We are delighted to be welcoming back to Boston independent film fundraising guru and consultant Morrie Warshawski.

Morrie will be coming to present three workshops on December 6 & 7, 2008 at our new facility at 93 Border Street in West Newton, MA.  Tickets for each workshop are limited and are now on sale.  You won’t want to miss this opportunity to brush up your fundraising skills and to jumpstart your career! Descriptions for all three workshops follow–registrations for each workshop are separate.

JUMPSTARTING YOUR CAREER: A CAREER DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOP
SATURDAY DECEMBER 6, 2008

9:30-10am  Registration          10am-4pm workshop

Tickets are $45 for members and $55 for non-members

REGISTER NOW
Where are you going professionally, and how are you going to get there?  This workshop helps participants develop powerful strategies, tools and approaches supporting long range career planning.  For this workshop, Warshawski draws on his extensive experience consulting on strategic planning to introduce a series of highly participatory exercises designed specifically for individuals.  Participants will work on:
·        Indentifying core values;
·        Defining a personal mission;
·        Examining professional strengths and weaknesses,;
·        Creating a vision for the future;
·        Identifying circles of influence;
·        Identifying significant goals, and strategies to achieve those goals;
·        Marketing with integrity.

THE FUNDRAISING HOUSEPARTY:
HOW TO PARTY WITH A PURPOSE AND RAISE MONEY FOR YOUR CAUSE

Saturday December 6, 2008

6:30-9pm

Tickets are $20 for members and $25 for non-members
REGISTER NOW
This highly participatory workshop gives a complete deconstruction of the Fundraising Houseparty – a very powerful and flexible way to raise donations from individuals for noncommercial projects media both large and small.  Topics covered include:

What projects are appropriate for houseparties;

• Finding and preparing the Host;

• Who to invite;

• Timeline for and design of invitations;

• Program sequence for the formal presentation;

• What type of program clip to show;

• How to make the “ask” and who should do it;

• Follow-up activities.

Participants are encouraged to bring in samples of their own houseparty invitations and pledge cards (actual or proposed).  For an audio clip about houseparties from Warshawski’s appearance on Marketplace Radio, just go to his website: www.warshawski.com

SHAKING THE MONEY TREE:
HOW TO GET GRANTS AND DONATIONS FOR YOUR FILM/VIDEO PROJECT

SUNDAY DECEMBER 7, 2008

9:30am- 5pm

Tickets are $45 for members and $55 for non-members

REGISTER NOW
Nationally recognized consultant MORRIE WARSHAWSKI returns to Boston to present his popular full-day workshop full of patented street-savvy, in-the-trenches advice on how to gets grants and donations for noncommercial independent film and video projects.  Looking for funding while maintaining a career as a media maker can be a competitive, elusive and overwhelming proposition.  Warshawski provides practical advice based on real experience to get filmmakers focused and effective at getting money for their projects.

The workshop completely demystifies the world of donations and grants by providing an introduction to all the basic principles of successful fundraising including:

• Ways to approach individuals for donations (houseparties, direct mail, etc.);

• How to get money from foundations and corporations;

• Designing your project to make it attractive to funders;

• Adopting the proper mindset;

• Laying the groundwork for and conducting research;

• Creating the perfect written grant proposal.

Warshawski’s class includes exercises, lecture, video clip examples, and an extensive handout packet full of information and references on fundraising.  A must for the beginning, emerging or experienced filmmaker who has any qualms about fundraising.

MORRIE WARSHAWSKI, noted writer and media consultant, is the former Executive Director of Bay Area Video Coalition and The Media Project, Inc.  His clients over the last 30 years include the American Film Institute, National Endowment for the Arts, California Arts Council, MacArthur Foundation, WGBH-TV, President’s Commission on the Arts and Humanities, and many others.  Warshawski has served on numerous grant panels, has written over 500 proposals, and is the author of THE FUNDRAISING HOUSEPARTY, and SHAKING THE MONEY TREE: HOW TO GET GRANTS AND DONATIONS FOR FILM AND VIDEO- 2nd Edition.  You can find Warshawski and an audio clip on fundraising houseparties in cyberspace: www.warshawski.com.

