TDE Films Selects Five Filmmakers For Inaugural Short Film Fund
TDE’s New Film Division To Fully Fund Narrative Short Films From Emerging Auteurs
Los Angeles, CA – October 22, 2025 – TDE Films, a division of media powerhouse Top Dawg Entertainment, has selected five filmmakers as part of its inaugural cohort of Short Film Fund recipients, including: Diamond Batiste, Ciara Boniface, Jeremy Hsing, Alejandra López and Brittany Alexia Young.
TDE Films’ Short Film Fund champions emerging filmmakers throughout production on their narrative short film, providing them with essential resources – including full financial backing – to bring their creative vision to life. TDE Films is offering the selected recipients custom support that is tailored to their respective film, whether they need specific equipment and software, or access to other production services. The company will also provide creative guidance on the projects, serving as executive producers alongside the filmmakers.
“Our goal with TDE Films’ Short Film Fund is to assemble a roster of filmmakers who have powerful stories to tell and support them with the financing, tools, resources and mentorship they need to thrive in TV and film,” said TDE Founder and CEO Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith. “We have a track record of creating the biggest artists in the world who are known for their fearless storytelling. I believe this fund will help us discover a new generation of behind-the-camera talent whose stories are ready to be seen.
After receiving nearly 1,000 submissions, TDE Films narrowed down the applicant pool to twenty-five finalists before identifying five standout filmmakers who would receive the grand prize. Each project centers a distinct narrative voice, showcases strong and nuanced character development, and resonates emotionally and culturally.
More about the short films:
The Art of Deception
Written by Diamond Batiste
A struggling freelance artisan seduced by fame and fortune becomes the sugar baby of a world-renowned artist and collector, but must fight for her life when she discovers the artist is a serial killer who turns his victims into macabre works of art.
Big Baller Boy
Written by Jeremy Hsing
Anxious 15-year-old Tiger Huang just wants to make his former basketball phenom father proud. When he tries out for the freshman/sophomore basketball team, they both learn there’s more to life than shooting a ball.
Bossanova
Written by Brittany Young
After a crushing defeat in his big comeback fight, a washed-up WWE star gets an unexpected lesson in self-acceptance after confronting his drag queen son for taking his stage name.
Salmon Run
Written by Alejandra López
A desperate Puerto Rican mother joins a salmon factory in urban Los Angeles, but when her best friend disappears under mysterious circumstances, she discovers something far more nefarious happening in the workplace that threatens her life and the lives of others.
Sweet Vincent
Written by Ciara Boniface
A professional jazz musician and her old lover, both haunted by grief, struggle to reconcile on the day of a life-changing performance. Written and directed by Ciara Boniface.
Launched in March 2025 by TDE Founder and CEO Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith, TDE Films is carrying on the brand’s legacy of masterful storytelling. Its mission is to produce bold content driven by authentic and provocative narratives that reflect, challenge, and inspire culture. The company is currently developing its debut project The Zone, an urban action-horror film, in partnership with 20th Century Studios. Dallas Jackson is set to direct and co-write alongside David Hayter (X-Men), with TDE Films and former Lionsgate chief Rob Friedman producing.
TDE Films had its first toe-dip into the film space in December 2024 with the premiere of writer/director Britt Banks’ short, We Are Not Okay, at the Museum of Modern Art’s “The Future of Film Is Female” event. An official selection of the 2025 Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival and the Micheaux Film Festival, the moving short film explores informal kinship care through the lens of an elder sister who attempts to escape the custody of an estranged relative to care for her younger sibling on her own. The film was produced by TDE Films’ executive H-Wood and Banks’ producing partner, Fetle Negash.
Inspired by the warm reception to the short, TDE Films created the Short Film Fund to bridge the funding gap for talented filmmakers who need resources to execute their unique creative vision. Through this fund, TDE Films is building a creative filmmaking community that reflects excellence, impact, and cultural storytelling.
Meet the inaugural cohort of filmmakers:
Diamond Batiste
Diamond Batiste is a director, writer, and producer from South Central Los Angeles whose work reflects authenticity, vision, and a commitment to nuanced storytelling. Batiste has directed several award-winning shorts including Don’t Hang Up, which won the Grand Prix at Cannes Indie Shorts and screened at the American Black Film festival; Stand Up, which was selected at the Academy Award-qualifying LA Shorts International Film Festival; and Always, which screened at multiple festivals.
Batiste was recently selected for Ryan Murphy Productions’ Director Shadowing Program, Half Initiative, through which he secured an opportunity to shadow Brad Buecker on two episodes of Fox’s procedural drama “9-1-1” starring Angela Bassett. He also shadowed Damien “Dante” Wayans Jr. on CBS’ “Poppa’s House,” bolstering his experience across single- and multi-camera television. Through his work, Batiste continues to elevate underrepresented voices and aims to helm culturally resonant stories across film and television. Batiste is a U.S. Army veteran and a graduate of Chapman University where he earned an MFA in Directing.
