LOCATION:  The Nightingale, 1084 North Milwaukee Ave, Chicago, IL 60642

DATE:  Wednesday, May 18th

TIME:  7PM

PRICE:  $10 non-members, $5 members

The IFP is pleased to launch a new salon/discussion series for media makers in the Chicagoland and Midwestern region: MEET YOUR DIGITAL PARTNERS.  The goal is to bring together people from a broad array of fields related to media making, to exchange ideas and talk about developing visual and aural stories in a variety of cross-platform arenas.

 With the convergence of technology, there is a lot of talk of making work that can be relevant across a multitude of platforms.  Yet media makers may not know where to meet potential collaborators outside their usual circle.  Stay relevant and make new connections by attending this open forum, whether you’re a game developer, filmmaker, social media producer, advertiser, audio artist, or cross-platform media maker. 

Round #1 of this experiment features the following media artists:

Ian Pottmeyer graduated college prepared to be an opera singer. From there he became a composer, then a composer of video game soundtracks.  Now he creates the games themselves at Studio Cypher, a game design studio based in Bloomington, Indiana.  As part of the three-man team, he takes on numerous design roles, from game to graphic to web to audio.  Ian’s games are often marked by his desire to help players be as personally creative as possible. On May 18th, he’ll be giving a crash course in game design to help ensure that everyone who comes across your experience feels like they can participate and have fun.

Ben Groenevelt makes fast, robust websites for non-profits, artists, musicians as well as small businesses and larger corporations.  His tool of choice is Drupal, an open-source content management systems (CMS) used to build sites like the whitehouse.gov and grammy.com.  He also, along with other open source devotees, spends his time giving back to Drupal’s open source community.  He will be presenting, “What is this Drupal Thing?” giving a brief overview of what Drupal is and some of the powerful tools it provides to build dynamic, content rich web sites.

Cole Pierce is a Chicago based artist who makes paintings, video installations and audio multiples.  He earned his MFA in Art Theory & Practice from Northwestern in 2007 and has exhibited work at Antenna Gallery, Old Gold, Vega Estates, and is curating a group show at the Milwaukee Avenue Art Festival for the third consecutive year.  He co-authors Field Mic, a sound art and music blog, and contributes music mixes to Headphone Commute’s podcast series. He is currently a videographer and educator at the Chicago Teachers’ Center of NEIU.

Jon Satrom is a new-media artist, educator, designer, and organizer.  He performs realtime audio and video, celebrates obsolescence, and cultivates glitches.  Satrom operates a production company called studiothread http://studiothread.com and teaches in the Department of Film Video New Media Animation at the School of the Art Institute. He will discuss “Strategies for Shattering Through Glowing Rectangles.”  Riffing on Gene Youngblood’s Expanded Cinema (1970), Satrom will discuss new-media art’s potential to sculpt stories, transcend technologies, and remix our relationship(s) with cinema. 

Able Parris is a designer, art director, and illustrator. He learned graphic design at the Rhode Island School of Design before opening his own niche design studio in Providence, RI.  His collage art has shown nationally, and has been published internationally.  He co-authors Field Mic, a sound art and music blog, and contributes to We Love Typography, the beloved typography site that’s like an FFFFound for type-related content.  Currently, he spends his days at McKinney in Durham, NC practicing design and art direction in the context of advertising.

IFP PRODUCERS SERIES: SHOOT YOUR MOVIE, ENGAGE YOUR AUDIENCE 

Saturday, March 19th

$25 members/$30 non-members for the full day of events. 

Pre-registration is required. 

To register email Christy @ chicago@ifp.org.  

Deadline to register is Friday, March 18th at Noon. 

Schedule:

10AM – 1PM 5D/7D Camera Workshop

LOCATION: ProGear Rental (1740 W. Carroll Ave, just south of Grand and west of Ashland. Plenty of free parking.) 

Join us for a Canon 5D, 7D and D60 Workshop including an overview with Canon’s Ed Meyers, a hands-on demo and discussions about data management, rigging, lighting, lenses, audio and renting a full production package. This workshop will tell you everything you need to know to shoot your movie or just become bettter informed about these cameras and gear. Also, please bring a CompactFlash card so you have an opportunity to test the cameras out and review your results at home. Lunch will be provided. 

Sponsored by Canon, Fletcher Chicago, ProGear Rental, Barbizon Lighting and IFP Chicago. 

2PM – 4:30PM PUSHING THE ELEPHANT Screening

LOCATION: Chicago Cultural Center (78 E Washington St., at Washington & Michigan Ave.)

ITVS Community Cinema and IFP Chicago are proud to present Arts Engine’s internationally acclaimed documentary, PUSHING THE ELEPHANT, about Rose Mapendo, a Congolese woman who lost her family to violence and became an international advocate of forgiveness and reconciliation. We are also delighted to host Arts Engine’s Director of Production and Director of PUSHING THE ELEPHANT, Beth Davenport, who will participate in a discussion after the screening. Arts Engine is a New York based social-issue documentary production company, an online community of filmmakers and activists through Mediarights.org, and creators of the film festival Media That Matters. If you want to know how to engage your audience from the day you begin shooting, Arts Engine is an organization that can help guide your way. 

5PM – 7PM Post-Screening Meet and Greet

LOCATION: Elephant & Castle (185 N. Wabash)

Join us for a post-screening meet up at Elephant & Castle, where you will have an opportunity to talk to people from Arts Engine, ITVS Community Cinema, IFP Chicago and filmmakers from PUSHING THE ELEPHANT as well as other participants from the day.

Sponsored by ITVS, Arts Engine and IFP/Chicago.

Save the date for more IFP Producers Series Events!

APRIL 20th and MAY 18th: Meet Your Digital Partners

Media makers, who are pushing the boundaries of commercial, narrative, and documentary production, encouraged a recent IFP 2010 Producers Series audience to explore opportunities for innovation in a changing marketplace.

Brian Newman, former Tribeca Film Institute CEO, urged producers to “think of films not just as films but as projects: what other components are crucial to accomplishing what you want to accomplish?”

