DC Shorts Film Festival and Screenwriting Competition

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Filmmaker Workshops

Friday, September 7
E Street Cinema
555 11th Street NW, Washington, DC (METRO CENTER)

DC Shorts is proud to present seminars for filmmakers of all skill levels. Space is limited and seating priority will be given to filmmakers in competition. Reservations are required.

Reserve a Space

10:00AM
Stop Begging: Learn about Tax Incentives and Grant Writing for Filmmaking
Money is hard to come by. Learn how to make the most of what you can get. With Steve Bizenov of Media Services, Inc. and Pat Pasqual of the Foundation Center.

Reserve a Space

11:00AM
Selecting the Right Actors
Do you really know how to cast a project? Learn from the experts, including Lois Seffu of SAG-AFTRA and Kimberly Skyrme, DC’s premiere Producer/Casting Director.

Reserve a Space

1:00PM
Sound Design 101
Award-winning sound designer Kelley Baker talks through simple tactics to make your sound spectacular — even on a microbudget.

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2:30PM
What Festival Directors REALLY Think
Join Jon Gann, DC Shorts’ Founder and Director, and author of “Behind the Screens: Programmers Reveal How Film Festivals Really Work” for an open Q&A on how most festivals are run — and what you can do to make the most of your festival circuit.

Reserve a Space

3:30PM
Going from Shorts to Features
Making the leap from shorts to feature production is a challenge for even the savviest producer. Learn how local producers Michael Pollak, Jody Sanchez and Ron Newcombe successfully made the transition.

Related Resources

The Angry Filmmaker Survival Guide Part Two: Sound Conversations With (un)Sound People

Motion picture audio is one of the least understood parts of filmmaking. It is often neglected by film students and filmmakers alike. It is boring, scary, too technical and not considered important by most filmmakers. Until they get in to the editing room and realize that by not paying attention to audio earlier they are screwed.There is so much false information about film sound that most students and filmmakers are afraid to deal with it. When they do, it is usually done incorrectly through ignorance and at a huge financial expense.

This book is intended to shatter the myths and mysteries around film audio and give both students and experienced filmmakers the knowledge and tools so that their films will sound like they have come from the Hollywood studios without huge Hollywood budgets.

For the book, I have assembled a lineup of Film Industry Heavyweights in all areas of audio production for film and television. This group consists of location recordists, sound designers, picture editors, sound editors, re-recording mixers, and post-production supervisors. This all-star cast has won Oscars and Emmys in addition to awards from various film industries worldwide. Interviews include, Gary Rydstrom, Tom Johnson, Jim LeBrecht, Ron Eng, Harry B Miller III, Peter Kurland, Lee Haxall, Ken Karman, David A. Cohen and a host of others discuss their methods and secrets.

Behind the Screens: Programmers Reveal How Film Festivals Really Work

Have you ever wondered…What’s the deal with film festival programmers? What do they really think about your film? How do they make their decisions? And how can you improve your own film’s odds of being picked?

Why your film gets picked depends on a complex set of reasons, And it comes down to a single fact: film festivals, and programmers, aren’t necessarily what you think!

Insights by programmers from some of the world’s leading festivals:

  • Ashland Independent Film Festival
  • Byron Bay International Film Festival
  • CineSlam/Pride of the Ocean
  • DC Shorts Film Festival
  • LA Comedy Shorts Film festival
  • Napa Valley Film Festival
  • New York Film Festival
  • Prescott Film Festival
  • Razor Reel Fantastic Film Festival
  • Scottsdale Film Festival
  • Seattle International Film Festival
  • SilverDOCS
  • Sonoma International Film Festival
  • Sundance Film Festival
  • Tallgrass Film Festival
  • Washington Jewish Film Festival

The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences Copyright 2012 DC Shorts/DC Film Alliance

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