Year: 2011

In this Age Of SuperAbundance one of the things we need more than anything is trusted filters. How do we prioritize what to watch? How to discover new work? How do we escape our echo chambers to be reminded of how expansive our taste really is?

We need folks whom we trust to lead us to where we would not go on our own. Ideally, these people will do more than just lead us to good work; they will expand our mind, and widen our social circles. But where are they?

Historically speaking we have depended on our critics and arts institutions to work as our curators. One of the shortcomings of this relationship is that is geographically focused — and we really no longer are. Similarly, historic curators are historically plagued by having to offer consistency to their locally-based community; they need to stay employed and the locals have influence with the institution. It has been rare that curators are rewarded by experimentation or risk taking.

The local arthouse theater, where they still exist, and when they can afford to innovate or even maintain, generally must balance film education with mass audience taste. They have to listen to the large distributors, routinely do their bidding, in order to gain access –or even hoped for access — to the top revenue producing titles. They get penalized if they don’t maintain the full week run. If they can afford to drop the $150K needed to convert to digital projection, still can offer the wide variety that digital transmission promises without risking disrupting the fragile relationships with their top suppliers. The battle for survival makes a varied diet of cinematic variety almost impossible to maintain.

In this Interconnected Age, we can depend on a much wider range of tastemakers, influencers, and early adopters. Curating, when freed from a revenue-based judgement, can take risks and even shift focus from pure entertainment to education and discovery. The hopes of the rapid blossoming of a new curatorial class that I’ve carried in this interconnected age seem to outweigh the reality. I am surprised that as far down the social networking path as we are, the new curator clan has not yet truly emerged. Or have they and I just am too blindly focused on my own things to notice?

We get trapped in our limited circle of tastes partially due to consumption of single focused content. When we look at film blogs to learn about films, we focus on the type of film we already know we like. This is also true for any art form — our tastes lead us to more of the same. What was great about the newspaper, and local record shops and repertory houses, as they led us out of our common paths and encouraged us to try out new things. The forums of old, in having to reach a wide audience, could not afford to be single format or genre focused — but on the interwebs that singularity is rewarded. Maybe it is the volume of the anonymous commenters on blogs, but generally speaking I seem to find only more of the same from most websites. And I want more than that. I want to be surprised. I want to be led in new directions. And I think others do too.

Maybe it only requires greater access to our social graph, or greater transparency as to our friends’ tastes. Facebook took a big step in this direction the other week, but it is too early to tell whether this will just become more noise. The even bigger step is denied stateside by an antiquated law created when a Supreme Court judge was embarrassed by his porno preferences. I don’t want to hear from EVERYONE who is my “friend”. I don’t even want to know about what everyone whose taste is applicable to my own thinks I should watch. I want to be led forward.

Who expends my taste and my knowledge these days? Luckily I live in NYC, where taste & individual style remain currencies that are traded on side economies. On top of that, in our city of light, the darkened room is a hallowed hall; cinema — in its purest form — is still worshipped by a sturdy crew whose passion for the communal and large outweigh convenience or price point. But even with all NYC has to offer, I am not just reliant for curation for those in my proximity. The internet brings me to far off lands, and blogs that offer a wider range of things tend to do it best for me. I am often led to consume new things by those who specialize interests that diverge from my core passions. If someone is a good writer and clearly displays passion (and in an articulate way), I tend to jump.

On the strictly film front, I adore CineFamily in Los Angeles. As I have said before, they make we wish I was in LA (and I have dedicated my life to not being there). They add value to the movies they show. Hadrian Belove and his team write wonderful posts about the films they show. They don’t take things too seriously, never tredding down the elitist path that plague NYC’s film centers. Cinefamily cuts their own trailers, and they rock. They pair their movies expertly. They bring in guests on a regular basis. THEY MAKE EACH MOVIE AN EVENT. On my Pleasure Planet, CineFamily is in every city on every world.

Film festivals and film societies will probably always be our chief curators of film content, but…. the problem with festivals and societies is that they have to appeal to a general audience. Like Hollywood movies, they tend to lack the WTF element, which to me, is what makes something a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I like insanity in my programming — and I hate when it gets ghetto-ized into the midnight slot. I like my craziness in mid-afternoon. Every year when the New York Asian Film Festival comes to NYC, I wish I could find more time in my life. I would love to be able to be able to attend more of their movies. If the litmus test of a curator is “would I subscribe to a channel that had all their programming all the time?”, then NYAFF is winning big time.

