PUMA.Creative Impact Award, Launched at Sundance Film Festival 2011

Queen Noor of Jordan and Documentary Director Morgan Spurlock Join First Jury Today PUMA.Creative and Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation announced the launch of the PUMA.Creative Impact Award, a major new annual award to honor the documentary film creating the most significant impact in the world. This 50,000 Euro award acknowledges the film’s makers and will help the continuation of the film’s campaign work. The PUMA.Creative Impact Award will be selected by a jury which includes Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan; Morgan Spurlock, Academy Award nominated Director of Super Size…

Good Pitch Call for Entries: NYC

The Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation, in partnership with the Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program, are delighted to announce that the touring funding and networking forum the Good Pitch – will be returning in 2011 with expanded plans, including a third forum in New York City hosted by the Ford Foundation at their midtown headquarters. The call for entries for the Good Pitch NY 2011 is now open and will close on February 18th. The call is aimed at filmmakers of any nationality working on feature-length or hour-long independent documentary film…

ESoDoc 2011 Call for Applications

Dates and Venues 2011 Session 1: May 15-21, Romania Session 2: July 3-9, Italy Session 3: September/October, venue t.b.c. APPLICATION DEADLINE: MARCH 4, 2011 ESoDoc (European Social Documentary) is now accepting applications for their 2011 trainings. ESoDoc is a training initiative that takes up the challenge of bringing together the demands of different players now involved in documentary film-production. Their focus is on a special genre of documentary production that is particularly suitable for the new multi-platform world: documentaries that draw attention to human rights, social justice and environmental protection.…

The Fence (La Barda) Story Leads to Action: Activism and Art Working Together

On November 11th, Working Films, Chicken & Egg Pictures and The Fledgling Fund screened The Fence (La Barda) for November’s Story Leads to Action. Natalie Difford of Chicken & Egg gives us some highlights on how activism and art are working together: A new HBO film by Rory Kennedy, The Fence (La Barda), was screened and followed by an invigorating discussion with guest panelists Andre Segura, Staff Attorney, Immigrants’ Rights Project, The American Civil Liberties Union and Christina Baal, LMSW, Immigration Advocacy Field Coordinator, The New York Immigration Coalition and…

Inclusive Arts at Cucalorus

Working Films’ hometown, Wilmington NC, is gearing up today for the Cucalorus Film Festival. Named one of the “25 Coolest Film Festivals” by Movie Maker Magazine, Cucalorus is always a great time with an incredible lineup of films. We’re especially excited that a film we have done some strategy development with, A New Kind of Listening, is going to be at the festival. A New Kind of Listening is the story of a visionary director, a one-of-a-kind theater group, and a young man who could not speak, yet found the…

A FEAST at Sheffield Doc Fest

Last week, Working Films enjoyed a banquet of good stuff at the Sheffield Doc-Fest, hosting a highly interactive Story Leads to Action on Friday afternoon, and participating in a lively panel discussion on Saturday. Story Leads to Action, coordinated by our UK staffer Sarah Mosses, brought together the production company Submarine from The Netherlands, a team of NGOs working on key environmental issues, and the Sheffield Doc-Fest audience together for a very robust discussion about potential community engagement ideas and target audiences. To kick it off, I shared some case…

DOC NYC – New York’s Documentary Film Festival

Working Films is proud to be sponsoring a Story Leads to Action panel, part of the Doc Convergence Symposium: Nov. 5th, 11:15am to 12:30pm, at the IFC Center. I will be leading an interactive discussion with the filmmakers, invited NGO’s, activists, policy shapers, educators, funders and the audience. The goal: filmmakers walk out with the “bones” of an engagement strategy, a “pilot” project ready to test in Gotham and beyond, and/or a better understanding of what “impact” could look like. To Be Heard and Lost Bohemia will be having their…

APPLY NOW for Reel Engagement: Managing Social Issue Film Campaigns

Don’t miss the deadline to apply for Reel Engagement: Managing Social Issue Film Campaigns. Upcoming next month, Working Films and the Fledgling Fund will lead a field building training aimed at the effective management of film campaigns. This 4 day hands-on workshop is designed for individuals who are interested in developing the skills necessary to be an Engagement Coordinator; designing and managing creative and meaningful audience and community engagement campaigns for independent social and environmental issue documentary films or media projects. Read more and apply now to Reel Engagement: Managing…

Good Pitch Up Close

We’ve had a great year of Good Pitches so far! From DC to the UK and most recently San Francisco, we’ve been covering ground and helping generate exciting partnerships among filmmakers, NGOs, funders and brands. Are you wondering what happens at these pitches? Fear not! Rachel Seifert (of the film Not on the Label) gives insight on what it’s like to be up on the pitcher’s mound. Last week I pitched at the BritDoc Good Pitch –my first ever pitching session! I was pretty nervous. Despite having interviewed a number…

The Good Pitch @ SOCAP10

Working Films, in collaboration with The Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation and Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program, is delighted to announce the first West Coast edition of the Good Pitch, hosted by the SOCAP10 conference at the Fort Mason Center in San Francisco on October 3, 2010 12:00pm – 6:00pm. The Social Capital Markets Conference (SOCAP) is the world’s premiere social capital markets event. The conference highlights the growing field of social capital: people investing to create social change. SOCAP10’s goal is to make connections, to generate partnerships and to increase…