It has been a week of panels for me. Yesterday I moderated a panel on distribution at the Evil City Film Fest. The panels took place in the basement of Fontana’s Bar in the Lower East Side and it felt like we should have been doing karaoke and burlesque rather than talking about film but the small crowd was really into it and I highly recommend moderating after drinking margaritas! The panels started with one on blogging with a fantastic line-up: S.T. VanAirsdale from The Reeler, Karina Longworth from Spout, Pamela Cohn from Still in Motion, and Mike Tully from Boredom at its Boredest. These people are all great writers with the gift of the gab so it was a rowdy and fun panel.

Danielle DiGiamcomo moderating with aplomb - Stu VanAirsdale, Karina Longworth, Pamela Cohn and Mike Tully

The panel on distribution also had a really great line-up: Susan Buice and Arin Crumley directors of Four Eyed Monsters, Leah Meyerhoff director of Team Queen and Twitch and really on it with her website and mailing list, Danielle DiGiacomo of distributor IndiePix, Billy Saleebey director of Rolling, and Jerry Rapp director of Mojave Phone Booth. These directors are smart and savvy about distribution and marketing and are clear that things are changing and changing fast. Filmmakers need to stay on top of the game to find their audience and get their work out there. They are also very aware of the power of the Web as a vital tool in this revolution - and they share their resources and experiences so check out their websites to find out more. I learned about TubeMogul, a great site for easily uploading your films to the top video sharing sites and then tracking who is watching your work and how. Analytics are so important when you’re trying to keep track of what is having an impact and where, although I have to admit that I haven’t really gotten my head around all the available web-analytic tools yet and I’m very suspicious of the accuracy of many of them.

Leah Meyerhoff, Danielle DiGiacomo, and Pamela Cohn

Earlier last week I participated in a panel at the Foundation Center - How You Can Afford to Be an Artist: Ideas for Creating a Sustainable Career. I am often surprised by the lack of communication between filmmakers and other artistic pursuits and it was really great to sit on a panel with people doing such amazing things for the arts in NYC because at the end of the day we are all going to be so much stronger if we partner up and share resources as we fight the good fight to allow creativity to flourish in a city where it can sometimes (often?) feel impossible to be an artist/independent filmmaker. The Foundation Center offers lots of free events and it is definitely worth looking into what might be useful for you. And please check out the organizations of my fellow panelists who inspired me so much with their passion and the incredible things they are doing:

Fractured Atlas

Fractured Atlas is a non-profit organization that serves a national community of artists and arts organizations. Our programs and services facilitate the creation of art by offering vital support to the artists who produce it. We help artists and arts organizations function more effectively as businesses by providing access to funding, healthcare, education, and more, all in a context that honors their individuality and independent spirit. By nurturing today’s talented but underrepresented voices, we hope to foster a dynamic and diverse cultural landscape of tomorrow.

Chashama

Since 1995, chashama, a non-profit arts organization has provided opportunities for performing and visual artists by awarding grants, producing shows and providing subsidized studio, rehearsal and performance space.

Materials for the Arts

Materials for the Arts, NYC helps artists realize their visions, provides students with a richer educational experience, and furnishes businesses with a simple and efficient way to enhance the cultural life of their city while promoting environmental awareness and reuse.

Rock on.

Just a very quick heads up that the Evil City Film Fest will be descending on the East Village on Thursday, October 4th for a few days of film festival mayhem. Shooting People are sponsoring a party with IndiePix from 7pm on Friday at Crash Mansion and bringing you some awesome panels on Sunday.

There’s also a 25-year Retrospective Screening of Susan Seidelman’s Smithereens, hosted by Susan Seidelman. The film stars Susan Berman and legendary post-punk musician Richard Hell (Richard Hell and the Voidoids).

I’ll be posting more on this later but you can buy tickets online now.

I’ve never been to the True/False Film Festival but everybody who has says it is the most fun you can have with your clothes on. The good news is that festival directors David and Paul are spreading the joy by doing a screening at the IFC Center in New York on Tuesday, September 18th. There will be screenings of Super Amigos and that good old British classic Night Mail, with a live soundtrack performed by Gutbucket. There’s also a “special kick-off hoedown with Connecticut hillbillies the Can Kickers” - don’t know what that involves exactly but it sounds like a lot of fun.

To get more info and to buy tickets click here.

More about True/False here.

See you there!

Crossing the Line is a 3-day festival coming up in London later this month investigating films that defy easy categorization as either fact or fiction. Filmmakers speaking include Nick Broomfield, Peter Kosminsky, Stephen Frears, Brian Hill, Pawel Pawlikowski, and Penny Woolcock. Screenings include Rome Open City, Cathy Come Home, The Battle of Algiers, The War Game, Twockers and Tina Goes Shopping.

Done well, these hybrid films can reach a sort of Herzogian ecstatic truth that really make us look at ourselves and our society with fresh eyes, and it is arguably British filmmakers in particular who have pushed the boundaries in this area.

On a related note, Agnes Varnum has written a recent article for indieWIRE that investigates the history of narrative and documentary coming together in film, starting with Nanook of the North and Man with a Movie Camera and evident in recent films like The Road to Guantanamo, Strange Culture, Radiant City and Zoo.

Crossing the Line takes place September 21-23 at Rich Mix in London.

There are a bunch of really interesting podcasts online from BRITDOC 07. I just listened to John Bates from the London Business School talking about How to Kill a Growing Creative Business which has some incredibly useful info for people who are trying to navigate the precarious territory where commerce and art intersect. This is not just about how to avoid starving in a garret but about how to build a business that is creative, innovative and sustainable.

You can also learn about online distributors, turning your film into a campaign, how to pitch, and the secrets behind the docs that have made big money.

Click here to download the podcasts.

If you want to find out what the Shooting People reprobates are up to in Edinburgh make sure you check out the Festival Focus blog. There you’ll find lots of film reviews, photos, and reports on various Shooting People activities. Lee Kern is showing a film called Monkey Tennis at the MediaGuardian Edinburgh International Television Festival (rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it!) that I’m sure will be worth attending because he’s always brilliantly funny:

MONKEY TENNIS!

In 2007 my partner and i went undercover with a secret camera to discover the guts and innards of the commissioning process. We managed to get meetings with the Heads of Entertainment at ITV and Channel 4. I proceeded to pitch my shit and ludicrous program ideas to see if i had a shot at the big time. This film shows the results of those meetings…