IFP Independent Film Week
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IFW: 17 IN…
Are audiences ready to spend 85 minutes immersed in the lives of conservative Muslim women in Syria? That’s the big question this week. 17 meetings in, and a box of band-aids later and we think things are going well. So far we’ve met with POV, HBO, Impact partners, Sundance, SXSW, foreign co-producers, other funders, and a few sales agents. People seem interested, and often enthusiastic. Everyone wants to see the rough cut. And as soon as we think it’s ready to show them we will. We were hoping more broadcasters would have come from Europe, since we met with many […]
by Laura Nix on Sep 26, 2011 -
IFW: NOT ALONE
I suspect that just about everyone who is at IFW this week applied for the chance to meet with buyers, distributors, and financers, and so I expected that I would spend my midweek blog focusing on those meetings and letting prospective Spotlight on Documentary participants know what a great opportunity this is. Well the good news is: it is true! IFW is a great chance to meet one-on-one with people you may otherwise only be able to contact through the abyss of their “info@____.com” company inbox. That is what makes IFW unique, and, particularly for New York-based filmmakers, many of […]
by Madeleine Sackler on Sep 26, 2011 -
IFW: MEETING JUNKIE
Hi. My name is Gillian Robespierre. I’m a writer/director attending the 2011 IFP Emerging Narrative project forum with my script Obvious Child. It’s a romantic comedy with an abortion. Yes, it’s a comedy. I just got home from three crazy days of m-f’ing meetings. I’m hopped up on caffeine and adrenaline. I won a grant, thank you Rooftop! And a picture of me meeting with Sundance Institute’s Rachel Chanoff made it into the Filmmaker Magazine Blog! It looks like Rachel is telling my fortune. I hope she sees a puffy Northface jacket in my future to wear at Sundance. I […]
by Gillian Robespierre on Sep 26, 2011 -
INDEPENDENT FILM WEEK SNAPSHOTS
Yes, as Dan Schoenbrun notes below, there was a lot of paella at the Copacabana club last night for Independent Film Week’s closing party. Here are a few of the photo’s I snapped during the week. Pariah producer Nekisa Cooper (left) attended Independent Film Week with a No Borders project, Five Nights in Maine. It’s the debut feature of Bay area producer Maris Curran (right). Here they are at one of the evening cocktail parties at the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center. Zach Lieberman (left) and Koo (right) were two of our “25 New Faces,” selected after they premiered the […]
by Scott Macaulay on Sep 23, 2011 -
ALL OVER BUT THE PAELLA: EVEN MORE IFW SNAPSHOTS
Independent 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, 2011 -
IFW: A TRUE LOVE CONNECTION?
Day One of Film Week is complete! Wow, did we ever get better at talking about Our Nixon today. Ten back-to-back 30-minute meetings with brilliant people who are really interested in your film will do have that effect. Did Our Nixon make a true love connection? Who knows, but sparks were definitely flying. And it’s all about getting to the second date. We came into this week with a lot of meeting requests, and although I was fairly flabbergasted by the interest we elicited, I really shouldn’t have been. Because Our Nixon has a really fantastic premise: it’s a feature […]
by Penny Lane on Sep 22, 2011 -
IFW: MY NAME IS KOO
My name is Koo, and I’m a blogoholic. Not really, but I do run a NoFilmSchool”>blog about independent filmmaking, and I’ve also contributed to this Filmmaker web site a number of times. So, what am I doing here (again)? I’ve got a feature script in the Emerging Narrative program this year. I also had a script in the similar-but-different No Borders program this same time last year; the main difference is EN scripts have no financing attached and NB do (theoretically, that is: we didn’t last year, but that’s another story). If you read my thoughts on the No Borders experience) you’ll see […]
by Koo on Sep 22, 2011 -
IFW: BELARUS COMES TO FILM WEEK
My name is Madeleine Sackler, and I’ll be blogging on my first time bringing a film to IFW’s Spotlight on Documentaries. I’m looking forward to seeing how the week goes! For now, a little on the film. Unstable Elements is my second feature, and it’s been an entirely different experience than any film I’ve worked on in the past. Of course, every documentary is different, which is one of the reasons I love what I do, but this has been a particularly challenging process. Unstable Elements tracks an underground resistance group called the Belarus Free Theater, which exposes problems with the […]
by Madeleine Sackler on Sep 22, 2011 -
IFW: THE BIG QUESTION
The following post was written on my way to IFP Film Week, which ends today. Are audiences ready to spend 85 minutes immersed in the lives of conservative Muslim women in Syria? That’s the big question this week. Many delays at LAX today. But there’s no comparing our airport to the one in Damascus. Here, people are shuffling on board the airplane with Starbucks in one hand, Burger King in the other, arguing the finer points of how to get an upgrade. In Damascus, people are stuffing every last inch of their luggage with dates, nuts, and Syrian chocolate, hugging relatives […]
by Laura Nix on Sep 22, 2011 -
“WEEKEND” — A HAMMER TO NAIL PICK
(After world premiering at the 2011 South By Southwest Film Festival where it won an Audience Award, Weekend was picked up for distribution by Sundance Selects. It opens theatrically in New York City on Friday, September 23, 2011, before expanding to more cities in the coming weeks. It’s also available through cable VOD for three months beginning on September 30th. Visit the film’s official website to learn more.) It is Independent Film Week in New York City. As this is the first time that I’ve personally been involved in IFP’s annual program to the extent that I have (I’m pitching […]
by Michael Tully on Sep 22, 2011
