Making the Transition: Life (and Blogging) Post Independent Film Week

Well we've managed to wipe the tears from our eyes, soak our feet, and get back to work. Life goes on and we have a lot to prepare for, from the upcoming Gotham Awards to our next Industry Connect.

But first, the obvious question. What happens to the blog now that Independent Film Week has ended? Do we devote all of our items to looking forward (roughly) 358 days toward next year's incarnation? Or do we focus our attention on other IFP programs throughout the year, our intersection with industry trends, independent film landmarks, etc. Why, an obvious question gets an obvious answer. So, in the next few days, we will be transitioning from being the Independent Film Week blog to being the all things IFP blog.

So while we try to brainstorm a new name for the blog, we will leave you with some more press coverage of last week, from the good folks at Film News Briefs, The P.O.V. blog , and The Enzian Blog and The Film Panel Notetaker .

A Fond Farewell to Independent Film Week

And it's over - a week of insightful and funny panels, productive cocktail parties, speed dating meetings between filmmakers and industry, and what is sure to go down in history as one of the most inspiring Pitch Forums ever. As we are all getting the feeling in our legs - and our brain cells - back, I am leaving it to the dedicated and lively Tweeters who helped cover the Week, to communicate what an amazing six days just went by.

studioc Sad #ifpfilmweek is over. Great panelists Great meetings Great People Thank you IFP Narrative Labs. MAKE GREAT MOVIES EVERYONE. best of luck

JustVisionMedia Finished with a great week at #IFPFilmWeek!

fromthehip All the amazing oranizations heresy the Good Pitch make me feel like I need to do MORE in a big way. #ifpfilmweek

bsroszell It was a lot of fun. See you all in Park City!(fingers crossed...)RT @thetested: it's a wrap. it's all just a swell memory now #ifpfilmweek

markwynns misses being at #ifpfilmweek

markwynns, I feel you.

Homemade Jam, Mira Nair, and Learning How to Pay the Bills - Independent Film Week Blasts On

As Independent Film Week dances into its fourth day, our tireless filmmakers, journalists, and industry reps are not only taking meetings, watching works in progress, and enjoying cocktails and sushi, they are also taking the time to blog about all of the action.

Full coverage is at the Filmmaker Magazine Blog and Tweets are here , but here are some teaser excerpts:

"After meetings, hung out at the Project Forum cocktail thingy and debriefed with some IFP doc labbers who I hadn't seen since April. Anna Farrel impressed me to no end by distributing small jars of homemade jam to industry folks. There's a really lovely and lyrical scene in her film, Twelve Ways to Sunday, where one of the characters cooks jam" -- Rebecca Richman Cohen

"There is an opportunity to learn about and take advantage of alternate revenue streams to generate funds, not only for a current project, but the one to follow." - Pamela Cohn

"This felt like a strong set of meetings because these were people who seemed ready and able to do business. Participants were selecting our project out of interest in our project dossier, which we know to be enticing due to its unique concept. These were not assigned meetings." -- Jennifer Phang

luria Mira nair is lovely. Simply lovely. I am smitten. #ifpfilmweek

thetested Aw snap! RT @bsroszell "The Tested had shades of Mean Streets. The director will do big things" #ifpfilmweek

telegraph21 " the web is another artistic instrument" Asiel Norton. well said at #IFPFilmweek

Do follow the full coverage!

Independent Film Week - Follow our Bloggers and Tweeters

Observe the black and white photos of two of the world's most famous, and enduringly successful, independent filmmakers.

Where were these photos taken? Why, Independent Film Weeks of years past (technically, they were then known as the IFP Market). Flash forward to today: There is palpable excitement in the air at IFP's DUMBO headquarters as a couple dozen of us prepare for the 31st annual Independent Film Week, which starts, astonishingly, tomorrow at 10 am! And the web is reflecting this excitement. Starting today, and for the next week, participants of all stripes - from first time filmmakers in the Emerging Narrative section to seasoned producers moderating panels - will be blogging and "Tweeting" about the action.