Queer/Art/Film is a monthly series here in NYC at the IFC center is a great series with a great audience, run by Ira Sachs and Adam Baran. They have a film presented by a different artist each month who then talks about why they love it. The crowd is a highly knowledgeable group of film aficionados, and the conversation afterwards is often as good as the films.

And although I don’t exactly have an arm’s length distance, I still must recommend Michael Tully at HammerToNail (a website I helped found). HTN’s focus still remains primarily under $1M budgeted American narrative, but it has expanded. I am frequently tipped to new talent by Tully’s eloquent and passionate embrace of the under-seen.

And while I am on the subject of things I am already involved with, I think there is real potential in curated content offerings, particularly when they bring additional value. I am on the advisory board of Fandor, a streaming site & community that only has about 15% overlap with Netflix. When I talk to the Fandor team about their plans to involve the community I get excited about the potential there. I also get jazzed by the potential of new platforms (like Prescreen) and longtime practioneers (like Snag — owner of Indiewire)– now streaming narratives too — to help audiences to discover new work — particularly when they use expanding social engagement tools and practices. As these platforms add in real curatorial voices, armed with both authority and accessibility, they will gain in both value and utility.

But it is not the film only sites that do most of my “pointing”. Maybe it is because I work in film, but the film sites, still feel like work to me (albeit a labor I love). To get the real pleasure of transgression and good ‘ol timewasting, I have to drift into a different set of curators. They don’t usually recommend films per se, but they go into topics which lead me to search out a different sort of film than I usually do. Among those I gravitate to are:

BrainPickings.org

BoingBoing

Listverse

Netted by The Webbies – Everyday there is something available on The Net that will make your life better. Don’t you want to know about it?

Now I Know (Dan Lewis)

In terms of “culture” only, but who’s interest expand beyond film, and have been doing a good job of tipping lately…
Very Short List

I’d love to know who you like and follow as curators, so please comment.

The real question though, is what can we do to further the appreciation and celebration of curators? How can we give them greater prominence? How do we make sure they don’t get lost in the noise. The truth is I don’t need to discover new movies. I have preselected more than enough titles to satisfy me, even at my peak consumption rate, well past my life expectancy rate. I need curators who enrich the experience for me. I need curators who enhance the social relevancy of my consumption. I want a value-add from my filters.

Sometimes it seems like there’s more talk about movies getting made than there is actual activity. The question of how we all learn and remain aware of the actual practice of day will always loom large. Since knowledge and access (i.e. connections) will always be key commodities in the pursuit of getting it done, conferences that provide the two are always a lure.

Fortunately we were given the opportunity to cover 11th Annual New York International Film & TV Summit, organized by BNA / ATLAS, and were able to dispatch one of our own forward thinkers to the proceedings. Gary reports back to us, in this first of two parts.

I did something odd last week: I went back in time and attended the kind of conference I hadn’t been to in years. These days I’m best known for documentary films and books released by my Disinformation and True Mind companies, but when I first met Ted Hope (who kindly invited me to attend the conference in his stead), I used to go to exactly this kind of conference as a young pup entertainment lawyer looking to meet experienced TV and movie execs.

The conference was the 11th Annual New York International Film & TV Summit, organized by BNA / ATLAS, and indeed it was loaded with exactly the kind of indie film royalty a striving young producer might want to meet: New York luminaries such as Richard Lorber, Steve Beer, Josh Braun, Ira Deutchman and many others, as well as some west coast execs like eOne’s John Morayniss, Nick Meyer, and Peter Kaufman. But at a thousand dollars a head to attend, there weren’t too many filmmakers in the room (notable exception, one of Ted’s students at NYU Film School whom Ted got a free pass for and whose short was accepted by Sundance this year). The majority of attendees were lawyers and accountants, which made me laugh when all of the Movie Magic software door prizes were given out to people who clearly weren’t about to produce their own film (I know because mine was one of two hands raised when a panelist asked if anyone had produced a film).

