Joel Embiid will join tennis phenom Naomi Osaka and Lakers star LeBron James on the committee.
Naomi Osaka, LeBron James, and Joel Embiid will lead the selection committee for the 2024 Uninterrupted Film Festival, festival executives announced on Monday.
The tennis phenom and the NBA superstars will select short films to premiere at the Los Angeles-based festival, which focuses on “the intersection of sports culture and filmmaking,” according to Deadline. The films will be selected from an open call for submissions and become “the inaugural class of Uninterrupted Film Festival award recipients,” the outlet reported.
The Uninterrupted Film Festival, which began in 2023, is supported by film producer Jane Rosenthal and Robert De Niro’s Tribeca Enterprises. Uninterrupted, a brand within James and entrepreneur Maverick Carter’s The SpringHill Company, runs the two-day event.
SpringHill was founded by James and Carter in 2020.
“Teaming up with LeBron James and Maverick Carter’s The SpringHill Company in the heart of Los Angeles for a film festival is not just about celebrating storytelling, it’s about breaking new ground,” Tribeca Co-Founder and CEO Rosenthal told Deadline.
“This collaboration is an exciting opportunity for Tribeca to continue to expand its footprint beyond NYC and further establish itself as a platform for award-winning sports filmmaking and programming. In its second year, the Uninterrupted Festival powered by Tribeca Festival will bring together the passion of sports with the artistry of filmmaking to deliver a one-of-a-kind entertainment experience for fans.”
Ricardo Viramontes, general manager of Uninterrupted, added that the brand has “partnered with Tribeca and leading athlete voices in the film industry, all of whom define excellence both on and off the court.”
“These individuals are perfectly suited to help us discover the next generation of storytellers and are united in enhancing storytelling within the athlete and sport landscape,” he said in a press release.
The submission portal begins on Monday, April 29, and will conclude on Friday, May 31. The short films must be “captivating athlete stories” that are “unique, innovative, and inspiring,” according to the selection committee. The submissions must also be 40 minutes or less, produced after January 2022, and can be a narrative story or documentary film.
The Uninterrupted Film Festival is scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, July 9-10 in Los Angeles and will be open to the general public.
