A Conversation with Dr. Angela Davis

Earlier this month, Independent Lens launched a slate of films celebrating Black History at the Television Critics Association in Los Angeles. While at the event, the series teamed up with PBS NEWSHOUR’S Hari Sreenivasan to interview many of the filmmakers and subjects. Watch an excerpt below of Sreenivasan’s conversation with Dr. Angela Davis, profiled in Göran Hugo Olsson’s The Black Power Mixtape 1967–1975 which premieres on PBS on February 9.

Subscribe to Beyond the Box and stay on the lookout for more excerpts from Sreenivasan’s conversation with Davis and many others.

Tags: angela davis, black history, hari sreenivasan, Independent Lens, pbs newshour, the black power mixtape

Looking In: An Update from ITVS Production

The ITVS Production team is currently partnering with independent filmmakers from across the country and around the world, with more than 150 programs in production slated for public media distribution. In our continued effort to provide production tips and trends to the independent filmmaker — ITVS Senior Production Manager Jorge Trelles, offers a guide to the world of fiscal sponsorship.

Filmmaking is no cheap endeavor, and very few people have the personal means to fund their own projects. Not surprisingly, fundraising has always been closely tied to the filmmaking process. However, navigating through the large number of public and private foundations that fund media production can be as complicated and daunting as making the film itself.

Funders often have very specific requirements dictating how and why they decide to fund a particular project. A film may have to meet a funder’s mission, geographical location, cultural background, and subject matter before even being considered for funding.
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Tags: fiscal sponsorship, ITVS, Producer Resources, Production

Revisiting The Oath and Gitmo, 10 Years After 9/11

In recognition of the 10th Anniversary of 9/11, ITVS and PBS NewsHour will be hosting a live chat with The Oath filmmaker Laura Poitras and others.

The Oath, which is streaming free on ITVS Indies Showcase from September 11-13, follows the story of Abu Jandal, Osama bin Laden’s former bodyguard, and Salim Hamdan, a prisoner at Guantanamo Bay Prison and the first man to face the controversial military tribunals.

Moderated by NewsHour’s Hari Sreenivasan, Monday’s live chat will feature a panel of experts including:

• Abdul-Ghani Aliryani
Political Analyst and Co-founder of the Democratic Awakening Movement
Abdul-Ghani Aliryani is a Yemeni political researcher and analyst, who played an advisory role to filmmaker Laura Poitras in the making of The Oath. He is based in Sana’a, Yemen.

• Lt. Cmdr. Brian L. Mizer
Assistant Federal Public Defender in the Eastern District of Virginia
Lt. Cmdr. Brian L. Mizer served as Salim Hamdan’s lawyer at Guantanamo and is featured throughout the documentary The Oath.

• Laura Poitras
Filmmaker, The Oath
Academy-Award nominated filmmaker Laura Poitras has directed several acclaimed documentaries including Flag Wars (2003) and My Country, My County (2006). Her film The Oath is part of a trilogy of films about America post 9/11 and earned top honors for cinematography at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival.

• Andrea Prasow
Senior Counterterrorism Counsel, Human Rights Watch
Prior to joining Human Rights Watch, Andrea was a defense attorney with the Office of Military Commissions. She served as assistant counsel for Salim Hamdan alongside Lt. Cmdr. Brian Mizer.

Join us for the event on BTB on Monday, September 12 at 11AM PT / 2PM ET.

Tags: 9/11, Afghanistan, bush, Guantanamo, hari sreenivasan, Iraq, Laura Poitras, osama bin laden, pbs newshour, The Oath, War on Terror, yemen

Keeping Up with the Digital Distribution Joneses

Tags: digital distribution, distro, IndiesLab, internet, Nielsen, startegy

Now Streaming on Indies Showcase: Please Vote for Me

The documentary by filmmaker Weijun Chen is streaming free until Saturday, August 20 as part of ITVS’s Indies Showcase.