The other “Back to the Future” moment for me was when I asked what the conference hashtag was so that I could tweet about the panels. Not only was I met with a completely blank stare, but it turned out that a hashtag would have done me no good anyway, as there was no wifi and AT&T doesn’t have enough bandwidth in the Marriott Marquis Times Square to access email, let alone tweet. I don’t think that was too much of an issue for anyone else, though: unlike, say, a panel at SXSW where everyone has a laptop/tablet/smartphone out and is littering the social mediasphere at will throughout every presentation, I didn’t see anyone using anything more advanced than a ballpoint pen with which to record the proceedings.

OK, so that set the stage. As to the actual content of the conference, on day one there was a major focus on tax incentives, with Executive Director of the New York State Film & TV office, Pat Kaufman delivering the keynote address. Pat is well loved and for good reason: she reported that already in 2011 there are 82 films, 17 pilots and 23 TV series participating in New York State’s tax credit program with $1.5 Billion in activity, versus $1.4 Billion for all of 2010. (Fun trivia fact about Pat: she is married to Lloyd Kaufman, of Troma Entertainment fame, and has appeared in some of his unique films.)

From Pat’s address we went right into a morning of detailed information on first domestic and then international tax incentive programs. Also present were more than a few state and city film office representatives, including West Virginia, Greater Philadelphia, and Puerto Rico, with a special mention for the extremely charming new Film Commissioner for the Dominican Republic, Ellis Perez.

There were two clear takeaways for anyone sitting through the panels: (1) you’re an idiot if you don’t access tax incentive funding for your movie or TV pilot, to the extent it’s available (not so much for docs); and (2) don’t even think about trying to work your own way through the ever-changing thicket of programs — hire specialists (if you don’t know who, take a look at the speaker list for these panels — they’re all very good at what they do and worth the fees they charge).

The afternoon’s focus was geared towards the financing of films. First thing to note: the presenters were focused on movies that have budgets in the millions of dollars, have established sales agents, etc. Plenty of excellent information was on offer (e.g., Q: Which banks are active in film finance right now? A: Comerica, Chase, City National, Bank of America, Bank Leumi, Barclays, Union Bank), as well as some dry wit (Q: What is the typical role of equity in film finance? A: from Lucie Guernsey of Woodland Bay Capital: “To pull out at the last minute”). The finance panel really got into gear once Roy Salter of the Salter Group financial advisory firm let loose with the gem that if you just want to get something made, go to Europe where there are lots of state funds, ministries and others willing to fund art. If it’s money your after, though, then he and the other panelists have lots of advice.

Salter was actually pretty bullish on films as an investment. He noted that while private equity finance largely went away in the wake of the 2008 financial meltdown, there’s plenty of new investors from Abu Dhabi, India and elsewhere in Asia who are cognizant that movies are not like any other asset category and unlike almost everything else, they have provided net positive returns over the last decade. I don’t think he was talking about the microbudget kind of films that my company and surely those of many of the readers of HopeForFilm make though.

The real shocker for me regarding finance was a trend reported by Tom Leo of Sheppard Mullins: apparently there are numerous scams being attempted with supposed financiers telling producers that they can access a $100 million financial instrument and give the producer $5 million for his or her film … if only the producer can come up with $2.5 million now. A few years ago I published a book called Scamorama, about those Nigerian 419 email scams; I couldn’t believe that sophisticated movie producers were falling for these, so I turned to the person sitting next to me, David Oliver of City National Bank, who confirmed that indeed his firm had received lots of calls about bogus letters of credit in connection with film finance. Moral of the story: if it seems too good to be true…

Some other sage advice from Day One of the conference:

• Established indie producers can be your beard (veteran LA attorney Peter Kaufman, explaining why it’s often advantageous to bring on board the type of producer who can have a “halo effect” on your efforts to get the film made.

• Be generous with talent perks like business class air travel — a few thousand dollars spent on air fares can yield tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars of publicity value if your star shows up for the film festival premiere or similar junket (Wilder Knight, Esq. of Pryor Cashman).

• The only barrier to entry for filmmakers attempting self distribution is getting exhibitors to return calls (Ira Deutchman, who went on to say that’s why theatrical bookers are still so important and that the self distributed films that do well are the ones with defined niche audiences, those that have a thousand “true fans.”)

• Sales agents are more honest now (Jonathan Sachar of Indiefcc.net, who likened some sales agents in the not so distant past to the real estate agent who’ll tell you he can sell your house for two million dollars just to get the listing, when every other broker says it’s worth a million).

