Workshops And Panels

Workshops and Panels from VideoFest 24

That’s right we had a Oscar Winner and a Student Academy Award Winner giving panels in 2011.  We are dreaming up new things for VideoFest 25.

How to Create a Good Website

Theo Rigby’s short film Sin País has won the Bronze Medal in the 38th Annual Student Academy Awards in the Documentary Category.  Rigby will talked about how to make a good film website, using innovative storytelling on the web and using video and stills–trans-media, multi-media, interactive, and participatory elements.

Changing Landscapes of Independent Media

Distributor Jacob Wolters of Oscilloscope, Gerard Roxburgh, of Once I was a Champion, Nick DeMartino, a transmedia specialist, and Ya’Ke Smith, winner of the 2010 Texas Show, will served on the panel on Saturday.  Moderated by Bart Weiss, Artistic Director of Dallas Video Festival.

Final Cut Pro X Workshop

Have you heard nothing but bad things about Final Cut Pro X?  Well, Bart Weiss belives you differently.  He is gave a Final Cut Pro X workshop.

Cinegrams

Experimental filmmaker Kerry Laitala will facilitated a workshop on cinegrams. SF Weekly called Laitala the “Best Filmmaker without a Pixar contract (yet).” Her work is colorful and innovative, showcasing some of the most fascinating creativity that can be found in the world of film and video.

How to Create Child Friendly Apps

Brandon Oldenberg of Moonbot Productions will present a workshop on child friendly apps for the iPad. Oldenberg co-created the digital storybook, The Fantastic Flying Books Of Mr. Morris Lessmore with award-winning children’s book author William Joyce. The app has received rave reviews and is a groundbreaking form of literature and art that combines moving images with the feel of a children’s picture book.

Transmedia Workshop

Nick DeMartino has been a major part of the American Film Institute as its Senior Vice President for Media and Technology. He specializes in providing industry leadership in new media and constantly pushes the innovations of media in our country for many different fields including independent film, cable television, and digital video production.

Submissions Open at Lone Star Film Festival

Submissions are now open for the 2012 Lone Star International Film Festival

All filmmakers can take advantage of Earlybird Discount Fees until February 23rd.  Also, if you’re an area college student, you can submit to our Student Competition for FREE until September.

In 2011 LIFF gave North Texans the chance to see many Oscar contenders (The Descendants, The Artist, Undefeated).  Here is your chance to be part of next year’s Festival, which will no doubt be a monumental event.

VF 24 Experimental Winner Marie Losier is going to have a busy year

DOCUMENTARY FORTNIGHT 2012 BRINGS AN INTERNATIONAL SELECTION OF 27 FILMS TO THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART IN FEBRUARY

Festival Includes a Retrospective Dedicated to Paper Tiger Television, a Modern Monday Featuring a Discussion with Phil Collins, and a Special Field Guide to the Interactive Documentary
Documentary Fortnight 2012: MoMA’s International Festival of Nonfiction Film and Media/February 16-28, 2012
This exhibition is organized by Sally Berger, Assistant Curator, Department of Film, The Museum of Modern Art. The selection committee consists of Sally Berger; Chi-hui Yang, independent curator; and Sam Green, documentary filmmaker.
press.moma.org/wp-content/files_mf/momafilm_docfortnight2012_pressrelease.pdf

BYUN, OBJECT TROUVE
Monday, February 27 at 4:30pm
Byun, Objet Trouvé. 2011. USA. 7 min. Directed by Marie Losier. Acclaimed mixed-media artist Chong Gon Byun uses found and discarded objects to create intricate sculptures that explore the clash between post-industrial civilization and the present consumerist culture in his surrealist oeuvre.

Grandma Lo-fi. 2011. Iceland. 62 min. Directed by Orri Jónsson, Kristín Björk Kristjánsdóttir, Ingibjörg Birgisdóttir. New York premiere. The music career of Sigrí•ur Níelsdóttir began when she was 70 years old. Seven years later, she had produced 59 albums and a catalog of over 600 songs. Through a series of intimate interviews with Sigrí•ur her incredible lo-fi production process is revealed.
Followed by a discussion with Marie Losier, Orri Jónsson, Kristín Björk Kristjánsdóttir, and Ingibjörg Birgisdóttir.

