CINEREACH PRESENTS REACH OUT AWARDS TO 2011 REACH FILM FELLOWS

Four emerging filmmakers complete the Reach Film Fellowship
with festival-ready short films and bonus grant funds.

www.cinereach.org
www.cinereach.org/the-reach-film-fellowship/fellows-recipients

(New York, NY – April 14, 2011) – Cinereach, a not-for-profit film foundation and production company, hosted its fourth “Reach Out” event yesterday. The event marked the culmination of the 2011 Reach Film Fellowship for emerging filmmakers making vital, artful short films.

Cinereach screened films by outgoing fellows Matt Bockelman, Nick Paley, Kaz Phillips Safer and Nancy Schwartzman at Sunshine Cinema on Houston Street, and presented each Fellow with a Reach Out Award and a bonus grant of $1,000 to put towards his or her film’s festival campaign.

“Matt, Nancy, Kaz and Nick brought a lot of talent, vision and experience into the program with them,” said Cinereach’s Reva Goldberg, who runs the fellowship. They could have made their films on their own if they had to, but our goal was to create a safe and supportive space where they could comfortably take creative risks and get as much mileage as possible out of the experience. We couldn’t be more proud of the resulting films.”

A unique and intensive program that spans September through April, the Reach Film Fellowship provides a $5,000 grant, production support, personalized mentorship, and industry exposure as a springboard to a professional career in film. The four participants are selected through an open application process and, once accepted, have access to the Cinereach staff and a community of highly invested colleagues as they take their short films from concept to completion.

One-on-one mentorship from working independent filmmakers is a key aspect of the program. Each fellow is assigned a mentor with a background complimentary to the fellow’s goals. The pairs meet to check in at critical points throughout pre-production, production, post-production and beyond.

This year’s mentors included producer/director/editor Francisco Bello (Salim Baba, War Don Don); producer Karin Chien (The Exploding Girl, Circumstance), director Marshall Curry (Street Fight, Racing Dreams) and producer Jay Van Hoy (Old Joy, Cold Weather).

The fellows also had access to advice from industry insiders such as Tribeca Film Institute’s Ryan Harrington and Tamir Muhammad, Ingrid Kopp of Shooting People, and author, producer and film critic Kim Adelman, during workshops on topics such as crowd funding, social media, festival strategy, post-production workflow and pitching. The Fellows had unlimited access to consulting producers Angela Tucker (Pushing the Elephant, Deadline) and Susan Leber (Toe to Toe, Down to the Bone), and to post-production consultant Jeff Marcello (Toe to Toe, Planet B-Boy).

The 2011 Reach Film Fellows and Films are:

Fellow: Matt Bockelman
Mentor: Marshall Curry
Film: You Have the Right to an Attorney (nonfiction) enters the daily grind of two young public defenders in the South Bronx as they strive to resolve hundreds of client cases in a system they consider fundamentally broken.

Fellow: Nick Paley
Mentor: Jay Van Hoy
Film: In Open House (fiction) a young man visits his grandparents and is the first in his family to realize the pair of them should no longer be living on their own.

Fellow: Nancy Schwartzman
Mentor: Francisco Bello
Film: xoxosms (nonfiction) follows the courtship of a young couple that falls in love via Skype, chat and Facebook and relocates to be together.

Fellow: Kaz Phillips Safer
Mentor: Karin Chien
Film: Jolly Friends Forever More (fiction) tells the story of a homeless man who is befriended by a mysterious little girl that seems to appear and disappear at will.

Recent Reach Film Fellowship alumni highlights include the broadcast premiere of 2010 Fellow Anthony Morrison’s Bye, a short documentary about a toddler just diagnosed with autism. The film aired on PBS’s P.O.V. in July and, following that, screened in competition at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival. Nadia Hallgren’s short doc Love Lockdown (RFF 2010), about a young Bronx woman who communicates with her imprisoned fiancé via shout-outs on a late-night radio show, premiered at the 2011 SXSW film festival. Gabriel Long’s The Drawing (RFF 2010) premiered at NewFest last year and will be playing at the Inside Out Film Festival in May.

Cinereach Ltd.