Please Vote for Me chronicles the intensity behind eight-year-old students in an elementary school in China as they campaign for class monitor. Check out the film’s trailer below…

Tags: China, democracy, ITVS Indies Showcase, please vote for me

What Does Public Media’s Future Look Like?

Co-managing Director of Public Media Company (PMC) Ken Ikeda talks about the “race to reengage future audiences,” and its effect on public media.

As part of BTB’s ongoing mission to curate news and opinions on public media, we have called upon key players to share their take on the evolving environment. Over the next several weeks, BTB will be rolling out their thoughts and ideas, adding to the conversation on public media’s role now and in the years to come.
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Tags: funding, independent producers, ken ikeda, new media, PBS, public media, public media company, public television

Introducing ITVS’s 2011 Digital Survey

By Matthew Meschery

The following is an excerpt from the executive summary of the 2011 ITVS Digital Survey. The findings, which are available for download below, offer new trends on the digital media environment with a particular focus on independent producers.

Who put the audience in charge? Technology, demographic shifts, and a globalized economy have all shaped a 21st century media ecosystem where power has shifted away from traditional broadcasters and gatekeepers. It’s a shift that’s revolutionized where, how, and why people use media. And content makers and distributors are playing catch-up, trying to figure out ways to reach viewers, make money, and break through the deafening noise of the marketplace.
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Tags: business models, digital distribution, Digitial, matthew meschery, new media, revenue, Social Media, technology

Feed Your Synapses with Independent Lens to Go

Are you desperately in need of brain food this summer, when the primetime lineup leans toward Who Wants to be a National Laughingstock? and Are You Smarter Than a Single-Celled Organism?

Well, even though the Independent Lens season premiere is still a few months away, we put together this handy guide of recent IL shows that are now available online for your viewing pleasure.

Here’s a list of those shows from our most recent season that can be found online for rental or purchase:

The Parking Lot Movie — iTunes and Amazon Video on Demand

Art & Copy — iTunes

The Longoria Affair — iTunes; Preview:

Between the Folds — iTunes and Amazon Video on Demand
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FOCUS ON: No-budget filmmaking with Mark Thiedeman

By Melody Morgan

FOCUS ON is a regular interview series profiling independent filmmakers and their projects. Up this week is Mark Thiedeman, who has directed many short films and one feature film, The Scoundrel. His new feature, Last Summer, is currently in development and is scheduled to shoot in Arkansas in August.

A scene from "Last Summer," Mark Thiedeman's upcoming feature film

What is the least amount of money you’ve spent on a narrative feature, and how did you manage that?

I shot a no-budget feature in New York a few years ago called The Scoundrel. It cost about $3,000, which was essentially the cost of food, transportation, and half a dozen props. I had an amazing cinematographer, David Goodman, who worked for free, and had some nice looking locations, which were also free. Lucky for us, there are certain neighborhoods in Brooklyn with beautiful restaurants, apartments, and bars that seem to have come from a different era. No art direction required. Why pay for set decoration when you don’t have to?
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Tags: arkansas, digital, focus on, independent filmmaking, indies, last summer, low budget, mark thiedeman, melody morgan, the scoundrel

Note to Independent Producers: Be More Social!

By Jonathan Archer

As part of ITVS Programming’s ongoing mission to serve the filmmaking community, Jonathan Archer has been seeking out filmmakers to provide their perspectives and experiences from the trenches. First up, The Weather Underground producer, Marc Smolowitz. He recently presented on a panel entitled The Power of Storytelling and was kind enough to share some of his thoughts and strategies with BTB.

Scene from The Power of Two by Marc Smolowitz

Last month, I presented at the Netsquared Meetup in San Francisco on “The Power Of Storytelling.” I decided to connect my remarks to two current labors of love — The Power Of Two — my feature documentary inspired by the life stories of twin double lung recipients; and The HIV Story Project — a new nonprofit that I co-founded in 2009.
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Tags: Facebook, funding, independent producers, indies, ITVS, PBS, producer tips, Social Media, the weather underground, Twitter