Current Workshops

An Evening with The New York Times Op-Doc

Tuesday, June 25
6:30 pm - 8:00 pm
Registration: $10
Register here

Op-Docs is The New York Times editorial department’s forum for short, opinionated documentaries, produced with wide creative latitude and a range of artistic styles, covering current affairs, contemporary life and historical subjects. Most Op-Docs videos are between 3 and 5 minutes long and are produced by both renowned and emerging filmmakers who express their views in the first person, through their subjects or more subtly through an artistic approach to a topic. Having a short video on Op-Docs means your story can be seen by millions of Times readers around the world and you will ignite a conversation about a subject matter that is close to you. This is a wonderful opportunity for filmmakers who have films still in production or have a new idea for a short documentary. Past Op-Docs videos based on films by WMM’s filmmakers have included Laura Poitras (THE OATH), Dawn Porter (GIDEON’S ARMY) and Lisa Jackson (SEX CRIMES UNIT). Join us in an evening with Op-Docs coordinating producer Kathleen Lingo as she talks about what they are looking for, how you can submit a short video or a written pitch for consideration and how Op-Docs works with filmmakers in the production of their short videos.

Master Class: Lucy Walker

Director Lucy Walker is one of the most recognized female filmmakers today. Her documentaries have won over fifty film awards, and she has twice been nominated for an Academy Award: first for WASTE LAND a documentary feature which also won over 30 other awards including Audience Awards at both Sundance and Berlin, and THE TSUNAMI AND THE CHERRY BLOSSOM, which also won the nonfiction jury prize at Sundance. Her three previous feature documentaries also garnered multiple acknowledgements: BLINDSIGHT premiered at Toronto and won festivals including Berlin; COUNTDOWN TO ZERO premiered at Sundance and played in Official Selection at Cannes; and DEVIL'S PLAYGROUND premiered at Sundance and was nominated for three Emmys and an Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary. The Crash Reel, a new feature documentary set in the world of professional snowboarding which Lucy produced and directed made its debut as the Salt Lake Opening Night Gala film at Sundance in January. Join us for this master class to learn more about what makes Lucy Walker such a successful and prolific filmmaker. Hear her talk about her process and how she goes from an idea to an award-winning film.

Past Workshops in this Series

The Art of Pitch with Heidi Ewing and Jenny Raskin

Tuesday, June 4
6:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Regular Rate: $35.00
WMM Partner Rate: $25.00

Pitching is an art that you can learn to master. How you talk about your project makes a huge difference in how it will be perceived by your peers and potential supporters. Delivering a powerful and concise description is key. If you want to bring attention from relevant professionals in the industry to your project don't miss this enlightening workshop. Join the experts for this lively conversation about mastering the art of pitch: Heidi Ewing, Academy Award-nominee and co-director of award-winning documentaries such as JESUS CAMP, 12th & DELAWARE and DETROPIA; Jenny Raskin, producer and head of development at Impact Partners which has helped finance a wide range of award-winning films including two Academy Award nominations for HELL AND BACK AGAIN and THE GARDEN; and Debra Zimmerman, WMM's Executive Director who was recently awarded the Doc Mogul Award at HotDocs 2013.

Branding Your Project to Increase Fundraising and Build Audiences

Tues, May 21 6:30-8:30pm
$35 | $25 (WMM Partner rate)


Branding, social media, SEO, transmedia... these are the buzz words currently being used on the film funding and festival circuit. But what is branding? Can a film be a brand? How do social media and transmedia components help to expand the impact for your fundraising efforts and for your completed film? How does one create a strategy for engaging stakeholders and audiences? We have invited award winning media strategist John Bruce for an illuminating workshop on how you can create a strategy to increase your fundraising and completed film's potential. Bruce is a co-founder of FORWARD MAPWORKS, which helps organizations and artists design greater engagement for positive impacts. He has designed the strategy for Kim Snyder's ITVS film and transmedia project Welcome to Shelbyville and was the platform producer for Far From Afghanistan, which premiered at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival and screened at MoMA's Documentary Fortnight.

 NYSCA Information Session

Monday, May 20th 6:30-8:00 pm
Free

The New York State Council on the Arts (NSYCA) has opened for submissions. Join Robert Zukerman, Director of the Individual Artists Program, and Arian Blanco, Program Officer, at WMM for an information session on their application guidelines and process. Through the Individual Artists program, NYSCA offers support for the creation of new work by New York State artists through artist-initiated projects in electronic media (video, sound art, installations, and new technologies) and film production, and the commissioning of new work by composers, choreographers and theatre artists. Artists at various career stages are welcome to apply. Grant amounts range from $5,000 to $25,000. For documentary, projects must be in the post-production phase and all applicants must have proof of New York State residency. Click here for full guidelines.