Cinereach is a not-for-profit film production company and foundation that champions vital stories, artfully told. Created and led by young philanthropists, entrepreneurs and filmmakers, Cinereach empowers fiction and nonfiction filmmakers from all over the world through its Grants & Awards, the Reach Film Fellowship and Productions; and through partnerships with the Sundance Institute and others. Since 2006, Cinereach has disbursed over $4.5 million in grant funds to more than 90 projects at the intersection of engaging storytelling, visual artistry and vital subject matter.

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A post by Nancy Schwartzman

I’ve been obsessed with the concept of consent for the past few years. My first film, The Line, and the accompanying blog Where is Your Line?, examine closely the nuances of sexual consent. What does it mean to give or gain consent? What does coerced consent mean vs. enthusiastic consent? How does context influence decisions about sex? What are ethical approaches to asking for consent?

Recently I’ve noticed a lot of interesting crossover between the idea of negotiating consent and the documentary filmmaker’s relationship to her subject. The Line is a personal film; I chose when and how to reveal my story, and wrote the voice over carefully and strategically. I also made the choice to capture footage of someone else in the film with a hidden camera. He did not give consent, but I protected his identity on screen. That was a fraught decision, but the right one for the film and the context.

Now I’m making a film in which I’m not the subject; instead two young people are handing over their trust to me. xoxosms is a 21^st century love story, documenting the kind of love that plays out online and blooms on digital media platforms. In this world, distance shrinks and intimacy grows over signals, wires and pathways. Thanks to Skype, AIM, and the internet, months and months of my subjects’ chats are archived… their secrets, their confessions, their stuff.

… and lucky me, I get to read it all!

There’s this idea that “kids today” or to use jargon, tweens, teens and emerging adults, have no boundaries. The stereotype says they share everything with everyone, and naively think the internet is their very own “private” playground. The access-hungry filmmaker in me might at first think Whoopee! They’re gonna give me everything! But knowing that pieces of my subjects’ video, script, text, chats and images will live in a film, online and all over social networks because of my film, gives me pause. Yes, they signed the consent forms, but do they know what that really means? I want them to give me everything, and I want everything to go everywhere, but I want to make sure I don’t hurt anyone.

Before telling a story based on on-line communication, but with the potential to have a powerful influence on my subjects “IRL” I wanted some guidance about how to carry out my role and these evolving relationships during the shoot. Thinking about my young, self-described “introverted” subjects Jiyun and Gus, and all of the intimate details they shared via chat, and would now share on camera, inspired me to revisit the study Best Practices, Honest Truths. This collection of lived experiences from documentary filmmakers working today was collected by the Center for Social Media (the people who brought us the Fair Use principles). It is an excellent, informal set of guidelines on navigating these complicated scenarios.

“What is the nature of my relationship to my subjects,” I had wondered. “Am I a friend, the cool older sister, or the boss?”

The study provided some useful precedent, based on interviews with filmmakers:

[Filmmakers] usually treated this relationship as less than friendship and more than a professional relationship, and often as one in which the subject could make significant demands on the filmmaker. “We want to have a human relationship with our subjects,” said Gordon Quinn, “but there are boundaries that should not be crossed… You always have to be aware of the power that you as a filmmaker have in relationship to your subject.”

On recent shoots for xoxosms, I had an opportunity to balance this power with my desire to respect my subject’s boundaries. Gus expressed that he didn’t want any part of his house on camera in consideration of his family. I could have insisted we needed that particular setting, promising to protect family details in the editing, and really pushed him past where he was comfortable. He’s incredibly accommodating, and probably would have said yes, but he was already revealing personal information that had the potential to disturb his family, so I decided to back off. We chose instead a neutral setting (a motel off route 66). He was relaxed and we could go deeper into the discussion without sneaking around or jeopardizing his relationships.

Another of my questions was “What kind of collaboration is this, how much material do I share with my subjects, and at what stage?”

From the study:

The decision to share material in advance with subjects was, typically, an informal decision. Only one respondent, Jennifer Fox, said that she offered fine cut approval in a legal document, with the caveat that the subjects couldn’t object to the film because they didn’t like the way they looked but could object to things on the grounds of hurting their family.

When I showed Jiyun the production still I wanted to use to represent the film, her initial response was “I look HORRIBLE IN THAT PICTURE. OMGZ. NOZ.” I knew she’d probably hate any photo of her chosen that wasn’t far away or blurry, but giving her a heads up was the right thing to do. I reassured her that she looked great but more importantly; that I was going to use this photo, and it was “out there” online. No stumbling upon, no unpleasant surprises. She trusts that I’m not intentionally trying to make her look bad, or to upset her, and when I asked her recently how she felt she wrote: “hahaha I moved on a while ago : )”

Another filmmaker discusses the finished product:

“I often think, ‘Let me be this person (the subject) watching the film.’ Would they hate me? Or would they think it’s fair? I want to always be able to send the DVD to them.”

