9th Annual Media That Matters Film Festival

Tomorrow, June 3rd is the world premiere of the Media That Matters Film Festival. Not in NYC? Not to worry since the films will also be available online. Click here to learn about the films or to buy tickets for tomorrow’s premiere.

6th Annual Grassroots Media Conference

Cinereach and Arts Engine will be hosting a screening and discussion at the 2009 Grassroots Media Conference, which will take place this Saturday, May 30th at Hunter College in Manhattan. Former Reach Film Fellow Annie P. Waldman will be screening her short film, AND SO THE WIND WON’T BLOW IT ALL AWAY and discussing Cinereach’s RFF program. Ben Hershon will screen his short film, AFRICAN UNDERGROUND: HIP HOP IN SENEGAL, which was featured in last year’s Media That Matters Film Festival.  Both organizations will have staff present to answer questions about their involvement with the films, and how to build an audience for a short film. For more info on this event please click here and for info on our screening please click here.

CINEREACH AND ARTS ENGINE JOIN FORCES TO EXPAND SUPPORT FOR YOUNG, SOCIALLY CONSCIOUS FILMMAKERS

Non-Profits Announce Yearlong Strategic Partnership

www.artsengine.net
www.cinereach.org

NEW YORK, NY, May 14, 2009 – Expanding their efforts to support filmmaking that explores social issues through artful storytelling, two innovative not-for-profits, Arts Engine and Cinereach today, announced they are joining forces to offer more resources to young, socially conscious filmmakers.

As part of a yearlong strategic partnership, the two organizations will collaborate on a series of projects, beginning with the ninth annual Media That Matters Film Festival, which premieres on June 3, 2009, in New York City. Produced by Arts Engine, this year’s festival will be co-presented by Cinereach. One of the world’s largest and oldest online film festivals, Media That Matters showcases twelve jury-selected shorts tackling a broad range of social issues with humor, humanity, and honesty.

The two organizations will also team up to expand the workshops and networking opportunities they offer to filmmakers that participate in each of their flagship programs: Arts Engine’s Media That Matters Film Festival and Cinereach’s yearly Reach Film Fellowship (RFF). Past and present filmmakers from each program will be invited to participate in events that will be led by Arts Engine staff, who have expertise in outreach and audience building for socially relevant shorts, and the prestigious slate of advisors that participate in Cinereach’s RFF. Past RFF mentors and advisors have included the Academy Award- nominated director/cinematographer Ellen Kuras and Jeremy Kipp Walker, producer of Half Nelson and Sugar. Applications are now open for RFF 2009/10. The deadline is July 15.

The organizations also plan to launch a new online column about media that matters and its artistry so that filmmakers and media organizations outside of their programs can also benefit from the resource exchange. Called 90 Second Cinema, the column will be published on Arts Engine’s MediaRights.org (www.mediarights.org) beginning this summer.

Through these shared events, the organizations hope to connect and strengthen the growing community of issue-focused mediamakers, as well as cultivate a spirit of cooperation among likeminded media organizations with overlapping constituencies.

“We are thrilled to partner with Arts Engine since we share so many of the same goals,” said Mike Raisler, Cinereach’s Creative Director. “We both believe strongly that good storytelling is the most effective way to bring critical issues to light. We are excited for this new opportunity to cultivate the creation and exhibition of projects that succeed in doing that.”

“Hundreds of thousands of people watch Media That Matters every year,” said Enrico Cullen, Arts Engine’s Director of Development and External Affairs. “More media is being created in this field and the audience is growing. By sharing resources and expertise with Cinereach, we will broaden our scope and deepen our impact in support of new and seasoned mediamakers.”

Cullen noted that social-issue media is becoming increasingly powerful as the means of production become more widely available, online distribution models expand, traditional news sources produce less media of consequence, and young people show greater interest in social issues.

“Cinereach and Arts Engine are ideal partners because of our shared interest in not only drawing attention to important issues, the usual arena for social-issue filmmakers, but in drawing out how artistry gives rise to effective social-issue storytelling,” added Cullen.

For inquiries about Arts Engine, please contact Enrico Cullen, Director of Development and External Affairs at Arts Engine, at 646-230-6368, x219 or enrico@artsengine.net. For inquiries about Cinereach, please contact Reva Goldberg, Communications & Special Projects Manager at Cinereach, at 212-727-3224 x11 or reva@cinereach.org.

About Arts Engine
The mission of Arts Engine began under the leadership of co-founders Katy Chevigny and Julia Pimsleur in 1997 when they formed a partnership to create social-issue documentaries. Arts Engine’s production team, Big Mouth Films, has now created eight feature-length documentaries, including Deadline, which premiered at Sundance, won the Thurgood Marshall Journalism Award, and was nominated for an Emmy. Arctic Son and Election Day, two recent Big Mouth films, were broadcast by POV in 2007 and 2008. Arts Engine also launched one of the only online commons for filmmakers and activists, called MediaRights.org, in 2000 and created what is now the most comprehensive database of social-issue documentaries with over 7,000 films registered and over 20,000 members worldwide. As proof of the MediaRights.org concept, the Media That Matters Film Festival was created to realize the incredible potential for online showcasing and distribution, reaching hundreds of thousands of people annually across the globe. DocuClub, Arts Engine’s most recent programmatic addition, is a works-in-progress screening series for peer review. Arts Engine also offers fiscal sponsorship services. www.artsengine.net.

About Cinereach
Cinereach was created in 2006 by young filmmakers, philanthropists and entrepreneurs with the goal of championing socially relevant films. Its three key areas, Grants & Awards, Productions, and The Reach Film Fellowship facilitate the creation of films that challenge, excite innovate, offer new perspectives and inspire action. Cinereach has awarded close to $2 million in grants and achievement awards since its inception. Past recipients include: The Betrayal (Nerakhoon), a 2009 Academy Award nominee for Best Documentary; A Jihad for Love, an acclaimed documentary exploring the complex intersection of Islam and homosexuality; and Entre Nos a narrative feature film from IndiePix that premiered to great acclaim at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival. Cinereach’s first in-house documentary, The Road Ahead: The First Green Long March, was a selection of the Hamptons, Queens (Best Intl. Documentary), and Cleveland International film festivals and has screened in connection with leading environmental organizations. www.cinereach.org.

My film, Skip Rocks, had enormously positive feedback at the preview — with many notable industry folks providing not only praise, but incredibly insightful comments on how to better our films for our audience.

Apart from the great individual comments, Ingrid Kopp from Shooting People and Leah Sapin and Felix Endara from Arts Engine provided useful information on audience building and outreach.

Later, we were lucky enough to sit down with Josh Blum from Washington Square films who shared his knowledge of the changing industry and, along with Jeremy Kipp Walker and Paola Mendoza, provided what can only be called a passionate purview on film and filmmaking. I will never forget having had the opportunity to sit at a table full of such creative, caring, and excited people talking film.

Reva also spent a few hours with me after the workshop going over some of the comments I received and suggesting how I might implement them. We are very grateful for the thoughtfulness and energy Cinereach has put into our films.

Many thanks to the other attendees, your time and consideration are invaluable. Thanks to everyone involved!!