From Premiere to Next Year: Color Book, Withdrawal, and Meta Take One

Last year, three Atlanta indie features of various budgets played at our festival to great fanfare - Colorbook, Withdrawal, and Meta Take One. During their 2025 panel discussions, we learned how they got the money to make their films, their unique production processes, and the hurdles they had to overcome to finish their features. This year, they share how they navigated the festival circuit, hunted for distribution, and dealt with negotiation and team dynamics. And of course, we ask the standard question - What Now? Moderator: Michael Mau Panelists: David Fortune (Director), Kiah Clingman (Actor, Producer), John Dierre (Writer, Director), Ryan Dutter, (Writer, Director), Aaron Strand (Writer, Director) Michael Mau (SAG-AFTRA, WGAEast) is an Atlanta-born writer/actor/producer. The creator of the indie fiction podcast A Blind Play , he sits on the local SAG-AFTRA board and co-chairs the Indie Outreach Committee. You can hear Michael making quips while fighting ancient aliens and robot panthers on the sci-fi podcast Derelict . David Fortune is a writer and director from Atlanta, Georgia. He was named one of Variety’s 10 Directors to Watch in 2025 and is a recipient of the AT&T Untold Stories Award, which provided a $1 million grant to direct his debut feature, Color Book . The film premiered at the 2024 Tribeca Festival and has since earned more than 30 jury and audience awards at festivals nationwide. David was also nominated for a 2025 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Breakthrough Creative. Kiah Clingman is an Atlanta-based filmmaker, producer, and director dedicated to telling bold, emotionally resonant stories that amplify unheard voices. A Tribeca AT&T Untold Stories winner, she produced the award-winning feature Color Book and has created a range of narrative and branded work spanning film, television, and digital. Through her company, KiahCan Productions, Kiah is committed to "telling stories others are afraid to tell" while building inclusive sets and crafting stories that challenge, connect, and stay with audiences long after the screen fades. As an Atlanta filmmaker, John Dierre creates emotionally charged, community-rooted stories that explore identity, ambition, and the fragile line between order and chaos. With Meta Take One , him and his co-collaborator aimed to merge candid visual storytelling and character-driven intensity to examine how artistic obsession shapes and endangers those pursuing their vision. Ryan Dutter is a Writer/Director based in Atlanta, Georgia. Working in and around the Atlanta film industry for almost a decade, his work focuses on characters experiencing the contradiction of internal struggle vs external pressure. Ryan's works often explore people’s capacity to maintain sanity in the face of a chaotic world. Aaron Strand is a cinephile. He is the writer/director of the award-winning feature film Withdrawal (ATLFF '25). Aaron is the creator of the Behind the Slate Podcast , hosting monthly screening events in Atlanta and Athens featuring classic films, deep-dive intros and audience discussions.