Jon Reiss Says: Do It Yourself!
Named one of “10 Digital Directors to Watch,” by Daily Variety, Jon Reiss has directed three feature films most recently Bomb It about graffiti, street art, and the battle over visual public space throughout the world. His experience releasing Bomb It with a hybrid strategy was the inspiration for writing Think Outside the Box Office: The Ultimate Guide to Film Distribution in the Digital Era, the first step-by-step guide for filmmakers to distribute and market their films. Reiss will be conducting a workshop from July 31st to August 1st all about DIY distribution, at the San Francisco Film Society. BTB spoke with Reiss via Skype last week while he was in Melbourne, Australia.
How did you get started with DIY filmmaking?
Jon Reiss is the author of Think Outside the Box Office: The Ultimate Guide to Film Distribution in the Digital Era
I guess I got started with DIY filmmaking back in the San Francisco punk rock scene. That’s how I got into film in first place. At the time, I was an Economics major at Berkeley and was a planning on getting a PhD in Economics at Stanford but somehow ended up living in a rat-infested loft in San Francisco shooting punk rock bands.
[I went] to Paris to show the videos and I thought, “Why not go to the rest of Europe?” So, I started booking tours throughout Europe and that was really my first experience with DIY distribution. It was also my first experience with creating events and using non-traditional venues — that I’ve now come to champion — which is, I believe, the future for independent films.
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The Trials of Comrade Duch
Kaing Guek Eav or "Comrade Duch"
Much ado about the sentencing of Kaing Guek Eav — known by his Khmer Rouge nickname “Comrade Duch” — to 35 years in prison (to be reduced to 19 considering time served) on July 26 in Phnom Penh by a United Nations-led tribunal. The verdict and sentence shocked many Cambodians who remember Duch’s reign of terror as a remorseless prison chief in charge of torturing and murdering as many as 16,000 Cambodians on the orders of the notorious Pol Pot. Many Cambodians were angry that the sentence had not been harsher, given the horrific nature of the crimes.
Adrian Maben, director of a recently funded ITVS film called Comrade Duch, is currently in Phnom Penh to document the sentencing and the reaction to it. Maben has directed three previous films on the Khmer Rouge for ARTE.
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Open Call Deadline Two Weeks Away!
Hurry hurry hurry! If you need funding for your film, don’t miss the deadline for Open Call funding on Friday, August 6, 2010.
Open Call provides completion funds for single nonfiction public television programs on any subject and from any viewpoint. Projects must have begun production as evidenced by a work-in-progress video. Open Call funding is only available to independent producers who are citizens or legal residents of the U.S. and its external territories.
One question we get asked by many filmmakers concerns the previously completed work and work-in-progress requirements. If you’re still cutting, here are some tips on what to submit and what we’re looking for when we do our evaluations.
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Karate Kid Takes on Global Voices
Shadya airs on Global Voices Sunday, July 25
A young Muslim Israeli is trapped between her passion for karate and religious tradition in Shadya, airing this Sunday on Global Voices on PBS World (check local listings).
Directed by Roy Westler, the film takes place in Northern Israel and profiles a 17-year-old charismatic karate champion. Shadya is a rare breed, a feminist in a male-dominated culture and a Muslim Arab living in Israel.
As she grapples with the looming tension of an early marriage and her Palestinian identity, Shadya refuses to play by the rules of her traditional Muslim community.
Check out the trailer for Shadya ahead of the broadcast this Sunday.
ITVS Goes Ever More Global
ITVS International’s Global Perspectives Project has welcomed five broadcasters to its growing distribution network, bringing Season One of the series True Stories: Life in the U.S.A. to millions of viewers in Bosnia, Central African Republic, Mozambique, Ecuador, and El Salvador.
Beginning this fall, these new television partners will broadcast independent documentaries that reveal the complexity of life in the United States and offer a greater understanding of Americans in all their diversity. To date, 21 countries around the world have licensed the series for broadcast in more than 10 languages — including French, Portuguese, Farsi, Arabic, and Urdu — reaching an estimated 150 million people. The 32-program series was hosted by actors Benicio del Toro in Season One and Danny Glover in Season Two.