Particularly for documentaries, he said, “A feature film may not be the best way to engage your audience.”

He also exhorted producers to harness evolving channels of financing, production, marketing and distribution — and the conflicting impulse of media companies to push the market toward a closed system, as in the Apple-controlled platforms on the iTunes store and the iPad.

Lance Weiler of Philadelphia-based Seize the Media, showcased his own ongoing experimentation with transmedia production. “Because of dwindling acquisition prices, there’s not much of a path to sustainability” in conventional distribution, he said.

Instead, Seize the Media “focuses on building direct connections to the audience” through interactive storytelling and online community building.

“We create a story world that’s a gateway for people to meet others,” Weiler said. “The audience is more savvy than before. They’re looking for real connections with storytellers or between other people sharing their stories. We’ve had people meet and get married through our experiences.”

Weiler’s apocalyptic thriller “HIM,” about a mysterious pandemic that leads to the disappearance of everyone over age 21, was the first transmedia project at the Sundance Screenwriters Lab in January.

Among an elaborate series of multi-platform initiatives, Seize the Media is also building a cell phone application that allows users to create virtual survivalist cells within the world of the “HIM” story, employing geotagging to root the game experience in real-world environments.

Moxie Pictures’ CEO, New York-based Robert Fernandez, talked with IFP Chicago board president Claire Connelly and Milwaukee-based series producer Lisa Gildehaus about the work they all did on the advertiser-sponsored documentary series. “Y’all vs. Us.”

Last fall, Young & Rubicam enlisted Moxie to produce the Cellular South-sponsored 10-part series “Y’all vs. Us,” about the rivalry between two top high school football teams in rural Mississippi.

The series was part of a saturated regional campaign that included extensive production at games, live TV, and web video.

The producers said they took pains to approach the series as documentary rather than reality TV — looking for genuine drama rather than manufacturing it and remaining sensitive to the values of the local community.

Cellular South only financed coverage of the regular season, so Moxie self-financed two more episodes to cover their teams’ state championship runs. Fox Sports broadcast the series nationally in April.

“It’s becoming less and less about traditional TV,” Fernandez said. “Cellular South didn’t want traditional TV commercials.”

Despite a budget that he characterized as a third of what he needed for the undertaking, “In the changing landscape of marketing we felt it was an invaluable opportunity to produce this kind of program and show it can work…The hard part is to get marketers to think differently than product placement.”

—Ed M. Koziarski

Ed M. Koziarski is co-director of the feature film “The First Breath of Tengan Rei”.
www.reelchicago.com

They Shoot Old Models, Don’t They? – The Changing Face of Media.

This year’s IFP Chicago’s Producers Series focuses on new media, social media, transmedia and the evolution that surrounds all aspects of filmmaking. This weekend long series will involve documentary and narrative filmmakers, advertising agencies and commercial production companies, non-profit foundation and community organizers, branded content and transmedia producers, all with one goal: Building and reaching communities and consumers who find relevance in our stories.

The series is presented in 2 parts to help us better capture the changing face of content production, media distribution and viewer/participant engagement. Part I of the series will be held Saturday and Sunday, May 1 & 2, at Columbia College with Part II following in late 2010. The full series will be announced in early April but get your tickets now because space is limited. Special discounts are listed below for Students and members of Women in Film Chicago & The Midwest Independent Film Festival. Check out our website or follow us on Facebook and Twitter for updates. We also want to hear your thoughts for programming topics and areas of discussion. Please let us know what we’re missing.

SATURDAY, MAY 1 – 10AM – 9PM (check-in begins at 9:30am)

• SESSION #1: 10am – 11:15 am:
• Participants: Brian Newman
• Panel Description: Inventing the future of film

The future of media, including film, is being invented today, but this future is increasingly being defined by the terms of the old models for media production and consumption. This is for the worse, because instead of a new era of innovation we are in danger of a future of sameness. Creatives must harness new technology so that they shape the future of our field, before they lose the chance. How can filmmakers utilize these tools earlier to shape their stories, enhance their creative practice, build their audience and have greater impact and a longer life for their films? In an era where content is ubiquitous, how does one stand out from the crowd and be discovered? Brian Newman will discuss strategies for innovative storytelling, fundraising, audience engagement and discovery as well as offer thoughts on the possible future of the field.

• SESSION #2: 11: 30 – 12:30pm –
• Participants: Claire Connelly, moderator, Speakers: Lisa Gildehaus & Robert Fernandez
• Panel Description: Y’all Versus Us – A New Model of Community Engagement:

So much of the content we create relies on finding an audience and building a community. But there’s also built in communities rife with stories to be tapped. In the autumn of 2009, Moxie Pictures co-produced a 10 episode documentary series in conjunction with the advertising agency, Young & Rubicam. A branded entertainment series for their client, Cellular South, the resulting program, HEAD TO HEAD, about the rivalry between the Wayne County War Eagles and the West Jones Mustangs, was filmed over the course of a Mississippi football season. Every episode aired almost immediately after each weekly football game on Cellular South’s website. The series also begins airing on FoxSports beginning in April. Moderated by HEAD TO HEAD’S Field Producer & Production Manager, Claire Connelly, CEO & Partner of Moxie Pictures, Robert Fernandez, and Series Producer, Lisa Gildehaus, discuss compelling characters, community engagement, and your return on a branded entertainment investment.

• 12:30pm – 1:15pm: LUNCH

• SESSION #3: 1:30pm – 2:45pm:
• Participants: Lance Weiler
• Panel Description: Telling Stories Beyond a Single Screen

This is an amazing time to be a storyteller. The democratization of the tools to create combined with rapid changes in media consumption mean that there are more ways to tell stories than ever before. The creative possibilities are endless – but where do you start? How do you extend the stories you want to tell beyond a single screen? Lance Weiler, one of the leading experts on transmedia, will share how he designs and deploys engaging transmedia projects while at the same time building audiences and tapping new forms of funding and revenue streams in ways that engage audiences.

