Tag: indie film

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Deep Focus: The Greenlight on Development | 3-Part Series

This January, join us for a three-part workshop series DEEP FOCUS! This edition, facilitated by Producer/Executive ProducerHeidi Reinberg is a three-part masterclass!

Schedule

  • DEVELOPMENT – Wednesday, January 4th
  • GRANTS – Wednesday, January 11th
  • PITCHES – Wednesday, January 18th

Can’t make a session? RSVP for all three sessions to receive the recordings.

This three-part workshop will cover:

  • What elements do you need to put together to approach a broadcaster/streamer? A film funder? Someone who wants to invest in your film?
  • What does a well-developed project look like?
  • What exactly are grant-makers looking for — or at? — when they review your proposal?
  • How does a written proposal differ from a verbal pitch?

Heidi Reinberg

With nearly two decades of hands-on experience as a documentary producer (and now as a consulting producer and grants-panel reviewer), Heidi Reinberg learned pretty much everything she knows about “the business of the business” on the job — including developing compelling nonfiction projects and turning them into award-winning pitches and effective grant proposals. Now she is on a mission to impart this “real talk” (and at least a soupçon of wisdom) to as many aspiring/emerging producers as possible with a goal toward getting to “Count us in!” instead of the dreaded “Come back when you have a rough cut.”

Deep Focus

Deep Focus is a workshop series centered on filmmaking from acting to cinematography and distribution. In these exclusive workshops, experts teach hands-on techniques coupled with a segment for Q & A and workbooks as takeaways. Those who are unable to attend can take advantage of a replay accessed from our Black TV & Film Collective library.

#MakeYourWork

Join us for Deep Focus and get the information and inspiration you need to #MakeYourWork! RSVP today!

Questions? Contact [email protected].

Members, use your code to access your discounted ticket.

Interested in becoming a member? Sign up for our BTFC Membership!

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BTFC End of Summer Mixer: Los Angeles

*Seats are limited; RSVP today to secure your spot for this exclusive event! * Vaccination is required.

The BTFC will beLIVE in Los Angelesfor the first time! Come mix and mingle with us on Saturday, September 17th at 3 PM PT at the Blackbird Collective for an evening of great conversation and networking.

 

Your ticket covers hors d’oeuvres catered by award-winning celebrity chef, Chef Qwith a tasteful selection of wines by 1010 Wines, a Black woman-owned wine company!

AND… we have BIG NEWS!

This mixer will feature members of ourADVISORY BOARDfor our very first LIVE session ofThe Download! 

If you’ve ever attended The Download, you know the line-up for this one will be INCREDIBLE!

Get ready to:

– Mingle and network with the Black TV & Film Collective team, board and members

– Learn more about upcoming programs and initiatives at the BTFC

– Gain insight and information from industry veterans

– Enjoy great food and great company

The Download LIVE: Activate Your Passion, Make Your Work

Meet our Panelists

Hilliard Guess is a writer/producer who has written on shows such as The Russo Bros SYFY series DEADLY CLASS and was recently the EP/Showrunner of the digital series TICKER (winner Best Series at the 2021 World International Film Festival). He has made a name for himself in the indie world and has built a strong career that’s made him invaluable, from managing sets and productions, in numerous writers/development rooms and producing TV/Film from script-to-screen.

Currently, Hilliard is the Director of Development at Showrunner Ben Watkins Blue Monday Productions. He is a powerful voice in the writing community, promoting BIPOC writers and inclusion and dedicates his time to the WGAW Co-Chair – Committee of Black Writers (he co-penned the viral article DEAR HOLLYWOOD ), serves as Co-chair of The Writers Education Committee and is also a member of the LGBTQ+, Latinx and Genre Committees.

Hilliard is building a name for himself across social media as the longtime host/moderator of the popular Screenwriter’s Rant Room, as well as the WGAW 3rd & Fairfax podcasts where he interviews A-list writer/producers from a long list of our favorite films and TV shows.

D. Woods has performed throughout the U.S. and internationally in Johannesburg South Africa, trained at the Alvin Ailey School, New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts Acting Program and Study Abroad Dance Program in Havana Cuba. D. Woods received her Bachelor of Arts in Individualized Study through NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study. She performed and toured with major recording artists and appeared in music videos, and ultimately became a household name in the pop/R&B group Danity Kane, songwriting and contributing creatively to both of the group’s multi-platinum albums. In 2009 D. Woods launched her independent label WOODGRANE ENTERTAINMENT, releasing music and producing live performances and visual content.

