Lauren McBride is an independent film producer, consultant, and operations specialist based in Oakland, CA who has built a career at the intersection of technology and entertainment. Her career started in consulting and operations management, which led to a role as a Program Manager at Google. During her career at Google, her work spanned key product areas, including YouTube Originals, where she supported the development of original content for YouTube.
 
A regular consultant for filmmakers on the development of their projects, McBride was also a 2017 Sundance Creative Producing Lab Fellow and a 2018 Film Independent Producing Lab Fellow. She produced Tayarisha Poe's feature film Selah and the Spades, which premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival and was released this summer by Amazon Studios. She is also producing an episodic series based on the film that is currently in development at Amazon.
 
SFFILM Makers, SFFILM’s artist development program, provides significant strategic and creative resources to independent filmmakers through grants, fellowships, residencies, and individual consultations. Since 2009, over $7.5 million has been disbursed to more than 200 feature projects. SFFILM’s suite of grants include the SFFILM Rainin Grant, the SFFILM Westridge Grant, and several programs in partnership with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, which together provide the most nonprofit funding for narrative features in the United States; and the Documentary Film Fund, a partnership with the Jenerosity Foundation. 
 
Notable narrative films and filmmakers that have received support from SFFILM Makers include Rainin Grant recipients Channing Godfrey Peoples’ Miss Juneteenth, Fernando Frias’ I’m No Longer Here, Joe Talbot’s The Last Black Man in San Francisco, Nia DaCosta’s Little Woods, Nijla Mu’min’s Jinn, and Ryan Coogler’s Fruitvale Station. Supported documentary features include Documentary Film Fund recipients Assia Boundaoui’s The Feeling of Being Watched, Ljubo Stefanov and Tamara Kotevska’s Honeyland, Liza Mandelup’s Jawline, Luke Lorentzen’s Midnight Family, and RaMell Ross’ Hale County This Morning, This Evening.
 

SFFILM 

SFFILM is a nonprofit organization with a mission to champion the world's finest films and filmmakers through programs anchored in and inspired by the spirit and values of the San Francisco Bay Area. Presenter of the San Francisco International Film Festival, SFFILM is a year-round organization delivering screenings and events to more than 75,000 film lovers and media education programs to more than 15,000 students, teachers, and families annually. In addition to its public programs, SFFILM supports the careers of independent filmmakers from the Bay Area and beyond with grants, residencies, and other creative development services. For more information visit sffilm.org.