A Series For Filmmakers: Adapting to a Time of Change
Description
Historically, independent filmmakers have aimed for screenings at film festivals to position their film with audiences and distributors. Over the past decade, they have looked to major streaming platforms to reach those audiences and earn revenue, and sometimes trade certain (but small) deals with boutique distributors or consultants for the chance at securing a rare, big sale on the global stage. For a few indies, festivals and streaming are gambles that pay off. But for a large majority, this high-- stakes game leaves filmmakers discouraged--and their films on the proverbial shelf.
Adapting to a Time of Change is a three part series designed for independent filmmakers at a time of uncertainty in the marketplace for films. Purchase a package to join us at all three events, or purchase tickets individually.
Each event will be recorded & shared with registrants after the session. Each recording will be available for viewing for up to 30 days. You will receive an email about how to access each webinar before the event. You may attend using a Mac or PC computer (with speakers), phone, smartphone, or tablet. Strong wifi or hard-wired Internet connection is preferred. A recording will not be available for purchase after registration closes and tickets are non-refundable.
Thursday, September 28, 2023, 6:00 - 7:30 PM ET, Zoom Meeting
Thursday, October 19, 2023, 6:00 - 7:30 PM ET, Zoom Webinar
Thursday, October 26, 2023, 6:00 - 7:30 PM ET, Zoom Webinar
Event Registration
Series cost: $45 for NYFA-affiliated artists (Fiscally Sponsored, NYC Women's Fund, NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellows, Immigrant Artist Mentoring Program artists) and $60 for the general public. Click here to register for the three-part series.
Single ticket cost: $20 for NYFA-affiliated artists (Fiscally Sponsored, NYC Women's Fund, NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellows, Immigrant Artist Mentoring Program artists) and $25 for the general public. Individual tickets are available for purchase under each session description.
Every Screening Counts: Strategies for Showing Your Film at Festivals and Indie Venues
Presented by Ruth Somalo
Some festivals and venues cater to wide interests and general audiences while others focus on specific form or content, or attract a particular demographic. The best screening opportunities for a film depends on many factors.
In this session, we will discuss ways of finding your audience through festivals and screenings at independent venues, how to expand the possibilities of the project beyond the screening, and how to establish connections with curators and programmers to maximize your chances of doing it all over again with your next film. Somalo will share her experience and advice as a festival programmer, independent curator and filmmaker herself.
When: Thursday, October 26, 2023, 6:00 - 7:30 PM ET
Audience: All filmmakers, especially those whose films may be too niche, specialized, or experimental for traditional festivals and exhibitors.
Single ticket cost: $20 for NYFA-affiliated artists (Fiscally Sponsored, NYC Women's Fund, NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellows, Immigrant Artist Mentoring Program artists) and $25 for the general public.
Questions
Email: sponsorship@nyfa.org
Recording: Each webinar will be recorded and shared with all previously-registered participants after the session concludes. The recording will be available for viewing up to 30 days after the scheduled date and will not be available for download. Recordings of each event will not be available for purchase after the event registration closes.
Past Events
SINK or SWIM: What Documentary Filmmakers Need to Know to Survive and Thrive
Presented by Peter Broderick
Peter Broderick, one of the world’s leading distribution strategists, will provide an invaluable overview of unprecedented opportunities for documentary filmmakers in the New World of Distribution. He will define, illustrate, and rate each opportunity.
While things have gone from bad to worse in the Old World of Distribution, this deep decline is outweighed by the good news in the New World, where filmmakers are connecting with audiences directly around the world. They have taken control of their distribution and are no longer dependent on gatekeepers and middlemen.
Learn how these exciting new opportunities can empower you to retain control of your distribution and execute a proactive, pragmatic distribution strategy. The days of magical thinking are over!
When: Thursday, September 28, 2023, 6:00 - 7:30 PM ET
Audience: Filmmakers who are making, have made, or are considering making a documentary.
Single ticket cost: $20 for NYFA-affiliated artists (Fiscally Sponsored, NYC Women's Fund, NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellows, Immigrant Artist Mentoring Program artists) and $25 for the general public.
Beyond Streaming: Distribution, Social Impact, and the Power of Grassroots Audiences
Presented by Caitlin Boyle
There are more dynamic, rewarding, and remunerative pathways to distribution than selling your film to a streamer, or waiting for a juicy commercial deal that may never materialize. Impact-driven distribution executed through the support of nonprofits, public libraries, grassroots networks, activists, educators, and local film champions is not only possible...it's also a practical, economical pathway for many documentary film teams.