Returning to her theatrical roots, D. Woods has been featured in many Film/TV, Off Broadway and Broadway theater productions such as; acclaimed film BLACKBIRD by Patrick Ian Polk, , HOLLA IF YOU HEAR ME directed by Kenny Leon, her semi-autobiographical One Woman show “MY FAVORITE COLOR: Trouble in Paradise”, TALES on BET and most recently the seven-time TONY AWARD nominated Broadway revival of Ntzoke Shange’s ‘for colored girls…” Audiences can now see D. Woods the ALL BLACK streaming network series STUCK WITH YOU and Yha Mourhia Wright’s new film “DON’T BE DESPERATE”. Stream her latest music release CALL IT QUITS, available on all digital music platforms.

Denzel Whittaker

Born in Torrance, CA, Denzel Whitaker is best known for his award-winning role in THE GREAT DEBATERS, performing opposite his namesakes Denzel Washington and Forest Whitaker. Denzel has also graced the screen in film and TV fan favorites like BLACK PANTHER, CUT THROAT CITY, THE PURGE TV SERIES, WARRIOR, U SHOOT VIDEOS?, ABDUCTION, and TRAINING DAY.

In 2011, Denzel began developing his skillset behind the camera. Since then, he’s worked 5 years at Cartoon Network on hit shows including BOONDOCKS and BLACK DYNAMITE, became a published fashion photographer, and the music videos he’s directed have garnered millions of views.

Denzel founded his production company, BLACKMOUF, in 2013. His latest project, 5150, won SeriesFest’s Audience Award for Best Drama Pilot, and was selected for Tribeca Now and HollyShorts Film Festival. Directed and co-written by Denzel, 5150 stars Jovan Adepo, is executive produced by David Oyelowo, and is currently being developed as a TV series.

Don’t miss out! You want to be in the room with heavy hitters and up-and-coming filmmakers in the film industry!

Come dressed to impress! We look forward to seeing you there!

This event is open to all. 

Members, contact [email protected] for your discount code. 

Please Note: Tickets will NOT be sold at the door. Tickets are transferable, not refundable.

Proof of vaccination will be required in order to attend this indoor event. Masks are optional.

Interested in becoming a member of the BTFC? Visit www.blacktvfilmcollective.org/join

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The BTFC presents the DGA Assistant Directors Training Program Info Session

On Thursday, August 18th at 2:00 PM PT | 5:00 PM ET, join us for a virtual informational session with the DGA Assistant Director Training Program!

RSVP for FREE to learn about how you can advance your film and TV career as an Assistant Director through the DGA Assistant Director Training Program!

We will discuss the program and its opportunities, how and when to apply, best practices for applications, and answer audience questions.

About the Program

The Assistant Directors Training Program recruits a diverse group of applicants from across the United States and provides selected candidates with education, training, and paid experience in professional settings, facilitating their development into successful Assistant Directors.

The Training Program’s ultimate goal is to provide the Directors Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers with Assistant Directors of the highest quality and professionalism. Upon completion of the Program, graduates are qualified to join the DGA (Directors Guild of America) as Second Assistant Directors.

Meet Our Panelist

Lila Mayes is a Texas native (California-raised), has a diverse background in Human Resources, Event Logistics and Artist Relations. Having studied Business Administration at San Diego State and receiving her Human Resources certification from the University of Phoenix, Lila currently serves as the Program Administrator for the Directors Guild-Producer Training Plan.

This program was created in 1965 to offer access to those who might not otherwise have entrée to the motion picture and television industry. The program provides productions with trained, professional Assistant Directors.

Lila is also a founding Board Member of the nonprofit organization, Black Women Lead. This organization was formed in Los Angeles, CA in an effort to amplify the leadership and voices of black women and underrepresented communities.

#MakeYourWork

If you’re looking to gain skills and grow in the Film & TV industry this info session is for you! Join us for this informational session and get the knowledge and inspiration you need to Make Your Work!

Interested in becoming a member? Sign up for our BTFC Membership!

Questions? Contact [email protected].