Already, a few filmmakers participating in The Project Forum have posted about what they are expecting in the coming days. These entries can be found at the Filmmaker Magazine blog. Throughout the week, the following filmmakers, will post at least twice about their experiences:

Kristi Jacobson (HUNGRY IN AMERICA, Spotlight on Documentaries)
Paul Lovelace & Jessica Wolfson, a.k.a. Lost Footage Films (RADIO UNNAMEABLE, Spotlight on Documentaries)
Rebecca Richman Cohen (WAR DON DON, Spotlight on Documentaries)
Jennifer Phang (LOOK FOR WATER, No Borders)
Noah Harlan (FREE IN DEED, No Borders)
Melissa B. Miller (THE TESTED, Emerging Narratives)

We also have a series of Industry Twitterers who will be tracking the action in Tweet-forms. look for the Hash tag #IFPWeek. The first Tweet is from the incomparable Ryan Harrington, who will be wearing two hats during the week - as a conference panelist and Executive Producer in Spotlight on Docs. Make sure to check in daily on this blog, on Twitter, and at Filmmaker Magazine blog. See you at F.I.T.!

P.O.V.'s Yance Ford talks with Independent Film Week programmer extraordinaire Milton Tabbot

Milton Tabbot, who started at IFP as a volunteer in 1995 (that is almost a quarter of a century ago, for those who are counting), is a stable of IFP and in particular, Independent Film Week. As the Senior Programmer, he meticulously and carefully views hundreds of submissions a year. Here, P.O.V.'s Yance Ford, a documentary film programming powerhouse herself, talks to Milton about IFP's evolution, Conference panel picks, and the future of IFP sans fearless leader Michelle Byrd.

More Twinners of the IndieGoGo/Independent Filmmaker Conference Contest Announced!

Here are the lucky winners of the last few days of our Twitter-ific contest. While some are technically what we were asking for (Twitter about your favorite IFP Conference panel session) we are very forgiving people, and creative entries are good.


Day Five(9/4): Ianfischer Want to see who represents panel #indiegogo #IFPFilmweek

Day Six (9/7): monkeyplex #indiegogo #IFPFilmweek L.A. invasion for The Next Wave of Distribution & Unlocking Global Financing. Gotta love the indie red-eye!

Day Seven (9/8): hhwj #indiegogo #IFPFilmweek. Who is A CONVERSATION WITH… (The Truth About Non-Fiction)? Suspense is killing me.

Day Eight (9/9): anneflournoy @Emerging_Artist #IFPFilmweek was where the film was 1st shown and picked up interest which lead directly to Sundance #indiegogo

7 DAYS & 7 TICKETS LEFT! So enter now! The rules are listed here

And to answer hhwj's question -- the CONVERSATION with is R.J. Cutler, director of THE SEPTEMBER ISSUE, the year's most glamorous documentary.

As for the panels chosen by the winners, here are full descriptions and links:

WHO REPRESENTS?: ALL ABOUT AGENTS AND MANAGERS

Leading agents, managers, and lawyers are part of your resource team. How can they best guide your project from pre-production, through sales and distribution?

Moderators:
Jamin O’Brien, Producer - Worldview Entertainment LLC
Mary Jane Skalski, Producer - Next Wednesday

Panelists:
Josh Blum, Manager - Washington Squares Pictures
Kevin Iwashima, Sales Agent - IP Advisors
Dana O'Keefe, Sales Agent - Cinetic Media
Brad Petrigala, Talent Agent - Brillstein-Gray Partners

THE NEXT WAVE OF DISTRIBUTION

Join a panel of filmmakers, distributors and film exhibitionist who are thinking outside the box about new ways of getting films out to audiences. Find out how this “next wave” is effectively implementing their cutting edge ideas from new models in exhibition to varied forms of DIY and digital distribution.

Moderator:
Eugene Hernandez, Editor - IndieWire

Panelists:
Jake Abraham, Producer - Lovely By Surprise
Orly Ravid, Partner – New American Vision
Todd Sklar, Founder – Range Life Entertainment

and

UNLOCKING GLOBAL FINANCING OPPORTUNITIES

How do you begin to navigate financing opportunities within the international marketplace for your film? Do pre-sales exist anymore? Learn from industry experts how American independents are taking steps to secure financing within and outside our borders.

Panelists:
Dylan Leiner, Executive VP of Acquisitions & Production - Sony Pictures Classics
Charlotte Mickie, President, International Sales - Entertainment One
Michael Ryan, Producer/Journalist - Greyshack Films - Life During Wartime
Himesh Kar - New Cinema Fund, UK Film Council

Crowd Sourcing - Here, There, and Everywhere

Ondi Timoner's extremely relevant documentary WE LIVE IN PUBLIC, about the internet pioneer Josh Harris, who basically predicted over 15 years ago that we would all be walking around ignoring each other while updating our Facebook status via our Blackberries, opened in New York last week.

