Reach Film Fellowship

Resources

These resources are meant to assist filmmakers making and distributing short films.  Our lists are by no means exhaustive, and some resources listed may become out of date. These pages will continue to evolve over time. We welcome your suggestions and corrections.

Articles & Ideas

Assorted articles, case studies & useful links:

Case Studies:

The Age of Stupid -- an independent filmmaker chronicles and instructs on innovative ways to raise funds for your film

Digital Initiative: Stories from the Field - a series of case studies by Scott Kirsner that contain stories of filmmakers who are experimenting with new technologies, and trying whenever possible to quantify the results, we’ll seek to inspire other filmmakers to innovate—while trying to avoid raising unrealistic expectations. The three areas of focus are “opening up production,” “finding new audiences,”and “taking advantage of new distribution opportunities.”

Blogs, Web Sites and Wikis:

Digital Bootcamp – A wiki containing resources collected as part of the Shooting People Digital Bootcamp workshop, taught by James Mullighan, Ingrid Kopp and Harriet Fleuriot. Most of these resources are aimed at documentary filmmakers but narrative filmmakers can find ideas here too. The creators invite you to add to the wiki if you have additional links, tips or tricks to share.

Jon M. Garon – Legal basics relevant to filmmakers, in layman’s terms; organized well and by topic.

Global Voices - (via ITVS) Learn about and watch Global Voices documentaries online.

Inside Indies - (via ITVS) A useful set of links and resources for filmmakers.

Capturing Reality: The Art of Documentary - an online resource from the National Film Board of Canada consisting of a huge collection of video interviews with documentary filmmakers on the forefront of the craft. The filmmakers share invaluable insights and approaches.

Film Festivals for Student Filmmakers - a list of student film friendly fests, hosted on the Rhode Island International Film Festival web site.

Getting Paid: Sites that Help Filmmakers and Video Producers Make Money - a very useful article from DIY audience building guru Scott Kirsner (published in 2007, but still very useful)

MovieMaker Blog - A collection of bloggers posting on topics of use to the independent film community, including self-distribution, legal concerns and more.

Reach Out! Planning A Fundraising House Party in Your Community – a useful article by the producers of Made in L.A.

Short Sighted - Download the useful ebook that goes along with Shooting People’s “Short Sighted” Seminars, intensive trainings on getting short films exhibited and distributed. It’s slanted towards UK filmmakers, but helpful to all.