Lisa Hurwitz
Filmmaker (The Automat)
Distribution Day (Nov. 17)
The distribution landscape can be opaque and convoluted. Gain clarity and inspiration from filmmakers and distribution experts plus get inspired by new, creative models for distribution.
In the NBC News Studios Lounge, the day starts with Breakfast (9-10 AM) and ends with a Happy Hour (4:30-5:30 PM).
10am – 11:15am
Innovative Distribution Ideas
The rules for distribution seem to change with each passing season. Alternative venues can provide the platform you didn’t know you needed to get eyes on your film. Panelists Inney Prakash (Maysles Center), Lisa Hurwitz (The Automat) and Ingrid Raphaël (No Evil Eye Cinema) will talk with Alece Oxendine (Columbia University Film Program) about the unconventional and inventive ways they distribute artists’ films. Learn about little known yet effective distribution models that broaden the options for your audience to see your film including a triumphant self-distribution story.
Lisa Hurwitz
Filmmaker (The Automat)
Director and Producer of The Automat (Telluride 2021, DOC NYC 2021), Lisa Hurwitz self-distributed the film through her production turned distribution company A Slice of Pie Productions. It grossed $250k in U.S. box office, played for 5 consecutive months in NYC, and is arguably the most successful theatrically self-distributed documentary in the U.S. since before the pandemic.
Inney Prakash
Film Programmer, Maysles Documentary Center
Inney Prakash
Film Programmer, Maysles Documentary Center
Inney Prakash is a film curator based in New York City. He is a Cinema Programmer at Maysles Documentary Center, Curatorial Lead for the San Diego Asian Film Festival, and Founder/Director of Prismatic Ground, a NY festival centered on experimental documentary and avant-garde film.
Ingrid Raphaël
Artist and Founder, No Evil Eye Cinema
Ingrid Raphaël
Artist and Founder, No Evil Eye Cinema
Ingrid Raphael is a filmmaker and co-founder of NO EVIL EYE CINEMA with Ruun Nuur. NEEC has exhibited a series of short films throughout the U.S. at independent spaces, museums and film festivals and paired each screening with a workshop that bridged the personal and the political themes explored in the films. Film Futura, an alternative online film school, is their most ambitious project to date with over 200 students attending in 2021. They are currently gearing for Film Futura 2023 and curating their next touring series of shorts for summer-fall 2023.
Alece Oxendine
Director, Industry & Festival Outreach, Columbia University
Alece Oxendine
Director, Industry & Festival Outreach, Columbia University
Alece has dedicated her career to helping emerging independent filmmakers through her work in marketing, social media, partnerships, distribution, and strategy at Film at Lincoln Center, BAMcinématek, Rooftop Films, Athena Film Festival, Fandor, GoDigital, Inc., and Good Deed Entertainment. Her focus is educating filmmakers about digital distribution practices and navigating a difficult yet rewarding film industry. She currently works in this capacity as the Director of Industry and Festival Outreach at Columbia University’s Film Program, where she is an esteemed alumna and serves on the Board of Directors for the Columbia Alumni Association. She is also a proud HBCU graduate of Winston-Salem State University and is committed to serving the Black community through her board position at the Black Film Space. Alece is originally from Durham, NC and has lived in Los Angeles and San Francisco, and is glad to call New York City home again.
11:30am – 12:45pm
Do I Need A Sales Agent?
Join us as we unpack the opaque world of sales agents! This session will provide answers to many questions based on the experience of ESPN Films producer Carolyn Hepburn (The Velvet Underground, One Child Nation), Anya Rous (Multitude Films) and Su Kim (Bitterbrush) moderated by film strategist Jon Reiss. Do you need a sales agent? What is the role of a sales agent in your distribution process? How do you find the right sales agent for your film? What can you expect from your sales agent? Our panelists will discuss these and other hot topics to equip the audience with tools and knowledge to embark on sourcing and working with an agent.
