funding
Filmmaker Notes from Orientation, Summer 2011
Filmmaker Brad Lichtenstein attended ITVS’s latest producers orientation for Open Call funding and was kind enough to share his notes.
We’re producers. We’re used to 13-hour days, right?
Actually, I heard nary a complaint. Instead, what I heard was praise and genuine joy for an opportunity to be with fellow filmmakers in an atmosphere of celebration and camaraderie.
Take day one of orientation, for example. After a breakfast that included vegan granola (it is San Francisco, after all), we were whisked away into workshops and meetings that were all about the money. Financial reporting. Budgeting. Contract negotiation. It was a lot to absorb and my brain was mushy by 5PM when we gathered to walk over to the Dolby Lab.
Dolby’s screening room is not what I expected from the millions of promo trailers I’ve seen and heard in movie theaters — you know, the ones that culminate in something like the sound of broken glass shards raining over you. The room is like a 1970s revival of a 1920s deco theater — but the sound is pristine.
Every film’s five minute cut was great, from the story of America’s first gay bishop to the story of a family trying to do Christmas without products from China. ITVS had prepared a program to hand out and staff introduced each film. Filmmakers did Q&A. I felt deeply respected and maybe even a little coddled as they introduced our film, As Goes Janesville, one of several that received funding after multiple tries.
Most importantly, the evening reflected the sincere support ITVS conveyed all week. Not only did they successfully create a supportive, collegial space for us to balance contract numbers with content ideas, but they helped us understand how we fit into their broader mission.
Just look at us and our film topics. We are from New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Bay Area, Milwaukee, Austin. We are Jewish, Chinese, African American, Native American, Indian-British, LGBT. We are old and young, men and women, veteran and emerging. We — and the staff of ITVS — are truly diverse, fulfilling a mission originated in the 80s to respond to a report by the Carnegie Foundation that bemoaned a public media system without innovation and diversity. No tokenism here. ITVS is serious about supporting a wide array of filmmaking voices.
The only buzzword as potentially hollow as diversity is innovation. But ITVS is serious about substance in this area too. We learned about FUTURESTATES, short fiction films that imagine a social problem as it plays out at some point in the future. And we learned about Project 360 enhanced, an innovation initiative that supports ITVS filmmakers in creating technology projects that address issues raised by their films, from games and apps to anything you can imagine. Companion websites are so two-thousand and late.
I had not expected to see the intensive three-day orientation through the lens of age, but somehow that’s how it came into focus for me. I had been around ITVS before, first as a producer at Lumiere Productions throughout the 90s, then in 2005 as part of the LINCS initiative with my film, Almost Home. Many of the ITVS staff are still here from each of those times. I chuckled at the references they used during presentations. While one of the more “mature” (as in my age) staff members used a Tom and Jerry reference, another who was likely born around the time I started working in film referenced He Man, a character I had to look up on Wikipedia to discover that it was a popular cartoon in the early eighties.
But this observation is trivial compared to the change I noticed since I was here five years ago. Last time around there was tension over the contracts and especially over distribution strategies. Five years ago filmmakers in my LINCS group felt overwhelmed, even a bit assaulted, by the sheer size and demands of the ITVS contract and what was perceived as a lack of concern for festival and theatrical releases.
But this time workshops and one-on-one meetings made the contract transparent and understandable. What’s more, ITVS’s lawyer (whom I shall not name here) is a kind, gentle, dare I say, baby-faced man who makes contracts go down like honey. And ITVS is light years ahead of other outlets with whom you may have negotiated when it comes to distribution. Instead of arguing over release windows, the entire team is ready to work with filmmakers to devise a strategy that helps our films reach audiences through festivals, PBS broadcast, outreach and community engagement activity and public relations. We met with each department over the course of three days. If anything, I felt like I would struggle just to keep up with ITVS’s support for our film.
I wish I could be more critical, if not ironic. Yet I can’t. The orientation days were long, yes, but they were lovely and I left energized to make our film and very happy to know a fantastic bunch of filmmakers well. I wish I could find something to complain about. Okay, I know, the room we were in most of the time had no windows. C’mon ITVS, can you work on that?
Funding Deadline: Open Call Applications Due July 29
The deadline for ITVS’s biggest funding opportunity, Open Call, is in two weeks on Friday, July 29. Last month, we announced our new digital application process, but it’s worth reiterating some main points to help you on your way. Read on…
1. Read the How To Apply page. Some requirements have changed, particularly regarding previous work samples and the work-in-progress.
2. Create an account. You can do this any time, and complete the application over the next two weeks. We encourage you to start the process early. You can save your progress and return any time up to the deadline.
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170 Million Campaign Marches On
A national webinar will be held on Tuesday, June 28 at 2 p.m. ET to discuss plans for the next phase of the 170 Million Americans for Public Broadcasting campaign.
