood, gestures, and aesthetics over a traditional plot structure. She hopes to use her time in the Fellowship Program to create work that inspires others to indulge in these things too.
Shalemar Coloma holds a BFA in Film and Television from Tisch School of the Arts at NYU. Her work has been featured on NoBudge, NOWNESS, and Adolescent Content. She has screened at MoMA PS1, Rhode Island Film Festival, Virginia Film Festival, and Fusion Film Festival.
FELLOWSHIP OUTCOME: Shalemar excelled in the program. She wrote and completed her feature length screenplay via the RAI Fellowship, and is currently back in NYC raising financing.
MAX CURRY, 2018-2019 FELLOW. Every artist’s journey has stages, and at the beginning of mine I was inexperienced, but I was willing and eager learn. The RIFF Arts Institute (RAI) provided me an invaluable opportunity to grow my artistry and learn critical elements in various aspects of the film industry. It gave me the critical structure I needed to develop as an artist. This program is demanding in both time and personal commitment, but I would not have the knowledge, skill, or artistic discipline that I now do without RAI. This organization has taught me the intangibles that make careers that last. I am more knowledgeable, more creative, more focused, and more determined than I have ever been, and I owe it all to the RAI.
FELLOWSHIP OUTCOME: Directly following his Fellowship, Max was hired on at Higher Ground Productions, the Obama’s production company as an Assistant to the Vice President of the company. Max has gone on to produce his first two projects with the latest premiering at the Richmond International Film Festival, Austin Film Festival, and more.
SEVYN MICHAELA-ROSE, 2018-2019 FELLOW. “Thanks in large part to the program and my Fellowship at RAI, I will be attending Savannah College of Art and Design on scholarship in the fall of 2019 with a major in film & television. Through an intensive apprenticeship at RIFF and a year-long RAI Fellowship, I learned invaluable skills as a script analyst and got first-hand experience in production. It laid the groundwork I needed as an artist and future industry professional.
Through the process, I discovered a fierce passion for all things creative. The program taught me discipline and challenged me in every way. The complexities of the film industry are what I think make it so electrifying and impactful and all the tiny details amount to such a beautiful end result. While rigorous and challenging, this internship/fellowship taught me all of these things and pushed me to learn and pull more out of myself than any other program I have ever experienced. Everything I learned further inspired me, and I am so incredibly grateful.”
FELLOWSHIP OUTCOME: Directly following her Fellowship, Sevyn was accepted into SCAD’s film and screenwriting program on scholarship. She completed her undergrad with honors and has now been accepted to Grad School at Edinburgh University in Scotland. She continues to attend RAI and RIFF programs often.
BUILD WITH US
Artists in Residency
The next Artist in Residency Program begins summer 2025.
CREATE WITH US
THE YOUTH ROUNDTABLE PROJECT
Creating the next generation of leaders through the development of the arts, critical thinking, and community engagement. Learn more about the year-round Youth Roundtable Project below.
PAST NEWS
Artist Grants: In response to COVID-19, RAI distributed 27 grants in 2020-2021 to help artists struggling financially as a result of the pandemic. These grants helped the artists keep creative projects afloat. Funding has been dispersed, however, if more is added to the program, we can consider new applications in the winter. More information below.
2020-2022 Educational Program Opportunities: The RIFF Arts Institute (RAI) launched an online educational and discussion series in 2020-2022. The educational program continues intermittently through the year providing online panels, performance labs, and educational talks for adults, artists, students, and the greater community. If you or someone you know may be interested in learning more, contact us at staff@riffartsinstitute.org.
RAI co-produced the, COVID-19 Fundraiser, “Artists Supporting Artists in India” with music performances by Holy River and The Prabir Trio. This special initiative was in collaboration with The Good Road and other Richmond community leaders in a fundraising effort to help support artists in India who were impacted by the pandemic. This community endeavor included live music, food, and fun activities for the community held at Hardywood Brewery. If you would like to donate to the Richmond or the India COVID artist relief fund, visit our donation page and put Richmond or India COVID relief in the memo area. The donation proceeds went directly to talented artists struggling to make ends meet.
HOLY RIVER, RAI & THE GOOD ROAD INDIA COVID FUNDRAISTER
PRABIR, RAI & THE GOOD ROAD INDIA COVID FUNDRAISTER