IFP's Script to Screen Day Two Twinner Announced

The lucky winner of the Script to Screen Conference pass is Jae Choe. Jae will get to ask the following tweeted question to writer Peter Hedges (WHAT'S EATING GILBERT GRAPE?, ABOUT A BOY, PIECES OF APRIL) in person.

#IFPS2S Do you make a concerted effort to avoid being pigeonholed or build on what got you noticed a la genre or subject matter?

For more information about the contest, read the previous blog post.

To buy tickets and find out more about the Conference: click here.

First Day's SCRIPT TO SCREEN Winner Announced Below!

As promised, IFP is selecting one lucky Tweeter/winner (Twinner) to attend the upcoming Script to Screen Conference in person, and ask Pete Hedges a question. The lucky winner of yesterday's incarnation (the contest lasts for 3 days) is: circlesoffire. According to Twitter, this is one Emily Millay Haddad . The winning question:

circlesoffire: @ifpfilm How do we stay flexible as writers for screens as small as your thumb and as big as a palace? #IFPS2S

Again, to win a pass:

Read about the panel:
Workshop #2: Now What? Sustaining A Screenwriting Career
You’ve found success by winning a screenwriting contest, selling your first script, finding representation or even making your first film – but now what? How do you leverage this success and continue to sustain a career as a writer or writer/director? What are the steps to take to ensure you get your next project off the ground and continue to stand out in an increasingly competitive creative environment?

Moderated by Adam Brooks, Writer,DEFINITELY, MAYBE; BRIDGET JONES: THE EDGE OF REASON; Featuring Peter Hedges, WHAT'S EATING GILBERT GRAPE?, ABOUT A BOY, PIECES OF APRIL

2. On March 10th, March 11th, and March 12th - Tweet Your Question

Tweet your question for Peter Hedges at IFP's Twitter Page.

Make sure to include hashtag #IFPS2S.

3. See if you've won and attend the Conference
A winner will be picked and blogged about each day at The Independent Filmmaker Project Blog. The winner will win a weekend pass to the Conference, and get to ask their question in person!

Saturday and Sunday
March 20th and 21st at 92Y Tribeca (200 Hudson Street)

For more information and to buy tickets, click here.

IFP Joins Forces with Shooting People and NYWIFT for first ever U.S. Delegation to Hot Docs

IFP is delighted to announce that, together with our partner organizations NYWIFT and Shooting People, we are helming the first-ever U.S. Delegation to Hot Docs, North America's largest documentary film festival. For a huge $400 off the normal price, our members who choose to attend will gain full access to the Toronto Documentary Forum (May 5 & 6) , International Co-Production Day (May 3) , and be featured in the Digital Doc Shop market.

ONLY MEMBERS OF IFP, SHOOTING PEOPLE, and NYWIFT CAN TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS HISTORIC OFFER.


Additionally, the delegation will get access to the rest of the festival: all 255 screenings, the Doc Shop digital market screening library, all Hot Docs Conference sessions and programmes, including Hot Docs Talks, Kickstart panels, CoffeeTalks and Micro Meetings, The annual Hot Docs Awards Presentation, a full roster of parties and receptions, and much more more. The delegates will join the ranks of over 1,900 registered documentary professionals from more than 25 countries, over 300 international broadcasters, film foundation representatives and acquisitions executives representing the world’s key broadcast markets, and over 400 accredited media representatives.

This is not only an exciting opportunity for all of our nonfiction producing members, but also a historic one.

The offer for the very discounted rate of $577.00 Canadian dollars, ends NEXT TUESDAY, March 16th. Don't miss an incredible opportunity! Read more about all eight of the delegations here. For more info on how to buy your discounted pass, click here.

IFP Alum Wins Oscar, and Unlikely Kanye West-style Drama ensues!

When Roger Ross Williams's documentary film MUSIC BY PRUDENCE (an alumnus of Independent Film Week's Spotlight on Documentaries), was announced as the Winner of the Academy Award for "Best Documentary Short", my expectations were for a suitably humble and hopefully short acceptance speech. Boy was I - and the dozens of people I watched with at DCTV's firehouse headquarters in Chinatown - surprised. Just a couple of seconds into William's grateful speech, he was rudely interrupted and completely overtaken by a loud woman with a very large sense of entitlement. It took only a few minutes for the Kanye West comparisons to begin, and just a few more for Salon.com to get to the bottom of the brouhaha.

We at IFP have nothing but congratulations for Williams and his film. And Williams has done nothing but return the love. Check out his testimonial about IFP on our new homepage. He writes: "When I boarded a plane two years ago, headed for Zimbabwe armed with nothing more than a camera, I never thought it would lead me to an Academy Award nomination. The 2008 Independent Film Week – Spotlight on Documentaries section and IFP’s Fiscal Sponsorship program helped get me there by providing the concrete support and the connections I needed to get my funding in place."