• SESSION #4: 3pm – 4:30pm
• Breakout Sessions

All attendees will break into small groups and rotate through discussions with our day’s panelists over the next 90 minutes. Please come prepared with questions and thoughts about your own projects and get a chance to speak with our panelists!

• SESSION #5: 4:45pm – 6pm
• Participants: Gordon Quinn, Patricia Aufderheide – speakers, John Bracken – moderator
• Panel Description: New Frontiers of Fair Use

US Copyright Law allows us to use limited amounts of copyrighted material to make a point, a criticism or a commentary. Within traditional media, small portions of famous images and scenes can be recycled and repurposed daily. But the avenues of new media have now opened up these images to being repurposed by the minute or second. Whether it’s a movie scene with Hitler redubbed to varying comedic effect or a version of STAR WARS re-shot as a crowd-sourced film, the concept of Fair Use is being radically redefined. Please join us for a conversation about Fair Use in these new territories as we talk with Gordon Quinn of Kartemquin Films, Patricia Aufderheide from the Center for Social Media, and moderated by John Bracken of The MacArthur Foundation.

• SESSION #6: 6:30pm – 8:30pm
• The Tangible: Todd Denis and Lance Weiler will present a brief overview of Todd’s Toronto-based company, Swarm Entertainment, with brief look at projects like Jawbone.tv, nawlz.com, rekill.com, and MICroscope Lab. The two will then showcase some of the most innovative story-centric projects of the last year, focusing on the blurred lines between film and other story mediums. Engaging audience interaction between project screenings, they will dissect the narratives beyond the wow, looking at things like viral effects, influencer networks, creating project funnels, working with interactive teams, partnerships, financial constraints … with lots of questions from the crowd, and perhaps even brainstorming around specific transmedia/interactive problems in the audience.

SUNDAY, MAY 2 – 11AM – 7PM (Check-in begins at 10:30AM)

• SESSION #7: 11am – 12:15pm
• Participants: Alicia Sams – Moderator, Speakers: Sheila Leddy, Kristi Jacobson
• Panel Description: AFTERLIFE: Beyond and Beside Broadcast
We all make films to be seen, and, as independent filmmakers, we are usually possessed by a personal drive to tell these stories.   But creating a good film is not enough. What is your new media plan?  How can you leverage your film and the issues that are important to you to reach a wider audience?  What organizations and funds are out there to help you with outreach and impact?  If you’re not thinking about outreach until your film is finished, it’s too late.   Join Kristi Jacobson, director of the upcoming film HUNGRY IN AMERICA, which has received funding from Chicken and Egg, the Fledgling Fund and Impact Partners, and Sheila Leddy, of The Fledgling Fund, for a discussion on both finding funding for film outreach and the uses of new media and grassroots organizing to expand the distribution and impact of documentaries.

• 12:30pm – 1:30pm – LUNCH

• SESSION #8: 1:45pm – 2:45pm
• Panelists: Joe Winston, Laura Cohen – speakers, Jacinta Banks – moderator
• What’s the Matter With Kansas?
Documentary filmmaker Joe Winston says his film WHAT’S THE MATTER WITH KANSAS “was saved from total extinction by new media.” Through a DIY campaign, Director Winston and Producer Laura Cohen generated traction for KANSAS through social media outlets, leveraging that into screenings to gain a toehold to get the film in front of viewers. It worked. After a relentless campaign, Roger Ebert named WHAT’S THE MATTER WITH KANSAS? as one of his Top Ten Documentaries of 2009. Join us for a discussion about this amazing documentary, moderated by Jacinta Banks, Distribution Manager for Kartemquin Films.

• SESSION #9: 3pm – 4pm:
• PANEL DESCRIPTION: IF A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS, WHAT’S 144 CHARACTERS WORTH?
• Michael Graf – moderator; speakers: Julio Desir, Sally Siegel, John Besmer, Bill O’Neil
If the medium is the message, what’s new media got to say? You’ve seen the headlines: More advertising dollars are spent on Google than with the broadcast networks. Facebook reaches more people than all four networks combined. Americans now spend more time online than in front of their televisions. All the rules of Advertising have been thrown out – or have they? From branded entertainment to guerilla documentaries, find out how new media is changing how advertisers reach out to consumers and what that means to commercial storytellers and filmmakers. Join John Besmer, Creative Director and Partner at Planet Propaganda, Julio Desir, Jr. SVP & Creative Director at DraftFCB/Chicago, Bill O’Neil, Creative Director at Layer One Media and Sally Siegel, Account Supervisor at Hanson Dodge Creative for a discussion about the challenges and opportunities the new world order of advertising has in store for filmmakers and the moving image.

• SESSION #10: 4:15pm – 5:15pm:
• Panel Description: THE PHANTOM REVIEWER
• Participants: Mike Stoklasa, Lisa Gildehaus – moderator
Mike Stoklasa of RedLetter Media gained notoriety for creating an alter-ego reviewer who proceeds to deliver an eviscerating 70-minute review of THE PHANTOM MENACE. His following 90-minute review of ATTACK OF THE CLONES caused an online maelstrom when it was yanked from YouTube. Join us for a discussion with Mike about creating a review as long as a movie and (not) provoking George Lucas all in one fell swoop.

• SESSION #11: 5:30pm – 6:30pm: Weekend Wrap Up
Still have questions for our panelists or want a private word with one of Chicago’s other amazing media makers and content creators sitting in front of you? We will take this final hour to talk in small groups with the day’s panelists and other attendees. Ask questions about your own projects or gain a little further insight into what some of these innovators see around the next curve in the new media bend.

Participant Bios

SESSION #1: Brian Newman is the founder of sub-genre consulting, helping filmmakers and organizations to distribute content and connect with audiences through innovative uses of new technology. Brian was most recently CEO of the Tribeca Film Institute (TFI), and has been the executive director of Renew Media and IMAGE Film & Video Center. He speaks regularly on new media, audience development and the future of the industry, and contributes to a blog on these subjects at Springboardmedia.

