Master Class

After a mighty effort, you are nearing completion of your film and starting to face what’s next: How to send it out into the world.

Perhaps you’ve developed a distribution strategy, but are now confronted by a bewildering number of diverse film festivals. This workshop will provide an overview of the film festival world, how festival programmers make their decisions, discuss some general things about film festivals you need to understand, and present strategies for navigating a course that’s best for you and your film.

Presented in partnership with PIFVA.org

A workshop for film and video programmers and curators

Film festivals and cultural film/video exhibition are not only something of an utopian enterprise, they have been called out as “one of the last hopes for [media] democracy”, by critic B. Ruby Rich. Programmers and curators have considerable responsibility – to the artists, the art, their community and audience, themselves (their vision or cause), and their colleagues, just for example. This workshop will explore ideas and best practices of the challenging work of programming film and video work for the public.

Presented in partnership with PIFVA.org

In this Master Class filmmaker Rea Tajiri will discuss her approach to "collage aesthetic" which she has adopted as a creative process and auto ethnographic form. This form utilizes research, journaling, use of found archival materials; including photographs, film clips, advertisements, movement, and audio.

Participants should bring photographs, films which strike a chord, observed movement, recorded sounds in any media, music, and a notebook.

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Presented in partnership with PIFVA.org

Interested in doing a project that might involve using historical or archival footage and stills? Don't know what obstacles and costs might be involved given our copyright clearance culture?

D.C. based Media Historian and Researcher Bonnie G. Rowan presents an overview of, and strategies for, searching the collections at the National Archives, the Library of Congress and other sources of rights-free visuals. She will also explain the intricacies of using materials under the Fair Use doctrine.

Self distribution can strike fear in the hearts of independent filmmakers and present a great challenge, yet there are many filmmakers that choose to self distribute.

In this class S. Leo Chiang will explain the ever growing world of self distribution to the educational market. He will explain the process of planning a direct mailing and email campaign, to getting the most out of non-theatrical screenings. He will also share his experience with the educational distribution efforts of A Village Called Versailles along with an introduction of New Day Films.

More info on instructor S. Leo Chiang: http://avillagecalledversailles.com/

This workshop focuses on the preparation and delivery of your film for broadcast and other markets. It starts with knowing your project and its potential audience, extends to identifying potential partners and collaborators, and results in the decision of when and where to launch your film. Through diligent research and analysis of existing and emerging outlets, you will create a strategy that maximizes your viewer ship and profits.

More info on instructor Richard Power Hoffman: http://www.coyopa.com/

In this special topic lecture, Jennifer Maytorena Taylor will take the class through a case study of New Muslim Cool, her award winning documentary about Hamza Pérez, a Puerto Rican rapper who changed his life from being a street hustler and started down a new path as a young Muslim. From the initial steps of production fundraising and researching the subject matter to synthesizing the story and character developments, Ms. Taylor will share the experience of over four years of production and editing. She will also talk about the process of national distribution, local and national marketing techniques and how social networking has played a part in this film’s development.

Writer/director Julie Dash talks about her work and the strategies for staying true to an independent vision while working in the world of commercial cinema. She will screen excerpts from current projects, as well as her earlier works.

Tim Portlock began his art making as a community-based muralist and studio painter. After discovering the Internet, he saw technology as a means to create socially engaged projects illustrating the cultural and societal changes American urban spaces have undergone since the end of the industrial era. In this master class Tim will share excerpts of his current digital work which includes virtual reality interactive narratives and 3D simulations of historic spaces depicting post-industrial cities. The imagery he creates synthesizes traditional media and new media to show the relationships between changes in technology, how people form communities, and how people conceive a communal history.

In the first hour of this hands-on workshop, filmmaker Ashley Maynor will discuss and demonstrate best practices for protecting and preserving home movies, photographs, and documents. She'll explain how to store and care for these items and provide information about obtaining archival quality photo albums and supplies. Maynor who was Oral History Archivist for Roanoke Public Libraries will then share tips and techniques for recording oral histories with elders. She'll discuss and demonstrate easy-to-use and affordable technology that makes recording family histories easier than ever before. Participants are invited to bring their own home movies (8mm, Super 8, etc.) and documents or photos for inspection and repair tips and recommendations.