Jiyun and Gus are already asking me where else the film will live. In addition to DVD, xoxosms will also have a life on the internet, which we all know means parts of the story can go anywhere. During filming, I made it clear to my subjects that we were there because we believed in their relationship, were taken by their words and wanted to do their love story justice. The same applies to our approach to editing, and every stage of this project.

Maintaining my subjects’ trust is critical – not only because we need continued access to their private lives in order to finish telling their story, but also because I want them to be creative participants in the social media and outreach components of the film. Already they’re active on various blogs and online spaces, so I want to give them the option of being part of the dialogue that may bloom around issues of digital intimacy and love online when the film is complete.

It’s in our mutual interest that my subjects trust the process, that we share the same goals, and that they feel truthfully represented.

Now that I have consent, my guiding mantra when questions of filmmaker subject/trust arise will be: talk about it, and do no harm.

Photo Courtesy of Tarek Moukaddem

Circumstance
Summer 2009 & Summer 2010 Cinereach Grantee
U.S. Dramatic Competition

Writer/Director: Maryam Keshavarz
Producers: Karen Chien & Melissa Lee

A wealthy Iranian family struggles to contain a teenager’s growing sexual rebellion and her brother’s dangerous obsession.

Sundance Screening Details

HERE
Supported through The Cinereach Project at Sundance Institute
U.S. Dramatic Competition

Writers: Braden King & Dani Valent
Director: Braden King
Producers: Jay Van Hoy & Lars Knudsen

On assignment to create a new, more accurate satellite survey of Armenia, an American cartographer forms a powerful bond with an Armenian expatriate and art photographer.

Sundance Screening Details

Photo Courtesy of TJ Watt

If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front
Supported through The Cinereach Project at Sundance Institute
U.S. Documentary Competition

Directors/Producers: Marshall Curry & Sam Cullman

Daniel McGowan was arrested for being part of the Earth Liberation Front, a group responsible for arsons against timber companies and SUV dealerships. Through his story the film sheds light on two of our most important and timely issues–terrorism and environmentalism.

Sundance Screening Details

Kinyarwanda
Summer 2010 Cinereach Grantee
World Cinema Dramatic Competition

Writer/Director: Alrick Brown
Producers: Darren Dean, Tommy Oliver & Ishmael Ntihabose (EP)

Based on accounts from survivors, Kinyarwanda tells the story of Rwandans who crossed the lines of hatred during the 1994 genocide, turning mosques into places of refuge for Muslims and Christians, Hutus and Tutsis.

Sundance Screening Details

Photo Courtesy of Sebastian Mlynarski

On the Ice
Winter 2010 Cinereach Grantee & Supported through The Cinereach Project at Sundance Institute
U.S. Dramatic Competition

Writer/Director: Andrew Okpeaha MacLean
Producer: Cara Marcous

On the snow-covered Arctic tundra, two teenagers try to get away with murder.

Sundance Screening Details

Pariah
Winter 2009 & Winter 2010 Cinereach Grantee
U.S. Dramatic Competition

Writer/Director: Dee Rees
Producer: Nekisa Cooper

When forced to choose between losing her best friend or destroying her family, a Bronx teenager juggles conflicting identities and endures heartbreak in a desperate search for sexual expression.

Sundance Screening Details

In addition to these features, a previous film written and directed by 2011 Reach Film Fellow Nick Paley will be shown in the U.S. Narrative Shorts program.

Andy and Zach – When Zach decides to move out, his roommate Andy tries to set up a new life without his best friend.

Sundance Screening Details

Anthony Morrison's Bye

Anthony Morrison’s documentary short, Bye, aired in July on PBS’ P.O.V. series and can now be viewed here in full. Gabriel Long’s The Drawing made its NYC premiere as part of a  Newfest shorts program, and all four 2010 fellows will have more updates for us soon as we prepare to usher in the next crew of four (recipients will be announced in early fall 2010).

