You can’t just want your film to be a powerful tool for creating social change.

YOU HAVE TO ENSURE IT!

Working Films is accepting applications for the first annual Fledgling Fund and Chicken & Egg Pictures Grantee Residency to be held in the beautiful Hudson Valley at the LifeBridge Sanctuary Retreat Center, August 12-15, 2009. Eight filmmakers will be selected to participate in this interactive retreat focused on the nuts & bolts of audience and community engagement campaigning for non-fiction films. This residency is for Chicken & Egg and Fledgling Fund grantees only.

Working Films will guide a select group of grantees from these two organizations as they create and/or refine audience engagement plans for their non-fiction media and film projects. Linking the documentaries to organizations committed to progressive social change will be a key component of the residency.

Over the course of the workshop Working Films’ staff, together with invited experts in the field of community engagement, will cover topics such as:

· Identifying and reaching out to potential partners (community allies and non-profit organizations)

· Developing support materials such as screening guides and activist toolkits

· Fundraising for outreach and community engagement

· Pitching a project or campaign at a public forum

· Creating DVD extras as supplemental tools for social movements

· Using social networking and online tools to increase the impact of films and campaigns

· Using and leveraging traditional distribution venues (film festival circuit, television broadcast, theatrical and/or educational sales) in new ways that are linked to a goal driven campaign

· Identifying & using metrics to assess a project’s social impact

In addition to rigorous work as a group, this retreat will include down time to allow participants to rest and renew their energy. This will include yoga and opportunities for outdoor exercise in this beautiful setting.

This gathering will be modeled on Working Films’ unique residency, The Content + Intent Documentary Institute, which has been held annually at MASS MoCA in North Adams, M.A. for the past five years. Through the participation of filmmakers from around the country, the residency has evolved into a powerful model for interactive education – helping dozens of filmmakers strategize and create audience engagement plans that have had concrete impact.  Because of our commitment to impact and the success of the residency model, The Fledgling Fund and Chicken & Egg Pictures are collaborating with Working Films to offer a similar experience to our grantees.

We look forward to receiving your application!

Submission Process: Please submit the application form to Anna Lee at Working Films (alee [at] workingfilms.org)

Application Deadline: June 24, 2009, 11:59 p.m. EST

Costs: Round-trip travel to residency. All other costs are covered by The Fledging Fund and Chicken & Egg Pictures.

Food: All meals provided and prepared by a fantastic organic caterer

Selection of participating films will be based on the following:

· Where the project is in its process and how this intensive week could help push the film and/or campaign forward.

· How the collection of films fit together as a unit, including:  themes, production phase, type of proposed community engagement campaign, representation of different kinds of engagement.

· How the film and / or campaign is linked to external pressures, deadlines and opportunities (e.g. current policy efforts, national and international days of action, anniversaries, and ongoing national campaigns.)

Feedback from past participants of the Working Films Content + Intent Documentary Institute at MASS MoCA.

“We definitely left Mass MOCA feeling like we had a ‘plan’ and lots of great ideas to move forward both outreach and partnership wise, but also in our case, content & edit wise.  I’m excited to say that these will be a simultaneous process for us.”

“I wanted to thank you so much for an amazing experience at Mass MoCA. You were wise, witty and most of all, unflappable! I learned so much from the collective wisdom and knowledge of the group. I also came away feeling energized and extremely well-supported. The work that you do is amazing and truly important.”

Tags: chicken & egg pictures, filmmakers, fledgling fund, residency

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 28th, 2009 at 7:53 am and is filed under Events, Film and Activism. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.