More than 370,000 citizen advocates have joined the 170 Million Americans for Public Broadcasting campaign, surpassing the organization’s original goal of securing 250,000 advocates. As a a result, 170 Million has set their sites on a new target, one million advocates! The campaign relies on grassroots support to defend federal funding, which is vital to sustain local public media stations and organizations.
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Catch ITVS Films and Staff at the Silverdocs Festival
The Silverdocs Film Festival and Conference kicks off Monday June 20 in Silver Spring, Maryland.
Known as the “pre-eminent documentary festival in the U.S.,” Silverdocs is a seven-day international film festival and five-day concurrent conference that promotes documentary film as a leading art form and supports the work of independent filmmakers.
Silverdocs kicks today in Silver Spring, Maryland and both ITVS staff and films are well represented:
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Open Call Funding Application Goes Digital
As ITVS moves into its 20th year, the organization’s largest funding initiative, Open Call, is making the switch to digital. Starting this summer, all materials must be submitted online, including video.
What are the benefits of doing this?
• Faster and more streamlined communication with ITVS staff.
• Ability to track the progress of your project online,
• Promotes sustainable practices by saving reams of paper, and greatly reducing the carbon-footprint of ITVS and the indie documentary community.
• Significant cost savings with the elimination of postage and overnight mailing fees, as well as printing, dubbing, and other expenses.
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Deadline News Indies Can Use
One of BTB’s chief responsibilities is to keep an eye out for news the independent producer can use. Below is a highlight of upcoming funding opportunities, festival deadlines, and other things you may find helpful. These will be for both U.S. and international producers. Enjoy and good luck!
NALIP Latino Producers Academy
Deadline: June 8, 2011
The LPA is an intensive 10 day (Aug. 10-19) professional development workshop for Latino/a film and public television documentary producers. It is designed to support both emerging and mid-career professionals with projects in development and pre-production.
HBO NALIP Documentary Contest
Deadline June 10, 2011
HBO has teamed with NALIP to find the next great Latino documentary film.They will award $10,000 to the winner of their 2011 Documentary grant.
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Nicholas Kristof’s Reports for Half The Sky Underway
The New York Times op-ed columnist is behind the recently announced primetime television special Half The Sky, which premieres on PBS’s Independent Lens in Fall 2012.
America Ferrera recently joined Nicholas Kristof in India to focus on the problem of human trafficking
Last month, BTB unveiled ITVS and CPB’s investment in Half The Sky, a primetime television special and multi-platform project based on New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn’s widely acclaimed book, Half The Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide. The series will premiere as a special presentation on Independent Lens in Fall 2012 and is a cornerstone of the recently announced Women and Girls Lead campaign.
Some of today’s finest actresses and spokespeople have been tapped to engage with the subjects on the ground and broaden the understanding for viewers of the issues at hand, including Diane Lane, who recently traveled to Somaliland, and America Ferrera, who joined Kristof last month in India to focus on the problem of human trafficking.
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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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Get ITVS’s New A-to-Z Guide to Producing for Public Television
Calling all independent producers: The latest edition of the ITVS Production Manual is now available for purchase at www.itvs.org.
What kind of music rights do I need to clear for my film? What is E&O insurance and how do I obtain it? What do I need to consider regarding financials and reporting to funders? How do I use social media to do outreach for my film?
Attention all independent producers: Get the answers to these and other useful questions in the latest edition of the ITVS Production Manual: An A-to-Z Guide to Producing for Public Television, now available for purchase at www.itvs.org.
Learn about the process of getting your film to broadcast and beyond with sections on insurance and financial considerations, new media rights and clearances, public broadcasting distribution, publicity, social media, community engagement, and much more.
The 2011 edition of the manual is the culmination of years of industry experience — offering a collection of practical information contributed by ITVS staff and independent producers, as well as distributors and colleagues from media organizations and the public television field.
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Deadline News Indies Can Use
One of BTB’s chief responsibilities is to keep an eye out for news the independent producer can use. With that in mind, we asked our Programming Department to highlight upcoming deadlines for us — featuring funding opportunities, festival deadlines, and other things you may find helpful. These will be for both U.S. and international producers … Enjoy and good luck!
FUNDING
Jan Vrijman Fund
DEADLINE: May 15, 2011
The Jan Vrijman Fund is looking for creative documentaries and documentary events in developing countries (PDF). Funding categories include Script and Project Development, Production and Post-Production, and Other activities (including Distribution Initiatives; Documentary Film Festivals; Documentary Workshops). The Jan Vrijman Fund gives financial support twice a year. Application deadlines are January 15 and May 15. Click here for more details.
CAAM Media Fund
DEADLINE: May 19, 2011
The Center for Asian American Media (CAAM) seeks provocative and engaging proposals from independent media producers with projects intended for public television broadcast. Offered once a year, this round of funding is for applicants with documentary projects at the production and/or post-production stage. Click here for more details.
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