Media Arts: Preliminary Landscape Study

1
Media Arts Preliminary Landscape Study

• The Documentary Arena
• October 11, 2004

2
Overview

• General Documentary Trends
• Jewish Documentary Trends
• Lifecycle Of A Documentary
• Hiding and Seeking
• Fund For Jewish Documentary Filmmaking
• Opportunities For Future Development

3
Box Office August 2003-2004

• Super Size Me 11.3 m
• Touching The Void 4.6 m
• The Fog of War 4.2
• My Architect 2.8
• Control Room 2.6
• Step Into Liquid 2.5
• Winged Migration 2.1
• Riding Giants 1.8

4
The Big Behemoth

• Michael Moore
• Bowling For Columbine
• Farenheit 9/11
• Best Film Cannes Film Festival
• 100 m Domestic
• 200 m Worldwide

5
Jewish Documentary Trends

• Mid-80s - Second Generation/Holocaust
• Image Before My Eyes Partisans Of Vilna
• Mid-90s - Roots/Yiddishkayt/Lost Culture
  - Eastern Europe Russia
• The Last Klezmer A Letter Without Words
• Now - Interweaving Of Public Private

6

• A Healthy Baby Girl Judith Helfand
• Trembling Before G-d Sandi Dubowski
• Divan Pearl Gluck
• My Architect Nathaniel Kahn
• Hiding and Seeking Menachem Daum Oren
  Rudavsky

7
Lifecycle of a Documentary

• An Ideal World/Textbook
• Script Development
• Pre-production
• Filming
• Editing
• Festival Circuit
• Distribution
• Marketing

8
What It Really Looks Like

• No Shooting Script
• Discover Film As You Make It
• Films Form Changes Over Time
• Takes Years And Years
• Test Screenings
• Patchwork Funding
• Self-financed, Benefits, Fundraisers, Trailers
• Extended Courtship With Foundations,
  Distributors, Broadcast Outlets

9
Case Study Hiding and Seeking
10
Fund For Jewish Documentary Filmmaking(FJDF)

• Where Are We In The Landscape?
• Completion Funds
• Projects Must Be In Post-Production
• Grants Up To 50,000
• Award 4-6 Per Year
• Priority To Projects Completed Within One Year Of
  Award
• Standard Broadcast Length And Likely To Be
  Broadcast

11
FJDF - Creative Criteria

• Fresh, Engaging Approach
• Intellectual Vigor and Originality
• Creative approach to medium
• Idea of Audience Jewish and General
• Realistic budget
• Strong Proposal and Video Sample
• First-rate Team
• Marketing and Distribution Ideas

12
FJDF Our Achievements

• 2 Academy Award Nominations
• My Architect
• Promises
• 3 Emmy Award Nominations
• Resistance Untold Stories of Jewish Partisans
• Promises (And Winner)
• The Life And Times Of Hank Greenberg
• 3 Peabody Awards
• Arguing The World
• The Life And Times Of Hank Greenberg
• A Healthy Baby Girl

13

• 3 Films Broadcast On HBO/Cinemax
• Ruth And Connie, My Architect, H. Greenberg
• 5 Films National Theatrical Release
• 11 Films Limited City Theatrical Release
• Screened In Major International Festivals
• Sundance, New York, Berlin, Toronto, Rotterdam,
  Chicago, Seattle, Jerusalem

14
Larger Funding World

• Limited Number Of Funders For Documentaries
• Split Between Seed And Production/Completion
  Funds

15
Seed

• California Council For Humanities
• 15,000
• Hartley Foundation
• 1,000 - 20,000
• IFP/Anthony Radziwill Fund
• 10,000

• ITVS/Ford/Diversity
• 5,000 - 15,000
• Paul Robeson Fund
• 5,000 - 20,000
• Sundance/Soros Fund
• 15,000

16
Production/Completion

• NEH
• 100,000 - 800,000
• Ford Foundation
• 100,000 - 500,000
• MacArthur Foundation
• 50,000 - 300,000
• ITVS
• 250,000 average
• Sundance/Soros Fund
• 20,000 - 75,000
• NYSCA
• 5,000 - 25,000

• Hartley Foundation
• 1,000 - 20,000
• Jerome Foundation
• 10,000 - 20,000
• Creative Capital
• 5,000 - 20,000
• NYFA
• 7,000
• Women In Film
• 1,000 - 2,500
• Playboy Foundation
• 1,000 - 2,000

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Where Else Can We Go?Other Opportunities

• Funding Options
• Distribution/Marketing
• Other Kinds Of Support

18
Funding Options

• Early Money For R D
• Student Films
• Debt Relief Fund

19
Distribution/Marketing

• Traditional
• Hard Ads
• Jewish Papers, Trades, Local Newspapers,
  Alternative Press
• Internal
• E-mails Blasts, Newsletters, JCN
• Screening
• Audience As Partner
• Parties
• Celebrate Filmmakers
• Subscriber-Based Series

20
Outreach

• Facilitate outreach to Schools, Libraries,
  Synagogues, JCCs
• Prepare Study Guides
• Broker Alliances With Grass-roots Organizations
• Working Films

21
Distribution and Marketing Alternatives

• Non-Traditional
• Website
• Video Press Kits
• Downloadable Poster, Postcards, Clips
• MoveOn.Org/Film Connection
• Small Gatherings To Discuss Film
• Galleries, House Parties, Alternative Spaces

22
Other Kinds Of Support

• Continued Dialogue With Artist
• Filmmaker Support Groups
• Mentorship With Industry Professionals
• Process Panels For Filmmakers
• Testimonials To Other Funders
• Cultivation of Donors
• Letters, Screenings, Parties

23
Other Kinds Of Support

• Work-in-Progress Screenings For Filmmaker
• Retreats
• Creative Capital, Robert Flaherty
• Curate Traveling Package Films
• Like Image and Identity
• Sponsor Academic and Public Conferences
• USCs Eye ThouJewish Autobiography in Film TV
• Support Jewish And Yiddish Film Television
  Preservation

24
Increase NFJC Visibility

• Animate Logo Of Fund For Jewish Documentary Films
  And NFJC
• Do Comp Reel Of Documentaries
• Festival Of FJDF Films
• Trailer For Film Festivals

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End Quote

• Documentarians are a different breed of
  filmmaker. They are not only passionate their
  passions border on obsession. But it is such a
  wonderful obsession.
• Jonathan Sehring, President, IFC Entertainment