How It Works

Do you like movies?   Do you want a chance to raise $1000 for your student group?  How about a free trip to Los Angeles for your group leaders to see the red carpet premiere of the latest short films with the writers, directors, actors and crew behind those stories?

Apply today to bring an evening of award winning short films to your college or university and earn a chance to win these prizes. TN’s Diversity Film Series is a micro film festival on your campus that showcases amazing shorts with important ideas and themes that you won’t hear playing at the local theater.

The Diversity Film Series includes comedies, sci-fi thrillers, dramas, and even westerns.  What’s different about these films is that they encourages audience engagement at a thematic level, fostering independent thinking, discussion, and diversity of thought. The health of a free and civil society depends on avoiding the ideological traps of collectivism and groupthink.  The antidote is a culture of storytelling that values liberty, compassion and innovation.

The process is simple and easy, even if you’ve never hosted a film festival before.  Our experienced staff of filmmakers and industry professionals will help you at every stage to make sure your screening is a great success, from identifying a location to marketing the festival to your community.  The groups with the MOST attendance will be eligible for a $1000 grant to your group chapter, and the group responsible for the top attendance in 2019 will receive a trip to TN’s annual film fest premiere in the heart of downtown Los Angeles.

Applications Dates: Feb 1 – April 30, 2019.

Your screening must take place this 2019 Spring semester to be eligible for prizes.

APPLY NOW

Getting
Started

STEP 1: APPLY TO HOST A SCREENING

Fill out a short form and let us know a little bit about you, your organization, and when you would like to host your screening. One of our program coordinators will review the application and get back to you right away.Once your application has been accepted, we will contact you to help start planning your event.

STEP 2: PLAN YOUR SCREENING

After you’ve been accepted to the program, you get to pick which films you want to show. To help you pick the best slate, you’ll get your own personal coordinator. You will also receive a festival planning pack, including a promotional checklist and calendar. So, even if this is your first film festival, you’ll look like a seasoned pro.

STEP 3: PROMOTE THE SCREENING

After the planning is done, the fun part begins – telling the world about your awesome screening! This is where you can get creative and really spread your wings. We will provide you with materials, such as press kits, posters, flyers, and social media posts to help spread the word and get people pumped. The rest is up to you!

STEP 4: HOST YOUR SCREENING AND WIN

Screening night is your time to shine! Sit back and watch the films, talk with the attendees, engage in discussions, and enjoy the wonderful event that you put together for your community. And as an added bonus, the screening with the most people will win two tickets to LA (air + hotel) to attend a TalNexus event on the Red Carpet!

FILMS OF THE TALNEXUS FILM LAB
A convict who works in an animal shelter learns about the nature of bureaucracy and its impact at all levels of incarceration.
A conflicted drone operator who eliminates domestic terrorists in a near-future America suspects something nefarious may be going on.
A reimagining of the heroic efforts of Harriet Tubman’s time on the Underground Railroad.
An alleged time traveler tries to convince the love of his life that he knows what is best for her.
An actor takes a job as a re-enactor without knowing anything about his Founding Father character.
A documentary filmmaker goes missing while working on a film about the tobacco business.
Two hapless kidnappers take the wrong person hostage and end up receiving an education in economics when the victim discovers the low-ball ransom being demanded by them.
18 year old France Hoang must make the difficult decision to honor his family by staying home to support the family or honor his adoptive country by accepting an admission to West Point and joining the US military.
An immigrant woman’s daily life is not what she expected after arriving in her new country.
During his speech to his fellow college graduates, Moses is encouraged to choose his words wisely by an electrifying representative of the Dept. of Education.
Five friends spend a weekend camping in an abandoned recreational facility and go missing one by one in this throwback to a classic 80’s horror film.
Two government surveillance employees get tangled up with a private hacker and engage in a battle of spy versus spy.
WATCH THE TRAILERS HERE
Life for Lisa has been filled with melancholy due to the life-altering choices her father made over 20 years ago in his attempt to ease the suffering of her mother.
Sister Giles enters her first year of service caring for severely disabled Robin in a state run care facility, and learns there is more to a person than just a room number.
In 1950s China, the sparrow has been declared a great pest that is contributing to encroaching famine in the country. Two young friends set out to find and capture the last sparrow in order to bring about a great harvest.
A fictionalized account of the events leading up to one of the 20th Century’s most inspiring and bravest moment - the standoff in Tiananmen Square.
As he travels across 1870’s America, a French architect meets Katie on a remote ranch in Wyoming, living under the heavy hand of her family.
Under the watchful eye of the KGB, a Soviet Russian ballet company performs in NYC during the 1970s, as its star dancer is suspected of preparing to defect to the United States.
When someone invades your personal space and refuses to respect your boundaries, sometimes you have to take matters into your own hands.
Terry is a career IT worker who is being forced to spend the next two weeks training his replacement, Ahbi, an H-1B work-visa recipient from Kashmir, or else he won’t receive his severance pay.
A parody of the film series The Purge. Only this time, when government suspends all laws and regulations for 12 hours, things don’t quite go as expected.
An obscure police agency zealously enforces the most absurd (actual) laws on the books.
Three roomates are at odds over how to protect each other when an ex-boyfriend shows signs of aggression.