Jan 17, 2013
Artist Development
The San Francisco Film Society is excited to announce a partnership with the Sundance Institute through which filmmakers supported by SFFS will gain access to Sundance’s innovative Artist Services program. SFFS and Sundance Institute will hand pick projects supported through Filmmaker360 cash grants, residencies and script workshops to be enrolled in Artist Services, which provides filmmakers with exclusive opportunities for creative self-distribution, marketing and financing solutions for their work. Under this new collaborative relationship, films and filmmakers championed by SFFS’s Filmmaker360 program will have even greater opportunities to get their work made, seen and appreciated.
“Structuring these agreements with all the platforms involved must have been a Herculean task for Sundance; they are truly the best deals available for every artist under the sun,” said SFFS Executive Director Ted Hope. “Sundance’s generosity in extending access to our constituency is an inspiration, raising the bar both for us and for the makers of great films. Beyond what this great partnership does for filmmakers, it indicates another change afoot: cultural support organizations are teaming up in new ways to deliver the most good to all their supporters. This is no longer the age of competition-this is a new age of cooperation. We will build it better by working together.”
The San Francisco Film Society is one of six new partner organizations selected by Sundance Institute to help find new artists and shape the Artist Services program. SFFS joins the Bertha Foundation, BRITDOC, Cinereach, Film Independent and the Independent Filmmaker Project, each of which will select films that they have supported to receive access to best-in-class digital distribution arrangements that have been negotiated by Sundance Institute. Artist Services programs are targeted for filmmakers who intend to pursue an independent release plan. In support of these filmmakers, the Institute will curate submitted films and work closely each organization, the filmmakers, and exclusive aggregation partner Cinedigm Entertainment Group to develop independent distribution strategies. Furthermore, each organization will work with the Institute to expand educational opportunities to their alumni building on the model of the Artist Services Workshop that takes place each year during the Sundance Film Festival. For more information about Artist Services, visit sundance.org/artistservices.
“Now more than ever filmmakers need to be creative and entrepreneurial in order to get their stories to audiences. Sundance Institute embraces cross-organizational collaboration in an effort to increase the collective impact on the field; it in this spirit that we welcome the input of our colleagues to further help us shape the Artist Services program,” said Keri Putnam, Executive Director of Sundance Institute. “Our hope is that it contributes to the long-term sustainability of independent film careers and a greater diversity of films reaching audiences each year.”
Sundance Institute also announced today the addition of new digital distribution partners Tugg, Reelhouse, VHX, and Vimeo, expanding the suite of digital platforms and tools offered by Artist Services. These platforms join Sundance’s existing partnerships with iTunes, Amazon VOD, Hulu, Netflix, SnagFilms, Sony Entertainment Network, SundanceNOW, Vudu, Xbox and YouTube to provide a vast array of digital distribution opportunities for independent filmmakers. Other Artist Services partners include Kickstarter, Fractured Atlas, GoWatchIt, and Topspin Media. Since the Artist Services program launched in January 2011, more than $3.2 million has been raised for nearly 100 Institute artists’ projects via Kickstarter and more than 40 films are now accessible by the public on a variety of platforms and storefronts.
Filmmaker360, the San Francisco Film Society’s filmmaker services program, offers unparalleled assistance and opportunities designed to foster creativity and further the careers of independent filmmakers nationwide and oversees one of the largest film grant programs in the country, which disperses nearly $1 million annually to incubate and support innovative and exceptional films. Other elements of Filmmaker360 include project development consultation, membership discounts and benefits, fiscal sponsorship, Off the Page script workshops and information resources. Recent Filmmaker360 success stories include Beasts of the Southern Wild, Benh Zeitlin’s debut phenomenon which received two SFFS / Kenneth Rainin Foundation Filmmaking Grants totaling $105,000 for postproduction, won both Sundance’s Grand Jury Prize and Cannes’ Camera d’Or, and has been nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture. For information visit sffs.org/filmmaker360.