Funding Your Doc
You've locked in your subject and finished the research, what's next? Production! But, how will you fund it? No worries, we'll help you! In Funding Your Doc, Lara Stolman (Director/Producer of Swim Team), leads a discussion that will provide ideas to create fundraising strategies for filmmakers without significant industry or institutional support/relationships, working on a small budget –even on a controversial topic. We will discuss filmmakers needs including festival circuit and distribution. Guest speakers include Heather White (Director/Producer of Complict and Modern Slavery and Your Devices), Carolyn Hepburn (Motto Pictures), and Mark Rossier (Director of Grants, New York Foundation for the Arts).
READ MOREDocumentary Distribution 3.0 – The New Normal
What is the new normal for documentary distribution within a constantly evolving landscape? This panel explores the emerging "windows" of distribution/monetizing opportunities for documentary film compared with traditional distribution outlets. Join NYWIFT and panelists Kim Jackson (Co-Founder and President of Entertainment, Breaker), Christie Marchese (CEO, Picture Motion), DeShuna Spencer (Founder/CEO, kweliTV) and moderator Karen McMullen (Film Festival Programmer, Editor and Educator) for an engaging conversation about the future of documentary distribution.
READ MOREDocumentary Labs: Finding the Right One for Your Film
In the last several years, foundations and festivals have developed incubator labs to help filmmakers in the development and post production of their documentaries. It is an exceptional opportunity, and the many labs offer a variety of experiences. While these creative bootcamps seek to expand emerging voices and creativity, are they for everyone? What difference can they make in the life of a doc? Join NYWIFT to learn more about labs at UnionDocs, Chicken & Egg, the Tribeca Film Institute, the Independent Feature Project, and more.
READ MOREThe Art of Grant Writing
Grant writing is an essential tool for filmmakers in the documentary community to bring stories to life. This second installment of NYWIFT's Documentary Series will explore key elements to focus on when developing a successful grant proposal. Speakers will address best practices in grant writing, catching the eye of individual funders with a strong application, how to target your potential funders and other opportunities not explored enough by filmmakers. The panel will also explore The Documentary Core Application, a joint project between The Sundance Institute and the International Documentary Association, established to standardize application requirements.
READ MORECase Study: Swim Team, A Doc from Soup to Nuts
No documentary journey is the same, but every documentary faces similar challenges from concept to community engagement. Producer/Director Lara Stolman had her own ups and downs as she made her way through the process of making her film Swim Team. The film chronicles the rise of a competitive swim team made up of teenagers on the autism spectrum. For this case study, Stolman will highlight for us the key moments she experienced in proposal writing, budgeting, fund raising, selection of production team, post-production, film festival launch, broadcast rights and community outreach. In conversation with Marcia Rock, Chair of NYWIFT's Documentary Committee and Director of News and Documentary, NYU Arthur Carter Journalism Institute.
READ MOREBeyond Room Tone: Creating Sound Design for Your Documentary
Beyond Room Tone: Creating Sound Design for Your Documentary The sound design of a film can set up all sorts of interpretations, expectations and emotions in a listener. And with the growth of documentaries using animation and archival techniques, the sound design of a film is becoming a larger character in a story. This panel...
READ MORERethinking the Film Festival: Strategies for Documentaries
Filmmakers are constantly asked to have a festival strategy. But, beyond submitting to the broadly-known film festivals, collecting press clippings, and hoping to sell your film, what constitutes a sound festival strategy? What are the options for films that don’t seem like easy film festival fare and how do you structure your outreach to find...
READ MORESerial Documentaries … Changing the Rules of Documentary Filmmaking
Serial Documentaries … Changing the Rules of Documentary Filmmaking Serial documentaries now pepper our visual landscapes. Everyone from Netflix, to Showtime, from PBS to HBO, has jumped on-board with nail-biting crime dramas, and in-depth historical storytelling. They have engaged audiences with an almost cult-like following with each cliff-hanging episode. But can these mini-series documentaries work...
READ MOREFilling in the Gap: Using Visual Metaphors for Documentaries
Filling in the Gap: Using Visual Metaphors for Documentaries Documentary filmmakers are often challenged to create visual metaphors when retelling past events. This panel discussion will examine the imaginative ways that makers use to build the world of their film with animation, re-enactments and various other visual devices. Join filmmakers Julia Bacha, Eliza McNitt, Amanda Zackem and moderator Marcia...
READ MOREDoc Series – Creating Empathy in Virtual Reality: The Challenges and Success of Immersive Experiences
Virtual Reality is leading the charge to engage the world with ever-increasing social ills including poverty, communicable diseases, and the daunting refugee crisis. The surrounding debate questions whether or not immersive experiences can make individuals more empathetic, and more importantly does this lead to substantial change? NYWIFT’s documentary committee is exploring this topic with a...
READ MOREFunny Docs! – A Hilarious Panel
Panelist Julie Gomez, Producer, "Thank you Del: The Story of the Del Close Marathon"
READ MORESupporting Your Doc Habit
How do you become a successful documentary filmmaker without going broke in the process? Veteran filmmaker Frederick Wiseman has an answer: “Marry rich.” But what if this isn’t an option for you? This panel will present a conversation with five filmmakers on how they support their documentary careers followed by a Q&A with the audience.Panelists...
READ MOREThe New Now: Maximize Your Impact with Emerging Technology
Filmmakers, producers and media makers discuss their different approaches to audience outreach in the rapidly changing world of emerging technologies (architectural projection; mixed reality-virtual and augmented; installation; mobile devices; and experience design). The panel discusses not only building audiences for their film, but maintaining their audience as change agents for their film’s cause. Panelists will...
READ MOREMobile Media Tools: Fast, Cheap and Under Control
Quit the fundraising grind and get into production now. Mobile media tools can radically reduce budgets required to produce documentary work. Find out how you can bring your dream projects to life via the power of your mobile phone. Experienced producers, directors and innovators will discuss their mobile media work, tools and storytelling strategies. Panelists...
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