CORRECTED 9:33 p.m. PT Jan. 14, 2008
SEOUL — The Korean Film Council has awarded Korean-American adoptee Nathan Adolfson the inaugural best film project prize from its Filmmakers’ Development Lab, a fellowship program created for English-language projects by Korean filmmakers.
KOFIC said Monday that Aldofson’s “Model American” won the FDL prize, which includes a grant of $40,000 for film development.
“I see this award as an investment by KOFIC because they believe in my abilities as a filmmaker,” Adolfson said. “The fact that I have been able to gain the support of the KOFIC is a fantastic confidence boost and an indicator that I am going in the right direction.”
The Filmmakers’ Development Lab was established in 2006 in order to bring young filmmakers together with industry veterans to help improve their scripts and prepare pitches.
The five fellows met in Hawaii in August with a group of veterans and received advice on their scripts and film pitches. In August, KOFIC brought them to New York for the Independent Film Project and to the Pusan International Film Festival in Korea for the Asian Film Market.
