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Columbia, S.C. – The South Carolina Film Commission and Trident Technical College have announced the 2024-25 selections for their Indie Grants program. Selected by an independent panel of producers, writers, and film festival programmers, the two short film projects take very different approaches to stories about generational connection.

“This shows the depth and innovative nature of the filmmaking community we have here in South Carolina,” said Matt Storm, Director of the South Carolina Film Commission. “A strong production industry needs strong in-state product development. Indie Grants cultivates that talent and positions them to make future film and television products in the state.”

The two projects are:

BATEAU
A Gullah boy grieving his grandfather’s disappearance journeys into the South Carolina Lowcountry wilderness and has a spiritual encounter.

Blue Washington, Co-Writer/Co-Director
Joshua Parks, Co-Writer/Co-Director/DP
Shaquille Fontenot, Producer

SAPLING
Single mom Harlow is grieving the long and traumatic death of her own mother. But after a startling find, Harlow unearths a rabbit hole of her family’s generational trauma – and the unsettling lore it inspired.

Jupiter Hudson, Writer/Director
Dorian Del Valle, Director of Photography
Leah Pedersen, Producer

“I see this as a major stepping stone for what I hope is a future filled with creating films in and about the South,” said Jupiter Hudson, Writer/Director of Sapling. “Our team is dedicated to the strange yet purposeful vision of Sapling, and we’re thrilled that Indie Grants is here to help us bring it to the screen."

"We’re excited to contribute to the canon of stories that articulate the experience of African and Afro-descendant people, especially here in the Lowcountry,” said Joshua Parks, Co-Writer/Co-Director of Bateau. “It’s important that our stories be told by us and we’re thrilled to showcase our culture to the world.”

Each Indie Grants project functions as a workforce training environment, using top-notch department heads and professional crews to make the films, with Trident Tech film students working under the crews as hands-on training.

“These projects happen to represent the career pipeline we’ve built,” said Glenn Seale, Dean of Film, Media and Visual Arts at Trident Tech. “Many of this year’s principals participated in our entry-level programs like the Young Filmmakers Project, then our workforce trainings, and then started working professionally through previous Indie Grants projects. Now they’re producing this key work as professional teams.”

Get more info about all of Indie Grants programs at indiegrants.org.

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Download photos of the filmmakers here. More information on each is below.

Blue Washington, Co-Writer/Co-Director, Bateau
Brittney (Blue) Washington is a queer Black filmmaker, certified art therapist, and founder of Ferrette House, a multidisciplinary artist residency in Walterboro, SC. Specializing in documentary and visual narrative production, she brings her talents as a writer, curator, photographer, and visual artist to filmmaking. With deep expertise in Gullah-Geechee and Afro-diasporic cultures, she contributes richly to story development and visual aesthetics.

Joshua Parks, Co-Writer/Co-Director/DP, Bateau
Joshua Parks is a Black southern filmmaker, photographer, and historian with roots spanning seven generations in South Carolina's Lowcountry. Notably, he served as principal photographer for the Greenbook of South Carolina (2022) and showcases his work at prestigious venues like the International African American Museum and the Avery Research Center. Joshua holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Howard University and pursues a Master’s degree in Public History at the College of Charleston.

Shaquille Fontenot, Producer, Bateau
Shaquille Fontenot is a filmmaker and producer at Cedar Wolf Media, passionate about storytelling rooted in Black radical traditions and cultural heritage. With a background in education, independent film production, and media strategy, she has successfully led projects exploring the intersections of identity and landscape, most recently producing High Water by Tyquan Morton (2025) and ¿Y Mis Negroes Que? (2025). She has collaborated with Clemson University, the International African American Museum, the Smithsonian Institution, the Avery Research Center for African American History & Culture, the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art, and Sony.

Jupiter, Hudson, Writer/Director, Sapling
Jupiter Hudson was born and raised in the Lowcountry, and has been writing since she could hold a pencil and making films since there was a classroom nearby with cameras. Starting small but vying for the greater, she is now working for HBO’s The Righteous Gemstones while remaining dedicated to the production of Sapling and that of her other works. Her screenplays often explore the cosmic horror genre through tales of unseen and unspoken-of Southern lives.

Dorian Del Valle, Director of Photography, Sapling
Dorian Del Valle is a South Carolina based Director of Photography and Camera/Steadicam Operator. He’s also a Local 600 Camera Assistant with 3 years of industry experience in narrative production working on feature length films, television series, and commercials.

Leah Pedersen, Producer, Sapling
Leah Pedersen was born on Dakóta land and is a Charleston-based filmmaker. She has produced short films and branded content and is currently in production on her first full-length documentary as producer/director. She received certificates in film production, cinematography and storytelling for the screen from Trident Technical College and holds a Master’s degree in International Relations and Economics from the Johns Hopkins University – SAIS. Leah previously had a decade-long career in relationship management with a large investment company.