Free Financial Advice for Filmmakers Tomorrow!

I was alerted to this incredible free opportunity by Esther Robinson, founder of ArtHome and filmmaker extraordinaire. Since most of us HAVE used credit cards to fund a project (or even our rent), this is the perfect opportunity to start the steps of reigning in one's financial chaos.

Here's the blurb: Have you used credit cards to fund a project and can’t seem to pay them down? Are you looking for free, objective, one-on-one financial advice? Join the Department of Cultural Affairs and Department of Consumer Affairs Office of Financial Empowerment for a day of FREE one-on-one financial counseling and workshops designed to help working artists and arts administrators in all disciplines, as well as independent workers reduce debt and manage credit. Details are here.

It takes place tomorrow, March 6th from between 12-5 pm at the Dwyer Cultural Center. 258 St. Nicholas Avenue (at 123rd Street)

IFP Alum Kim Reed Blogs about PRODIGAL SON's opening day!

It’s hard to describe the anxiety surrounding the opening day of a film’s theatrical release. After three years of making PRODIGAL SONS, where so many elements are in your control, or at least within your ability to respond to surprises, on opening day there are so many things out of your control — the dark science of ads, the slippery impact of media coverage, the Wild West of reviews.


Then you wake up on opening day and look out the window to see the biggest snowflakes you’ve ever seen, and they’re piling up into the fourth largest snowstorm in New York City history.

It’s probably good that we didn’t know at the beginning how bad the storm would be. We had too much work to do, including many calls to Delta airlines to get my mother Carol and aunt Kathy, two subjects of PRODIGAL SONS, into town for the premiere and Q&A sessions.

We were reassured by a NY Times Critics’ Pick, a New York Magazine Critics’ Pick, and a glimpse at the script of At The Movies (the Ebert “Thumbs Up” show) that told us we’d get “See It!” exhortations from A.O. Scott and Michael Phillips. And Outreach Producer Pamela Cohn had lined up great opening day co-hosts (including IFP/Filmmaker Magazine!). But on opening day one becomes acutely aware of how hard it is to translate critical acclaim and community outreach into lines in front of the theater. We even had the surreal, unimaginable exposure of a full hour on the Oprah show behind us, but our producing team (comprised of Israel Ehrisman and Jason Evans) was still hitting the snowy ground the morning of opening day. We left postcards in high traffic spots, and tossed carpenters a ten dollar bill to let us hang posters in the windows of a business under construction.

The first Q&A I did was smack dab in the middle of the heaviest part of the storm, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed in the turnout. Then I realized that I recognized two people in the tiny crowd — David Duchovny and Téa Leoni, and they were asking great questions, not to mention generous with their praise. PRODGIAL SONS is a very emotional and personal journey, and after a year and a half of festival circuit Q&As I’m used to the emotional, personal connections our film inspires. But I don’t think anything could have prepared me for the intimacy of that first Q&A, during the heaviest part of the worst storm in the snowiest NYC February ever. This little Cinema Village snowglobe made for a nice microcosm of the documentary film world: a small percentage of discerning film lovers, harboring away from the noisy Hollywood Movie storm, riding someone else’s emotional rollercoaster for an hour and a half, then bonding with strangers over how they’ve all been moved. Moved. It’s such a wonderful idea, that we can walk into a cinema as one person, and walk out someone different. That’ll keep you trudging through the snow to hand postcards to strangers — who knows who might actually come to your next screening?

Kimberly Reed
Director/Producer, Prodigal Sons

Epilogue:
How did the rest of opening day go? PRODIGAL SONS sold out the two opening night screenings, had a great Q&A session with Rick Moody (author of The Ice Storm), and got held over for a second week at Cinema Village. A national rollout starts this weekend, with San Francisco, Berkeley, and Seattle.
For more information visit www.prodigalsonsfilm.com
Upcoming screenings listed at http://prodigalsonsfilm.com/drupal/see-film

Watch the Sold Out Panel!: IFP Industry Connect at the New School: Funding Your Film

Getting funding is the great holy grail of independent filmmaking, so it makes sense that our February 22nd Industry Connect funding panel was filled to capacity. For those of you who missed it, watch the whole thing here! The panel featured moderator Sarah Lash, (Head of Acquisitions, ATO Pictures), and panelists Jason Orans (Producer, NIGHT CATCHES US), Milton Tabbot (Senior Director of Programming, IFP), Adella Ladjevardi (Grants Manager, Cinereach), and Yancey Strickler (Co-Founder, Kickstarter).