Brendon McQueen's Skip Rocks

Looking back at the 2009 Fellows, Brendon McQueen’s Skip Rocks premiered at the Sun Valley Spiritual Film Festival and was touted by New York Magazine; “There have been many films made about Alzheimer’s…but few of them address it with the sensitivity, and (yes) humor of Brendon McQueen’s beautifully shot and touching short film…” He’s currently developing a feature film project through his production company, Prydehouse. Dena Greenbaum’s Blues has been a selection of the 15th Annual International Family Film Festival in Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Women’s International Film Festival, the Memphis International Film and Music Festival, and the National Film Festival for Talented Youth in Seattle, and won the Morris Fierberg Student Film Award (plus a $1,000 grant from the Rehoboth Beach Film Society).

Annie Waldman's So the Wind Won't Blow it All Away

Nicholas Bruckman’s (RFF ‘08) The Grey Movie screened as a work-in-progress at Rooftop Films. Following that his debut feature documentary, La Americana, won seven awards at over 30 film festivals, and was broadcast in the US, Europe and Asia. He is currently working on the La Americana audience engagement campaign and developing new documentary projects. Annie Waldman’s (RFF ‘08) So the Wind Won’t Blow It All Away screened at Sundance 2009 and the San Francisco Documentary, St. Louis International, San Diego Woman’s, and CMJ film festivals. The film was broadcast nationally on PBS’s P.O.V. documentary series. She is currently in production on her first documentary feature, Phantom Cowboys, for which she received a grant from Cinereach. Suel Kim’s (RFF ‘08) Snap-Shot screened at the Global Peace, Non-Violence International and the San Diego Asian film festivals and as part of last year’s Emerging Filmmakers series in Rochester, NY.

In this video (shot by Miranda Rhyne and edited by Stephan Greil) Mike shares his perspective on the director/DP relationship, drawing from his experience working with directors like Ramin Bahrani, Ira Sachs and Robert Siegel. See below for some key points from the video, and come back soon for more videos from inside the Reach Film Fellowship. You can watch a previous video, featuring Writer/Director Tze Chun here.

Key Points from “Working with a DP”

When selecting a Director of Photography to work with, Mike advises meeting with candidates first in a casual setting, not necessarily discussing film or the project at-hand right away. Look for compatibility, mutual respect and the potential for a true collaboration first.

Speak to other directors a DP has worked with to find out what their working relationship was like, or learn of any red flags.

While working with a DP on set, the DP and director should welcome each other’s suggestions and constructive criticisms, maintaining a calm and respectful tone. Both should feel comfortable weighing in on blocking, lighting setup, etc. without being overly rigid about each other’s roles.

The DP must be able to efficiently cover a scene or action in a manner that will make sense in the edit, within the time available. The DP and AD set the pace of the day, and speak up when the production is in danger of not making its day.

Before heading into a production, Mike suggests knowing how you would shoot each of your scenes in one shot, even if you don’t end up doing so, to force yourself to decide who is most important in that scene.

Mike advises that creating storyboards works best when preparing to shoot on a set or a constructed location. When your locations are real places, he suggests shooting stills or video (while also scouting the locations at the time of day you’ll be there during production) in order to map out your shots and understand lighting needs.

Shooting your film in a simplistic style, with as small and efficient a crew as possible, is the best way to learn from the process. It also allows you to focus on telling your story clearly and effectively.

When you’re not in production, Mike recommends watching as many films as possible, developing an inventory of images in your head. These images train your eyes and can can be used as frames of reference when you are shooting your own films.

More videos from inside RFF:

A Conversation with Tze Chun Part I: Casting Child Actors
A Conversation with Tze Chun Part II: Working with Child Actors on Set

The deadline for the 2011 Reach Film Fellowship (RFF) is quickly approaching! All applications must be submitted via our online form by midnight (EST) July 12th. Any sample materials or references/recommendations you plan on mailing to the Cinereach offices must be postmarked by July 12th.

Please visit the how to apply page to get started. For tips on applying from last year’s Fellows, please click here. And for an inside look at the RFF program, check out our behind-the-scenes video from RFF 2010. We’ve also recently posted a video containing excerpts from an RFF advising workshop with Writer/Director Tze Chun about casting child actors.

If you have any questions regarding eligibility or anything related to the application process, feel free to email us at info@thereachfilmfellowship.com.