• Saying your movie is on Netflix and iTunes is like saying your name’s in the phone book (Ira Deutchman on why theatrical release is still worth pursuing for its subsequent marketing value, even though it may be a loss leader).

[Plenty more zingers like these in the second part of my blog. Thanks for reading part one!]

— Gary Baddeley

Entertainment Culture gets institutionalized. We start doing something for one reason, and it just becomes the way. Often the practice no longer lines up with the actual result. It requires that we step back and look at it for what it really is — but that is a lot easier said than done.

Comparisons often feel a bit stretched, but they still some times help, by providing a bit of distance, to help us recognize where our institutions went wrong. Attorney and Sales Rep George Rush previously shared with us a bit about the sales process and strategy of micro-budget filmmaking. As much as he is passionate about Indie Film, he also has another love, and through that prism offers up a bit of an alternative vision that could provide a nice corrective to the indie institution of film festivals.

As some of you may know, I am a sports nut, specifically, I am a college football fanatic. No matter what the situation is that requires my full 100% focus (at court, doing negotiations, at a romantic dinner, etc.) somewhere in my head I’m jonesing for the smell of fresh cut grass and wondering how my Cal Bears are going to beat juggernaut teams like Stanford and Oregon. Anyhow, as a result of this, I read a lot of sports non-fiction and, I hate to admit this, but most is poorly written and little more than Horatio Alger tales of overcoming the odds. It is like when I read progressive political non-fiction—I already agree with everything—it just needs to be well written for me to enjoy it. Anyhow, political tomes usually seem written by better writers than sports ones (however, one of my favorite pieces of non-fiction ever is Warren St. John’s Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer). So at Sundance this year I read a book called Death to the BCS, which I thought I’d love as the lack of a playoff in college football is beyond non-sensical. So I already agreed with the thesis of the book. Unfortunately, I thought it was poorly written. The opening paragraph made a point of calling the BCS a “cabal,” and from that point forth in the book they would only refer to them as the Cabal—ugh.

Anyhow, the arguments in the book were all one’s I was familiar. For those not familiar with the argument, the BCS makes a lot of money and does not want to change the current system to something more sporting or equitable. They want to keep things as they are because it is in their financial interest. So instead of having a college football playoff, they want to keep college football playing a zillion meaningless bowls, exhibitions really, that in the economic sense only benefit the BCS and the bowl organizers—most college football teams that play in bowl games lose money! Once upon a time, in say the teens and twenties, before college football was organized on national scale, bowl games made sense where a good team from the west coast could play a good team from the Midwest. These games were a real opportunity for what was followed regionally to be national news. However, as college football has become big business, and in the age of ESPN and twitter, these bowl games have changed very little. They make too much money for the organizers for them to push the change, but as an event they are a bizarre anachronism. I’m a Cal fan, and I find it bizarre when I look in their trophy case and see the Emerald Nuts Bowl trophy—can something be anymore meaningless? When Obama was running for president he pointed out how bad college football needed a playoff, and yet these stupid, meaningless bowl games go on! And chumps like me continue to watch them!

So why am I going off about college football when the topic here is independent film? Well, as I read this book at Sundance, it made me realize how similar the college football bowl world was to the world of film festivals. Like college bowl games, I love attending them, but like bowl games, there are more and more of them every year and the whole thing seems like a worn out anachronism.

Once upon a time, film festivals were the only place you could see international and arthouse film. These films were 35mm prints, were unlikely to end up on a Blockbuster shelf, and if that wasn’t enough, the director would be on hand to answer questions—an event! Today, with the internet, video on demand, and Netflix, pretty much every film you read about at Cannes, Sundance, etc., you’ll be able to check out within a year. Film Festivals are still events though—that’s why I still go—I want to hear the cast and crew talk about it. It is still fun as a consumer, much as going to a bowl game is still fun, but what is the point for the filmmaker?

That leads to my main festival gripe: most filmmakers I know end up losing money doing the festival circuit! Sure, some festivals do pay or at least provide assistance for screening fees, shipments, travel, and/or hotel accommodations. And the ones who do this should definitely be applauded. But at the end of the day many of the filmmakers ultimately wind up more indebted than they were before. If the purpose of a festival is to promote film as an artform and support filmmakers, it should not leave the filmmaker more indebted at the end of the process.

