ST. PAUL, MN, Aug. 18, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Explore Minnesota Film and FilmNorth today announced the inaugural recipients of the 10,000 Stories Fund, a new initiative investing directly in Minnesota filmmakers and helping promising projects move from ideas toward production.
The 10 selected filmmaking teams will each receive a $10,000 development grant, along with mentorship, professional development, industry connections and opportunities to showcase their work. The program reflects Minnesota’s broader commitment to strengthening every stage of its creative pipeline, from cultivating homegrown talent to attracting major film and television productions to the state.
The inaugural cohort brings together nationally recognized talent and distinctly Minnesota stories, including new projects involving Academy Award-winning actor and director Sir Mark Rylance and Minnesota producer Brianna Lee Johnson; Minnesota filmmaker Ali Selim, whose 2005 feature Sweet Land won the Film Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature and who recently executive produced and directed Marvel’s Secret Invasion; a debut feature from Abby Harri, named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s 25 New Faces of Independent Film, alongside veteran indie producers Joshua Astrachan and Maggie Ambrose; and a debut feature from Minnesota actor and director Justin Dobies, who starred in Justin Simien’s 2014 feature Dear White People, filmed in Minnesota.
The cohort also includes a new television series from recipient and co-creator Troy Kelly, who most recently wrote and produced for NBC’s Found, alongside award-winning co-creator Wenonah Wilms, an Academy Nicholl Fellow, McKnight Media Artist Fellow and writer on HBO’s Emmy-nominated True Detective. Wilms, who is of Ojibwe and Dakota descent, is a member of the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians.
Ojibwe filmmaker and Minneapolis native Alex Nystrom, a 2025 Sundance Institute Native Lab Fellow and enrolled member of the Red Cliff Band, will direct his first feature film with producer Alifya Ali, who is also producing the 2026 AT&T Untold Stories-winning Minnesota Goodbye, set to premiere at the 2027 Tribeca Film Festival. Red Lake Nation writer, artist and filmmaker Tashia Hart will develop a new episodic series with multidisciplinary Ojibwe artist Jonathan Thunder.
Also selected are 2026 McKnight Media Artist Fellow Elizabeth Chatelain, who will develop a new feature film with producer Shao Min Chew Chia; Minnesota native Rachel Summers, who is directing an environmental coming-of-age feature with executive producers Academy Award-nominated director Sophia Nahli Allison and Tionenji “Tio” Aiken; and Minnesota native Al Oxborough Karr, who is directing a psychological comedy that received a table read at the Cannes Marché du Film after winning ISA’s 2025 Table Read Grand Prize, with producers Rafaela Sánchez, Laura Robards and Carl Atiya Swanson.
“Minnesota has no shortage of compelling stories or talented people ready to tell them,” said Nell Lawrenz-Wareham, deputy director of Explore Minnesota Film. “The 10,000 Stories Fund is about giving filmmakers the early support, professional connections and visibility they need to take the next step. By investing in Minnesota storytellers while expanding the resources available to productions, we are building an ecosystem where creative talent can develop, work and succeed here.”
The fund is designed to address one of the most difficult stages of independent filmmaking: the period between developing an idea and securing the financing, partners and industry support required to bring big ideas to the screen. In addition to direct funding, recipients will participate in individualized mentorship, professional-development programming, a curated Minnesota locations experience and access to industry leaders through the FilmNorth Forum.
The teams will also have an opportunity to present their works in progress at the FilmNorth Forum in early 2027 to a curated audience of Midwest filmmakers and industry professionals.
“Great films begin long before cameras start rolling, and early investment can make the difference between a promising concept and a project that reaches audiences,” said Andrew Peterson, executive director of FilmNorth. “These filmmakers represent the depth, originality and range of storytelling happening across Minnesota. We are proud to connect them with the resources and relationships that can help turn their visions into viable productions.”
The 10,000 Stories Fund arrives amid renewed momentum for Minnesota’s film and television industry. Explore Minnesota Film is pairing investments in local storytellers with competitive production incentives, regional partnerships, film-ready communities and hands-on production support. Together, these efforts are intended to create more opportunities for Minnesota cast, crew, vendors and creative professionals while establishing the state as a destination where stories can be developed, produced and brought to audiences.
Minnesota currently offers a 25% transferable film production tax credit, with approximately $88 million available for allocation as of August 1, 2026. Eligible productions may also qualify for stackable regional rebates and benefit from a growing network of communities trained to support the needs of film and television projects.
“We want filmmakers at every level to see Minnesota as a place where they can build something lasting,” Lawrenz-Wareham said. “That means supporting the people developing their first major projects as well as welcoming established productions that create jobs and economic activity throughout the state. The 10,000 Stories recipients are an important part of that future.”
The full list of inaugural recipients and projects is:
SLAUGHTERHOUSE
- Director: Ali Selim
- Narrative Feature Film
- Logline: Henry Johnson desperately races the clock to save his century-old family business, a pork processing plant in the middle of America. If he fails, he will face complete and utter personal demise. But in order to succeed, Henry slowly realizes that he must first solve the most enduring and impenetrable problem the world has ever known: why can’t we all just get along?