SESSION #2: Robert Fernandez is CEO/partner of Moxie Pictures, a production company with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Bangkok and London.

Robert has spent the last 20 years in the commercial film industry.  He was the Executive Vice President of @radical.media before leaving in May 2003 to become CEO/partner of Moxie Pictures.  Robert had overseen production of commercials and programming for most of the major brands and agencies in advertising.  He was involved in producing award winning work for clients such as Nike, Apple, IBM, American Express and ESPN. In 2005 and 2006, Moxie Pictures was ranked in the Top Ten of Global Production Companies at the Cannes Film Festival.  He is a 2 time recipient of the Palm D’Or (Cannes Film Festival) for Top Global Production Company (1998 & 2001) as well as 5 Emmys, including the 2001 Primetime Emmy for Best Commercial (PBS).

In 1997, Robert produced his first feature film, “Above Freezing” with writer and director Frank Todaro. He was also the Executive Producer of “The Life”, a weekly television series on ESPN as well as programming for Bravo, IFC, AMC, MTV and ABC.  He was also the Co-Producer of Errol Morris’ 2004 Academy Award winning documentary, “The Fog of War” and is a producer on the critically acclaimed documentary “Some Kind of Monster”.   He was most recently Executive Producer of Errol Morris’ “Standard Operating Procedure”, which won the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival, the first documentary to ever be in competition at the festival.  He was also the producer of the opening films to the 74th and 79th Annual Academy Awards. In 2009, he produced the critically acclaimed documentary, “Uneven Fairways”, which was broadcast on The Golf Channel.

In 2005 and 2006, Robert was the Executive Producer of the Glamour Reel Moments Short Films Series.  Eight total films were produced with noted actress’s Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Anniston and Bryce Dallas Howard all making there directorial debuts. The films have been screened throughout the world and have been selected to over 40 different film festivals worldwide.

Robert is the current Vice-Chairman of the Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP). Robert has also been a member of the AICP National Labor Committee since 2000 and is on the Board of Trustees for the Directors Guild Training Program as well as the Commercial Producer Health Plan.  In 2008, Robert was selected a chairperson of the 17th AICP Show at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, which is one of the most prestigious advertising award shows in the world.

Robert resides in Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania with his wife, Lisa, and his sons, Timothy and Matthew.

Lisa Gildehaus was the series producer of Y’ALL VERSUS US: HEAD 2 HEAD, an episodic documentary series shot over four months in rural Mississippi. A co-production between Young & Rubicam and Moxie Pictures, it airs nationwide on Fox Sports in 2010. She produced and directed the recently completed TOWN AND COUNTRY (Milwaukee International Film Festival premiere 2009), a documentary that follows Missouri farmers and 4H clubs as they prepare for livestock shows at the annual county fair. She was the co-producer and co-director of ALMOST HOME, a cinema verité documentary about people who live and work in an eldercare community, which was part of the 2006 ITVS Independent Lens series; producer, director and editor of the documentary ORACLE OF OMAHA, about billionaire Warren Buffett and his legions of followers; and producer/director of a series of web shorts entitled KILL IT AND COOK IT WITH LARRY, about a Midwestern farmer who traps and cooks wild game. She serves on the Board of Directors for IFP Chicago and is committee chair for the IFP Producers Series, dedicated to enriching the professional experiences of Midwestern filmmakers. She also line produces feature films and television commercials. Gildehaus has produced and filmed in Tanzania, Haiti, Australia, New Zealand, the former Yugoslavia and throughout America and Western Europe. She has shot on a variety of miniDV and High Definition cameras, edits on AVID and Final Cut Pro, and is conversationally fluent in Czech. She was one of 12 international filmmakers accepted in the HotDocs Film Festival’s DocLab in 2009 and is off to shoot a documentary short about gondolas in Venice after she wraps up producing this amazing IFP weekend event.

SESSION #3: Lance Weiler is a critically acclaimed award winning writer / director. Recognized as a pioneer because of the way he makes and distributes his work – WIRED magazine named him “One of twenty-five people helping to re-invent entertainment and change the face of Hollywood.” He has successfully self-distributed his films The Last Broadcastand Head Trauma to more than 20 countries while grossing over 5 million dollars in the process. The Last Broadcast which he co-wrote and co-directed became the first film to be distributed digitally to theaters in 1998. Always interested in experimenting with new ways to tell stories and reach audiences, Lance developed a cinema ARG (alternate realty game) around Head Trauma. Over 2.5 million people experienced the game via theaters, mobile drive-ins, phones and online. In recognition of these cinematic gaming innovations, BUSINESSWEEK named Lance “One of the 18 Who Changed Hollywood.” Others on the list included Thomas Edison, George Lucas, Steve Jobs and Walt Disney.

Lance is a partner in Seize the Media, a social entertainment company that focuses on transmedia story architecture. Seize the Media is the vehicle for Lance’s original content in addition to providing creative services and licensing original IP to clients such as myspace, Hammer Films, eBay, and Ubisoft among others. Through Seize the Media, Lance is developing a number of film, TV, and gaming projects. His next feature film / transmedia project entitled HiM recently won the Arte France Cinema award at the 2009 edition of CineMart. In January 2010 HiM attended the Sundance Screenwriters Lab marking the first time the lab has supported a feature film / transmedia project.

In 2006, Lance founded the WorkBook Project an open creative network that has grown to become a thriving international community of filmmakers, musicians, game designers and software developers. In 2007, Lance started a roving conference series for creatives called DIY DAYS. DIY DAYS has traveled to LA, San Francisco, Boston, NYC, and Philadelphia. Over the course of 2009, Lance co-created and produced 24 episodes of a stylized doc series entitled RADAR. The series explores storytelling and creativity in the digital age and was recently nominated for a Streamy Award for best doc series. Lance often speaks about the changing landscape of entertainment. From the evolution of storytelling to changes in media creation, distribution and discovery – Lance has spoken at MIT, USC, Columbia, Cannes, and Sundance in addition to high level ad agencies, brands, gaming, and media companies. He’s been compiling his thoughts and theories into a book entitled “Putting the Mass Back in Media” which he intends to publish as a rich media resource.

