news — April 6, 2026

NYC V3 Preview

Friday the 13th will hereby no longer be considered unlucky because Cohort Film Lab NYC convened for its first session of the third ever cohort. A group of creatives from all walks of life, volunteered their time and talent to brainstorm and coordinate with strangers. The room was energized, full of robust conversation even before the theme and groups were announced. At any given table were actors, cinematographers, producers, musicians, directors, and artists all tentatively asking each other, “What do you hope to do in the next two weeks?”

By Mirei Dominguez

RECENT EVENTS Now with over twenty amazing short films in its canon, this next crop of filmmakers are itching to add their own work. The theme for this month's session is “only in New York,” harkening back to the great and fever-dreamish films about and in New York City from After Hours(1985) to Do the Right Thing(1989) to When Harry Met Sally(1989). The City is a setting rife with symbolism and acts as a character in any art it permeates. From the announcement of the theme, genres, and assigned groups, it was a frenzy of creative energy. Teams of around ten people began writing outlines, casting roles, offering different locations, and discussing the significance of New York City and its place in the film. The sense of immediate collaboration and compromise signalled promising work, with creatives ready to hit the ground running for their short two week production schedule. GROUPS AND GENRES OF V3 TEAM A: Found Foootage <img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/replit-objstore-23758efe-5b55-4198-a97e-034610f67faa/public/email-img-1775489103386.png" alt="" style="max-width:100%;height:auto;" /> Found footage is a genre characterized by the illusion of authenticity it creates. Acting as a false document of supposedly real events, found footage movies present themselves as actual film taken by the characters. Often the conceit is that this footage is the only surviving record of events. It is most often used in horror films like Blair Witch Project(1999), Cloverfield(2008), and Rec(2007). Stylistic similarities include shaky hand-held camera, improvisation, and naturalistic acting to create verisimilitude. <img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/replit-objstore-23758efe-5b55-4198-a97e-034610f67faa/public/email-img-1775489128073.png" alt="" style="max-width:100%;height:auto;" /> TEAM B: Mockumentary <img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/replit-objstore-23758efe-5b55-4198-a97e-034610f67faa/public/email-img-1775489148532.png" alt="" style="max-width:100%;height:auto;" /> Similar to found footage, the Mockumentary pretends to be a real documentary with a satirical twist. They contain all the trappings and stylistic elements of prestigious documentaries, but subvert expectations by portraying a silly subject incredibly seriously or vice versa. This lends the genre best to comedies. The mockumentary had a sharp rise in popularity with work-place sit-coms of the 2010s like The Office and most recently Abbott Elementary. Some notable film examples include Spinal Tap(1984), What We Do in the Shadows(2014), and Best in Show(2000). <img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/replit-objstore-23758efe-5b55-4198-a97e-034610f67faa/public/email-img-1775489191184.png" alt="" style="max-width:100%;height:auto;" /> TEAM C: Redemption Story <img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/replit-objstore-23758efe-5b55-4198-a97e-034610f67faa/public/email-img-1775489206681.png" alt="" style="max-width:100%;height:auto;" /> What if you too could change for the better? Re