Meet the Funder: Cinereach

Wed, May 15 6:30-8:00pm
$20 | $15 (WMM Partner rate)

Join us in an evening with Adella Ladjevardi, Grants Manager at Cinereach, to talk about their programs, their selection criteria and their application process. As one of the most sought-after film funders from all around the world, the prestigious Cinereach funds and produces films at the intersection of engaging storytelling, visual artistry, and vital subject matter. Created and led by young philanthropists, entrepreneurs and filmmakers, Cinereach supports fiction and nonfiction filmmakers from all over the world through its Productions, Grants & Awards and Fellowships initiatives, and through partnerships with Sundance Institute's programs. Cinereach has supported close to 120 films in the US and internationally, including Circumstance, Pariah, The World Before Her, Planet of Snail, Girl Model, Code of the West and many more. Cinereach Production Beasts of the Southern Wild was released in the US in 2012 by Fox Searchlight Pictures, and was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture. 

Meet the Funder: Catapult Film Fund

Wed, April 24 6:30-8:00pm
$20 | $15 (WMM Partner rate)

Lisa Kleiner Chanoff, co-founder of the Catapult Film Fund, is in town for the Tribeca Film Festival and she is coming to WMM to talk about the Fund. Join Lisa and have a glass of wine with us to inaugurate the first workshop in our new offices!

In the current landscape of funding, very few organizations are willing to give you money to help you get your documentary off the ground. Catapult, which was founded in 2010, is one of those few who believe in you before others do. They provide development funding to documentary filmmakers who have a compelling story to tell, have secured access to their story and are ready to shoot and edit a piece for production fundraising purposes. With two submission deadlines a year, their mission is to enable filmmakers to develop their film projects to the next level at a stage where funding is hard to find. Projects they have supported include The Genius of Marian which is premiering at Tribeca as well as ANITA: Speaking Truth to Power , and upcoming such upcoming films as THE E-TEAM by Katy Chevigny and Ross Kaufman and SIMPLE JUSTICE by Marian Lipschultz and Rose Rosenblatt. They have a great record of supporting women filmmakers so this is a great opportunity to meet a representative of a new and welcome addition to the documentary field! Seating is very limited so register early!

Navigating the International Film Festival Circuit: A Women Make Movies Webinar
Thurs, April 18/2 pm (EST) / 11 AM (PST)
$30 | $20 (WMM Partner/NAMAC member rate)

WMM and NAMAC are partnering to bring you this amazing webinar!

Women Make Movies (WMM) provides highly attended, in-person educational workshops to their filmmakers every year. Now, for the first time, they are making their invaluable knowledge and expertise available to a national (and international) audience! NAMAC (National Alliance for Media Arts and Culture) is proud to partner with Women Make Movies to present an important professional development opportunity for filmmakers around the country and the world.

As a filmmaker, you know all about Film Festivals. You've heard that film festivals are the route to distribution. You've sensed that certain festivals may be better for you than others. But in a market increasingly saturated with festivals, how do you whittle down which festivals are best for you? And once you get in, what do you do there? How do you meet with distributors? What are best practices to pursue and pitfalls to avoid?

In this webinar, WMM Executive Director and recent Hot Docs Media Mogul Awardee Debra Zimmerman will help you decode and conquer the film festival circuit. Find out through this online conversation how to optimize your festival screenings with tips on creating your festival strategy, packaging your film, and navigating the scene once you're there. This is the perfect workshop for learning more about how to better market and launch your feature, documentary, or short.

Documentary Proposal Writing Basics & Film Funder Overview Thursday, March 24
Regular Rate: $35.00 | (discount rate $25)

As film funding becomes increasingly scarce and the competition for every dollar skyrockets, how will you make your grant application grab a funder’s attention? Proposal writing is a skill, equal parts art and science. Join us to learn these essentials skills and build your confidence so you can put your best foot forward and make your proposal stand out in a crowd. In this workshop, we will cover the essentials of grant-writing, provide an overview of the major film funders, review what they fund, how best to approach them, and how to avoid common mistakes.We’ll also discuss the importance of relationship building, the foundation of all fundraising. Presented by Tracie Holder, filmmaker, fundraiser and consultant to WMM’s Production Assistance Program. Holder has received grants from numerous funders including the Ford Foundation, ITVS, National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, New York State Council for the Arts, Lynn and Jules Kroll Fund for Jewish Documentary Film, The Sulzberger Foundation, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, The J.M. Kaplan Fund and The LuEsther T. Mertz Charitable Trust, among others.

Meet the Funder: Jerome Foundation
Wednesday, Feb 20 2013 | 7 - 8:30PM
Regular Rate: $35.00 | (discount rate)  $25.00

What happens when you have a great project in the making - but because you are at an early stage in your film career it is still very hard to get funding and have others believe in you? Join Robert Byrd, the Jerome Foundation's Program Director, and hear more about the Foundation's grant program to support film and video artists in NYC. The Jerome Foundation is one of the few of its kind in that it specifically awards production grants to emerging artists who make creative use of their respective media. These artists will most often be in the early stages of their careers and will not have had the support needed to achieve major recognition for their work. Don't miss this opportunity to hear more about the application process for this prestigious grant!

Pricing and Discounts