PAM CUT // Center for an Untold Tomorrow, the film and new media arm of the Portland Art Museum, is currently accepting applications for their third annual Sustainability Labs. The six month program is specifically tailored for multidisciplinary media storytellers, providing mentorship, career-developing resources and stipends to further their artistic practices. Applications close on July 1. “Our organization is all about artists who aren’t content to be contained—by medium, what’s come before or a singular type of media that they’re working with,” Amy Dotson, director of PAM CUT and curator of Film & New Media at the Portland Art Museum, […]
by Natalia Keogan on Jun 22, 2023Amy Dotson, who recently departed her position as Deputy Director and Head of Programming at IFP, Filmmaker‘s publisher, is headed this fall to Portland, where she will step into the role of Director of the Northwest Film Center and Film and New Media Curator at the Portland Art Museum. Today she gave a speech at the day of industry talks at BAMcinemafest and kindly offered the text to Filmmaker to publish below. Lotta change in the air, ya’ll. So much has happened of late. As some of you may know, I’m on the precipice of new adventures. That said, I’m […]
by Amy Dotson on Jun 15, 2019In 1979, in a rented Manhattan screening room, there was the IFFM — the Independent Feature Film Market, five days of film screenings that connected new emerging American feature film markets with a burgeoning array of distributors and overseas buyers. A year later, the IFP — first the Independent Feature Project and now the Independent Filmmaker Project — was officially born, and for much of its early existence it was defined by the IFFM. The Market moved to the Angelika Theater, screenings went from 1979’s 20 to the dozens, and the chaos of rabid filmmakers targeting anyone with an industry […]
by Scott Macaulay on Sep 16, 2016IFP Deputy Director and Head of Programming Amy Dotson gives a keynote (or not!) speech today at the Seattle International Film Festival’s Catalyst brunch. She has kindly provided the text to Filmmaker, which we are printing below. You are not a filmmaker. “The Treachery of Images” was a painting by Belgian surrealist Rene Magritte. The picture he painted was simply of a pipe, with a rally cry of a scrawl below it reading: “This is not a pipe.” His paintings were an attempt to understand the impossibility of reconciling words, images and objects and challenged the very notion of what […]
by Amy Dotson on May 30, 2015This is a picture of LA-based producer Jodi Redmond breast-feeding her three-month old daughter, Collette, while she waits for her next meeting at No Borders. Colette has been to three markets around the world already. When I saw Jodi, it really brought into sharp focus how committed indie producers need to be to their projects to get them made. It’s also a perfect metaphor for what’s going on at Independent Film Week. Arriving in New York after a very gentle and lovely time in Halifax felt like a very frontal attack on my senses. It was a classic case of […]
by Zaheer Goodman-Bhyat on Sep 20, 2012Producer Nekisa Cooper (Pariah) and the IFP’s deputy director Amy Dotson joined Chicken & Egg Pictures in Park City to honor WMM‘s Debra Zimmerman with the 2012 Good Egg Award. Director Josh Radnor spoke about his film Liberal Arts, his experiences at Kenyon College, and David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest. Sarah Barnett, the EVP of the Sundance Channel, and Nancy Klasky Gribler, the EVP of Marketing for Sundance Cinemas, caught up at the Sundance Channel’s party. The cast of the new Sundance Channel television show, Push Girls. The director (Leslye Headland, far left) and cast of Bachelorette in one of the more raucous […]
by Alexandra Byer on Jan 26, 2012A recurring topic all last week at IFP’s Marketing and Distribution Labs was how indie filmmakers can get the most out of their film’s release, both monetarily and in terms of marketing. Friday morning the conversation turned granular (but no less interesting) with lab leaders Jon Reiss, Amy Dotson, and Milton Tabbot discussing the pros and cons of various forms of merchandising. Stressed repeatedly – the key thing to remember is that each film requires a distinct merchandising campaign. Think about your film’s core audience, and what kinds of products they would most likely be interested in. Then plan accordingly. […]
by Jane Schoenbrun on Dec 12, 2011Last night at HSBC’s corporate headquarters in New York, The Blackhouse Foundation celebrated the launch of the 2012 film festival season with a networking event and panel discussion focused on festival strategy. Now in its fifth year, Blackhouse is a non-profit organization set up to support communities of black filmmakers throughout the festival process. The Foundation has had a presence at many of the top North American festivals, including Sundance, Tribeca, Toronto, and the LA Film Festival. Blackhouse exists to help black filmmakers at all stages in their careers, a fact made clear by the event’s attendees. The talent in the […]
by Jane Schoenbrun on Oct 28, 2011Independent Film Week wrapped up last night with a closing night party swankier than most of us in the non-profit indie film world are used to. There were lobster rolls. There was paella (seriously, more paella in one place than I’ve seen over my entire life.) And there were three-hundred underfed indie filmmakers. Not a bad deal This was my third time at Film Week, and easily the best. Over five days, we hosted 2,200 filmmaker/industry meetings, as well as a conference, a screening series and a boatload of other special events. Here are some final photographic highlights: Writer/Director […]
by Jane Schoenbrun on Sep 23, 2011The recently concluded IFP Narrative Lab was a dense week of study and mentorship as our participating filmmakers, all with films somewhere between rough and fine cut, were given guidance about picture lock, sound design, scoring and music licensing, festival strategy, distribution deals, and DIY, self and hybrid distribution efforts. Amy Dotson and Rose Vincelli from the IFP did a fantastic job of putting the program together. Susan Stover, Jon Reiss and I were the lab leaders. In addition, an inspiring group of editors, filmmakers, producers and industry vets came in to lend their expertise. At the end of the […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jun 17, 2010