CENTER FOR INDEPENDENT DOCUMENTARY
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Lunch + Learn Webinar: 'Grassroots Distribution'
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Join us for a conversation with Emmy-nominated filmmaker, Laurel Chiten (Blind Dog Films) who will be discussing her experiences with grassroots-driven distribution.
Laurel's most recent film, 'Just One Drop', has seen unbelievable success with 100+ Cinema On Demand screenings and over 200 community screenings worldwide. This was all done with no marketing budget, no ads, no publicist and no traditional press, but through utilizing innovative and consistent digital marketing, and building and sustaining her "tribe". During this session, she will share some of her knowledge to help you maximize your reach, impact and revenue. Valuable for any phase of the filmmaking process, from concept, to fundraising to distribution. Watch a video
here
.
The webinar will take place on Thursday, May 31st at 12pm ET.
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Kopkind CID Film Camp:
Applications Due June 1st
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Join us to recharge your creative battery with a special brand of radical relaxation: great films, great food and deep discussions on the art, politics and plain fun of filmmaking.
Plan on bringing 20 minutes of your work to share - either a work-in-progress or one that you’ve recently completed - for brainstorming, problem solving, and deep discussion. The seminars are organized by Susi Walsh, Executive Director of CID, and John Scagliotti, Emmy Award-winning documentary producer. Guest speakers will join throughout the week.
Learn more on how to apply
here
.
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Mass Production Coalition's
PA Workshop
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This workshop is a unique opportunity for new PAs starting out, as well as those already working in the field, to hone their skill set, gain career insights, and make valuable connections.
Saturday, May 5th @ National Boston
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CID FILM PRODUCTION UPDATES
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Broadcast Premiere of 'Dawnland' on Independent Lens
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A note from the filmmaker, Adam Mazo:
BIG NEWS! We're thrilled to announce the broadcast premiere of
DAWNLAND
will be on Independent Lens on PBS! Independent Lens is an Emmy® Award-winning weekly series airing on PBS Monday nights at 10:00 PM. We promise to update you as soon as we learn the airdate, which will be during the 2018-19 season.
Thanks to the Boston Globe for the
front page story
on Dawnland film participant Dawn Neptune Adams. We're grateful to Dawn for sharing her story in this way, and thrilled to see the film described as "riveting".
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'Finding Kukan' PBS Broadcast Premiere
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We are excited to announce that
FINDING KUKAN
will be having its PBS broadcast premiere on May 8th at 8pm ET on America ReFramed on PBS World Channel. Read more
here
.
The film is also streaming on
Kanopy
and available for educational distribution through
New Day Films
.
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'The Youth and Gender Media Project' in CA
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THE YOUTH AND GENDER MEDIA PROJECT
has been screening their films to enthusiastic audiences all over California this Spring. Johanna Clearwater has been accompanying director and educator Jonathan Skurnik on many of these screenings, wowing audiences with her wisdom and poise.
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'Circle Up' Screening at MFA Boston
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Julie Mallozzi’s film
CIRCLE UP
will screen at the Museum of Fine Arts May 9-13, including a special
Mother’s Day weekend event
Saturday, May 12 at 3pm with filmmaker and subjects.
The film tells the story of a group of Boston mothers seeking true justice for their murdered sons – justice that involves not revenge and mass incarceration but forgiveness, accountability, and community healing.
Other screenings can be found
here
.
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'Finding The Gold Within' - Seven Years Later
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Filmmaker Karina Epperlein flew the protagonists of
FINDING THE GOLD WITHIN
- Brandyn, Imani, Stacee, Shawntrail, Darius - to Berkeley for a reunion writing workshop on April 23-26. Together they reflected on the effects that Alchemy Inc. and the seven year journey the film has had on their lives. They skyped with Alchemy founder and director, Kwame Scruggs, and the sixth protagonist, Tyler, who could not make it.
The purpose of the reunion was to see how the work - Alchemy, the film, the outreach and traveling, their relationships - is still living and growing. The intensive days of looking back and envisioning forward brought forth deep and stimulating conversations among them and they did not shy away from the darker aspects of life. The topics they shared in a final presentation Sunday afternoon in Karina’s living room initiated another bigger circle of insights, inspiration, delight, tears, and laughter.
From introspection, to sharing with others, they felt the powerful ripple effects of their 7
year collaboration, and they hope to build on this in the future. In the above image you see
the protagonists, on the right, leading the discussion with a cross-generational and
multi-cultural audience of 30 people, ranging from 17 to 82 years in age.
'Finding the Gold Within' is available for streaming through
GOLD Streaming
.
Their
GOLD Facebook
continues to have updates on the protagonists and Alchemy.
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Kopkind CID Film Camp Success Stories
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Lisa D'Apolito's film,
LOVE, GILDA
, opened the Tribeca Film Festival on April 18th to rave
reviews
. Lisa had attended Kopkind CID Film Camp in 2014 and had workshopped the film then. Congratulations, Lisa!
