For Filmmakers
Films are created for audiences to experience, and audiences in turn are essential to a filmmaker’s career. With help from Eugene Hernandez, Deputy Director of the Film Society of Lincoln Center, we explored the relationship of three filmmakers to their audiences.
They discuss finding and interacting with audiences, including the use of social media; and working with outreach partners, making personal appearances, and making themselves part of the distribution campaign. This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.
FLAVIO ALVES
Flavio Alves is a Brazilian who was granted political asylum in the United States in 1998. Shortly thereafter he attended Columbia University, where he earned a degree in Political Science. In 2007, Flavio returned to school to study film production at New York University. Since then, he has directed and produced more than 20 films, including the award winning short films, The Secret Friend (2010), and Tom in America (2014), which was named Best Short Film by the National Board of Review. His first feature film, The Garden Left Behind, is Fiscally Sponsored by NYFA and will premiere in the fall of 2018. It is the first film to be funded substantially though sales of donated items on eBay.
YANCE FORD
Yance Ford is director of Strong Island, winner of the Special Jury Award for Storytelling at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. He graduated from Hamilton College in 2004, and studied film in the Production Workshop at Third World Newsreel. He is a Sundance Institute Documentary Program Fellow, a MacDowell Colony/Fledgling Fund fellow, a Creative Capital Grantee, and he has been featured in Filmmaker Magazine’s 25 New Faces of Independent Film. Yance is a former Series Producer of POV, the PBS documentary series. Strong Island was nominated for an Academy Award in 2018. It is Ford’s first film.
ELIZA HITTMAN
Eliza Hittman grew up in Flatbush, Brooklyn. She received a BA in theater and drama from Indiana University in 2001 and an MFA from the School of Film/Video at California Institute of the Arts in 2010. Her short film Forever’s Gonna Start Tonight (2011) premiered at Sundance. Her first feature, It Felt Like Love (2014) was nominated as Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director at the Gotham Awards, and for the John Cassavetes Award at the Indie Spirit Awards. Her second film, Beach Rats, won the Directing Award at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. She received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2018. Eliza teaches film at Pratt Institute.
ARTICLES
How to: Finish Financing Your Independent Film
Whether your project requires finishing funds, money to cover unforeseen circumstances, or payment of deferred wages, this post shares important tips, resources, and some words of wisdom to help you avoid disaster and raise funds to complete your film!
How to: Market Your Independent Film
As a filmmaker, you know how to make a film and probably know how to get it exhibited but likely know a lot less about how to attract an audience. We’re shedding light on the topic courtesy of Ira Deutchman, a producer, distributor, and marketer of independent films and founder of two distribution companies–Fine Line Features and Emerging Pictures–that had an important impact on independent filmmaking.
Income Budgets for Films
Income budgets show how your film will be financed, and if you have already been raising money they show how far you have come and how far you need to go. Learn more about what the reader of an income budget hopes to see and get tips for creating a successful income budget.
How to Produce & Fund Your Short Film
Advice for early career filmmakers on funding and producing shorts. Filmmakers Mtume Gant and Rahwa Asmerom share their experiences.
Music Licensing for Documentary Films
Peter Miller, Emmy and Peabody Award-winning filmmaker and music supervisor, shared his experience and philosophy on how to tackle licensing music for documentary films.
Film Festival Strategies and Why You Need One
Before creating a film festival submission strategy, check out these tips and tricks from Kathy Brew, guest curator of MoMA’s Doc Fortnight.
Elevate the Art of Storytelling: a Filmmakers Guide to POV
Get a behind-the-scenes look at POV’s submission process, their new initiative POV Shorts, and the outreach support POV provides for their filmmakers and audiences.
Traditional Distribution vs. Service Deals and Hybrid Options
Jim Browne from Argot Pictures shares advice on choosing the best distribution model for your film.
Programs for Interactive Media Makers at the Tribeca Film Institute
Zeina Abi Assy, manager of Interactive Programs at Tribeca Film Institute, shares the mission-driven support available to transmedia collaborations.
The Sundance Institute: Programs for Film, Film Music, Theatre, New Media, and Episodic Storytelling
Sundance Institute representatives came to NYFA to share information about opportunities for burgeoning and underrepresented storytellers.
Structuring Movies Presented by Sam Pollard
Award-winning documentary editor, director, and producer Sam Pollard shares his perspective on the essential elements to consider when building a dynamic and gripping story arc.
Film Distribution and the Educational Market
Livia Bloom, Vice President of Icarus Films, explains the advantages of placing your documentary film on the educational market, with advice on tapping into that market.
Does Anybody Even Go to Websites, and What are Impressions?
Get insights from Darcy Heusel, Vice President of Audience Engagement and Impact at NEON, on creating a strategic online presence for your film by utilizing websites and social media.
Jim Browne’s “Film Distribution – What are my Options?”
Jim Browne from Argot Pictures shares honest insights into the nature of the U.S. film industry, the current state of the market, and potential options for film distribution.
Learn about the NYC Women’s Fund for Media, Music and Theatre and NYFA Fiscal Sponsorship; find Jobs, Spaces, and Opportunities on NYFA Classifieds.
Image: Todd Chandler (Fellow in Video/Film ’12), Floor Tide at Empire Drive-In, 2010