THE GICHIGAMI GAZETTE
- Director: Tashia Hart
- Producer: Jonathan Thunder
- Television / Internet Series
- Logline: The Gichigami Gazette is about two kinds of storytellers, traditional oral storyteller Gary, a spirit, and Pam, a disheartened journalist whose writing lacks spirit, and what the two writers have to offer each other. With her spectral partner providing an “insider scoop,” the unlikely duo sets off to investigate local leads that are both mundane and supernatural in nature.
NICE FISH
- Director: Sir Mark Rylance
- Producer: Brianna Lee Johnson, Minnesota-native
- Narrative Feature Film
- Logline: This is a buddy movie. Two men go on an ice fishing trip. A strange hunting adventure.
GUNNAR ON THE GRASSLAND SEA
- Director: Justin Dobies
- Producers: Jordan Connor, Jackson Dobies and Brianna Lee Johnson
- Narrative Feature Film
- Logline: After his schizophrenic son shows up naked in his barn claiming to be the Son of God, a terminally ill farmer must decide between spending his last days on himself or seeking reconciliation with his estranged son through the help of a young immigrant caretaker.
ARROWHEAD
- Co-Creators and Writers: Troy Kelly and Wenonah Wilms
- Television / Internet Series
- Logline: When a Norwegian tourist is brutally murdered in Minnesota’s North Woods, a U.S. Forest Service ranger must join forces with a Norwegian investigator and a Native American FBI agent to hunt the killer, but as the investigation deepens, personal agendas and secrets threaten to tear their uneasy alliance apart and let the murderer slip away.
UNTITLED ROOFER FILM
- Director: Abby Harri
- Producers: Joshua Astrachan, Maggie Ambrose
- Narrative Feature Film
- Logline: Lost between the chaos of his large family at home and living solo on the road while working construction, Jack only opens up with a drink in hand and his coworker Mike on the phone — aching for a love that he can’t even admit to himself.
NOTHING TO HIDE
- Director: Al Oxborough Karr
- Producers: Rafaela Sánchez, Laura Robards, and Carl Atiya Swanson
- DP: Brennan Vance, both Minnesota natives
- Narrative Feature Film
- Logline: Alana goes back to Minnesota for her sister Sophie's wedding, and a chaotic bachelorette party tests the sisters' relationship when party antics explode into revelations nobody was ready for.
SPIRAL
- Director: Alex Nystrom
- Producer: Alifya Ali
- Narrative Feature Film
- Logline: In a secluded winter cabin, an Ojibwe photographer struggles to care for his grandmother, who is living with dementia and insists his father's spirit is hunting him. As he becomes obsessed with capturing proof of the haunting, he risks becoming a ghost himself.
MENTHOLS
- Director: Rachel Summers
- Executive Producers: Sophia Nahli Allison and Tionenji “Tio” Aiken
- Narrative Feature Film
- Logline: When forever chemicals seep into her suburb’s water supply, Vi, a fat Black teen, channels her rage into emo anthems and investigative journalism to excavate the toxic secrets her community and family refuse to face.
SOIL
- Director: Elizabeth Chatelain
- Producer: Shao Min Chew Chia
- Narrative Feature Film
- Logline: When her estranged father vanishes from their family dairy in Minnesota, Therese, a bovine veterinarian living in India, returns to settle his affairs and rehome the abandoned herd. But as an insidious force invokes bizarre behavior in the cows, the community, and even herself, Therese discovers the soil that has sustained her family for generations could, literally, consume her.
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About the 10,000 Stories Fund
The 10,000 Stories Fund is a partnership between Explore Minnesota Film and FilmNorth created to support the development of original film and media projects and strengthen Minnesota’s creative economy. Ten selected filmmaking teams receive $10,000 development grants, mentorship, professional development, industry access and opportunities to advance and present their projects.
About FilmNorth
Founded in 1987, FilmNorth is a Minnesota-based nonprofit dedicated to empowering film and media artists to tell their stories, build sustainable careers and strengthen the North’s role in the national independent filmmaking community. FilmNorth supports emerging and established artists through education, mentorship, professional development, fellowships, fiscal sponsorship, production resources, screenings and industry-building programs. By expanding access, removing barriers and nurturing a vibrant and diverse creative community, FilmNorth helps storytellers develop their voices and bring original work from concept to audience. Learn more at filmnorth.org.
About Explore Minnesota Film
Explore Minnesota is the marketing and promotion agency for the state of Minnesota. Our mission is to support and help Minnesota's economy grow sustainably through innovative marketing, industry partnerships and authentic storytelling, showcasing Minnesota as the premier state for travel, quality of life and economic opportunity. Explore Minnesota Film, a division of Explore Minnesota, works to attract and support creative production statewide by promoting Minnesota’s locations, crews and its $93 million film production tax credit program. To learn more about making your project in the Star of the North, visit exploreminnesota.com/film.
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Audrey Koller PR on behalf of Explore Minnesota (414) 477-2469 audrey.koller@bvk.com Jake Juliot Explore Minnesota (651) 757-1864 jake.juliot@state.mn.us