Launched in 2005 as a major public-private partnership, the Global Perspectives Project created a two-way television exchange that brings documentaries from other nations to U.S. audiences and delivers insightful True Stories documentaries to audiences abroad. Through this model, ITVS connects people by shattering the stereotypes that pervade commercial media.
Meet the Real Slumdogs on NatGeo
A scene from The Real Slumdogs directed by Steve Baker
The Real Slumdogs, airing tonight at 8 PM on the National Geographic Channel, examines what it’s like to live in Asia’s largest slum.
Directed by Steve Baker, the film takes place in Dharavi, Mumbai — which was also the setting for the Academy Award-winning film Slumdog Millionaire.
Much more than a slum, this mini-city bustles with industry, culture, and dreams. The Real Slumdogs, an ITVS International film, aims to show the true faces of Dharavi by talking to the people who live and work everyday of their lives in the slum and struggle to survive in a community that defies expectations.
You’ve seen the Hollywood version; now meet the real slumdogs.
Learn more about the broadcast by visiting the National Geographic website >>
On P.O.V., Uncovering a Family Legacy
In El General, airing tonight on P.O.V. (check local listings), filmmaker Natalia Almada tells the story of her great-grandfather, former Mexican President Plutarco Elías Calles.
The famous revolutionary general, who assumed the Mexican presidency in 1924, comes to life through audio recordings inherited by the filmmaker.
Known as the foremost chief in his time, Calles is remembered today as a dictator, who ruled through puppet presidents until his exile in 1936.
Almada stitches together recordings of her grandmother, as she grapples with history’s harsh portrait of her father and the weight of his legacy on the country today.
Filmmaker Geeta Patel Searches for Love
One in a Billion, follows a 29-year-old Hindu man across the globe as he searches for a woman his parents will approve of. The film, by Indian American Directord Geeta Patel, was one of several projects selected by ITVS’s Open Call in 2009 (Note: this year’s deadline is August 6th!).
Ravi Patel is the star of the documentary, co-director on the project, and the filmmaker’s brother. Together, the Patel’s bring a comedic touch to the high-pressured world of arranged marriages.
Geeta Patel previously directed Project Kashmir, which aired last season on Independent Lens.
Learn more about One in Billion and the filmmaker from her interview below…
The Politics of Your Morning Fix
Filmmakers Nick Francis and Marc Francis
Filmmakers Nick Francis and Mark Francis revisit their documentary Black Gold, which will air on Global Voices this Sunday, July 18th on PBS WORLD. The documentary traces one man’s fight for a fair prices of coffee in an eye-opening expose of the $80 billion coffee industry.
A few weeks ago, we met up with Tadesse Meskela the main character in Black Gold who was in London for a coffee trade show. He said “every week people contact me from around the world after seeing the film – they want to buy coffee directly.”
While Black Gold has been on release internationally since 2006, we continue to receive emails all the time from people who want to arrange screenings or who have recently seen the film.
People often say that they hadn’t questioned the story behind their instant cup of Nescafé or their Frappucino at Starbucks. This ongoing feedback underlines how critical it is to ensure that the issues of trade justice don’t slip off the international agenda.
ITVS Programs Nominated for Six Emmy Awards
The nominees for the 31st Annual News and Documentary Emmy Awards were announced today and ITVS programs received an impressive six nominations.
Among the nominees are three Independent Lens programs — Tulia, Texas; No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo and Vilmos; and Crips and Bloods: Made in America.
Tulia, Texas — by filmmakers Cassandra Herrman and Kelly Whalen — received a nomination in the Outstanding Continuing Coverage of a News Story, Long Form category. The film tells the story of a small town’s search for justice and the price Americans pay for the nation’s war on drugs.
No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo and Vilmos — by director James Chressanthis — received a nomination in the Outstanding Arts and Culture Programming category. The documentary profiles legendary cinematographers Laszlo Kovacs and Vilmos Zsigmond and how they reinvented Hollywood moviemaking for an entire generation.
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