In this webinar, grassroots distribution expert Caitlin Boyle will chart the possibilities and logistics of grassroots and community distribution. Topics include integrating social impact with audience-building and viewership, coordinating impact with traditional commercial distribution, identifying pathways for earning revenue through public screenings, and engaging local audiences at the heart of the film's mission and message.
When: Thursday, October 19, 2023, 6:00 - 7:30 PM ET
Audience: Documentary filmmakers.
Single ticket cost: $20 for NYFA-affiliated artists (Fiscally Sponsored, NYC Women's Fund, NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellows, Immigrant Artist Mentoring Program artists) and $25 for the general public.
------
Presenter Bios
Peter Broderick is one of the world’s leading Distribution Strategists. He spearheads the distribution of exceptional documentary films and has consulted on over 1,900 films around the world. As President of Paradigm Consulting, he helps filmmakers and media companies
maximize distribution, audiences, and revenues. Broderick specializes in state-of-the-art strategies, including new approaches to global distribution.
Broderick was President of Next Wave Films, which supplied finishing funds and other support to filmmakers from the US and abroad. He helped launch the careers of directors including Christopher Nolan and Amir Bar-Lev.
A key player in the growth of the ultra-low budget feature movement, Broderick became one of the most influential advocates of digital moviemaking. Now focused on the revolution in film distribution, Broderick gives keynotes and presentations internationally including at film festivals including Cannes, Sundance, Toronto, and International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA).
Broderick publishes The Distribution Bulletin about the latest in independent film distribution and marketing, which has over 9,400 subscribers worldwide. To subscribe and read his articles, visit www.peterbroderick.com.
Broderick has written for The New York Times, The Times of London, The Economist, and Scientific American. He is a graduate of Brown University, Cambridge University, and Yale Law School.
Caitlyn Boyle is specialist in navigating both commercial and grassroots distribution for documentary filmmakers, Boyle has worked with more than 450 independent production teams, brands, distributors, and advocacy organizations, including Together Films, DOC NYC, Cinereach, Odyssey Impact, Level Forward, Sundance Institute, NEON, Magnolia Films, Patagonia, Timberland, The Climate Pledge, and the Center for Storytelling and Narrative Change at Auburn Seminary.
Boyle’s work has included roles as both Director of Filmmaker Development and Director of Industry at DOC NYC, America's largest documentary film festival, where she launched the festival’s first online workshop series and led its inaugural Documentary New Leaders program.
For 10 years, Boyle also served as Executive Director of Film Sprout, a boutique firm she founded with the mission to broaden the audience and impact of documentary film through community-driven and grassroots networks. In this role, Boyle pioneered the strategic exhibition of films in local settings, creating a new model for distribution that supported the financial goals of filmmakers while advancing the work of grassroots movements.
Ruth Somalo is a Spanish curator, filmmaker, and researcher based in New York. She is currently a Senior Programmer at DOC NYC, DocumentaMadrid, and The Architecture and Design Film Festival. She was formerly co-director of Impugning Impunity Human Rights Film Festival. As an independent curator, she is interested in the “poetics of fragility” and reclaiming a non judgmental non anthropocentric space for emotions.
Some of her independent programs include "The affection for small things” (Cineteca de Madrid); "Filming One’s own Ghosts,” “Holy Fluids and Absent Wounds,” “Queer Utopias,” (Union Docs); and the Flaherty NYC Series “Broken Senses” (Anthology Film Archives). She currently serves as the chair of the Programming Committee of the Board of Trustees of the Flaherty Seminar and was its President for three years.
Somalo also works as a mentor and seminar Instructor at UnionDocs Center for Documentary Art, and often works as advisor of non fiction projects and guest lecturer at academic institutions. As a filmmaker, she founded Horns and Tails Productions in 2005 and her feature and short films have been shown in theaters, festivals, and museums internationally.
------
By registering for this event, you acknowledge that your email address will be added to the NYFA mailing list to receive NYFA's free bi-weekly e-newsletter, NYFA News. The newsletter features news about programs and events that are free and open to the public and professional development and awards opportunities for artists. You can unsubscribe from this list at any time.
The New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) was established in 1971 to empower artists at critical stages in their creative lives. Today, the nonprofit organization’s programs and services are far-reaching and are rooted in a wealth of physical and online resources. This program is part of NYFA Fiscal Sponsorship, which increases funding opportunities for individual artists and emerging arts organizations in all disciplines by allowing them to raise funds using NYFA's tax-exempt status as a 501(c)(3)-classified organization.
Image: From Celmentina Ojie and Orire Nwani (NYC Women's Fund Fiction Feature '23)'s "Love in Seclusion" (working title); Tope Olowoniyan (lead actress), Efa Iwara (lead actor), and Adebowale Raji (DP
