MFA Film instructor directs ‘Color Book’ for Netflix

A header with two images: the image on the left is a man speaking to a class with a photo of Grady College in the background; the second is a movie still with a father and son looking at each other embracing and the title "Color Book" and a subtitle "Only on Netflix on June 19" over the photo.
David Fortune (left), a part-time instructor in the Master of Fine Arts in Film, Television and Digital Media program, talks with students at orientation on June 3, 2026. Fortune's debut feature film, "Color Block," premiered on Netflix June 19. Fortune is teaching Short Film Screenwriting this semester. (Fortune Photo/Zachary Delagarza; Movie Photo/courtesy of Netflix)

MFA Film instructor directs ‘Color Book’ for Netflix

June 22, 2026

There is little that speaks to authenticity more than practicing what you teach. David Fortune is teaching MFA Film students about short film screenwriting this summer, and at the same time, he is celebrating the nationwide release of his debut feature film “Color Book.” The film, for which Fortune served as director and screenwriter, premiered June 18 on Netflix.  

“Color Book” was originally developed thanks to a Film Independent Amplifier Fellowship and helped secure Fortune a place on Variety’s 2025 Directors to Watch list. He was also nominated for the 2025 NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Breakthrough Creative.

Tamlin Hall, director of the MFA Film program, said hiring Fortune to teach this summer is a huge benefit to the students.

“We are thrilled and lucky to have David Fortune as a part-time instructor in our MFA Film program,” Tamlin said. “As a working professional whose film is premiering on Netflix at the same exact time he’s teaching a screenwriting course here in Athens, he is showing our students that the journey is directly in front of them. His leadership, authenticity and storytelling craft is both an asset to our students and to the creative culture we are building within our film school in the best college town in America.” 

“Color Book” tells the story of a recently widowed father and his son who has Down syndrome as they navigate daily life, grief and their first baseball game together. The poignant film, created in black and white, was filmed in Atlanta and won the 2025 AT&T Untold Stories pitch competition, granting a $1 million prize to produce the film. Color Book has also received accolades from more than 30 film festivals, including a Critics’ Prize from the Deuville American Film Festival, a Jury Award Winner from the Austin Film Festival and the Audience Award for Best U.S. Feature from the Chicago International Film Festival.

Fortune is an alumnus of Morehouse College and Loyola Marymount University’s School of Film and Television.

Author: Sarah Freeman, freemans@uga.edu