Carolyn Hepburn
Producer, ESPN Films
Carolyn Hepburn
Producer, ESPN Films
Carolyn Hepburn is an Emmy and Peabody Award-winning producer whose recent films include American Pain (2022 Tribeca Festival, CNN Films); Unfinished Business (2022 Tribeca Festival); The Return of Tanya Tucker featuring Brandi Carlile (2022 SXSW Audience Winner, Sony Pictures Classics); In The Same Breath (HBO Docs, Oscar shortlisted); The Velvet Underground (Cannes Film Festival, Apple+, Oscar shortlisted); The Mole Agent (Oscar nominee); A Thousand Cuts (Emmy, Gotham and IDA winner); One Child Nation (Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner, Amazon Studios, Oscar-shortlisted); Life, Animated (Oscar nominee and winner of three Emmys); Weiner (IFC Films, Oscar shortlisted).
Anya Rous
Producer, Multitude Films
Anya Rous
Producer, Multitude Films
Anya Rous is a Brooklyn, New York-based producer and the vice president of production at Multitude Films, an award-winning production company dedicated to stories by and about underrepresented communities. Her recent credits include Pray Away (Telluride 2020), and Always In Season (Sundance Special Jury Award Winner 2019). She was a Sundance Creative Producing Fellow and Impact Partners Producing Fellow.
Jon Reiss
Filmmaker and Film Strategist, Hybrid Cinema/8Above
Jon Reiss
Filmmaker and Film Strategist, Hybrid Cinema/8Above
Jon Reiss is a filmmaker, author and media strategist who wrote the book Think Outside the Box Office. His company, 8 Above, creates custom strategies and distribution campaigns for proactive filmmakers. Reiss has consulted with hundreds of filmmakers and film organizations throughout the world including The Gotham, IDA, Screen Australia, Film Independent, Creative Scotland. He has conducted his Master Classes over five continents and was the Senior Lab Leader at the IFP/Gotham Filmmaker Lab for ten years. 8 Above has developed bespoke audience-building strategies and theatrical campaigns for independent films, specialty films, and documentaries, including Sam Now, The First Step, Two Gods, The Disrupted, Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise, Sweetheart Dancers, Surviving Sex Trafficking, Nasrin, Hooligan Sparrow, and No Small Matter. 8above.com
Su Kim
Producer (Bitterbrush
Su Kim
Producer (Bitterbrush
Producer Su Kim has won multiple awards at Sundance and was nominated for an Academy Award in 2019 for “Hale County: This Morning, This Evening.” She received an Emmy in the Outstanding News and Current Affairs Documentary category, as well as two Peabody Awards and was part of the producing team for the Academy Award winner documentary short Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl). Her films currently in release include, Free Chol Soo Lee (dir Julie Ha & Eugene Yi), Sansón and Me (dir Rodrigo Reyes), Hidden Letters (Violet Du Feng) and Bitterbrush (Emelie Mahdavian).
1:45pm – 3pm
How to Effectively an Attract Established Executive Producer
Finding an established EP for your project can be the ticket to not only financing and distribution, but to moving the needle in your doc career. Zak Kilberg (The Mauritanian), Kelsey Koenig (Impact Partners) and Rebecca Stern (Battleground) demystify the process of attracting established EPs, providing a frank discussion on the elements in doc projects that grab their attention.
Zak Kilberg
Founder and Producer, Social Construct
Zak Kilberg
Founder and Producer, Social Construct
Founded by producer Zak Kilberg, Social Construct is a bold production company dedicated to curating a range of socially relevant and impactful media projects. Kilberg’s projects, which include 2021 Golden Globe-winner The Mauritanian and 2019 International Emmy-winner Bellingcat, have been acquired by top distributors worldwide, including Universal, Lionsgate, Netflix, HBO, Showtime, IFC, Amazon Studios, STX, etc., as well as boasting laurels from Sundance, Berlin, SXSW, Hotdocs, IDFA and BAFTA. He runs Social Construct with his partner Iz Web, in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Asheville, NC.
Kelsey Koenig
Senior Director of Development, Impact Partners
Kelsey Koenig
Senior Director of Development, Impact Partners
Kelsey Koenig has worked in independent documentary for over a decade, and is currently the Senior Director of Development at Impact Partners, a New York-based fund dedicated to supporting powerful documentary films that address pressing social issues. At Impact Partners, Kelsey reviews potential projects to finance, provides creative and strategic support for films, and represents the fund at festivals and markets around the world. Since joining Impact Partners in 2012, she has been involved with the financing and development of over 100 projects (recent titles include: Aftershock, Jacinta, Mija and Procession) and has spoken on panels about funding, distribution and impact at workshops and other industry events.