How do you get your hands on those tickets? Easy! First you have to “like” the Cinereach facebook fan page (if you don’t already). Then post a photo of yourself or a friend on an NYC rooftop on our wall. If you’re among the first 10, we’ll contact you to let you know!

This would work:

Eligible photo (depicting Cinereach staff member on bad hair day).

This would too:

Recognize anyone you know?

Now post away and show us your rooftops!

Cinereach is now accepting applications for the 2011 Reach Film Fellowship. Leading up to the July 12, 2010 deadline, I thought it would be useful for current applicants and prospective fellows to hear about what to expect from the outgoing fellows, while the experience is fresh in their minds.

I interviewed the 2010 fellows via email and am sharing some of their responses here with those who might follow in their footsteps. Please don’t forget to also thoroughly read the RFF how to apply, program guidelines and FAQ sections of the Cinereach web site for all the official details.

The e-interviewees are: Nadia Hallgren (nonfiction, Love Lockdown), Courtney Hope (fiction, Wild Birds), Gabriel Long (fiction, The Drawing), and Anthony Morrison (nonfiction, Bye).

The 2010 Reach Film Fellows

Question 1: What stage was your project at when you applied for RFF and what was your approach to filling out the application?

For any habitual procrastinators out there, here’s a glimmer of hope: Courtney and Nadia both found out about RFF just two days before the deadline and were able to submit successful applications! On the other hand, if you’re reading this before July 10^th please don’t wait. All of the 2010 fellows had put plenty of thought into their films before applying – even those who didn’t know they would be candidates.

Nadia knew she wanted to make a film inspired by the late-night-radio show “Lockdown Love.” The show featured shout-outs from women callers giving emotional messages to their incarcerated husbands and boyfriends and Nadia wanted to find some of the women and tell their stories. The show’s DJ Cherry Martinez would be the key window into the film, but Nadia had not asked her to participate yet. Before applying, Nadia says, “I quickly contacted Cherry Martinez  and asked her if she would be interested. She got back to me right away. I then worked on the application for two days with my producer, Jamie-James Medina.”

Anthony writes “this was my second year applying for the Reach Fellowship. The first year I applied, I submitted a documentary that was a work in progress. It did not really fit the criteria and was not accepted (Surprise! Read the program guidelines!).” The second time around, Anthony applied with a film that was in early pre-production, the ideal stage for RFF candidates. He had located two potential documentary subjects, administrators of a school in the Bronx that serves young children diagnosed with autism, but had yet to figure out which children would be featured.

Courtney writes “I had a draft of the script for Wild Birds, had planned a fundraising party for later that summer, and had attached key [crew], but wasn’t really sure how I would actually fund the film. Learning about the Cinereach Fellowship, even so close to the deadline, was sort of a miracle. My producer and I stayed up until four am to complete the application, mailing it in just in time. Fortunately, most of the questions were topics I had already discussed with my producer and/or DP, or condensed versions of what I had written for the film’s prospectus. But it was still a crazy two days!”

Gabriel wrote his script for The Drawing (which was titled “Brothers” at the time) during his senior year of college at Cornell. Most of the time he spent on the RFF application was applied toward re-writes and crafting answers that focused on the Cinereach misson. “The information session that was held [at DCTV] a few weeks before the deadline helped me figure out how I should approach the application, said Gabriel. “My main takeaway from the event was the phrase ‘vital stories artfully told,’ which was how the Cinereach staff described the projects they were looking for. I made sure that my script was telling a story from a unique perspective, and was thus vital (I hoped), and I also made sure to articulate why I wanted to tell the story, hoping that this would indicate my ability to tell it artfully.” Gabe also asked a friend to draw some storyboards and concept art to help make his application visual. DCTV will host an RFF info session again this year on June 14th.

Each successful RFF application demonstrated that the filmmaker had a compelling and artful film to make, and was able, and determined, to complete it.

Question 2: When you were invited to interview, as a finalist, how did you prepare and what did you try to emphasize?

“I figured that since I’d made it to the interview stage, the staff thought the subject of my story fit with Cinereach’s socially conscious mission,” Gabriel recalls. “That meant I needed to [concentrate on] selling the staff on my storytelling ability” during the interview.

Anthony shares that he “prepared by going over my original application and by revisiting a classroom at the school where my film would be shot to be around the kids. This visit was crucial because in the interview itself I could focus on [conveying] what I was drawn to about my subject: the infectious energy of the students and the classroom.” He adds that he also tried to think of Cinereach staff he met not as interrogators, but as potential collaborators and “I was open about my questions/uncertainties for the project. It’s alright not to have all the answers.”

Nadia tried to be as relaxed as possible for her interview and, not knowing what to expect, was pleased to find that the Cinereach staff made her feel comfortable. “I tried to emphasize that although I didn’t have conventional film school training, I had a good amount of hands-on experience that would help me in the making of my film.”

Courtney was a little less thrilled with how her interview went (though Cinereach staff felt she did just fine – and may be critiquing herself too harshly). “I’m pretty sure my interview was not so good…but I wore a dress!” Courtney recalls. “I remember that. And I remember hoping Reva [the fellowships manager] would let my terrible interview slide because we both have our noses pierced.” (Reva assures me that was not the reason Courtney was selected). But, Courtney continues, “I would say interviewees should have someone practice-interview them based on what they wrote for their application, or practice telling yourself in the mirror why you want to make your film and why you care about the underlying issues it addresses.” She goes on “sometimes it’s much harder to express how you feel about your project aloud, or remember where those ideas came from after spending so much time translating them into words on a page.”

Question 3: How did your past experiences prepare you for what was required of you during the Reach Film Fellowship?

Each of the 2010 fellows had prior hands-on experience directing short films, as well as having gained experience working on other directors’ sets. At the same time, each was very eager and open for more experience writing/directing/producing with professional guidance.

Although Courtney had made other short films as a student at New York University, and seen them screen at festivals, she still felt like her knowledge of filmmaking was somewhat theoretical. “Having experience putting a shoot together helps to avoid problems you’ve encountered before. I definitely learned a whole lot from the Fellowship, though. I think I knew theoretically how to do so many things but the Fellowship helped me put those concepts into action. That was true for everything from script rewrites to audience building.”

Also a graduate of NYU with student films under his belt (fiction and nonfiction), Anthony applied after having gone through “an extended period of working as a production assistant on T.V. shows.” Doing that, Anthony found that it was very difficult to gain up-close exposure to professional filmmakers working in the industry. He began to “crave collaboration” over what he calls “the walkie-talkie cog life of a part-time PA.” Cinereach treats the fellows as peers, he says. “I was blown away by the access we’re given to working filmmakers – advisors who donate their time and come in to meet with us.”

Nadia didn’t have an academic film background, but had more hands-on industry experience than most of the other fellows because she had worked her way up from a Production Assistant to Camera Assistant to her current role as a Director of Photography for some of the most prominent documentary filmmakers working today. This experience gave her the confidence and skill to not just direct, but also shoot her own film, and capture it in a manner that was aesthetically and technically on par with the well-crafted feature docs she DPs.

Gabriel began RFF after having gained most of his experience from his senior thesis film, a 25-minute film he made in New York, using a professional crew. The crew of this production was much larger than his crew for his RFF film, The Drawing, and there were many more locations. “Making my thesis film gave me a good sense of what crew and equipment I needed and what I could do without,” he says. Gabriel also made a conscious effort to treat the workshops and meetings during RFF like he would have treated college seminars. “In order to get the most out of them, I tried to always come prepared—whether that meant taking notes and having questions ready or simply having my ideas organized in my head.”

Question 4: What were your major takeaways from the fellowship?

For Nadia, the biggest takeaway from the process was the experience of finishing a film in a very condensed period of time (fellowship films must be completed between September and April in order to screen at RFF’s culminating screening event, Reach Out). It was a big challenge but also left her with a great sense of accomplishment. “There was no time to procrastinate. Just do. Deadlines are very important to get me motivated.”

Courtney recalls “having a group of people from different professional backgrounds [DPs, producers, editors, composers, other writer/directors] help me through the project was incredibly useful. I think in film school, this connection isn’t really made. If you write a script for a screenwriting class, it’s rare to then analyze the [same] script for scheduling and budgetary purposes.”

Anthony adds that this opportunity was a chance to “surround yourself with people who are more talented than you. My crew [for this project was very skilled] and they made this project their own. In many ways I felt my role of a director was to get out of the way and let my crew do their work.”

For Gabriel, the Reach Film Fellowship experience reaffirmed that there is no substitute for experience. “Our mentors and advisors were able to help me along and point me in the right direction only because they’ve built up lots of their own experience making films.”

Question 5: What are you doing now? And where do you go from here?

We’re excited to report that Anthony’s film, Bye, has been licensed for broadcast (more details on that as we have them). He adds “right now, I’m working on distributing Bye and applying to film festivals. The fellowship has also exposed me to resources for documentary filmmakers, workshops and labs and I’m hoping to participate in some [of those] in the future. More than anything, I want to continue working in documentaries, as a PA, driver, anything. Wait, PA’s on documentaries don’t need walkies, right?

Courtney is writing a feature version of her RFF film, Wild Birds, and applying for grants to develop the project further. She is hoping to produce it next year. “One thing I know for sure is that Cinereach has given me some really amazing tools that I’ll be able to use on any future film endeavor,” she says.

Gabriel just announced that The Drawing will screen at Newfest in New York this June. He hopes it will continue to open doors for him and is currently working on making another short film and writing a feature script. He plans to follow the strategy of Tze Chun, an RFF advisor, who committed to making a short film every six months and writing a feature-length script every nine months in lieu of going to graduate school. Because of a successful short, Tze was able to finance his first low budget feature.

Nadia continues working as a DP and plans to devote her summer to festival submissions for Love Lockdown. She says, “my hope for Love Lockdown is that many people get to see it, that’s the real reward in filmmaking, sharing with others.” She adds that her next directing project may not be too far off. “If you want to be a director you have to direct films, in whatever capacity, so I see this as another stepping stone to achieving that goal.”

Question 6: Do you have any general advice for 2011 applicants and accepted fellows?

“The most important thing is to have a clear sense of the story you want to tell when you apply.  Even though the script may change, it is critical to know what is at the heart of your story and why this is important to you,” Gabriel offers. “For accepted fellows, there are so many opportunities and so much information available to you through RFF that it is probably impossible to take advantage of it all. The more prepared and organized you are, the more you will get out of it.”

Nadia recommends “be realistic about the type of film you want to make, and try to make it whether or not you get the grant. [If you are accepted] be prepared to do a lot of writing, production is only half the battle.” By writing, Nadia is referring to the content fellows are required to create during the fellowship to supplement the making of their films and assist Cinereach in showcasing the filmmakers (via Cinereach.org, the Reach Out screening event, and blog posts that chronicle what each fellow is learning from mentors and advisors).

Anthony encourages applicants to put as much effort as possible into the application process.  “Fight for it, he says. This opportunity is priceless.” He urges accepted fellows not to “force the process.” Be honest with yourself and Cinereach about your uncertainties and what is really driving you to produce your film.”

Courtney’s advice is “just keep making movies. Just keep writing, shooting and watching as many films as possible. As I learned from a Cinereach workshop, ‘You can’t be a filmmaker if you don’t make films,’ so keep at it!”

A post by Courtney Hope

I once believed – and still do to some extent – that there is nothing in this world worse than post-production.

In pre-production, there is planning, designing, discussing, arguing, revising…. Lots of tough choices must be made, but all choices that seem full of promise, since the script is still young and revisable. With nothing set in stone, the opportunities are limitless.

And while production has its downsides, there is enough adrenaline from actually shooting your film to get you through the rough patches. Sometimes those little problems even find a way of becoming part of the creative process.

But then comes post-production, like a giant splash of cold water to the face. This is reality, your reality, your film’s reality. This is what you’re stuck with for what seems like an eternity, until the deadlines come rushing at you and it feels all too short.

Am I being dramatic? Perhaps. But let me explain.

When there is a script, in that first precious stack of pages there is a story. It’s something unreal, something waiting for you to breathe life into it.

Then there are crew members – the producer, DP, production designer – who help bring the story into focus. They make it seem real. They talk about the film like it’s actually going to happen.

Then there are actors and rehearsals and long talks over tea about character development. And they make your film feel real. They show you that essence you had an inkling of when you first wrote the outline or jotted down the first scene on a napkin somewhere.

And then there’s the shoot with the crew, equipment, wardrobe, props, makeup… Watching the monitor, staring intently at the screen where your actors and crew bring the story together, the film finally looks real. You can see the pieces falling into place.

But after the shoot is wrapped, it is real. The creative “control” becomes a bit limited. Instead of creating the puzzle, you’re handed a box of puzzle pieces to assemble. But some of those puzzle pieces don’t seem to fit, and some of them seem a little out of focus, or are too rough to connect with the piece that must go next to it. There’s something wrong in so many little places that you could just scream with frustration.

