Re-Present Media director, Jennifer Crystal Chien, was recognized as an unsung hero of documentary filmmaking by Brown Girls Doc Mafia. Thank you to BGDM for spotlighting documentary women and femme leaders of color!
Read the article here.
We are excited to announce our For Us, By Us Filmmaker Incubator cohort! Seven filmmakers telling personal stories from underrepresented Bay Area communities were selected to participate in our six month intensive. The cohort will participate in workshops, receive mentoring, and be given stipends to strategically use for their films.
Their six projects highlight intersections of race, class, and gender from across the Bay Area. We are thrilled to support these filmmakers’ stories for Bay Area communities by Bay Area filmmakers. With each film comes an opportunity to realistically represent those who have been underrepresented and provide insight into how we can better understand each other and ourselves.
Congratulations to Caroline Julia Cabading, Megan Martinez Goltz, Chad Santo Tomas, Mauro Sifuentes, Sé Sullivan, Erika Staud, and Priyanka Suryaneni. We look forward to supporting these filmmakers on their journeys!
Click here to learn more about the filmmakers and their projects.
We presented a Community Building session titled, Restorative Practices for BIPOC Creatives, for the European Film Market Toolbox Programme. The EFM Doc Toolbox Programme and EFM Fiction Toolbox Programme are part of the European Film Market’s Diversity & Inclusion initiatives. The programs empower filmmakers from marginalised groups and the Global South to gain market intelligence, business tools, and connections for effective navigation in the global film market.
Our session focused on principles and practices for BIPOC filmmakers and creatives working within environments rooted in white supremacist culture. The vision was to focus on working sustainably and effectively amid predictable challenges that arise. Themes of the session included shifting perspectives on approaching the work, handling challenging situations in new ways, and building community.
Filmmakers Collaborative SF and Re-Present Media are collaborating to present the For Us, By Us Filmmaker Incubator, a six month intensive to support a diverse cohort of six local documentary filmmakers who are telling personal stories from underrepresented communities in the Bay Area.
APPLICATION DEADLINE: FEBRUARY 22, 2023 @ 11:59PM PST
ABOUT THE PROGRAM
For Us, By Us will support a diverse cohort of six local documentary filmmakers who are telling personal stories from underrepresented communities in the Bay Area. The filmmakers will participate in workshops, receive mentoring, and be given stipends to strategically use for their films. The mentoring will be focused on a group setting, with additional individual mentoring with program directors as needed. The six month program will run from March-August 2023.
Our goal is to nurture stories that expand our understanding of those who live in our Bay Area communities, especially those who are marginalized that will benefit from seeing their perspectives realistically represented, validating their lived experiences and providing insight into how we can better understand each other and ourselves.
Filmmakers Collaborative SF is a nonprofit media organization with a mission to catalyze positive change through the power of filmmaking. Re-Present Media is an organization dedicated to advocating for personal storytelling from underrepresented communities in documentary film and nonfiction media. The launch of the For Us, By Us Filmmaker Incubator marks an exciting next step in our work to support diverse storytellers and strengthen the Bay Area’s filmmaker ecosystem.
PROGRAM STRUCTURE
The six month program includes:
- $1,750 stipend to be used in accordance with the filmmaker’s development plan that is created in the program.
- Three months of workshops (twice a month) led by a diverse group of working filmmakers and industry professionals covering story development, creative approach, fundraising, distribution, and other elements of the filmmaking journey.
- Three months of group mentoring sessions (twice a month) focused on the needs of the participants’ films, with additional individual mentoring with program directors as needed.
- Work in progress screening at the end of the program.
ELIGIBILITY
To be eligible, applicants must:
- Be an emerging to mid-career documentary filmmaker
- Live or work in the Bay Area (Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano, and Sonoma Counties)
- Be working on a documentary project that centers a personal story within an underrepresented Bay Area community. The film can be a short or feature length documentary in pre-production with secured participants, production, or post-production.
- Be available to participate in the program’s activities. See tentative schedule.
APPLICATION
Application deadline: February 22, 2023 at 11:59pm PST
For more information and to apply: filmmakerscollaborative.org/for-us-by-us
Congratulations to Re-Take Oakland filmmaker, Jennifer Huang, who was selected for the DOC NYC x Video Consortium Storytelling Incubator for her film, The Long Rescue. This initiative provides first-time feature documentary filmmakers with hands-on creative consultation and professional guidance from established industry voices.