If the film festival also acts as a marketplace, like Sundance, then that’s the cost of doing business. If it is a festival that is more of a cultural event (99% of film festivals), what are you getting out of it besides a lot of Stella Artois? I know for young, first time filmmakers, it is good to do the circuit just to meet people, but I hate the fact this is a moneylosing proposition. For some people, just getting it out there is enough, but the core of any film festival is—duh!—the films! If money is to be spent, shouldn’t be to pay a screening fee?

I know how hard it is to get the money to host a film festival can be, but the priority absolutely needs to be taking care of the filmmakers so doing a particular fest does not put them in the red. I know there is some prestige to playing at certain festivals, but I think that prestige without compensation is a red herring. It makes no sense except to prop up some insecure filmmakers.

There are too many film festivals, just like there is too many bowl games. There aren’t enough good films, so a lot of crappy films end up at these festivals, when maybe they have no business doing so—they just didn’t work. Similarly, a 6-6 Central Michigan team has no business being in a bowl game. The point of both is as an exhibition of the best work, and those filmmakers and football teams should not lose money by participating.

So look, as much of a football nut I am, I have the same passion for independent film and film festivals. I love seeing great films with an audience before most the public has. I love the energy in the room at film festivals—seeing Hustle and Flow at Sundance was one of the most transcendent experiences in my life. I just think it is filmmakers who are the ones who make festivals exist, and thus they should be taken care of. And yeah, yeah, yeah, film festival people—I know you’re broke and barely staying afloat. I’m sorry. It doesn’t matter. Filmmakers should be the priority.

To further my analogy, and for the benefit of the small crew who loves independent film and college football, here is my list of bowl games and their corresponding film festival. This is only focused on American fests and American Independents. World Cinema would require another chart (Cannes=the World Cup, Berlin=Euro Championship, etc.), as would genre, documentary, ethnic fests.

Film Festival	Bowl Game	Reason
Sundance	BCS Championship Game/Rose Bowl	This is THE game! Best of the best! The granddaddy of them all!
SXSW	Tostitos Fiesta Bowl*	The brash bowl/fest embracing the new, where everyone eats tortilla chips. Though lacking the reputation of Sundance/Rose Bowl, often a better game.
Tribeca	Capital One Bowl	Throwing a lot of money around guarantees a quality matchup.
Toronto	Orange Bowl	In many ways bigger and more prestigious than anything, but because of local distractions (major world cinema premieres/the Dolphins), may get lost in the shuffle.
Telluride	Cotton Bowl	Prestigious and full of pomp, but to a large degree important because of its past laurels. Nonetheless, a big deal, great lineup—SHOW!
Los Angeles	Sugar Bowl	Great lineup, but always overshadowed by the more glamorous pros around town (Hollywood/Saints).
Hamptons	Las Vegas Bowl	Always a good lineup, but constant begrudgery of rich assholes everywhere.
Maui	Hawaii Bowl	Five more mai tais please. Oh yeah, films, football, blah, blah, blah.
San Francisco	Sun Bowl	One of the oldest, and always a good lineup, just not going to discover a champ. However, a good barometer for future years contenders/directors.
Denver	Holiday Bowl	Always a good lineup, and what a party!
Sarasota	Gator Bowl	Great lineup, great party! A younger set—like a mini Fiesta Bowl/SXSW in Florida!
New York	Liberty Bowl	One of the oldest and prestigious. A great lineup, but these people are serious about/film football. Both seemed organized by Sam the Eagle from the Muppets.
Traverse City	Humanitarian Bowl	Great bowl/film fest started so little guys can have a voice. Sticking it to the man!
Rooftop	Little Caesars Bowl	Outdoor screenings in NY? January football in Detroit? Counterintuitive, but fuck it, it works!
Gen Art	Pinstripe Bowl	OK lineup, but its in NY. They say that’s a big media market.
Mill Valley	New Mexico Bowl	Decent lineup for the Patagonia set.
AFI	TicketCity Bowl	Pretty Good, but AFI/Jerry Jones is ostensibly your host! That means you’re in!

* I should point out that SXSW is different from the Fiesta Bowl is one major way: unlike the Fiesta Bowl, SXSW is well-run and free of scandal.