Since 2007, Lance has sat on the board of the IFP, a national filmmaking organization. Lance also advises a number of tech companies in the entertainment space and writes a regular column for Filmmaker Magazine on the impact of tech on entertainment. For fun he runs a discovery blog called Text of Light where he posts the random things he <3’s.

SESSION #4: See previous bios

SESSION #5: Gordon Quinn: Artistic Director and founding member of Kartemquin Films, Gordon Quinn has been making documentaries for over 40 years. Roger Ebert, of the Chicago Sun Times, called his first film Home For Life (1966) “an extraordinarily moving documentary.” With Home For Life, Gordon established the direction he would take for the next four decades, making cinéma vérité films that investigate and critique society by documenting the unfolding lives of real people.

At Kartemquin, Gordon created a legacy that is an inspiration for young filmmakers and a home where they can make social-issue documentaries. Kartemquin’s best known film, Hoop Dreams (1994), was executive produced by Gordon. The film follows two inner-city high school basketball players for five years as they pursue their NBA dreams. Its many honors include: the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival, The Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award, Chicago Film Critics Award — Best Picture, Los Angeles Film Critics Association — Best Documentary and an Academy Award Nomination.

Some of Gordon’s Kartemquin films include Vietnam, Long Time Coming, Golub, Taylor Chain, The Last Pullman Car, and The Chicago Maternity Center Story. He executive produced or produced 5 Girls, Refrigerator Mothers, Stevie, Mapping Stem Cell Research: Terra Incognita and The New Americans. (He also directed the Palestinian segment of this award winning, intimate, seven-hour PBS series.) Recently he produced a film that deals with the human consequences of genetic medicine, In the Family, and executive produced two films, Milking the Rhino about community-based conservation in Africa, and At the Death House Door, on a wrongful execution in Texas. He just completed directing Prisoner of Her Past and executive producing No Crossover: the Trial of Allen Iverson for ESPN, while currently directing A Good Man about dancer Bill T. Jones for American Masters and The Interrupters for Frontline.

Gordon is a supporter of public and community media and has served on the boards of several organizations including the Illinois Humanities Council, the Chicago Public Access Corporation, the Public Square Advisory Committee, and the Illinois Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. Gordon was a leader in creating the Documentary Filmmakers Statement of Best Practices in Fair Use, and frequently speaks to the media, legal, and educational communities about this fundamental right.

Patricia Aufderheide: Center director Patricia Aufderheide is a professor in the School of Communication at American University in Washington, D.C. She is the author of, among others, Documentary: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford, 2007), The Daily Planet (University of Minnesota Press, 2000), and ofCommunications Policy in the Public Interest (Guilford Press, 1999). She has been a Fulbright and John Simon Guggenheim fellow and has served as a juror at the Sundance Film Festival among others. She has received numerous journalism and scholarly awards, including career achievement awards in 2006 from the International Documentary Association and in 2008 from the International Digital Media and Arts Association. Aufderheide serves on the board of directors of Kartemquin Films, a leading independent social documentary production company, and on the editorial boards of a variety of publications, includingCommunication Law and Policy and In These Times newspaper. She has served on the board of directors of the Independent Television Service, which produces innovative television programming for underserved audiences under the umbrella of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and on the film advisory board of the National Gallery of Art. She received her Ph.D. in history from the University of Minnesota.

Moderator John Bracken: John S. Bracken supports online innovation and social entrepreneurship through grantmaking at the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. He developed and manages a cross-programmatic Foundation innovation fund, coordinates online and mobile strategies for nongovernmental organizations in Nigeria and Mexico and created and oversees a program on global Internet Freedom & Security. He is also responsible for the Foundation’s support for news innovation and documentary audio and public radio projects. Prior to joining the Foundation in 2004 he worked at the Ford Foundation as a program associate on its portfolios in news media and media policy and technology. He has also worked for the Center for Media Education, where he analyzed the social and policy impact of the Internet, and managed a series of media research projects for the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania. John is a 2009 fellow of Leadership Greater Chicago. He has a Masters Degree from the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelors Degree from Pitzer College in Claremont, California. He maintains a blog on media and policy issues at johnbracken.net and frequently speaks on social innovation and technology.

SESSION #6: Todd Denis: Co-founder of creative digital boutique Rival Schools (http://www.rivalschools.tv), which has created interactive for brands like Kellogg’s, Puma and the 2010 Olympics. Founded Swarm Entertainment (http://www.swarment.com) in 2008 in order to pursue true passion—the evolution of story in the digital age. As a first project, developed Jawbone.tv (http://www.jawbone.tv), a website that showcases the most innovative narrative on the planet, including film, interactive, animation, advertising, transmedia and more. Currently developing cross-media sci-fi project Rekill (http://www.rekill.com), and working with several independent creators to promote and develop their work, including Stu Campbell’s mind-blowing interactive comic Nawlz (http://www.nawlz.com).

DAY 2 – SUNDAY, MAY 2, 2010

SESSION #7:Kristi Jacobson is an award-winning director and producer of documentary film and television with a track record of immersing herself in controversial subjects and getting reluctant subjects to open up: Teamster truck drivers torn apart by union turf battles, survivors of war and domestic violence, immigrants thrown in U.S. Prisons, BASE jumpers about to take the plunge. Her most recent film, TOOTS, a portrait of larger- than-life New York saloonkeeper and personality Toots Shor garnered several nominations and awards, including the National Board of Review!s Top Documentary Award following its critically acclaimed theatrical release in 2007. Her work has screened in theaters and film festivals worldwide and has been featured on HBO, PBS, ESPN, ABC, CBS, Lifetime and Sundance Channel.

Kenneth Turan of the LA Times called Kristi!s debut feature, American Standoff, “deeply human…surprisingly heartbreaking…” The film, examining the role of unions in modern times and the legacy of Jimmy Hoffa, premiered at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival and aired on HBO!s award-winning “America Undercover” series.