QUOTES:
“I wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed your AFI workshop.  It really clarified and supported my thinking on grant writing and fundraising in general.  It was nice to sit down for a day and just have all the steps outlined and discussed logically!”
- Rusty E. Frank, Los Angeles

“Your seminar is really amazing and so incredibly full of such useful information.  We funders ought to have a preliminary requirement that applicants attend your workshop before submitting their proposals.”
- Mary Smith, National Endowment for the Arts

“Packed with good info; good speaker; receptive to questions; obviously very experienced.”
- Boston Participant

“Your presentation was just terrific.  I am truly impressed with the wealth of information, articulately and logically presented in just a few hours time.”
- Bill Goetz, Portland, OR

“I took your SHAKING THE MONEY TREE class at AIVF in New York about 3 years ago,  and I’m happy to report that my documentary is not only finished, but aired as part of a Father’s Day Special on Cinemax this year.  I know of at least one other student in that class whose film is now complete and was picked up by HBO.  Your class was very instrumental in getting the first grants and donations.  So thank you !!”
- Cynthia Syrett, NYC

“A note of thanks to Morrie for his Shaking the Money Tree workshops.  After attending one last year, I finally got the guts to approach my first private funder — someone wealthy who had funded a doc I’d worked on previously (one in which I was hired as co-producer in post, well after she’d funded it).”

“Using the chutzpah and the tools I gained in the workshop and from the book, I wrote her a heartfelt letter.  She immediately called, and wrote a check soon thereafter.  With a serious donation now in hand, I felt “legit” and then wrote a different heartfelt letter to 100 friends asking for tax-free donations.  I got a 20% return, with amounts ranging from $25 to $1000+.  A real lifesaver to the project.”
- Danielle Beverly

“Thank you for your excellent workshops in NYC this weekend.  It’s always good, especially for an old hand like me, to be reminded of what it takes and to be inspired anew.   I especially need that now as I’m working independently, on a film, and not for a performing arts organization and need to be prepared to get money from individuals. The Zen tools you worked through with us are tremendous.  Thank you, sincerely.
- Sharon Levy, Dovetail Productions, Inc, New York

Members of the Massaachusetts film industry gathered yesterday morning in downtown Boston to celebrate the announcements of this years oscar nominees. But it wasn’t Oscar that most pleased the assembled crowd–it was the fact that they were there at an official event of the new Massachusetts Film Office–and had the opportunity to celebrate the new Massachusetts Film Office logo. Here is a portion of the remarks made by Richard Krezwick, Managing Director of the Massachusetts Sports and Entertainment Commission:

It’s the end of a busy year—and we hope you’ll take a moment to look back with us as we do a brief year in review—and have a sneak peek at the year ahead. During 2006, CID entered its 25th anniversary year…and we plan to celebrate that accomplishment in the coming months as we head into 2007. Keep checking back for news.

Two projects produced in association with CID will be broadcast in January on the PBS series Independent Lens- TWISTED (Laurel Chiten, producer) and A FISH STORY (Tim Gallagher & Courtney Hayes, producers). Judith Helfand and Dan Golds’ new documentary EVERYTHING’S COOL (formerly titled “Melting Planet”), will have its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January. Congratulations to everyone at Toxic Comedy Pictures! If you attended the filmmakers workshop in July, you had a chance to help filmmakers Anita Clearfield, Shoshanna Hoose and Geoffrey Leighton as they worked through the editing of their film THERE OUGHT TO BE A LAW (the working title was “Lethal Means”) – you can see how they utilized your comments by attending the films premiere on Sunday January 7, 2007 in Maine.

If you missed the June national public television broadcasts of WOODY GUTHRIE: AIN’T GOT NO HOME (Peter Frumkin , producer) and SMITTEN (Nancy Kelly, producer) you can check their web sites to see when they might be broadcast again in your area or released on dvd.

We are currently providing fiscal and advisory services for 66 active documentary projects which have received some (or all they need) funding, and an additional 9 projects that are currently in development. Of the projects with funding, 31 are with producers in Massachusetts, an additional 7 from Rhode Island, Vermont and Maine. The remainder are from other parts of the country, with most in New York or California. We are working with our producers to get all of the projects listed up on the new Alliance for Independent Motion Media (AIMM) web site. Please visit the filmmography section of the AIMM web site and set the search for CID films to review the listings to date. If you’d like to help make these films come to a screen near to you—please give generously through our online donation button in the sidebar.

FILMMAKERS WORKSHOP
The monthly workshops continue to attract between 40-70 attendees each month (depending on the topic of the workshop). Here’s a round-up of the past six months: In May 06 we hosted students from area film programs and their professors to share their work and to meet industry professionals. In June, John Kusiak, the composer for Errol Morris and other filmmakers offered tips on how to collaborate with a composer to create a great film score for films. In July we screened a rough cut of “There Ought to be a Law” (which will have its premiere in Maine in January 07). In October we featured a lighting workshop to help filmmakers make the most from a small lighting kit with special help from Rule Broadcast Systems. In November, blogging gurus Steve Garfield and Ravi Jain offered instruction on how to become a blogger and utilize video on the web. In January 07, we will kickoff the new year with a rough cut screening of Amy Geller & Gerald Peary’s FOR THE LOVE OF MOVIES. Please join us at one of our upcoming workshops in 07—and if you’ve got an idea for a workshop you’d like to see happen—PLEASE leave a comment below or send us an email. We very much welcome your ideas! These workshops are made possible through the generosity of many people. We would especially like to thank Julie Mallozzi, Tracy Heather Strain and Megan Gelstein for the many hours that they have contributed to organizing the workshops. The Bernard Toale Gallery has provided us with a beautiful space in which to meet (and has helped us with lugging more chairs up and down stairs than we can count! Thank you!) Shannon Bradley designed our terrific logo-thank you! Rule Broadcast has provided technical support as well as the expertise of their staff. Rule rules! Thank you, John! A very important portion of each workshop is the time that’s spent networking and relaxing together over refreshments. We greatly appreciate the contribution of Harpoon Brewery each month—our favorite beer! (Root beer too!)These workshops just couldn’t happen at all without the support of the LEF Foundation.

CID/KOPKIND FILMMAKERS CAMP
CID collaborated with Kopkind this past August to bring 11 filmmakers up to Vermont for a week of “radical relaxation”. The filmmakers who attended came from all around the country (though several were from Massachusetts) and shared a highly memorable week of intense discussion, film viewing, sharing , swimming, paper making , hiking and eating great food. We roughly followed the format that Kopkind has based their prior camp sessions for writers on…though we changed it somewhat to allow our morning sessions of each day to cover some specific information (such as having guest speakers from archival footage houses, a representative from First Run Features to speak about distribution and Lisa Simmons to talk about issues around diversity). We were thrilled with our first attempt at this workshop—and are beginning planning for summer camp 07. Check out the photos from our week at camp–and watch this blog for an upcoming post on that week in review. Watch for details on how to join us there next summer!

ADVOCACY
In addition to the work that we do with the producers on their projects, CID has been an active founding partner in two important new Massachusetts organizations- the Alliance for Independent Motion Media (AIMM) and the Massaachusetts Production Coaltion (MPC). AIMM is a network of several Boston area non-profits who are all committed to making it easier for independent producers to make their work and get it seen. The MPC is a membership organization of producers, businesses, non-profits—just about everyone-who work in the Massachusetts motion media industry. These two organizations have been working closely together to make Massachusetts a great place to make media…please take a few moments to read the year end report on the AIMM blog for a complete review of what has been done to date, what the plans are for the coming year, and how you can get involved.

Finally, we want to thank all of the Center for Independent Documentary board of trustees for their continued commitment: Tony Logalbo, Marion Burke, Vince Canzoneri, Martin Alpert and Leslie Hitch. Your dedication to CID over many years has been awesome! We would also very much like to thank our funders for their support. The Massaachusetts Cultural Council and the LEF Foundation continue to provide CID with important funding critical to our day to day operations. We are very grateful.

We wish you all our very best wishes for the holidays and a very Happy New Year.
Susi Walsh & Fred Simon

There are great things stirring in the film and video community in Boston. A new sense of purpose and excitement–a sense of community and a willingness to take a chance that the community might indeed bring about change for the good of us all.

Change and growth are evident everywhere– whether you look at the employment figures for folks in the film and video industry (yes folks, they are going UP for a change), or you look at the skyline in Boston as you come in on the Pike from the West (yes, the new WGBH building is almost DONE!).

Three weeks ago the Massachusetts Production Coaltion (MPC) hosted an event to explain the new tax incentives here in Massachusetts. As an added bonus, the new acting head of the Massachusetts Sports and Entertainment Commission- Richard Krezwick, came and gave us all a brief update on the status of the new film commission.

The members of the Alliance for Independent Motion Media continue to offer a variety of programs designed to bring the community together as well as provide access to professional development opportunities for all of the independent filmmaking comunity. Check out the website and sign up for the mailing list …