SEMINARS
FRIDAY
Friday, October 15
The Central Standard Film Festival
will again host a number of informational seminars involving
visiting and local filmmakers and composers with the
goal of enhancing the film screenings and allowing participants
to meet the artists. Admission
is $8 per seminar and free to All Access festival pass
holders.
Location: The Depot Hotel, 225 Third Avenue South (at Washington),
Minneapolis.
Alternative
Distribution: It’s High Time!
10 a.m. to 11:15 a.m.
There are an estimated 500 to 1,000 feature films released worldwide
each year. About 100 of those make their debut on cable and satellite
specialty channels, and several dozen other titles appear on the direct-to-video
shelves of your local movie rental outlet. What happens to the rest
of them? Although digital technology has evolved to a point where production
is both affordable and high quality, what guarantees are there you’ll
land a distribution deal and make any money? James Bolton (The Graffiti
Artist) presents his new vision for assisting indie filmmakers in getting
their work out and taking advantage of alternative revenue streams.
Minneapolis filmmaker Mark Wojahn also discusses his distribution plan
for his current film What America Needs: From Sea to Shining Sea, which
City Pages voted this year’s “Best Film of the Twin Cities.”
Music & Film Series – Presented
in Partnership with Springboard for the Arts
Film Music
Composition: The Creative Process
11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.
Some of the region’s most talented musician/songwriters who compose
for film—including Sundance Institute Composers Lab fellow Gary
Louris of the Jayhawks, Chan Poling (Bill’s Gun Shop) and Christopher
Cunningham (Holy Land)—show examples of their work and discuss
effective film scoring, the choices made to use music, and the director/composer
relationship.
Film Music
Licensing: It’s the Law!
1:00 p.m. to 1:45 p.m.
When do you need to get a music license for film? What kind of license(s)
do you need? What is a synchronization license and how is it different
that a master recording license? How do you get a license and how long
does it take? Unless you have a substantial production budget that
allows for megabucks to be spent on licensing of copyrighted music
for your film, you’ll probably need to provide your own original
music. But if your project absolutely requires two minutes of “The
Girl From Ipanema,” entertainment law attorney Dan Satorius will
tell you all you need to know about securing the rights to it!
Note: one admission fee entitles you
to attend both Music and Film Series seminars.
Socio-Political
Documentaries: Storytelling in a Climate of Fear
2:00 p.m. to 3:15 p.m.
What are the risks and rewards documentary filmmakers face telling
their stories in the post 9/11 environment of distorted, fear-based
news media; where civil liberties are threatened and speaking out can
be viewed as unpatriotic? And are their films reaching their target
audiences? CSFF documentary filmmakers Jim Fields (416); Tommy Davis
(Mojados – Through the Night); Matt Ehling (Security and the
Constitution); Marjan Safinia (Seeds); Teresa Konechne (This Black
Soil); and Lu Lippold, Dan Luke and Laurie Stern (Wellstone!) discuss
their connection to their films’ subjects and the role of the
documentary filmmaker in today’s political climate.
SEA Meets
MSP: How Filmmaking Practices in the Evergreen State
Can Apply Here
3:30 p.m. to 4:45 p.m.
This year’s Central Standard Film Festival includes four feature
films made in or near Seattle. Jaime Hook (The Naked Proof); Scott
Milam (Big City Dick – Richard Peterson’s First Movie);
Matt Wilkins (Buffalo Bill’s Defunct: Stories from the New West);
and Laurel Spellman Smith and Francine Strickwerda (Busting Out) discuss
the production methods and resources—from location scouting to
filming to postproduction—that have proven efficient and cost-effective
in the Pacific Northwest and can be applied to Midwest production.