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BTFC Member Focus Group (Day 1)

Join us virtually on Monday, August 8th at 3:00 PM PT | 6:00 PM PT to give your personal insights and experience with the BTFC!

 

The BTFC continues to expand and improve its programming offering and organizational pursuits that will best benefit our membership body!

Join us for an opportunity to:

– Give honest feedback about the BTFC

– Brainstorm different ways the BTFC can support our members in their creative endeavors

– Talk through our programming and future events

– Review needs of the BTFC and how members can be a part of the work

 

Don’t miss this opportunity to help us help you #MakeYourWork!

*This event is for Black TV & Film Collective MEMBERS ONLY.

Questions? Contact [email protected]

Interested in becoming a member? Sign up for our BTFC Membership!

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The BTFC presents ScreenCraft Works Mentoring Program Info Session

On Friday, July 22nd at 11:00 AM PT | 2:00 PM ET, join us for a virtual informational session with ScreenCraft Works International Mentoring Program for Film, TV and online work.

We will be discussing the program, the requirements and how to apply! RSVP to get more information and see how you can advance your film and TV career on an international scale!

If you’re looking for a mentor in the Film & TV industry this info session is for you!

About ScreenCraft Works

ScreenCraft Works International Mentoring Scheme provides structured career development with an international outlook, to enrich careers in film, TV and online work.

A not-for-profit career, learning and advocacy network, ScreenCraft Works matches under-represented production and post-production talent with international mentors, to share knowledge and experience, widen employment and peer-to-peer networks and bring new cultural perspectives to the mentoring groups’ local and international co-productions.

Meet Our Panelists

Elizabeth McIntyre is Co-Director of SCREENCRAFT WORKS, a career, learning and advocacy network supporting under-represented ‘behind-the-camera’ talent for a culture-shift in local and international film, TV & online production.

With a career across conference, exhibition, commissioning and documentary filmmaking, Elizabeth’s work includes curation for OKRE, a Wellcome Trust-supported story ideas platform, and consultancy for ProQuote Film Berlin (UK and Irish speakers). Previous positions include Director of Sheffield Doc/Fest, Head of Masterschool Documentary Campus and Head of Production & Development (UK Factual) for Discovery Networks International, where she commissioned single films and series for local and global markets, including You Have Been Warned, The Great White Silence and Inside the Gangsters’ Code. Documentary credits include The Lost Children of Berlin for Steven Spielberg, Dangerous Love (BBC), No Place Like Home (BBC) and Five Steps to Tyranny (BBC).

Advisory roles include UK Muslim Film and, formerly BAFTA TV/Learning, Inclusion & Talent committees and WFTV trustee. She contributes to mentoring and masterclass programmes such as Wonder Women and ScreenSkills. Elizabeth is based in Germany and the UK.

Rebecca Del Tufo’s career spans film, law, and charity governance, with a focus on cinema exhibition, conference and learning. Rebecca began her career as a solicitor in a City law firm, specialising in international corporate litigation, working in the UK and Hong Kong, before joining and helping establish a start-up law firm. She then developed a new corporate relations role at the University of Cambridge’s Business School, supporting international students in their career choices and working with companies to organise business projects and speaker events.

Rebecca led the team which set up the successful independent cinema Saffron Screen, for many years running and programming the cinema, giving her a deep knowledge of the industry. She has spoken at conferences about aspects of cinema exhibition and hosted Q&As with a range of industry talent including many in ‘behind-the-camera’ roles. She is now combines freelance film production with exhibition roles.

Rebecca is a trustee of the charity Refugees at Home and chair of theatre-in-education charity TIC Box Productions.

Prince May, a mentee of the ScreenCraft Works Program, is an assistant editor working in HETV and short films, with a focus on drama. Prince has participated in a range of schemes to gain knowledge of the film and TV industry such as the workshop with Signature Pictures and the BBC training scheme. Prince went to college to study animation but discovered film as he was studying and fell in love with editing, which he then pursued as his career. Later he attended and studied film practice at South Bank University in London, UK.

Growing up, he attended a youth centre where he could edit and create his own stories. In his free time, he mentored children in the same centre. During the Covid pandemic, he went online and taught himself some VFX. Prince May has recently worked as an assistant editor on TV shows such as The Watch, The Fear Index and Three Pines.

#MakeYourWork

Join us for this informational session and expand your film career on an international scale. Get the knowledge and inspiration you need to Make Your Work! RSVP today! 

Interested in becoming a member? Sign up for our BTFC Membership!

Questions? Contact [email protected].

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Deep Focus: Distribution & Festivals

On Thurs. July 7th at 5:00 PM PT | 8:00 PM ET, join us for our new hands-on virtual workshop series DEEP FOCUS! We’re partnering with Distribution Advocates, a movement to reclaim the means of distribution for independent storytellers, to discuss navigating distribution and strategizing festival season.

Deep Focus

Deep Focus is a workshop series centered on filmmaking from acting to cinematography and distribution. In these exclusive workshops, experts teach hands-on techniques coupled with a segment for Q & A and workbooks as takeaways. Those who are unable to attend can take advantage of a replay accessed from our Black TV & Film Collective library.

About Distribution Advocates

Distribution Advocates works to collectively reclaim power for independent storytellers in the current systems of distribution and exhibition. We are a coalition-in-formation striving to advocate for filmmakers and maintain plurality and originality in a culture that needs it more than ever. We fight for radical transparency, rebalancing entrenched inequities and blazing a new, more interesting, accessible and inclusive way forward.

Meet Our Moderator

Avril Speaks has been carving out her path as a bold, innovative content creator for several years, not only as a Producer and Director but also during her former days as a professor at Howard University. Avril produced the award-winning film Jinn, which premiered at SXSW and won Special Jury Recognition for Writing. Jinn gained distribution through MGM/Orion Classics and continues to be seen throughout the world. Avril has also produced several films including Hosea and the upcoming comedy Dotty & Soul, starring Leslie Uggams, Gary Owen and David Koechner.

Her latest projects include the NAACP Image Award nominated film African America, which is available on Netflix, and the docu-series Black America Is…, which has received support from The Blackhouse Producer’s Lab, the CNN/Film Independent Docu-Series Intensive, and the Kettering Foundation. Most recently, Avril was the Showrunner and Director of the docu-series Uprooted: The Untold Keith Warren Story, which is available on Discovery+. Currently, Avril is the producer of the feature film Pure, which is based on the short film streaming on HBO Max.

Avril has been selected for producing labs with Film Independent, Sundance, IFP, Rotterdam and Cannes, was a 2020 Sundance Momentum Fellow, and is currently a 2022 recipient of the Dear Producer Award. She is also a member of Distribution Advocates and is part of the Executive Committee for the newly formed Producer’s Union.

Meet our Panelists

Whitney Skauge is an award-winning filmmaker dedicated to diverse storytelling and representation. They are Vice President of Development at two-time Oscar-nominated Breakwater Studios, dedicated to the craft of the short documentary. Their debut short film, produced by Breakwater Studios, premiered at SXSW and was distributed by LA Times Short Docs in 2021. Their films act as an extension of social and political activism with hopes of helping audiences understand themselves and the world around them better.

Quincy Ledbetter is a filmmaker, musician, and artist from Brooklyn, New York, by way of Woodbridge, Virginia. As a self-taught jack of all trades, Quincy excels in writing, directing, editing, cinematography, and music composition. He’s made films for notable organizations such as BET, PARAMOUNT PLAYERS, NPR, TIME, COLOR OF CHANCE, MASHABLE, MIC.com, HUFFPOST, VOX, and THE NEW YORK TIMES. His work in media has garnered two Edward R. Murrow Awards (2018 and 2021), a ASME Ellie Award for News Documentary (2018), an Emmy Nomination for Short Format Daytime Program (2017), and two Webby Awards (2016 and 2021).

Quincy is the inaugural winner of BET’s Project CRE8 competition through which he received a one-million-dollar budget to write, direct, and compose the score for his first feature film, ALIEU THE DREAMER. His most recent short film, THE BLACK DISQUISITION, has been accepted into 16 film festivals, has won two awards for Best Narrative Animated Short Film, and one for Best Director.

In 2021, Quincy and his partner Yuki Maekawa-Ledbetter founded their production company, ML-NEBULA.

#MakeYourWork

Join us for Deep Focus: Distribution & Festivals and get the information and inspiration you need to #MakeYourWork! RSVP today!

Questions? Contact [email protected].

Interested in becoming a member? Sign up for our BTFC Membership!

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