Co-Presented by:
3:15pm – 4:30pm
How to Get Your Film on PBS
While distributing your film on public media can feel like an intimidating process, there are tried and true steps you can take to get there. Learn about the wide variety of options and support available from public media leaders Selena Lauterer (Artemis Independent), Wendy Llinás (PBS), Chris Hastings (WGBH) and Chris White (American Documentary) as they provide actionable advice on how to distribute your film with PBS. Tricia Finneran (Story Matters) will guide this vibrant conversation.
Selena Lauterer
President, Artemis Independent
Selena Lauterer
President, Artemis Independent
Selena Lauterer has worked in public media for more than 20 years and is the founder and president of Artemis Independent, a media promotions and production company located in Boone, North Carolina. Her public television credits include Co-Producer of the Emmy and Peabody Award-winning PBS series A Chef’s Life, Consulting Producer for Vivian Howard’s Somewhere South, Executive Producer of A Craftsman’s Legacy, and Co-Executive Producer of Fannie Lou Hamer’s America. Selena is Head of Production for The Bitter Southerner and her company manages promotion efforts for over a dozen public television favorites each year, including POV, Roadtrip Nation, Reel South, and more.
Wendy Llinás
Sr. Director Programming & Development, PBS
Wendy Llinás
Sr. Director Programming & Development, PBS
Wendy Llinás is Sr. Director of Programming & Development for PBS. In this role she identifies, develops and oversees the production of original content and acquisitions for PBS in the genres of history, culture, and independent film. She works closely with Executive Producers of PBS’ documentary series POV, Independent Lens and VOCES. Llinás is a diversity champion, leading Filmmaker Initiatives at PBS. She is also an experienced journalist and Emmy nominated producer whose work has appeared on NBC News, ABC News and PBS. She has a M.S. in Journalism from Columbia University and B.A. in Latin American Studies from Barnard College.
Chris Hastings
Executive Producer & Editorial Manager, WORLD Channel WGBH
Chris Hastings
Executive Producer & Editorial Manager, WORLD Channel WGBH
Chris Hastings‘ passion for television started at age 10 when he produced Kids News, a daily news show at his elementary school outside Philadelphia. After college, he became a founding team member in the development and production of Black Entertainment Television’s award-winning BET Tonight. At WGBH, Chris has worked with children television’s program ZOOM and the WGBH Lab, an innovative incubator for up-and-coming filmmakers. Chris joined WORLD Channel in 2011, where he co-created the award-winning documentary series America ReFramed, Local, USA, and Doc World, and provided editorial oversight to the other original series on WORLD. Series in Chris’s portfolio has won many awards, including a Peabody Award, an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Award, and national news and documentary Emmy award.
Patricia Finneran
Founder, Story Matters
Patricia Finneran
Founder, Story Matters
Patricia is founder of Story Matters which connects media artists and movement leaders with funders, platforms and partners to advance social good and support a vibrant public media ecosystem. Story Matters clients include: Alliance, BYkids, CPH:Dox, FIFDH, Harmony Labs, Hot Docs, and Kering. Previously, she led Doc Society’s Good Pitch Local program which seeds pro-social partnerships for local media artists and organizers. At Sundance, she was Creative Producer for the Sundance|Skoll Stories of Change programs, and represented the documentary fund at forums around the world. As Director of SILVERDOCS: AFI/Discovery Channel Documentary Festival she led its growth to become the largest documentary festival in the US and created the International Documentary Conference. She is a graduate of Barnard College, AFI Conservatory Producing program, and the National Arts Strategies Chief Executive and Rockwood Ford Just Films ‘Art of Leadership’ programs.
To experience the DOC NYC PRO lineup, purchase an individual PRO Day Pass (via the Buy Ticket button) to hone in on a specific subject, or benefit from discounted pricing when you purchase Multi-Day Pass Packs to an assortment of topic strands.
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DOC NYC PRO is co-presented by:
