Adventures in Independent Filmmaking

Join us as we screen Doug Block’s terrific documentary “The Heck With Hollywood”, about the trials and tribulations of getting an independent film marketed and distributed. The film follows three filmmakers for four years as they struggle to finish and find distribution for their films. Afterwards we’ll hold discussion, share stories and trade resources.

Invitation to filmmakers:
We are pleased to announce a call to independent documentary filmmakers who would like to participate in a weeklong seminar and retreat in southern Vermont.

Event Info
Sunday August 2nd-August 9th, 2009

Tree Frog Farm, Guilford Vermont

The Center for Independent Documentary (CID) and the Kopkind Center are sponsoring this week-long retreat limited to nine filmmakers along with special invited guests at Treefrog Farm in Guilford Vermont from August 2nd (Sunday is the travel day) to Sunday, August 9th. The theme for the morning seminars is:

Brainstorming to a new future in independent filmmaking
It’s the best of times- it’s the worst of times. It’s certainly a time of profound change. Join us to brainstorm about new ways to think and operate in this new landscape and recharge your creative battery with some of Kopkind/CID’s special brand of “radical relaxation”! It is the summer of the BIG THINK and we aim to explore together not just how to survive as an independent filmmaker, but how to thrive.

You can read more about the camp experience in a recent article that appeared in the last NAMAC newsletter ( HERE).

Kopkind/CID retreat seminars are organized by Susi Walsh, Executive Director of CID and John Scagliotti, Emmy Award-winning documentary producer and the creator of the public television series, In the Life, now about to begin its 15th season of monthly hour-long programs on news and culture about the gay community. Also joining us will be Fred Simon. As an independent producer of documentaries for PBS, Simon’s films have won awards from the American Film Festival, the Athens Film Festival, and are currently in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art. In addition, he is an Assistant Professor of film/video production at Clark University. Guest speakers will also join us during the week.

Closer to the end of the Seminar Week, Kopkind will present its 4thAnnual Grassroots Film Festival in the Organ Barn (Aug 6-8 open to the public); the filmmaker(s) will also lead the next morning seminar.

THE COSTS AND HOW TO APPLY:



Vermont’s Pride Film Festival of Shorts

June 26 & 27, 2008

Sponsored by The Kopkind Colony

www.cineslam.com

“[CineSlam]reaches back to the radical roots of liberation, to the joyously skewed visions of sex, love, culture and camp that lie outside the conventions of the straight world,”– Andrew Kopkind, 1993 (A Queer Nation)

CineSlam takes place in early summer in Vermont, (think green) — a two day ‘videovapalooza’-of-a-festival — screening rousing shorts in a old barn on a farm in Guilford, Vermont

The CineSlam Festival: Friday Evening (7 pm, June 26th, ) screening in Brattleboro, Vermont followed by the Pride Dance at 9pm; then to the Organ Barn in Guilford on Saturday June 27th for an afternoon of screening sessions ending with a delicious BBQ and awards ceremony.

Money Prizes include the Chessie Award for Best Short ($750) with an invitation to present your winning film on the Pride of the Ocean GLBT Film Cruise (expenses paid) leaving Los Angeles Jan 17th 2010 for seven days touring the Mexican Rivier

The Cineslam Retreat: Filmmakers can also apply to be part of the Kopkind Colony’s “Cineslam Filmmakers Retreat.” Your short film will have to be sent in first to be accepted for the festival (that deadline is April 30th ). 8 filmmakers will be accommodated 3 days before the festival begins to participate in film slams in the barn and a special seminar with Karen Everett, owner of New Doc Editing™, an award-winning editor. During the past fifteen years, Karen Everett has been teaching at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism. This information-packed seminar shows you how to adapt screen-writing devices such as the inciting incident, midpoint, backstory, climax and denouement, so your documentary will be as engaging and fun to watch as a narrative film. Retreat dates June 23rd to June 28th (5 nights)

See website : www.cineslam.com and click filmmakers retreat page to find out how to apply for the retreat and click filmmakers submission page to find out how to submit a film! It’s very easy to be part of Vermont’s CineSlam Deadline for films from filmmakers not coming to the retreat is May 25th.

Underwritten by a grant from the Chessie Foundation

Programmed by John Scagliotti, creator of the first glbt TV series on PBS, In the Life. Producer of Before Stonewall and After Stonewall, Programmer of the VT Bear Film Festival

Administrator, Kopkind Colony: Email: stonewal@sover.net

Hillman Broadcast Journalism Award–Call for Submissions—Deadline January 31, 2009:

The Sidney Hillman Foundation is now accepting nominations and submissions for the 2009 Hillman Broadcast Award (includes television and radio, short form or long form) honoring journalism that explores issues related to social and economic justice. The 2009 prizes are given for work broadcast in 2008. Winners will be announced in May 2009 and will be published in the New York Times. Winners are awarded a $5,000 prize and statuette and travel to New York City for our awards ceremony. For more information and past winners, please visit www.hillmanfoundation.org .

Now in its second year, the Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund provides finishing funds to documentaries that promote social change and illuminate issues in need of comprehensive coverage currently missing in mainstream media.

In 2009, the Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund will offer grants ranging from $10,000 – $25,000 totaling $100,000. Eligible films will be feature-length documentaries that are in production or post-production, with the intended premiere exhibition in 2010. Films should be able to sustain a festival and/or theatrical run and should resonate with a mainstream U.S. audience. International applicants are welcome. Additional information can be found at the Rules and Regulations page:
http://dashboard.tribecafilminstitute.org/pages/rules_and_reg_gucci

Films should examine or document people who are ignored, ostracized or otherwise marginalized; people fighting for social or political change; or broad social movements. The ideal film will challenge the status quo not just as pertains to subject matter, but also in form. Funding will be awarded to projects that best fulfill the mission of the program and to those where granting amounts will have significant impact.

Apply Now! Deadline is Thursday, February 5, 2009. Fund recipients will be announced in Summer 2009.

Visit www.tribecafilminstitute.org/documentary for complete details.

At the December Filmmakers Workshop, Lyda Kuth and Kathryn Ostermier from the LEF Foundation, made a presentation about the new LEF guidelines. The deadline for a letter of intent is January 30, 2009. Those selected to submit a full application will receive notification on March 1st. Aplications will then be due on March 27th. Final grant announcements will be made in May 2009. For more information about the Moving Image Fund visit their web page. The complete December session is available for viewing on the AIMM BlipTV website. Please note that it is in 10 minute segments- and you will want to make sure you start with Part 1.

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

Congratulations to Stefan Forbes on the release of Boogieman:The Lee Atwater Story. Watch for it in a theater near you (check the website for complete listings-www.boogiemanfilm.com)!

Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin (working title) is an hour-long documentary film exploring the life, roots, and ideas of the celebrated Bay Area-born science fiction and fantasy writer Ursula K. Le Guin being produced by Arwen lee Curry.

Le Guin, now 79, continues to write and publish from her home in Portland, Oregon. She arrived with a bang on the topsy-turvy literary scene of the late 1960s, elevating science fiction and fantasy to new levels of political sophistication and artistry. Over the course of her inimitable career, Le Guin has published more than thirty books of fiction, fantasy, sci-fi, children’s literature, poetry, and nonfiction. Although she is one of our best-loved living writers, and the multiple winner of the highest awards in her genre, her compelling story has never before been captured in a documentary film. Produced with Le Guin’s full participation, Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin will be a riveting journey through the author’s career and her worlds, both real and fantastic.

Why is science fiction, or any fiction, important now? We populate an age of global disasters, when technological advancement has surpassed the predictions of early sc-fi writers — yet the basic understanding of how to live together harmoniously seems light-years away. It is essential that we take seriously the task of imagining — and endlessly reimagining — our world. To survive, we must question basic assumptions about how to share resources and responsibilities, how to end global warfare, and how to protect our planet’s ecology. Perhaps more than any writer of her generation, Le Guin has determinedly examined possibilities for how we might achieve such a balance. Her courage in confronting this great creative task makes Le Guin one of our most relevant living writers.

Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin will also be a deeply regional film. The daughter of renowned anthropologist Alfred Kroeber and writer Theodora Kroeber, Le Guin grew up in Berkeley and the Napa Valley during the Great Depression. Her father was the friend, student, and teacher of Ishi, the last member of his exterminated Yahi tribe, who emerged from hiding near Chico, California in 1911 and lived at the then-new University of California Anthropology Museum in San Francisco until his death from tuberculosis six years later. As a writer, Le Guin continues to weave themes of exile, discovery, ethnography, individual identity, and cultural relativism into her stories. In her work as in no other, we can look more deeply into the West’s legacy of trauma and promise.

Aimed for public television, new media, and limited theatrical release, Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin will explore Le Guin’s life and ideas in exclusive interviews, stunning archival footage, and a variety of classic and experimental film techniques. Traditional documentary progresses linearly through time — Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin will take a highly structured, but more unusual approach. The film will be divided into twelve short chapters of varying lengths, approaching different significant passages or themes of the writer’s life and work using different styles and rhythms. Like songs on a great old LP, these chapters will come together to form a harmonious whole that does justice to the complexity of Le Guin’s contribution.

Production of this new documentary is scheduled to begin in October. Please help us to raise the funds needed to capture this important authors world on film. To make a secure tax deductible contribution just click HERE.

If you are in the Bay area, please join us at a fundraiser on Sunday September 28 from 6:30-8:30 pm at Needles & Pens, 3253 16th Street San Francisco. For more information contact Arwen Curry at: Arwencurry@gmail.com

Domestic & International Film Financing Tutorial
June 18 & 19 from 6-10 pm BOTH NIGHTS
Location: 93 Border Street, West Newton MA 02465
(The NEW temporary space of the Center for Independent Documentary and the Filmmakers Workshop)

This tutorial will be taught by Sandra Schulberg (sschulberg@aol.com), one of the pioneers of international financing for independent movies. Ms. Schulberg has been active in raising money for independent productions and nurturing indie filmmakers for more than 20 years. From 1998 to 2001, Ms. Schulberg worked as Executive Producer for the private German media fund, Hollywood Partners, and structured its financing in a slate of films (including the Oscar-nominated movie QUILLS, starring Geoffrey Rush and Kate Winslet), all of which involved multiple international production partners. From 1989 to 1996, she served as a senior executive of “American Playhouse,” the PBS drama series, charged with raising funds from abroad. During the last three years, she served as Senior Vice President of its movie production subsidiary, Playhouse International Pictures. Her production credits include SHADOW MAGIC, UNDISPUTED, THE LAST YELLOW, WAITING FOR THE MOON (Sundance Grand Prize winner), I’LL TAKE YOU THERE, SHIMMER, ROOSTERS, WILDROSE, BELIZAIRE THE CAJUN, NORTHERN LIGHTS, ALAMBRISTA. Additionally, she was involved in the financing and marketing of more than a dozen Playhouse films, including SAFE, I SHOT ANDY WARHOLL, ANGELS & INSECTS, THE MUSIC OF CHANCE, AMATEUR, SIMPLE MEN, etc., and she helped Barbara Kopple to raising finishing funds for her non-fiction feature, MY GENERATION. She has been a key figure in helping to create worldwide markets for independent films as founder and former president of the Independent Feature Project (IFP) and as creator of the IFP Market. In 1980, Ms. Schulberg co-founded the niche film distribution company, First Run Features, which is also still operating today. She was one of the first nominators to the Sundance Institute’s Filmmakers Lab, and served on the Sundance Festival Advisory Committee for 5 years. She also served on the Board of ITVS (Independent Television Service) for 3 years, during which it created a new world affairs satellite channel, Link-TV, in cooperation with Internews. She served as a founding director of the New York Documentary Center and its Docfest film festival. In 1994, Ms. Schulberg received the IFP Spirit Award for her contributions to independent cinema. Her movies have been showcased and have won awards at film festivals throughout the world. She does a limited amount of private consulting to assist both experienced and fledgling producers.

Session I: Domestic Film Financing

Combining For-Profit and Nonprofit Monies
▪ How a movie qualifies for tax-deductible contributions
▪ Understanding the notion of “mission” under non-profit law
▪ Appropriate use of a fiscal agent
▪ Obtaining a PRI, a Program-Related Investment, from a foundation
▪ Development loans from private individuals
Key Elements of a U.S. Investor Offering
▪ Determining the right financial instrument and when to form it
▪ What your offering plan tells investors
▪ Synopsis
▪ Cast/Crew Bios
▪ Chain of Title
▪ Summary of Talent Agreements (producer/writer/director)
▪ Production Budget & Schedule
▪ Financing Plan
▪ Deal Structure (description of investment units for sale and ROI)
▪ Marketing & Distribution Plan
▪ Risk Factors & Disclaimers
Session II: Foreign Film Financing
International Co-Production
▪ Official “treaty” co-productions
▪ Non-treaty co-financing
▪ Tax-driven funds
▪ Regional economic funds
▪ The key Co-Production Markets
Foreign Sales & Distribution
▪ Principles of pre-sale financing
▪ Selecting and contracting with a foreign sales company
▪ Structuring foreign sales and foreign distribution agreements
▪ The role of collection agencies

Session III: Project-specific guidance from Sandra Schulberg
During the final session, on the second night, Ms. Schulberg provides specific financing guidance for each participant’s current feature project (whether fiction or non-fiction), applying her sense of the domestic and international opportunities and illustrating how they might be combined where appropriate. This aspect of the Tutorial has proved to be extremely useful and popular. It is conducted publicly, so each participant gets customized guidance but also learns from the discussion of the other projects.

REGISTRATION BY POSTAL MAIL:

Domestic and International Film Financing Tutorial
June 18 and 19 from 6-10pm both nights

Please fill out the form carefully and make sure your phone number and e-mail are correct, it is very important that we be able to contact you.
First Name
Last Name
Company or Organization
Email
Phone
Address
City, State
Zip
What is your primary role? (Producer, Director, editor etc….)

Are you a member of any of these organizations? (check all that apply) If so, you receive the discounted registration price ($40)
( ) Center for Independent Documentary (CID)
( ) MPC (Massachusetts Production Coalition)
( ) AIMM*
If you checked AIMM, specify which AIMM member:

*AIMM consists of Filmmakers Collaborative, Center for Independent Documentary, Central Productions, The Color of Film Collaborative, the LEF Foundation and WGBH Boston Media Productions. If you are a producer with CID, simply check the CID box above.

Registration fees:

$60 (regular)
$40 (discounted- member of one of the sponsoring organizations)
Please return this form along with your check payable to:
THE CENTER FOR INDEPENDENT DOCUMENTARY
And mail to:
680 South Main Street
Sharon, MA 02067

THIS WORKSHOP IS MADE POSSIBLE IN PART BY SUPPORT FROM: