The ITVS Indie Roundup

Posted on March 1, 2013 by ITVS Staff

A curated list of indie news and recommendations from ITVS’s Rebecca Huval.

Priceless advice on interactive documentary filmmaking comes from an unlikely source: The Guardian’s Global Development Professionals Network. Emma Wigley, director of the interactive documentary Big River Rising, says to take a holistic approach: “Big River Rising is much more than a media project. It is a long-term educational resource for students and development organisations around the world.” (via @povdocs)

Could this be the first documentary filmed with Google Glass? This latest gadget by Google displays information in front of your eyes — imagine a smartphone strapped to your face. Gizmodo claims to have spotted a camera team filming with the elusive product still unavailable to the public.

For once, filmmakers are seeking guidance on how to transition from the theatrical film world to TV. A panel at New York Television Festival counseled indie filmmakers to invigorate projects that “might otherwise languish in cinematic purgatory.” Indiewire writes: “Over the past few years, television’s begun to challenge film as the preeminent outlet for American storytelling, the breadth of interest and means of distribution at an all-time high for a medium that can no longer be looked at as of inferior artistic merit.”

UK doc-makers now have more opportunities to receive funding for their films. The BFI Film Fund will accept pitches twice a year, when selected applicants will give a 10-minute pitch to an expert panel.

This psychedelic short video by Dutch designer and director Mischa Rozema is an homage to the 1990 space shuttle Voyager 1, combining real-life NASA footage, sci-fi animation, and experimental orchestration. (via @brainpicker)

This could be the first year a YouTube video wins an Emmy, according to Mashable. With Arrested Development on Netflix, it’s clear that some of our greatest shows are no longer confined to cable.

AIR and ITVS Partner Up for Next Step in Pubmedia Innovation

Posted on January 28, 2013 by ITVS Staff

Last week, ITVS and AIR, Inc. announced a partnership that will boost support for transformative public media work through Locolore, a multi-million dollar initiative designed to help spark a new vision of 21^st century public media.

Localore provides more than a million dollars in CPB funding to 10 lead producers who work with local public stations to increase their organizational capacity for innovation. From coast to coast, Localore producers, technologists, and their stations are inventing new ways to blend craft, forging “full spectrum” productions that reach and involve citizens on air, screen, and streets.

ITVS has invited Localore producer-station teams to apply for a second year of funding through the LINCS initiative, where selected productions will have the opportunity to continue their groundbreaking projects, with AIR serving in an advisory role.

The production has already yielded an array of fresh public media models, designed to reach and involve community members — from a rich multimedia music map in Austin, to a new style of short form video documentary chronicling the oil boom of North Dakota, to a digitally reversed version of the farmer’s almanac that tells the story of climate change in Paonia, CO.

The partnership builds on previous AIR-ITVS collaborations to support transformative public media. To learn more, please click here.

A Very Merry DDF Announcement

Posted on December 21, 2012 by ITVS Staff

ITVS has announced the eleven documentary projects selected as part of the 2012 Diversity Development Fund. This year’s selections provide extraordinary access and insight into the daily lives and struggles of people around the world, from female parliament members in Afghanistan to the bicycle brigade formed by feminist women of color in East Los Angeles.

The productions were selected through a competitive application process, which resulted in 120 submissions.

Check out the complete list of funded projects after the jump. Continue reading →

ITVS Prepares for Beta Tests of Enhanced OVEE

Posted on September 14, 2012 by ITVS Staff

By Dru Sefton
Originally published on Current.org

Web engagement tool provides platform for virtual dialogue

An infusion of CPB funding is allowing the Independent Television Service to add more features to OVEE, the online engagement tool that ITVS calls “the world’s first fully functional social screening platform.”

The latest version of OVEE features a customizable strip with a “Donate” button for stations. “Imagine a Downton Abbey screening with [creator] Julian Fellowes online,” said Dennis Palmieri of ITVS. “OVEE can do that.”

“No other media outlet has this,” said Dennis Palmieri, director of innovation and media strategy for San Francisco–based ITVS. The Online Video Engagement Experience platform, a freestanding web application that synchs up multiple streams on the PBS COVE website, allows online viewers to interact in real time around content by signing on through the platform or via Facebook.

Pilot tests of OVEE by five pubTV stations and producers at Frontline and PBS NewsHour received positive responses. For the next pilot round, five pubradio stations will be among the beta group of 25 test sites.

“There’s an enormous amount of interest” from the radio side, Palmieri said. In markets with separate PBS and NPR member stations, “OVEE offers real opportunities for joint engagement.”