Savanna Washington's film,
PLAYING FRISBEE IN NORTH KOREA
has just been accepted into
Hot Docs Doc Shop
under the category, 'Hot Docs Recommends'. Savanna says, "It was because of my time at CID's filmmaker camp a couple of years ago that I got the feedback I needed to make significant changes to the film that got us to where we are now." Congrats, Savanna!
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'Paternal Rites' in Germany & Canada
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'Keepers Of The Light' This Fall on WGBH
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A note from the filmmaker, Liz Witham:
I am thrilled to announce that our documentary
KEEPERS OF THE LIGHT
will premiere this fall on WGBH. We will also be announcing our festival/theatrical premiere screenings soon. We are still seeking funding for finishing expenses such as color correction, sound mix, and composer. If you would like to support this project, please email me at
[email protected]
. We have great broadcast underwriting opportunities available!
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'Minister of Loneliness' On The Search for Subjects
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Producer Joseph Applebaum and director Stu Maddux have embarked on their search for subjects for their latest feature-length offering,
MINISTER OF LONELINESS
. The documentary explores the growing epidemic of chronic loneliness around the world caused by a perfect storm of changes in society. Of particular interest to the filmmakers are young people affected by technology, new mothers, and people aging with HIV. An estimated 49 million Americans are believed to suffer from the effects of loneliness and that number is growing at an alarming rate. There is now a body of medical evidence that suggests feeling lonely during much of the week is as dangerous to your health as smoking or obesity. The filmmakers (
The Clowder Group
) have begun approaching NGOs,
potential strategic partners
, and corporate sponsorship in the US, UK and Japan. Stay tuned!
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Seth Fein, Director of 'Our Neighborhood', featured in
Jump Cut
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Seth Fein, director of
OUR NEIGHBORHOOD
, was featured this month in
Jump Cut.
His film looks at the US government's TV propaganda in Latin America in the 1960s.
You can check out the full article
here
.
Seth will be holding a fundraiser for his film in Queens, NY in June - keep an eye out for more details in next month's newsletter!
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'Kū Kanaka/Stand Tall' to Premiere on PBS World Channel
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Marlene Booth's new film
KU KANAKA/STAND TALL
will premiere on the PBS World Channel on Monday, May 7th at 9pm ET/8pm CT.
The film follows Terry Young, who in August of 1969 at 15 years old, took a dive from the rock wall perch where he and his friends were messing around, hit his head on sand in the shallow waters and in one split second, became a quadriplegic. Paralyzed from the neck down with only limited use of his hands and arms, he nonetheless graduated high school, college and as a PhD; competed as a wheelchair athlete; got arrested for the cause of Hawaiian sovereignty; and pioneered as a professor in the field of Hawaiian Studies.
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SPOTLIGHT:
Beyond The Duplex Planet
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We are excited to share a new project that has recently taken on CID as their fiscal sponsor.
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BEYOND THE DUPLEX PLANET
A Film By Beth Harrington
A film by
Beth Harrington
, Emmy-nominated director of 'The Winding Stream',
BEYOND THE DUPLEX PLANET
is a feature documentary-in-progress about artist David Greenberger and his unconventional work with senior citizens. In 1979, fresh out of art school, Greenberger took a job as activities director at the Duplex Nursing Home in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts. He began conducting quirky interviews with the home’s senior citizens, rejecting a pat oral history approach in favor of questions that would spark engagement: "Which do you prefer – coffee or meat?" “Why do people spit?” “What do you think George Washington’s voice sounded like?” and “What is embarrassment?” The result of this was The Duplex Planet, an early ‘zine, complete with excerpts from the interviews, as well as offbeat music reviews and poems, unorthodox illustrations and graphics, all by the residents themselves. Over time this material has become the basis for spoken word shows, podcasts, graphic novels and numerous albums, many of these projects featuring well-known artists. Champions and/or collaborators of Greenberger and his senior colleagues include people like magicians Penn & Teller, cartoonists Daniel Clowes and Lynda Barry, musicians Dave Alvin, Bill Frisell, Peter Buck (REM), David Hidalgo and Louie Perez (Los Lobos), pop artist Ed Ruscha, actors Lili Taylor and Martin Mull, and legions of other fans. Greenberger’s work interviewing seniors continues to this day. Beyond the Duplex Planet explores notions of aging and its intersection with art and community. It’s also a revealing look at the life of an artist devoted to documenting the elderly who is himself moving into his senior years.
Learn more and contribute
here
.
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FEATURED RESOURCE OF THE MONTH
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"Exposure: A Guide To Exhibition, Distribution & Marketing for Filmmakers and Artists"
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A brand new comprehensive guide on short film distribution and festival strategy.
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We are grateful for the generous support of the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.
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Center For Independent Documentary | 1-888-220-0918 | www.documentaries.org
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