Tuesday, February 28
Special Off-Site Screenings at Nitehawk Cinema
7:30pm Marija’s Own. 2011. Croatia. 61 min. Directed by Željka Suková. (See Monday, February 27, 1:30). Followed by a discussion with Željka Suková.
8:00pm Byun, Objet Trouvé. 2011. USA. 7 min. Directed by Marie Losier
Grandma Lo-fi. 2011. Iceland. 62 min. Directed by Orri
Followed by a discussion with Marie Losier, Orri Jónsson, Kristín Björk Kristjánsdóttir, and Ingibjörg Birgisdóttir.

Nitehawk Cinema: 136 Metropolitan Avenue, Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Nitehawk.com.

THE PRICE OF SEX makes the 2012 ALA Notable Videos for Adults List!

WMM is proud to announce that THE PRICE OF SEX has made the 2012 ALA Notable Videos for Adults List!The Video Round Table established the Notable Videos for Adults list as a means of providing guidance to public and academic librarians involved in building dynamic and balanced video collections for an adult clientele.

“Recommended…the film offers uniquely personal insight into a major criminal enterprise that destroys the lives of countless young women.”

Video Librarian

 

An unprecedented and compelling inquiry into a dark side of immigration so difficult to cover or probe with depth, THE PRICE OF SEX sheds light on the underground criminal network of human trafficking and experiences of trafficked Eastern European women forced into prostitution abroad. Filming under cover with extraordinary access, even posing as a prostitute to gather her material, Bulgarian-born photo-journalist Mimi Chakarova travels from impoverished rural areas in post-Communist Eastern Europe, including her grandmother’s village, to Turkey, Greece, and Dubai. This dangerous investigative journey brings Chakarova face to face with trafficked women willing to trust her and appear on film undisguised. Their harrowing first-person accounts, as well as interviews with traffickers, clients, and anti-trafficking activists, expose the root causes, complex connections, and stark significance of sexual slavery today.

Freedom Riders Voted Top 10 of the Year!

         Freedom Riders now available on iTunes!

                                           Search American Experience Season 23

                               Also watch online or purchase DVD:  pbs.org/freedomriders

                                                

                                                                                *********

Freedom Riders is written, directed and produced by Stanley Nelson; Produced by Laurens Grant; & Edited by Lewis Erskine and Aljernon Tunsil.

Freedom Riders won three Primetime Emmys for exceptional merit in nonfiction filmmaking, writing and editing.

Freedom Riders is the first feature-length documentary to tell the story of a courageous band of civil rights activists who dared to defy the laws of Jim Crow in the Deep South in 1961. They were America’s first inter-racial and inter-religious mass movement to challenge segregation in bus and train facilities. Because of their efforts, the signs “whites only” and “colored only” were taken down forever.

                                                                              *********

Check out what they’re saying about the film:

If you missed us on Oprah‘s final season:

  http://www.oprah.com/showinfo/Oprah-Honors-American-Heroes-The-Freedom-Riders-Reunite

“Freedom Riders is a superb piece of filmic journalism”

http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117942284?refcatid=31

“so good that it exhausts all common versions of praise“

http://www.theroot.com/views/civil-rights-most-misunderstood-moment-freedom-rides

*********

To purchase DVDs, schedule a screening or find out more information:

www.pbs.org/freedomriders

www.firelightmedia.org

Funding Opportunity

The National Endowment for the Arts cooperates with the U.S. Japan Friendship Commission in the implementation of this program. The U.S/Japan Creative Artists’ Program provides support for up to five outstanding contemporary or traditional artists from the United States to spend a three-month residency in Japan.  Eligible applicants are architects, choreographers, composers, creative writers, designers, media artists, playwrights, visual artists, or solo theater artists who work with original material (including puppeteers, storytellers and performance artists). Multidisciplinary artists and artistic directors of theater or dance companies are also eligible.

The next deadline for this program is March 1, 2012 for residencies in 2013.

The U.S/Japan Creative Artists’ Program is extremely competitive; applicants should have regional or national recognition and anticipate a highly rigorous review of their work.  Artists should also present compelling reasons for wanting to work in Japan.