Ciara Boniface
Ciara Boniface is a Los Angeles-based writer, director, and editor whose narrative work is rooted in horror and drama, and explores elements of magical realism. A New Orleans native raised in Dallas, Boniface draws on her Southern upbringing to tell stories that highlight the complexities of Black family, grief, and identity. Her most recent short film, Blue Porcelain, was an official selection at the 2022 Micheaux Film Festival, and she is currently adapting the project as her debut feature film, The Okra Tree. Boniface currently works as a freelance editor at post production company Legion Post and Breakwater Studios, a two-Time Academy Award-winning filmmaking company. She graduated summa cum laude from the University of North Texas with a BA in Media Arts.
Jeremy Hsing
Jeremy Hsing is a genre writer/director, mental health advocate, and second-generation Taiwanese immigrant based in Los Angeles. He received a BA in Psychology from UCLA where he also minored in art history and film. Leveraging his background in therapy and the arts, Hsing constructs elaborate worlds where his characters face internal reckoning in pursuit of catharsis.
Hsing’s projects have screened at festivals across the country, earning him industry recognition and awards. His sci-fi documentary for PBS American Masters, Renegades - Judy-Lynn Del Rey: The Galaxy Gal, premiered at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and won a Webby and Telly Award. Additionally, his short Big Baller Boy was accepted into the Tyler Perry Studios Dream Collective.
Hsing’s sci-fi thriller feature script Little Carp at Dragon’s Gate won the 2025 Asian American International Film Festival Screenplay Contest and was a finalist for the Sundance Cultural Impact Residency and the Anarchists United Feature Film Incubator Grant, created by Lilly Wachowski. He was invited to screen his magical realism short film Fish at New Filmmakers LA InFocus: Asian Cinema, the Boston Asian American Film Festival, the Asian American International Film Festival and the Astoria Film Festival, where it won the Youth Grand Jury Prize. Hsing also premiered his Afro-Surrealist short film Forward Thinking at Slamdance Film Festival.
Alejandra López
Born and raised in Puerto Rico, López tells stories that are rooted in and celebrate Latino culture, while reflecting the broader human experience. She has honed her skillset as a writer and director over the years through various projects and talent initiatives. López’s directing credits range from a high-profile shoot with Bad Bunny for W Magazine to a narrative podcast entitled “Wolverine: La Larga Noche” starring Joaquin Cosío, which cemented her as the first Latina to direct for Marvel Entertainment. She is an alumna of the Warner Brother’s Discovery Access Director’s Program; the Half Initiative, Ryan Murphy Productions’ Director Shadowing Program; the Women in Film Directing Fellowship; and the Alliance of Women Directors’ #MentorLaAnaDirectors Fellowship. She recently shadowed Lesli Linka Glatter, Emmy®- nominated director and the president of the DGA, on the pilot of “Imperfect Women” from Apple TV+.
López’s short film The Blue Cape, which she wrote and directed, was an official selection at ten Academy Award-Qualifying film festivals, such as Palm Springs International Short Film Festival, Guadalajara International Film Festival, and Aspen Shortest. López was selected for Starz’ #TakeTheLead Writers’ Intensive as well as the Sundance Institute Cultural Impact Residency, where she was able to focus on her feature film, Salmon Run. She also served as a staff writer on Sony Pictures Television’s “Startup.” López resides in Los Angeles and is a graduate of the University of Puerto Rico where she received a B.A. in Audiovisual Communications Technologies.
Brittany Alexia Young
Brittany Alexia Young is a Florida-born, Los Angeles-based filmmaker who is known for making genre-blending, coming-of-age films that highlight Black and queer protagonists — without centering trauma. Following her career as a Division I Lacrosse player at the University of Delaware, Young earned an MFA at Florida State University’s College of Motion Picture Arts, where she was honored with the program’s coveted Strickland Pathfinder Award.
Young’s student films have screened at numerous festivals including Palm Springs International ShortFest, NewFest, Frameline, and the National Film Festival for Talented Youth, where she received an audience award and the Kathy Reichgerdt Inspiration Award. A 2025 Sundance Ignite Fellow and recipient of the Future of Film is Female x Neon Grant, Young has garnered tremendous support for her most recent project “Munchies,” securing capital through the WAVE Grant, Inside Out’s RE:Focus Fund, and Decentralized Picture’s Keslow Camera Award. For more information, follow TDE Films on Instagram. TDE is represented by Josh Binder of Rothenberg Mohr & Binder.
ABOUT TDE FILMS
TDE Films, a division of media powerhouse Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE), is a Los Angeles– based independent entertainment company established by TDE Founder and CEO Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith. Building on the brand’s legacy of masterful storytelling, TDE Films produces bold content driven by authentic and provocative narratives that reflect, challenge, and inspire culture. TDE Films is currently developing its debut feature, The Zone, in partnership with 20th Century Studios, and recently announced its inaugural Short Film Fund that provides filmmakers with resources to complete production on their original narrative short film. Follow TDE Films on Instagram and visit www.txdxe.com for the latest information on Top Dawg Entertainment.
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