Independent Filmmaker Labs
-
The 10 Things I Learned Because of the 2013 IFP Labs
The following is a guest post from Colin Healey, whose film Homemakers participated in the 2013 IFP Narrative Labs. Just like you, dear reader, I believed the final days of the year 2012 A.D. would end with untold devastation and destruction, brought on by the fateful impact of a thousand mega-asteroids, rampant and untreatable avian pig-SARS, and the appointment of Nazi T-Rex as Speaker of the House. Certain the end was nigh, I convinced a ragtag posse of artists, actors and sassy interns to spend humanity’s last remaining summer crammed in a sweaty, dusty, tumbledown house on the east end […]
by Colin Healey on Dec 19, 2013 -
Deb Shoval Interviews Stacie Passon About Concussion and the IFP Narrative Labs
The following is a guest post by writer/director Deb Shoval, whose debut feature AWOL participated in the 2013 IFP Narrative Labs. Nine months ago, I sat down with the endlessly generous Stacie Passon, the writer/director of Concussion, for some words of wisdom on making the low budget, indie first feature. Her biggest piece of advice? Get AWOL into the IFP Narrative Labs. Fast forward to Part 2 of 3 of the yearlong lab fellowship: IFP Week. Stacie, now an IFP Narrative Lab mentor, gets into more detail. Passon: Now if my son comes in during this interview and starts whining, […]
by Deb Shoval on Oct 30, 2013 -
2013 IFP Documentary Lab Projects Announced
This morning the 10 projects selected for the 2013 IFP Documentary Labs were announced. All are works by first-time directors and have budgets of less than $1 million, and filmmakers are provided with an immersive mentorship experience to guide them through post-production and looking ahead to the festival circuit and beyond. The films selected include Sara Dosa’s doc on mushroom hunters, Roots and Webs, produced by Court 13’s Josh Penn, and David Thorpe’s Do I Sound Gay, which has How to Survive a Plague‘s Howard Gertler on board as producer. Spike Lee is the executive producer on Darius Clark Monroe’s Evolution of a […]
by Nick Dawson on May 13, 2013 -
Call for Entries: IFP Labs
If you are a first-time filmmaker and have a narrative or documentary project in the final stages of post-production, here’s a heads up that the deadline for submission to the Independent Filmmaker Labs is upcoming. Run by IFP, which publishes Filmmaker, the labs help movies with a budget under $1 million, providing each film’s team with in-depth assistance on everything from editing to marketing to festival strategy. The IFP Labs select 10 documentary and 10 narrative projects, assembling filmmakers for three separate sessions throughout the year, during which the individuals are helped to discern the best way for their movies to stand […]
by Nick Dawson on Feb 27, 2013 -
Top 10 Things Learned in the IFP PMD Lab
I have had the good fortune to be involved in IFP’s Independent Filmmaker Labs for the past several years now and, during that time, I have seen innumerable benefits to the films and filmmakers who participate. The Labs provide an opportunity for first-time filmmakers to not only receive feedback on their films from their peers and experienced filmmakers, but it is also the first lab to prepare filmmakers for the essential work of distribution and marketing. This year we launched the IFP PMD Lab (Producer of Marketing and Distribution), the first of its kind. The PMD Lab worked in conjunction with the Filmmaker Labs, […]
by Jon Reiss on Dec 20, 2012 -
Independent Film Week: 3 Films I Can’t Stop Thinking About, Part 3
The first rule of Film Week is that if you have time to blog during Film Week, you’re probably not doing it right. The second rule of Film Week is that if you attend, the best part is that you will meet all kinds of awesome people making awesome films. This may intimidate you. It’s okay. Be cool. I guess that’s the third rule of Film Week, bro: just be cool. When the good folks at Filmmaker Magazine asked me to blog about Film Week again this year, I knew I wanted to write about some of the awesome people making awesome […]
by Penny Lane on Sep 26, 2012 -
Nuts, Bolts and Zen: Independent Film Week Wrap-Up
IFP’s Independent Film Week came to a close on Thursday, I took the train home on Friday, spent Saturday relaxing, and here we are…ready to take a more in-depth look at my time in New York City. I’ve already covered practicing my pitch in the days leading up to Film Week, delivering that pitch at the Emerging Narrative orientation, and experiencing unexpected moments during my one-on-one meetings. But I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface – on either the nuts-and-bolts level, or that philosophical plane that I’ve become so fond of. To begin with, let me explain a little bit more about what […]
by Zoje Stage on Sep 24, 2012 -
The Opportunity of a Lifetime
Is there such a thing as an opportunity of a lifetime? During the first two days of IFP’s Independent Film Week, it became clear that the answer is yes and no. Yes, a conversation, a short film, a meeting, a festival acceptance, can be the opportunity that changes everything, but a career isn’t just a year or one film – it’s a lifetime of dedication to craft. In his impressively extemporaneous speech, J.C. Chandor (above) recalled not the glories of having his first feature, Margin Call, nominated for an Academy Award for Best Screenplay, but the 15 years he spent trying to […]
by Mary Anderson Casavant on Sep 18, 2012 -
Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best Writer/Director/Star Ryan O’Nan
No one can say actor/musician Ryan O’Nan didn’t pull his weight in his directorial debut, Brooklyn Brothers Beat The Best, which makes its theatrical debut on September 21 via Oscilloscope Laboratories. Besides directing, writing, and starring in the film, O’Nan wrote and sang most of the songs on the soundtrack (album out 9/18 on ATCO Records). A 2011 IFP Narrative Labs project that premiered at Toronto last year, Brooklyn Brothers is the story of two ne’er-do-well musicians who make an unlikely alliance, embarking on the kind of quixotic journey that’s tailor-made for a buddy movie. But O’Nan’s film finds itself […]
by Jim Allen on Sep 18, 2012 -
IFP NARRATIVE LAB SLATE ANNOUNCED
This morning, the eight edition of the IFP Narrative Labs kicked off in New York City, and the 10 films chosen to participate were unveiled for the first time. Projects chosen came from places as diverse as Vershire, Vermont and Miami, Florida. Each year, 20 indie films with budgets under $1 million — 10 documentary and 10 narrative — are selected for participation in the IFP post-production labs, which gives filmmakers strategic help and guidance regarding the completion, marketing and distribution of their projects. IFP’s Executive Director Joana Vicente said, “We are thrilled to welcome another talented class of emerging […]
by Nick Dawson on Jun 11, 2012