If you saw the film, and you still aren't convinced that we do in fact, live in the "public" that is the virtual webosphere, then take this humorous piece from The Onion, mocking the panic people felt when Google went down for a couple of hours. I for one was at an internet cafe, laptop in hand, having a business meeting that centered entirely around Google Docs. And while my colleague and I tried to figure out what was wrong, I got several emails about "Google being down" and heard several conversations around me about it as well.

Now, how is this relevant to the Independent Film Week, in which human interaction and networking is the centerpiece? Well, one of the panels that is generating the most buzz is called CROWD SOURCING: BUILDING FANS, BLOGGERS, AND PRESS ALLIES. Moderated by Ingrid Kopp, director of the online filmmaker networking organization, Shooting People, the panel discusses ways of building audience via the plethora of Internet tools that are available.

The formal description: "From the start of a new project, filmmakers are bringing in audiences, press, fans, and friends to help shape their content and build word-of-mouth. Find out how to increase and retain viewers using new technology and strategic web building – and why doing so sooner rather than later is critical to getting your latest project noticed."

In this difficult financial climate, internet outreach and promotion has become essential in getting a eyeballs on a film. In short "eyeballs on a laptop" is the new "butts in seats" making this upcoming panel is pretty much essential viewing.

For more information and tickets to the panel: go here.

The Winners So far!

Congrats to the lucky winners (or "twinners" as the dedicated Tweeters would call it) No wonder it's called twitter; it's so twee!
Over at the IndieGoGo blog the team is working hard to pick daily winners. These are the awarded thus far and their winning entries.

TWINNERS:

Day One (8/31) : comike011 ART HOUSE & ALTERNATIVE VENUE PROGRAMMING looks good #indiegogo #IFPFilmweek

Day Two (9/1): erincrum #IFPFilmweek #indiegogo Also, want to see this panel: PAYING THE BILLS – SUSTAINING YOUR FILM CAREER

Day Three (9/2): MalikMcNish #indiegogo #IFPFilmweek I can't wait to attend the FRESH FUNDING: MODERN IDEAS FOR DOC FINANCING panel

12 DAYS & 12 TICKETS LEFT! So enter now. Again, to enter:

1. Twitter about your favorite IFP Conference panel session
2. Include both #indiegogo and #IFPFilmweek in your tweets
3. No limit on number of tweets per twitterer per day (no bots please :)

Here are the descriptions of the panels the winners are most exciting to see.

ART HOUSE AND ALTERNATIVE VENUE PROGRAMMING
As audiences for films become more segmented, how can filmmakers work directly with art house and alternative venue programmers to showcase their latest content and bring audiences back to the theatres? This session will bring together DIY filmmakers and programmers to discuss what works best to market, position, and program independent films in art house theatres and alternative venues, and how to maximize financial impact for both parties.

Moderators:
Josh Braun, Sales Agent - Submarine Entertainment
Heather Winters, Producer - Studio On Hudson

Panelists:
Josh Green, VP Distribution - Emerging Pictures
Ned Hinkle, Creative Director - Brattle Theater, Boston
Mark Elijah Rosenberg, Artistic Director - Rooftop Films


PAYING THE BILLS: SUSTAINING YOUR FILM CAREER

How do you make a living as an independent filmmaker? Hear talented filmmakers in different levels of their careers discuss their day jobs, and how they carve out time and money to make their personal work.

Moderator:
Esther Robinson,Filmmaker/Journalist - Filmmaker Magazine

Panelists:
Tze Chun, Filmmaker - Children of Invention
Jesse Epstein, Filmmaker - Wet Dreams and False Images
Ross Kauffman, Filmmaker - Born Into Brothels
Reva Goldberg, Communications/ Special Projects - Cinereach

FRESH FUNDING: MODERN IDEAS FOR DOC FINANCING

How do you navigate the array of options to fund your next non-fiction project? Learn the big picture of documentary financing and current sales trends to keep your film on track from start to completion.

Moderator:
Louise Rosen, Agent - Louise Rosen LTD

Panelists:
Peter Broderick, President - Paradigm Consulting
Katy Chevigny, Executive Director - Arts Engine Etc.
Wendy Ettinger, Co-Founder - Chicken & Egg Pictures
Julie Goldman, Partner - Cactus Three Films
Ryan Harrington, Consultant - Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund