About WHI 2026
Where stories take shape and futures take flight.
APPLICATION CLOSED
Every great film starts with a story and every great storyteller starts somewhere!
Weatherhouse Institute gives aspiring filmmakers the opportunity to explore the creative process through hands-on projects, collaborative learning, and mentorship from working professionals in the industry. Participants will leave with new skills, meaningful connections, and the confidence to continue creating long after the program ends.
Whether your passion is directing, writing, producing, cinematography, editing, or if you're not sure yet, WHI is built to help you take the next step in your filmmaking journey.
When?
AUGUST 24TH - 28TH 2026
Kurt Vonnegut Museum & Library
543 Indiana Ave, Indianapolis, IN 46202
Every day 4pm-7pm
For Who?
AGES 16-24
Weatherhouse Institute is for emerging creatives who are passionate about storytelling but haven’t had access to the tools, training, or opportunities to break into film. If you're an aspiring filmmaker or creative entrepreneur looking for hands-on experience, WHI is for you!
2026 Creative Instructors
LaKesha Lorene is an actress, director, producer and creative entrepreneur. Over the last 10 years LaKesha has been a proven artistic leader, director and visionary casting, telling stories, creating with 100's of actors from the city and across the country. She is excited about her directed produced film work 5 Hours to Georgia and Naptown Narratives Season 4 & 5 streaming nationally on Tubi! And thrilled to join this year's Weatherhouse Institute cohort as a teaching artist!
Joe Frank is a Cinematographer and Camera Operator based in Indianapolis who specializes in Commercial, Documentary, and Narrative film productions. He has been working in the industry for over a decade and has served as Director of Photography on several feature-length documentaries, narrative short films, and the upcoming narrative feature film “A Soft Place to Land.”
Having started her career as a producer, Angela Northington is a seasoned entertainment executive & consultant with an extensive background in content strategy, content acquisitions, creative development & production, programming and multiplatform distribution. With a specialty in building content libraries, Angela has held various posts across a number of theatrical, cable TV, streaming and other digital start-up environments on the cutting edge of diverse content distribution. Most recently as Board Member & Executive Director of arthouse
theater Kan-Kan Cinema; with prior positions as SVP, Content Acquisitions & General Manager for Urban Movie Channel (now ALLBLK/AMC Networks); Revolt Media & TV, Codeblack Entertainment (Vivendi/Universal); Simmons-Lathan Media Group (Russell Simmons & Stan Lathan) where she spearheaded the company’s New Def Filmmakers initiative; and Urban Entertainment (Time Warner), which released the iconic film Undercover Brother (Universal). No stranger to media & tech startups, in 2020 Angela also launched ENTertainment Speakers Bureau, a digital speakers platform for diverse, cutting edge industry veterans at the intersection of Entertainment, New Media & Technology. Angela has been a previously invited guest lecturer in academic environments including Stanford, UCLA, Pepperdine, MIT, Los Angeles City College, Santa Monica City College, Sundance Institute and New York Film Academy; previously invited speaker at Digital Hollywood, NEXT TV, Hollywood Creative Forum; as well as panelist & juror at numerous film festivals, film markets and other industry events.
A member of the Producers Guild of America, Angela has served as a mentor & co-chair for the Producers Guild Diversity Workshop, and previously as a mentor for IFP/Film Independent’s Project Involve. Angela was honored in 2016 by Broadcasting & Cable/Multichannel News with the esteemed Content Acquisitions Executive Award. A graduate of University of Southern California - School of Cinematic Arts, Angela is also a member of Colour Entertainment, Alliance for Women in Media, Women in Film Los Angeles, and long served on the nominating committee for the NAACP Image Awards.
Andie Redwine is an award-winning indie director, producer, and screenwriter whose films include Just One Man and Paradise Recovered. She co-authored a book on screenwriting entitled Once Upon A Disney for McFarland Publishing, and she co-hosts and produces a podcast by the same name. Andie serves as the CEO of her media company By The Glass Productions and lives in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Kurtis Bowersock is an artist and filmmaker residing on the near-east side of Indianapolis. He enjoys collaborating with the creative community here and spending time with his partner and their two kids.
His Mother taught him to sew, while his Father taught him to weld. His brothers taught him to climb trees, while his sisters taught him to braid hair. Nature taught him to love, while society taught him to love art.
All to say, he’s not one thing. At the core, he loves to create. Filmmaking just happens to be his favorite way. He’s been called Director, Gaffer, D.P., Producer, Writer, Grip, and Editor. No matter how, he loves to fashion meaningful stories and collaborate with creatives.