Selected artists will receive:

• A grant award in the amount of $20,000 to cover housing, living, and professional expenses
• Up to $2,000 for round trip transportation for the artist

Additional information, including guidelines and the application, can be found at http://www.jusfc.gov/creativeartists.asp.

 

The Blog within a Blog

Check out Bart’s report on his trip to China on Art & Seek’s Blog

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

The Best of the Best

It is the time of year when the Best of List proliferate.  Here are some of the more original.

The Best Movies of 2011: The Best Depictions of the End of the World by D Magazine’s Peter Simek

Five Good Things Happening in Movies to Save You From Three Stooges Hell by the Dallas Observer’s Nick Rallo

The Ten Best and Worst Movie Posters of the Year by NYMag’s Kyle Buchanan

Our Favorite Moments at Angelika Dallas, by The Dallas Observer’s Mixmaster

Whale’s Top Ten of 2011 by Chase Whale

The Best Scores & Soundtracks Of 2011 by Oliver Lyttelton of Indiewire

2011 Year-end Wrap-up: The Year’s Worst Filmsby Huffington Post’s Scott Mendelson

The Year in Film: 10 For 2012 by Karina Longworth of the Village Voice

Best Documentaries of the Year by Robert Ebert

and 2011 Movies got me all introspective by our own Daniel Laabs.

Online Resources

FIVE RESOURCES FOR PUBLIC MEDIA

Over the last 11 years, over 220 producers from PBS stations and independent media communities nationwide have participated in the CPB/PBS Producers Workshop at WGBH. To share their experiences and accomplishments, these Workshop graduates have created a showcase: the Producers Workshop Online (PWO).  This social media network is full of resources and opportunities for all public media producers. Dive deeper into our wonderful community by reading about five resources you can take advantage of.

• Find a producer

When you’re looking for a media producer who matches the vision and skills you need, try browsing the pool of up-and-coming professionals in the PWO.  You’ll know they were selected for their interest in public media and their fine work – and then trained by top PBS producers and executives.  Search by location to find someone in your area, or browse members’ pages to read about their projects.

• Expand your knowledge

Learn from top-tier national producers in the “Tips” section of the site, on topics ranging from writing and editing to post-production, digital media and transparency in journalism. Share these expert resources with your station or company’s production staff.

 

As  some of you may know I attended the PBS Producers Workshop in Oct 2011.  I

Their  social network is a terrific and too-often-untapped resource for public media professionals and organizations to find new producing partners and get industry trends and insights. In the next month they working with the National Center for Media Engagement, an organization committed to advancing public media’s ability to engage communities, to raise awareness of PWO.

•  Post job opportunities

Staffing is critical to a great production. Where do you recruit? Through the PWO, you can tap into talent by posting your job opportunities. Just contact executive director Judith Vecchione and she’ll publish your listings on PWO.

 

• Learn about new grants & funding

The Workshop’s Forum is a great place to find or post grant and funding opportunities. Stay in the know about funding opportunities for your station’s production, and add your own by contacting executive director Judith Vecchione, who will post them for you.

 

 • Get production insights

Workshop graduates and speakers are on the forefront of media production. (Just recently NCME’s Jennifer MacArthur spoke on the importance of community engagement in production.) Read insights, conversations and comments to stay abreast of industry trends and production techniques.

 

Congratulations to Our Friends at the Thin Line Film Fest

The Denton Benefit League has awarded Thin Line Film Fest a grant in the amount of $4,044 toward the purchase of the large screen we use every year at the Campus Theatre. Ever since the beginning of the Thin Line concept, they have wanted a two-weekend festival and in 2012 this becomes a reality. Get ready for 11 days of documentaries. I know, it’s crazy! These two weekends in February will be the new calendar home to Texas’ International Documentary Film Festival. And as a bonus, instead of ending on the traditional Sunday, Thin Line will now take advantage of the Presidents Day holiday and offer a lineup of festival winners and crowd favorites. With this new schedule, Thin Line will screen as many as 75 documentaries this year! Also in 2012, look for a new downtown venue as we begin to spread our wings.