Thanks to generous support from the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, Working Films is revising and expanding New Faces: Latinos in North Carolina, a multi-media curriculum. This resource for educators models a popular education approach to learning, incorporating independent film clips into lesson plans aimed at 8th-12th grade students, with the goal of combating stereotypes and misinformation about Latinos in North Carolina. The curriculum’s design is also informed by an overarching goal of economic justice for all North Carolinians. The curriculum was originally released in 2007, and implemented in a broader…
We’re often asked by filmmakers, “What makes a good screening guide?” If you want to help hosts organize an intentional event with your film, a screening guide can be great tool for ensuring the planning process runs smoothly and easily. Of course you will want to offer a synopsis of the film, brief character biographies, and some background on the issues so screening hosts can have that information on hand. Here are some tips that will help your guide be an invaluable resource. Include the step-by-step process of planning and…
Before a film launches, we often times host a strategy meeting, or summit, to pull together a group of organizations that will set the direction for the film’s campaign and point us to the upcoming opportunities where the film can help build the movement. A couple weeks ago we hosted a strategy summit for No Impact Man – a highly anticipated book and documentary film about Colin Beavan’s family’s year long experiment in sustainability. We met with leading organizations such as 1Sky, 350, Alliance for Climate Protection, Business Alliance for…
Cinereach, a not-for-profit dedicated to supporting and producing artful films that depict underrepresented perspectives, cross cultural boundaries, and promote dialogue, is currently seeking applicants for its annual Reach Film Fellowship. The prestigious six-month program supports young filmmakers with grants, resources, and industry mentors who help guide their short films through all stages of production. The application deadline is July 15, 2009. Applications and guidelines can be found at http://www.reachfilmfellowship.com. Four winning applicants will be awarded $5,000 and be mentored by an established filmmaker. Fellows also receive production support from sponsors,…
We are excited that our former Ithaca Park Scholar, Jeremy Levine, is heading to SILVERDOCS this week for the World Premiere of a film that he has been working tirelessly on with his filmmaking partner Landon Van Soest. Good Fortune explores how massive, international efforts to alleviate poverty in Africa may be undermining the very communities they aim to benefit. Through intimate portraits of two Kenyans battling to save their homes from large-scale development organizations, the film presents a unique opportunity to experience foreign aid through the people it is…
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…
Arts Engine presents Media That Matters: More than a Festival on Wednesday, June 3, 2009 at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. This year’s festival includes a spectacular line up of 12 jury selected short films (each 12 minutes or less) on issues of social and environmental concern. Exiled in America won Working Films’ Changemaker Award, a prize we bestow annually. This moving piece explores immigration issues in the United States related to detention and deportation from the point of view of five siblings struggling to live…
The Good Pitch North America tour, taking place at the the AFI-Discovery Channel SILVERDOCS Festival on 16 June 2009, is a partnership between the Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation and the Sundance Institute documentary Film Program, generously supported by the Fledgling Fund and us, Working Films. From over 300 applications, eight filmmaking teams have been selected to pitch their films and outreach campaigns to an invited audience, comprising leading national and international NGOs, foundations, broadcasters, campaigners and media in order to maximize the impact of their social-issue documentary projects. Those already…
We know that filmmakers are looking for new ways to think about distribution. We hear it on our consultations, at film festivals and our residencies that we host. We often hear questions like: “Should I consider a non-exclusive agreement with a distributor?”, “How can I use Facebook and YouTube to release my film?”, and of course, “How can I increase the access of my film to organizations who are working on the issues?” These are great questions, and we’re seeing many filmmakers creating new paths and finding innovative solutions to…
We’d like to congratulate filmmaker Marco Williams who has been selected by the Organization of American Historians to receive the 2009 Erik Barnouw Award, which is given annually for outstanding reporting or programming on network or cable television, or in documentary film, concerned with American history, the study of American history, and/or the promotion of history. On Saturday, March 28, OAH President Pete Daniel and President-Elect Elaine Tyler May presented the awards and prizes in Seattle, Washington, during the 102nd Annual Meeting of the Organization. Marco’s latest film, Banished, is…
Recent Comments