I’ll stop there as it is too mean to compare shitty festivals with shitty bowl games that really have no reason for existing. I’ll just say there’s a lot of them! The big difference between film fests and bowl games is film fests generally take place in places where there is a critical mass of obnoxious, pretentious, sophisticated identified rich people, whereas bowl games take place where there is a critical mass of obnoxious, drunk, frat guy like rich people. America would be in better shape if these two groups were friends. America would also be in better shape if every film festival made sure that filmmakers didn’t lose a cent by participating in their fest.

But since I love football and independent film, I am forced to accept the system, even if I feel it is broken. Just writing this article gets my excited for both independent film and football. If there was only a way I could combine my two interests. Wait! There is! A documentary I produced, 4th and Goal, which chronicles the lives of six football players for six years as they pursue their goal of playing in the NFL comes out on DVD and VOD on September 20th. If you like football, independent film, or just simply a good story, you should check it out. www.4th-and-goal-movie.com

George Rush is an entertainment attorney and producer’s rep in San Francisco.

Christine Vachon and I have toured the world, preaching the indie gospel. Well, okay, we’ve toured UK & Scandinavia with a stop-over in Amsterdam, but now we’ve succumbed to popular demand and are going to share a good deal of what we know and what we’ve learned in one one day session in NYC on Nov 5th. I hope you can join us.

The press release and info on how to order tickets is below. There’s more to announce about it, but this is a fine start. There’s also a nifty little advert on the left side of this blog. See, look over there. Click it. Order tix while you still can get the early bird discount.

IFP and indieWIRE Presents:
KILLER/HOPE MASTERCLASS
-get your movie made
-make it well, make it great
-get it seen
& survive to do it all over again

Cantor Film Center
36 E 8th St., New York, NY 10003
Saturday, November 5 from 10am until 4pm.

The Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP), the nation’s oldest and largest not-for-profit advocacy organization for independent filmmakers has joined forces with indieWIRE, the leading news, information, and networking site for independent-minded filmmakers, the industry and moviegoers alike, to bring NYC the first ever stateside masterclass with Ted Hope and Christine Vachon, focusing on the practical advice and lessons they’ve learned from 25 years and over 100 films in the indie film business.

The veteran indie producers, whose films have won four Sundance Grand Jury Prizes, Critics’ prizes at Cannes, Emmy Awards, and earned loads of Oscar nominations, have previously shared the insights they’ve gained in an ever-changing field with sold out audiences of filmmakers in the UK and Scandinavia. Now they will be offering their knowledge to their hometown NYC filmmaking community. Cantor Film Center (36 E 8th St., New York, NY 10003) on Saturday, November 5 from 10am until 4pm.

Ted and Christine have discovered and nurtured many young directors. They’ve produced the first features of Todd Haynes, Ang Lee, Rose Troche, Mary Harron, Michel Gondry, this year’s Sundance Directing Prize-winner, Sean Durkin and many, many more. Beyond writing/directing talent, they have also mentored and helped build many top producers and executives.

Hope and Vachon will focus on how to get your movie made, how to make it well and make it great, how to get it seen, and how to survive to do it all over again. And again. And again. And again. The Film industry’s creative and business sectors are at an intersection of great possibility – learn how to tap into and exploit these shifting paradigms.

“Traveling the world with Christine discussing the future of film has been a great experience—we’ve gotten to meet and talk to the folks who will be making the good work and leading the industry in the future” says Hope.

“We’ve learned so much from the participants and the response has be been particularly gratifying – even if the sound of Ted’s voice can be grating” adds Vachon.

Hope and Vachon have established themselves as innovative leaders of the independent film industry and community, touring the world discussing the future of film, and engaging directly with audiences via social media. Both teach in New York University’s graduate film program and write extensively on the state of cinema – Vachon is the author of two Los Angeles Times Best Sellers: A Killer Life: How An Independent Producer Survives Deals And Disasters In Hollywood And Beyond (Simon and Schuster, 2006); and Shooting To Kill: How An Independent Producer Blasts Through The Barriers To Make Movies That Matter (Avon, 1998). Hope is the only active filmmaker with a daily column in one of the film industry’s major trade publications, indieWIRE, and he is recognized by leading social media analytics as one of the most influential people in terms of “independent film.”
In the early 90’s, American Independent Film burst on the media scene with the promise of new visions, new stories, and new approaches. Hope and Vachon were among the first producers to emerge from the pack and are two of the very few still delivering vital and exciting work today. They have produced over 100 films combined and have received some of the industry’s most prestigious honors, each having led companies honored with tributes at the Museum of Modern Art.

The Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP) is the nation’s oldest and largest not-for-profit advocacy organization for independent filmmakers. Since its debut at the 1979 New York Film Festival, IFP has supported the production of over 7,000 films and offered resources to more than 20,000 filmmakers, providing an opportunity for many diverse voices to be heard. IFP believes that independent films enrich the universal language of cinema, seeding the global culture with new ideas, kindling awareness, and fostering activism. The organization championed the early work of pioneering independent filmmakers Charles Burnett, Todd Haynes, Mira Nair, Michael Moore, Joel and Ethan Coen, Kevin Smith, and Todd Solondz. IFP continues to play a vital role in launching first films of many of today’s rising stars on the independent scene including Debra Granik (“Down to the Bone”), Miranda July (“Me, You and Everyone We Know”), and Ryan Fleck & Anna Boden (“Half Nelson”).

indieWIRE is the web’s best take on independent film, offering invaluable news and resources to filmmakers, the latest reviews, interviews, and features for moviegoers, and breaking news and analysis for the film industry. The indieWIRE Blog Network offers smart, opinionated, diverse takes on across multiple aspects of Hollywood, indie film and TV. Winner of the Webby Award for best film website, indieWIRE was lauded as a “must read” by Variety, branded the “online heartbeat of the world’s independent film community” by Forbes and dubbed “best indie crossroads” by film critic Roger Ebert.

Tickets on sale now at: http://killerhope-pr.eventbrite.com
IFP Presents:
KILLER/HOPE MASTERCLASS
-get your movie made
-make it well, make it great
-get it seen
& survive to do it all over again
Cantor Film Center
36 E 8th St., New York, NY 10003
Saturday, November 5 from 10am until 4pm

How often does a distributor truly do a really impressive job making sure that people all over the globe can see an art film? How often does a true indie open globally? How often does a true indie play at film festivals all over the world? I am told that only once in the last ten years has a film played at Sundance, Cannes, Toronto, and New York Film Festivals other than MARTHA MARCEY MAY MARLENE (go ahead and guess what the other was).

MMMM (aka 4M) opens in America 10/21 and follows soon enough every where else. Anyway, since folks have been asking when they can see Sean Durkin’s debut feature, here’s the dope.

Of course this is all highly subject to change, but you might as well mark your calendar no matter where you are.

FESTIVALS
Reyjavik Film Festival

Screening date: 9/23 or 24

CineFest, Hungary

Screening date: 9/23

Warsaw Film Festival

Screening dates TBC, festival dates: 10/7-16

Ghent Film Festival

Screening dates: 10/18 and 10/20

Sao Paolo Film Festival

Participation TBC, Fest dates: 10/20-11/3

London Film Festival + BAFTA Screening

Screening date: 10/21

Bergan Film Festival, Norway

Screening date: 10/24

Hof Film Festival, Germany

Participation TBC, fest dates: 10/25-30

Brisbane Film Festival

Screening dates TBC, festival dates: 11/3-13

Golden Horse Film Festival, Taiwan

Screening dates TBC, festival dates: 11/3-24

Thessaloniki Film Festival

Screening dates TBC, festival dates: 11/4-13

Stockholm Film Festival

Screening date: 11/18

Cameraimage, Poland

Participation TBC, fest dates: 11/26-12/3

Courmayeur Noir Festival

Participation TBC, fest dates: 12/5-11

Theatrical Release Dates
SWEDEN

Release date: 12/22

Tromso Film Festival

Participation TBC, fest dates: 1/17-22

AUSTRALIA

Release date: 1/19

POLAND

Release date: 1/20

SOUTH AFRICA

Release date: 1/27

RUSSIA

Release date: 2/2

UK

Release date: 2/3

GERMANY

Release date: 2/23

SWITZERLAND

Release date: 2/23

SPAIN

Release date: 2/24

BELGIUM

Release date: 2/29

FRANCE

Release date: 2/29

FINLAND

Release date: 3/2

ITALY

Release date: 3/2

NEW ZEALAND

Release date: 3/15

HOLLAND

Release date: 3/29