JuntoBox Films

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JuntoBox Films was a Santa Monica-based independent film production company that focused on micro-budget films.^[1] It featured a social media platform where creators could share ideas and collaborate to make their ideas into films, and where members could vote which screenplays would be financed by JuntoBox.^[2][3] JuntoBox Films has been inactive since 2014/2015.

Philippe Caland founded JuntoBox in 2012 and officially launched it at that year's South by Southwest.^[4][2] The partnership with Indiegogo, a crowdfunding website, started upon its foundation.^[5] Actor Forest Whitaker was announced as co-chair in March 2012.^[2] The company's name was taken from Junto, a mutual improvement club started by Benjamin Franklin in 1727.^[2]

JuntoBox allowed actors, directors, producers, and writers to share ideas via a social media platform so they were able to collaborate with those without an agent or previous professional experience.^[5][2][6] Site users then voted on which films they thought JuntoBox should support, both as a financer and as a mentor.^[2][5] Those chosen still go through a vetting process, including traditional auditions for the chosen actors.^[6] The first films green-lighted by JuntoBox were Passenger, Sacrifice (2014), Anthem, and Sharon 1.2.3. (originally Sharon is Caring).^[5][4]

In 2013, JuntoBox partnered with the Slamdance Film Festival to increase the winnings of the festival's annual screenplay competition. Along with the usual $10,000 prize money, JuntoBox committed at least $50,000 towards production of the winning screenplay.^[7]

In 2014, JuntoBox Films launched a three-month long workshop series called the Feature Film Incubator that sought to bring screenplays into the development phase.^[8] This included "one-one-one meetings with industry professionals-including story analysts, casting directors and line producers."^[9] Those selected to participate in the program "receive[d] budgeting and distribution consulting" and other financial and mentorship resources.^[6][8] At least one of the films created during the Incubator was expected to be funded following the pitch session that marked the end of the program.^[9][8][10]

In total, JuntoBox has sponsored the following films:^{[10][6][5][11][12]}

• Passenger - written/directed by Tony McGrath, produced by Alex Malt
• Sacrifice (2014) - written/directed by Michael Cohn, produced by Jeanine Rohn and Joseph Sememse
• American Anthem - originally Anthem; written by John Carr
• Sharon 1.2.3. (2018) - originally Sharon is Caring - written by Wesley Mills, directed by Mark Brown
• Repentance (2013) - written by Shintaro Shimosawa and Philippe Caland, directed by Philippe Caland
• The Driver - written by George Richards, directed by Alex Ardenti, produced by Philippe Caland
• Operator (2016) - co-written/directed by Logan Kibens
• Die Like a Man (expected 2022) - written/directed by Eric Nazarian, produced by Javier Chapa
• God Loves Stu - written/directed by Aldo Velasco, produced by David Allen Cress
• Letters from the President - written by Tony Tambi, directed by Michael D. Olmos
• The Locksmith - written by Blair Kroeber, produced by Ted Kroeber
• Mullet - written/directed by Rafael Del Toro
• White Mice - co-written/directed by Simon Arthur, produced by Katie Holly and Claire Mundell
• The Sweet Life (2016) - originally Good Humor; written by Jared Rappaport, directed by Rob Spera, produced by Bonnie Curtis and Julie Lynn