And that stupid puzzle, lying in pieces on the table – or more accurately, on the computer screen in front of you, is post-production. It’s taking all the footage and sound and performances and focus marks and everything else that you did or didn’t notice on set, taking this raw and unforgiving beast and making it into something watchable.

So now, how does one deal with this nightmarish puzzle? The trick is to put the puzzle together completely and seamlessly, to make the footage into a masterful film – something your mom and dad can be proud of (even if it’s a reminder of how you didn’t go after that law degree).

Now, turning this footage into a film will require some cheating, some “tweaking,” some sacrifices and some epiphanies. The finished puzzle won’t look like the picture on the box necessarily, but with any luck, it will be even better than the original plan. You’ll have taken some pieces of something and made it whole and new. How do you cheat on a puzzle? Well, unlike the puzzle pieces that arrive in a box ready to fit together, the footage can be cut, copied, pasted, and reorganized. You can create an entirely new picture from the one that came printed on the box by changing the order of what happens in the script or by moving a line of dialogue.

Post-production is a time to re-think the story with many creative limitations, instead of endless possibilities. You’re using what tools you have, rather than starting from scratch like you did with the script, by making new creative decisions you hadn’t considered before. It’s trusting the editor to snap the pieces into place, taking whatever means he needs to make them fit in a way that captures the story and characters. It’s trusting the sound designer to build an ambience and to enhance or create those little things you might be missing from set – like that pause of silence for dramatic emphasis.

For one example, the footage we shot for my Reach Film Fellowship film, Wild Birds, had some unintentional focus issues that at first seemed hugely problematic. My editor and I were able to make some of the out-of-focus shots work nicely in unexpected ways, however. Apparently sometimes a consistent problem can become part of the film’s aesthetic, depending on how it is used. I’m also considering adding a line of ADR to help bring out some backstory that the audience at my rough cut screening said seemed to be missing.

There’s another trick: find people to watch your cuts! And don’t just ask your biggest fan. Find people who know nothing about the film so you can get a clear sense of what the audience actually gets from it. It’s important to know what doesn’t work in the earlier cuts so you can find creative ways to fix them before you fall in love with a certain shot or scene or pacing. And don’t despair! You’d be amazed by how even the smallest change can make a world of difference.

And maybe this is the real problem I have with post-production. It’s the adjustment period. It’s letting go of the film I once thought I was going to have and being open to something else, just as, if not more, wonderful than the original plan.

“To be a filmmaker, you must first be crazy,” Esther Robinson told me (and the other three 2010 Reach Film Fellows) at a workshop she led for us in October. She was providing guidance on how to have a healthy financial life, despite the unpredictability of our lives as artists, but her comment can also be applied to the filmmakers’ creative process. Filmmakers often have to act in ways that are unexpected (not only when envisioning and creating their career paths but also when working on an individual film). We step away from the “original plan” to form a new path with every endeavor. And if you’re unpredictable as an artist, then why wouldn’t your artwork be allowed a mind of its own too? Filmmaking is a growing process, a learning experience after all.

So, I take back what I said earlier about post-production. I suppose that it is almost just as magical and exciting as pre-production, in that it is a whole new opportunity to explore the wonderful world of your film. It just takes a lot of time and thought and waiting and playing with footage and looking at things, and showing people things and admitting what does and doesn’t work in a constructive way… But if you keep at it (and what option do you have at this point?), you’ll have something really amazing at the end of it – a film. And not only a film but a learning experience, more patience, and new creative tools for your next one.

While patience is not one of my strengths, it’s something I’ll have to practice. As my grandmother has told me many a time, “Good things come to those who wait.” So I’ll keep my fingers crossed and hope that she knows what she’s talking about.

Courtney Hope (mentored by Jeremy Kipp Walker) is a 2010 Reach Film Fellow. She recently graduated from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts with a degree in Film & Television. While a student at NYU, she wrote and directed several short films. Hope’s thesis film Sex & German Grammar, which was awarded the prize for Best Cinematography at NYU’s Fusion Film Festival, also screened at the Southside Film Festival and the Palm Springs Shortfest. Hope has also shown films at the London Super Short Film Festival and the Reed Media Festival, and took home a prize at the 2007 Southside Image Over Words competition. Hope recently completed her first independent short, Another First.