Panels and workshops for the day:
Kickstarter and Grassroots Fundraising Campaigns
Independent filmmaker Beth Harrington will share lessons and surprises learned while using Kickstarter – from her initial resistance to her mastery and successfully completed campaign. She will provide an in depth exploration of her campaign, the attendant fundraising party and share anecdotes on other filmmakers who have used it. Beth will also discuss Facebook, twitter, blog connections and other grassroots funding campaigns to build awareness about her films.
Outreach and Audience Engagement Campaigns: Case Study
The Fledgling Fund supports innovative media projects that target entrenched social problems. Executive Director Sheila Leddy and Helen De Michiel, Series Co-Producer and Webisode Director, will discuss the outreach and audience engagement for their film “Lunch Love & Community” about food reform in schools. “Lunch Love Community” is what producers Helen De Michiel and Sophie Constantinou call an “open space documentary” project. To open up further conversation and inspire vision, passion and action among individuals and groups, they’ve created a transmedia public engagement campaign centered around a mosaic of short films. Testing a new form of documentary practice and distribution, they are offering the webisode-series to be watched and used across multiple paths of entry – from sharing virally online with food advocates, to using them in interactive town hall meetings across the country, to being given freely to bloggers across the globe for further in-depth discussion among their communities of interest.
Art of the Pitch
Pitching your film project effectively is one of the most important elements for successful outreach, collaboration and fundraising. Join us for this exciting panel where four presenters have seven minutes to wow a panel of experienced broadcasters including Patricia Finneran, Sundance; Paul Gasek, Discovery; and Allison Winshel, PBS who will deconstruct these pitches and help you become more persuasive in pitching your own film project. See what works, what doesn’t, and learn how you can improve your pitch.
Corporate Social Responsibility: A Rich Opportunity for Storytelling
Society’s expectations of the business community has shifted and this sector has been asked to address the most pressing issues of our times – poverty, education, health, justice, and sustainability – to name a few. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is the exciting movement that is energizing business efforts to effect social change. The shared passions of CSR leaders and independent filmmakers are obvious, yet collaboration has been limited. This panel of CRS experts and Independent filmmakers will explore the rich opportunities for mutual support.
What is CSR? What are the needs of the CSR community? What role will media play? What skills do independent filmmakers have that uniquely support CSR efforts? What about CRS support for your independent ideas? What is the path to more numerous and stronger partnerships between our communities? Learn how to position yourself as an asset to the CSR community and develop a new channel of financial support.
Embrace Disruption
What is the changing nature of funding and what are funders looking for?
During this session we will explore the expectations of film funders and learn how filmmakers and funders can partner successfully in the changing media and market environment. Join us for this exciting discussion, moderated by Dawn Fratangelo – anchor and former correspondent for Dateline NBC – in which we will explore funder and filmmaker perspectives on finding creative sources of funding and how trans-media, outcome measurement, and other novel strategic initiatives have become critical criteria for a growing number of the funding community.
