Inside Indies
Reaching an Audience on Multiple Screens
ITVS’s Rebecca Huval discusses research, news, and trends that come out of ITVS’s IndiesLab.
As you probably know, TV viewership today is vastly different than it was just a few years ago. There’s at least one upside. Now that viewers tend to click on their entertainment, media has become easier to track. Recent Nielsen reports paint a picture of TV homes aglow with multiple screens, and their viewing habits vary across demographics in interesting ways.
Gadget owners juggle between multiple screens. While watching a TV program, they checked email (57 percent), surfed for unrelated info (44 percent), and visited a social networking site (44 percent). In 2011, the number of laptops surpassed desktops in TV homes, making it easier to browse on the couch. The top visited websites were the usual suspects: Facebook, YouTube, Zynga, Google Search, and Yahoo! Mail. › Continue reading
ITVS in the News
Coverage of ITVS and Independent Lens from Monday’s edition of The New York Times.
The New York Times: PBS Shifts in Time Slots Hurts Series of Films
The home page of PBS.org in recent days has highlighted a new feature, the PBS Online Film Festival. But the prime-time schedule for PBS this television season has, in the eyes of some, effectively marginalized its two award-winning independent film series: “Independent Lens,” which started its new season last October, and “POV,” which will begin new episodes June 21. Continue Reading >>>
The ITVS Indie Roundup
A curated list of indie news and recommendations from ITVS’s Rebecca Huval.
Because it’s Friday, here are some cameras made out of turtles. ? Wired Raw File
You might have heard that Hulu added 30 documentaries to its collection. Read about the exciting new lineup from @DocSoupMan. ? POV
Nostalgic for summer travel? Check out classic American West road trip photos by Walker Pickering. “Often infused with golden sunlight and blending beauty with apparent ugliness, his landscapes are both physical and psychic spaces,” writes Feature Shoot.
If you’re producing your first or second documentary, consider applying to IDFA’s summer school in Amsterdam. Submissions due by April 1st!
› Continue reading
The ITVS Indie Roundup
A curated list of indie news and recommendations from ITVS’s Rebecca Huval.
Have you ever wondered what makes YouTube videos go viral? Get the answer and “why that even matters” in this insightful TED Talk that references such classics as Double Rainbow and the world-traveling Nyan Cat.
This year’s Oscars boded well for filmmakers outside the Hollywood bubble. Pakistan received its first Academy Award for Saving Face, a short documentary about the victims of acid attacks.
Even self-proclaimed “swamp rats” from Shreveport, Louisiana, at Moonbot Studios, won for The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore. You can watch their 15-minute literary animation for free.
Talk about transmedia. Washington D.C.’s Smithsonian Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden will feature the first-ever 360-degree cinema presented in a continuous format around its cylindrical exterior. Eleven high-definition projectors will broadcast the pop song “I Only Have Eyes for You” sung by 15 artists from Beck to The Flamingos.
› Continue reading
The ITVS Indie Roundup
A curated list of indie news and recommendations from ITVS’s Rebecca Huval.
Will YouTube’s new branded channels kill cable TV? We’re betting not, but here’s how filmmakers can stay ahead of the curve.
Get ready! The first PBS Online Film Festival starts this Monday Feb. 27 and runs until March 30.
As violence erupted in Syria this week, the promising 28-year-old French photojournalist Rémi Ochlik was killed by government forces in Homs. Browse the haunting conflict photography he captured before his untimely death.
South by Southwest is just around the corner. Here’s a peak at eye-grabbing film title designs that will appear in the festival.
Legendary filmmaker Errol Morris has worked as a private eye, traveled to Crimea based on two sentences by Susan Sontag, and dodged an ashtray thrown at his head by philosopher Thomas Kuhn. The man is fascinating. Read about Morris’s latest projects in Smithsonian Magazine.
The ITVS Indie Roundup
Before The Interrupters premiered on Frontline Valentine’s Day, the bold star Ameena Matthews and co-producer Alex Kotlowitz made a fierce appearance on WNYC’s Takeaway.
Stumped by your office’s Academy Awards poll? B.J. Novak to the rescue. The Office‘s co-executive producer/writer/actor told The New York Times a few of his Oscar picks.
In other Academy news, Indiewire interviewed all seven Best Documentary nominees.
If you’re wondering why the list of nominees lacks women, look no further than GOOD’s analysis of why the media is male and getting maler.
Happy Presidents’ Day weekend! Start your fun with this charming short animation from POV.
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.
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.
› Continue reading
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.
Keeping Up with the Digital Distribution Joneses
By Sreedevi Sripathy
This month, ITVS will be re-launching our popular IndiesLab monthly blog post with Sreedevi Sripathy, Director of Broadcast and Distribution, discussing research, news, and trends that come out of ITVS’s IndiesLab.
For those of you unaware of the mission of IndiesLab, it is a joint initiative of ITVS and PBS and our goal is to devise and test strategies for filmmaker success on emerging online distribution platforms. Our distribution partners include iTunes, Amazon Video-On-Demand, Hulu, YouTube, SnagFilms, PBS Video, and other services.
Each month, we will bring industry trends and case studies to help filmmakers navigate the online marketplace to increase both their films’ revenue and reach.
› Continue reading
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