ITVS is considering both pubTV and radio stations as well as groups such as the National Federation of Community Broadcasters for the beta tests, Palmieri said. Each participant will receive grants of $5,000, and testing will commence in January 2013. OVEE’s official release is set for next spring.

A $575,000 grant approved in June boosted CPB’s aid to a total of $1.5 million. The latest grant backs more work by OVEE’s developer to fix bugs in the system and install snazzy new features. Continue reading →

Diversity Development Fund Live Chat

Posted on August 22, 2012 by ITVS Staff

On Thursday, August 23 at 1PM PT / 4PM ET, ITVS Programming Coordinator N’Jeri Eaton will be taking questions from interested Diversity Development Fund applicants in a live chat right here on Beyond the Box.

MacArthur Foundation Open Call for Documentary Film Proposals

Posted on August 16, 2012 by ITVS Staff

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is accepting proposals for documentary film and transmedia projects between Monday, August 6, 2012 and Friday, September 7, 2012.

The program seeks to fund documentary projects that address the significant social challenges of our time or explore important but under-reported topics. Domestic and international topics are welcome, and preference will be given to projects that align with one of MacArthur’s grantmaking areas. To learn more about these areas, please visit http://macfound.org.

Support will be provided for production and post-production activities, and to experienced filmmakers based in the U.S. with track records of completing feature-length films that have been broadcast nationally and internationally. The typical grant range is between $50,000 and $200,000. For more information and to apply, please visit http://macfound.org/programs/media/ and click “Grant Guidelines.”

Diversity Development Fund Live Chat

Posted on August 15, 2012 by ITVS Staff

The Diversity Development Fund provides up to $15,000 in research and development funding to independent producers of color to develop single documentary programs for public television. Projects should speak to the ITVS mission to serve underrepresented audiences with programs that take creative risks, explore complex issues, inspire dialogue, and express points of view seldom seen on commercial or public television. With the upcoming deadline (September 7, 2012), we encourage all interested applicants to register for the live chat taking place on Thursday, August 23rd.

To date, projects selected for the Diversity Development Fund have had national broadcasts on Independent Lens and P.O.V., and have leveraged support from organizations including the National Minority Consortia, the Sundance Doc Fund, Creative Capital Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Ford Foundation. Continue reading →

An Inside Look Into Producer Orientation

Posted on August 1, 2012 by ITVS Staff

By Juli Vizza
Filmmaker, Nine to Ninety

Last week, Juli Vizza was one of eleven filmmakers who gathered in ITVS’s San Francisco headquarters to attend the latest round of producer orientation for Open Call funding.

A crash course in the public television system. That’s how I would describe the week-long orientation with ITVS. In most cases, if you’ve ever had a film financed and distributed through a network or studio then you know you are mostly on your own. There is the thrill of knowing you will be able to make the movie you’ve been dreaming to produce and then there is the reality of making it happen under the vigilant bottom-line watchdog that is the studio system.

From day one you are introduced into the family of ITVS. The warm welcome, which isn’t often the case for San Francisco in July, begins when you walk in the door. On the first night the reception isn’t about the food, or the free drinks at the bar, but the genuine appreciation and excitement for your project. Each film is introduced by two members of the ITVS staff who tell the audience of other filmmakers a little about you and your project. There is a true sense that your film has made it and they are honored to be a part of its success.

On the second day, you might be unprepared for the onslaught of information coming your way. The sessions on day two are less about taking notes on how the system works and more of an introduction to the supporting team working on your film at ITVS. Of course, by the afternoon, you might begin to slump over your encyclopedic handbook and wonder how much time is actually spent on making PowerPoint presentations versus making the actual movies. But they’ve obviously been through this before and are doing their best to get you acquainted with the system. Continue reading →

International Filmmaker Deadline: Submit to DOK Leipzig Co-Production Meeting by August 1

Posted on July 23, 2012 by ITVS Staff

European and other international producers are invited to submit projects to the 8^th International DOK Leipzig Co-Production Meeting (October 29-31, 2012). The final deadline for project submission is August 1, 2012.

The Meeting encourages international co-productions and helps finance outstanding documentary projects for an international audience.
Continue reading →

Diversity Development Fund is Now Accepting Applications

Posted on July 10, 2012 by ITVS Staff

The new deadline for the Diversity Development Fund is on Friday, September 7th. Learn how to submit an application here.

The Diversity Development Fund provides up to $15,000 in research and development funding to independent producers of color to develop single documentary programs for public television. Projects should speak to the ITVS mission to serve underrepresented audiences with programs that take creative risks, explore complex issues, inspire dialogue, and express points of view seldom seen on commercial or public television. Please note that the new deadline is FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 7^th.