The Long Rescue follows Filipina teen sex trafficking survivors for six years where we learn of their dark pasts through brief flashbacks that reveal the cyclical nature of exploitation that haunts women and their children for generations.
Re-Present Media Director, Jennifer Crystal Chien, participated in the DOK Leipzig 2022 Industry Talk: Personal Storytelling from Underrepresented Communities on October 18, 2022.
Jennifer was in conversation with filmmakers Brenda Akele Jorde (The Homes We Carry), Mickaël Bandela (One Mother) and Paula Vaccaro, founder of Pinball London and member of the steering committee of ARTEF. The panel was moderated by Gugi Gumilang, Executive Director of In-Docs.
Re-Present Media Director, Jennifer Crystal Chien, participated in the Mill Valley Film Festival 2022 Panel: The Power of Personal Documentary Films: The Distributors on October 13, 2022.
In early 2022, Re-Present Media issued an article, The Power of Personal Documentary Films, presenting data gathered from emerging BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) filmmakers working on personal documentary films. In particular, the article explored the impact of racism and white-supremacy culture on their work.
This session presented highlights of the survey project as it relates to the current distribution landscape, then dove into a deep conversation with distribution professionals. Themes included: the value of personal documentary films from diverse communities, how personal documentaries are currently distributed, the challenges of marketing such films, the missed opportunities to connect with audiences because of an unconscious bias against these films, and how strategies can shift among distributors for programming, acquiring, and marketing personal documentaries.
Jennifer was in conversation with Brenda Avila-Hanna (New Day Films), Amanda Salazar (Film Programmer), and Annie Roney (ro*co Films, Founder & Chief Executive Officer). The panel was moderated by Claire Aguilar (producer/consultant, former Director of Programming and Policy at International Documentary Association).
Filmmakers Collaborative SF and Re-Present Media are presenting a series of workshops focused on helping filmmakers with practical filmmaking advice and strategies to move their films forward. Workshop participants will walk away with tangible documents and tools for the next step in their filmmaking journey.
Practical and Ethical Considerations for Working with Film Participants
Thu, September 22, 2022 | 3:30pm – 5:00pm PT
This practical workshop aims to equip filmmakers, funders, and participants to address challenges that arise during the filmmaking process by highlighting existing tools and resources on documentary ethics and accountability. It will focus on financial impacts and benefits, ownership, content review rights, and the film’s impact on participants.
Create A Customized Film Distribution Strategy
Thu, October 20, 2022 | 1:00pm – 2:30 pm PT
This hands-on workshop will help filmmakers design a customized distribution plan for their film. We will cover creating goals for your film, evaluating different distribution channels, finding audience, strategies for DIY distribution, sequencing your release, and more – all with the goal of creating a unique and actionable distribution strategy for your film.
Get Unstuck: Producing Strategies to Move Your Film Forward
Thu, November 17, 2022 | 1:00pm – 2:30pm PT
This hands-on workshop will help you critically assess your ideas, structure development and strategy to successfully secure funding and move your film forward. It will focus on aligning the filmmaking process with a film’s funding potential, efficiently organizing time and resources, producing a compelling work sample, proposal and pitch deck, leveraging a team approach, and more.
Cost: Free for Filmmakers Collaborative SF members or sliding scale (pay what you can)
For more information and tickets, visit: https://www.filmmakerscollaborative.org/events
The Long Rescue, directed by Re-Take Oakland filmmaker Jennifer Huang, was accepted into the Film Independent CNN Docuseries Intensive. Supported by Founding Sponsor CNN Original Series, the Intensive helps Fellows walk away with a deeper understanding of the industry through executive and peer mentorships, creative workshopping and industry networking.
The Long Rescue follows Filipina teen sex trafficking survivors for six years in an intimate journey of recovery.
Grandma Lai is a recipient of the LIMCA-Hidden Gems III Award. The purpose of the awards program is to recognize individuals for their story, creative work, and contributions to the LIMCA Iu Mien community.
Grandma Lai is the subject of My Name is Lai, directed by Re-Take Oakland filmmaker, Lucy Saephan.
In My Name is Lai, a first generation Mien American elder, shares the events leading up to her arrival to the U.S. as a refugee survivor of war. Lai retraces moments of her life from memories as a young child, to being a newly arrived refugee finding her way in the U.S. Through these memories, Lai reflects on her life, passing on cultural traditions, fears of losing her independence, and hopes for the future.