Kristi has collaborated with two-time Oscar-winning filmmaker Barbara Kopple on several films, including the Voices of Courage Award-winner Defending Our Daughters, for Lifetime Television (Kopple was also producer of American Standoff). She was director/producer of PBS!s 8-part series, Colonial House, which received an Emmy nomination and was winner of 6 Cine Golden Eagle Awards in 2004. Other television work includes Together: Stop Violence Against Women, broadcast on Lifetime Television as part of its nationwide campaign to stop violence against women. Most recently, she produced and
directed The Power of Truth, a short film highlighting the work of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC, and produced several commercials for branding company DeSantis Breindel. Kristi speaks frequently on the subject of documentary film, television and distribution and is an adjunct professor of documentary film at NYU!s SCPS. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Duke University.

Alicia Sams has extensive experience working in both documentary and fiction films. Her most recent film as director is By the People: The Election of Barack Obama, which chronicles the journey of Barack Obama from before the announcement of his Presidential campaign to the White House, and premiered on HBO in November, 2009. Also released in 2009 was the award-winning narrative feature AMREEKA, for which she was executive producer. In 2006, she produced two feature-length documentaries: Wanderlust, a film about road movies for IFC; and the theatrical release Toots, about legendary NY saloonkeeper Toots Shor. Prior to that, she produced the Sony Pictures Classics release Grateful Dawg, independent documentary Off the Menu: The Last Days of Chasen’s (released by Northern Arts), the AMC television special Hello He Lied, And Other Truths from the Hollywood Trenches, the Sundance Channel series Keeping Time: New Music from America’s Roots, among others. She was post-production supervisor for Chocolat, The Shipping News, and The Original Kings of Comedy and co-produced Nelson Hume’s debut feature Sunburn. She began her career working on documentaries for Bill Moyers Public Affairs Television and the PBS series’ American Masters and Great Performances.

Sheila Leddy is the Executive Director at The Fledgling Fund. She has worked with the Fund since its inception playing a key role in developing its overall strategy in collaboration with the Fund’s president and board. She plays a leadership role in its Creative Media Initiative, developing grant guidelines, reviewing and developing projects and assessing their potential to advance the Fund’s mission. In 2008, she co-authored the white paper, Assessing Creative Media’s Social Impact.  Prior to The Fledging Fund, she was a senior associate with The Crimson Group, a firm that provided customized management education programs for physician leaders and senior managers of large healthcare organizations. She was also a research assistant at Harvard Business School where she developed curriculum materials that examined the corporate role in the social sector. Sheila received her MBA from Boston University Graduate School of Management and her BA from the University of Notre Dame.

SESSION #8: Joe Winston directed “What’s the Matter with Kansas?” based on Thomas Frank’s best-seller.  Roger Ebert named the film “One of the Ten Best Documentaries of 2009.”
Since graduating from Yale in 1988, Joe has produced many independent films.  From 1989-93, his cable access TV series “This Week in Joe’s Basement “ won two cable TV awards, national media attention, and a loyal late-night viewership.  The show became so notorious that the Chicago Tribune assigned Joe to interview star Mike Myers about whether “Wayne’s World” was stolen from “Joe’s Basement.”

In 1997, Winston’s documentary, “The Burning Man Festival,” won festival prizes in New York and San Francisco and aired on DRTV (Denmark) and Planete Multi-Thematiques (France.)  Also an Emmy-nominated editor of television documentaries, Joe lives and works in Chicago.

Laura Cohen produced “What’s the Matter with Kansas?” along with Joe Winston.
Laura has been working in film and television for over ten years.  Recently, she wrapped up production on the TV series “American Greed” for CNBC and “9/11’s Deadly Dust” on A&E for Kurtis Productions.  In 2005, she finished research for the PBS documentary “The Power of Choice: The Life and Ideas of Milton Friedman.”  She has also taught creative writing in Chicago Public Schools.

Moderator: Jacinta Banks, Distribution Manager, Kartemquin Films

SESSION #9:Sally Siegel, Account Supervisor, Hanson Dodge Creative
Guides brand and communication strategy and frames solutions to drive clients’ business objectives.

With 17 years experience in the advertising, communications and marketing industry, Sally is adept at assessing challenges from all relevant angles. She focuses on developing integrated marketing solutions and plans for a variety of clients. Sally also leads large cross-discipline teams. She joined Hanson Dodge Creative in 2003 after working at several large Midwestern agencies.

Key Accounts: Trek Bicycle, Johnson Outdoors, President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports

Hanson Dodge Creative is America’s Leading Active Lifestyle Agency, focused on branding, design and technology – three of the most critical forces driving marketing today. This integration of services positions us at the forefront of the most exciting and fastest-changing business environment in history. This focus, paired with our range of services, has enabled us to deliver smart strategies and bottom-line results for some of the world’s best-known brands.

Michael Graf: Named “Director of the Year” by Screen Magazine, Michael Graf is an Emmy® Award winning filmmaker and principal owner of commercial production company, Spot FilmWorks, Ltd. He has directed hundreds of TV commercials for national and regional clients alike.

His work has been featured in Communication Arts, Screen, In Camera and Shoot Magazines. Graf won Best of Show honors at the International Summit Creative Awards in Seattle, the prestigious Mobius Award, the Hugo Award, the CINE Golden Eagle, the American Advertising Federationʼs Mosaic Award for Diversity and a Silver WorldMedal at the New York Festivals for his directing. He has won the National Telly Award 31 times and is the recipient of over 50 Addy Awards including Best Broadcast and Judgeʼs Award five of the last six years and his work was showcased on AdCritic.comʼs Top 10 List of Best Commercials Worldwide.

His screenplay, The Last Indian War, was a finalist for the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Scienceʼs 2009 prestigious Nichol Fellowship for Screenwriting.

Graf also produced and directed the successful direct to videotape equestrian series, Reining Patterns with Todd Bergen and John Slack, which grossed three times its initial investment (worldwide) in the first year of distribution.

He moved to the mid-west from Los Angeles where he previously worked at both Walt Disney Studios and The Post Group. He is a graduate of Syracuse Universityʼs SI Newhouse School of Communications, owns a small farm in rural Wisconsin and raises horses with his wife, Linda, and their two little dogs; a Jack Russell Terrier named Willy and an Australian Shepherd named Gertie.

Julio Desir Jr.’s professional advertising career began in Lansing, Michigan at the age of 19. Nearly twenty years later, he approaches every day with the same level of enthusiasm and excitement. He is currently a creative director at DraftFCB/Chicago on the Coors account. While most of his time is spent creating ads for Coors Light and Coors Banquet, he has helped other brands such as Boeing, Circuit City, EA, KFC and Kraft.

When not creating ads, Julio enjoys sharing his theories on art, advertising and design to young adults. He has spoken to students from Michigan State University, Ad Ed Chicago, Columbia College and Notre Dame University.

Julio lives in Oak Park, Illinois with his wife, Christa, and his three children, Josephine, Little Julio and Patric (a.k.a. Jojo, Bijou and Butter).

Bill O’Neil is the Creative Director at Layer One Media and whether he’s designing skateboard decks, painting, or reviewing a website comp, he takes a fully-immersed, focused approach to everything he set his eyes on. With over a decade of creative direction experience he’s found the perfect blend of technology, business and art, and mastered molding them into strong experiences online.

As Layer One Media’s Creative Director, Bill directs our design team on just that – fusing creative work with strategic input. While wrangling a team of unique designers who think outside the box can be a challenge – Bill’s intense focus and innovative visions keep the team and the process here streamlined with his creative vision.

Bill is no stranger to challenging projects with wide-reaching scope and application. He’s had experience working with brands from Miller Brewing to Harley-Davidson. His ambitious approach is usually the best one; he believes in big thinking and bold innovation.

SESSION #10: Mike Stoklasa is a graduate of Columbia College and has a BA in Film and Video. He currently lives in Milwaukee, WI where he works as a Freelance Videographer and co-owns a video production company called Red Letter Media

Moderator: Lisa Gildehaus

Eye-Witness – Focus on Documentaries

April 4-5 & 18-19
Film Row Cinema
Columbia College Chicago
1104 S. Wabash, 8th Floor

Full Series Passes start at $125!!!

Two full weekend sessions that cover the nuts and bolts of developing, marketing and distributing your documentary film! The full schedule is now here:

WEEKEND I

Sat April 4th 2009

10am-11.30am: Pitching and Planning a Series
Want to plan a series? Join Kartemquin’s Gordon Quinn, Leslie Simmer & Jerry Blumenthal to discuss the process involved in planning and producing their series THE NEW AMERICANS that spanned 4 years in the lives of new American immigrants.

11.30am-1pm: Producing with ITVS
Get an overview of ITVS, application procedures and an outline of the relationship during and after, with ITVS’ Karim Ahmad and Kartemquin’s Xan Aranda, Associate Producer & Outreach Coordinator for MILKING THE RHINO.

1-2pm: Lunch

2-3.30pm: Locally Grown Filmmakers
Moderator Jay Delaney leads a discussion with a diverse group of Midwestern filmmakers including Iris Shim, AtomSmasher’s Clayton Brown & Andrew Suprenant, Bob Hercules, Barry Poltermann and Frank Anderson about resources and funding, the pros and cons of working in the region and how they make a living doing what they love.

3.30-5pm: Elevator Pitches
Need advice on pitching your film or work-in-progress to potential funders and distributors? Expert Laurie Scheer will tell you how, listen to pitches from participants, and give advice on how you can be most effective!

5-6pm: Alex Karpovsky Case Study
IFP Chicago is proud to announce the Chicago premiere of Alex Karpovsky’s TRUST US, THIS IS ALL MADE UP. This documentary premiered at SXSW in March and stars Chicago’s own David Pasquesi and TJ Jagodowski – join us for a discussion about festivals, funding issues and the creative relationship of the team. Stick around to see the film at 6pm!

6pm: Chicago Premiere – TRUST US, THIS IS ALL MADE UP
Alex Karpovsky’s film premiered at SXSW this year starring Chicago’s own David Pasquesi and TJ Jagodowski

**Free for Producer’s Series participants, Individual Screening Tickets Available for the general public!

Sunday April 5th 2009

10-11am: Direct Focus on Photography
Join Fletcher Chicago’s Stan Glapa and documentary Directors of Photography Keith Walker (SENATOR OBAMA GOES TO AFRICA), Dana Kupper (IN THE FAMILY) and Daniel Kraus (SHERIFF) to discuss what it means to shoot a documentary when you don’t know what your subjects are going to do as they show clips of their work and discuss how to shoot with story and edit in mind.

11am-12pm: Camera Nuts and Bolts
In the next hour, Fletcher Chicago’s Stan Glapa leads our documentary DPs in a talk about the technological side of what they do and bring along their cameras of choice for work in the field. With so many cameras and formats on the market, which ones are best for documentary work? How do you control workflow? Additional cameras on hand from Fletcher Chicago. Feel free to move around and see the cameras up close and ask questions!

12-1pm: Lunch

1-2pm: Audio Landscape
Lisa Gildehaus talks to Randy Bobo (Post Production Sound Designer) and Rich Pooler (Documentary Field Sound Recordist) about how to move effortlessly from field to post to create a layered and deep sound landscape that enhances your story, either in the field or after the fact.

2-4pm: Fair Use
Did Morgan Spurlock get McDonald’s to OK all those Golden Arches in SUPERSIZE ME? What if you’re filming and a subject has a Beyonce ring tone on her phone? What if your main character won’t take off that Bears jersey? Those are all copyright conundrums. In United States law, something called Fair Use allows limited use of copyrighted materials without the rights holder’s permission. For documentary filmmakers this is a very important but also very muddled legal area. We are proud to present this in depth discussion with Kartemquin’s Gordon Quinn as he explains what all documentary filmmakers need to know about Fair Use as they’re making their films.

WEEKEND II

Saturday 18th April 2009

10-11.30am: Ethics Panel Discussion
The subjects of documentary films are often ordinary (or extraordinary) people unaccustomed to life in the limelight. What considerations should filmmakers take into account when making a documentary? Where do issues of time, money, deadlines and demands of story structure come into play? Join us for an in-depth discussion of the ethics surrounding documentary filmmaking with Jonathan Towers, Ruth Leitman, Maggie Bowman, Danielle Beverly, and Stephanie McCanles.

11.30am-12.30pm: Self-Distribution – A case study of Tribeca’s Reframe Program
With so many options available to filmmakers for distributing their own works, join us for a discussion with Reframe’s Tami Yeager as she delves into what this non-profit effort has to offer independent documentary filmmakers.

12.30-1.30pm: Lunch

1.30-3.30pm: Producing a Series
Join Danny Alpert, Beth Sternheimer, and Susanne Suffredin from Chicago’s The Kindling Group as they offer a detailed look at their 4-part PBS series THE CALLING, what it means to produce a documentary series that interweaves many story lines cut from over 1,000 hours of footage, and their plans to foster relationships with other independent documentary filmmakers.

3.30-4.30pm: Meet & Greet Coffee Hour

4.30-6pm: DIY – A Case Study of HANDMADE NATION
Indie Craft expert, small business owner, published author, and DIY distribution filmmaker Faythe Levine joins us for a discussion of her documentary HANDMADE NATION. Cris Siqueira (editor), Micaela Oherlihy (DP) and Sam Macon (animation director) will also be on hand to discuss the film. Covering the rise of the DIY movement in America, the film is a prime example of how to do it yourself. Stick around and watch the film at 6pm!

6pm: Chicago Premiere – HANDMADE NATION
A film by Faythe Levine, DIY artist, founder of Art vs. Craft & published author about the rise of DIY and the new wave of art, craft and design

**Free for Producer’s Series participants, Individual Screening Tickets Available for the general public!

Sunday April 19th 2009

10am-12pm: Social and Mobile Media
Many people are asking “what life does your film have beyond the film?” Video games, widgets, applications, social networking… how does a filmmaker find the time and figure out what each documentary needs? Danielle Beverly leads a discussion with Wendy Levy (BAY AREA VIDEO COALITION), former BAVC participant and filmmaker Brad Lichtenstein (WHAT WE GOT), and Elspeth Revere (MACARTHUR FOUNDATION) as they discuss uses and methods of approaching the ever-expanding field of social media.

12-1pm: Lunch

1-3pm: The IFP Producers Series Keynote Presentation:
THE CUTTING EDGE OF DISTRIBUTION
Peter Broderick will give a comprehensive overview of the newest distribution strategies being used by filmmakers to maximize revenues, target and build core audiences, and boost their careers. He will reveal the distribution techniques that made a number of documentaries so successful. Case studies will demonstrate how filmmakers are implementing hybrid distribution strategies that include theatrical, television, non-theatrical, home video, educational distribution, and web sales.

3-5pm: Resource Tables
Resource Tables: 4 tables, 30 minutes each. Our final session of the Producer’s Series will conclude with attendees breaking into small groups and getting the opportunity to ask specific questions related to their projects. Our resource people include: Peter Broderick for a DIY Distribution discussion, filmmakers Tami Yeager and Brad Lichtenstein to talk about budgeting your documentary, Wendy Levy to discuss social and mobile media, and Kathy Im (MacArthur Foundation) for a conversation about funding.

10 a.m.
Choosing the Right Subject. What elements make up a compelling documentary? Successful documentary filmmakers discuss how they identified their stories/subjects and how they approached them. Ruth Leitman (Lipstick and Dynamite), Brad Lichtenstein (Almost Home), Christine O’Malley (I.O.U.S.A.), Jon Siskel (Louder Than A Bomb)

12 p.m. Lunch

1:30 p.m.
Tim Kelley Legal Seminar on fiscal agency, releases forms, and contracts.

3:30 p.m.
I.O.U.S.A. Case Study with Producer Christine O’Malley

5 p.m. Dinner Break and Reception

7 p.m. I.O.U.S.A. Sneak Preview

Sunday, March 30

10 a.m.
ITVS Proposal writing workshop and In The Family case study with ITVS Director of Programming Richard Saiz and Kartemquin Films‘ Joanna Rudnick

12:30 p.m. Lunch break

1:00 p.m.
Funder Panel and Pitch Sesssions
Several registrants will have the opportunity to pitch ideas to a panel of funding experts including Richard Saiz (ITVS), Matt Pakula (Playboy Foundation), Encarnacion Teruel (Illinois Arts Council) and Ryan Lewis(Illinois Humanities Council).

Saturday, April 5

10 a.m.
Jobs for Doc makers
Join representatives from Towers Productions, Grand and Noble Productions and other companies to learn about the work they are doing and how to be a part of it.

12 p.m. Lunch

1 p.m. Tim Kelley Legal Seminar licensing and fair use, distribution agreements

3 p.m. 100 hours to 2: Editing the Documentary
Top documentary editors discuss how they have approached cutting their projects. Leslie Simmer (The War Tapes ) and Tom Haneke (Almost Home)

4:30 p.m.
Darkon Case Study with Producers Thomas Kikis and Cherise Wolas

7 p.m. Darkon Sneak Preview

Sunday, April 6

10 a.m.
Creative Capital workshop and Nice Bombs case study with CC’s Kemi Ilesanmi and filmmaker Usama Alshaibi

1:30 p.m.
Distribution Opportunities
IFC FILMS‘ Ryan Werner, Distribution Executive Rob William (Netflix/Red Envelope Entertainment), P.O.V. Producer Chris White, Filmmaker Yvonne Welbon (Ruth Ellis @ 100, Garbage The Revolution Starts at Home), and others discuss the various outlets for documentary films

3 p.m.
Work in Progress Screenings
Several registrants have the opportunity to screen their works-in-progress for the panelists and other participants.