Orgasm Inc. knows how to satisfy its audience

Orgasm Inc had an explosive world premiere at Hot Docs. Around 1,000 people attended the two screenings (you can see the line stretch around the block behind director Liz Canner and C&E's own Julie Parker Benello) and we handed out 600 free vibrators. Needless to say, we satisfied our audience. Those of you who made it to one of the screenings: thanks for coming :) and showing your support! Those of you who couldn't make it: we hope you'll have another chance to experience the documentary in Toronto.

While in Toronto, we were able to really get the message out about the dangers of medicalizing female pleasure and sexuality. The film had awesome press coverage, both in traditional media outlets like Variety and The Globe and Mail, and in the blogosphere. You can see more coverage in Orgasm Inc's facebook page Facebook group.

Visit www.astreamedia.org for more on Liz's work and Orgasm Inc.

William Kunstler: Disturbing the 92Y TriBeCa.

Madeleine Stix, a stellar Chicken & Egg Pictures intern, reports from the latest in our "Story Leads to Action" series:

In a sold out theatre this past Thursday May 21st at 92y Tribeca there was a sneak screening of Emily and Sarah Kunstler’s film William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe. The film, through a unique yet surprisingly objective view, masterfully explores the life and career of one of the most controversial lawyers of the 20th century. Using expressive and powerful film clips from the news and media from their fathers career as a Civil Rights lawyer all the way to his work as a criminal justice lawyer in New York City as well as home videos and photographs from their early childhood, Emily and Sarah Kunstler masterfully deliver the message of their fathers life: Even when all odds stand against you, don’t stand by, act.

After the film note cards were distributed and the audience was asked to write down the answers to the question: What group of people must see this film? Afterwards Judith Helfand led an inspiring discussion with the audience and panel, which included two lawyers, an activist, and a Vassar professor, on where this film should go next and what groups of people should view the film. Although it was unanimously decided that this would be an extremely effective film to show to any law school, one of the most notable points of the discussion was when a thirteen-year old girl raised her hand and explained the necessity to show this film to her own school community: “I just learned about the civil rights movement in school and they make it sound like a tea party.” Other suggestions for community screenings included the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and a father-daughter screening. The array of suggestions and moving discussion illustrates how many different facets this film touches on.

Calling all filmmakers: Cinereach deadline is June 1st!

June 1st is the letter of inquiry deadline for the Cinereach summer grants cycle. Cinereach has given grants and awards, ranging from $5,000 to $50,000, to over 30 films to date, including A JIHAD FOR LOVE (an acclaimed documentary just out on DVD); BRONX PRINCESS, a doc that will screen at The Rooftop Film Festival this summer and on P.O.V in September; and ENTRE NOS, a narrative feature that just received an honorable mention at TIFF. Click here for granting priorities and LOI guidelines.

July 15th is the deadline to submit an application for The Reach Film Fellowship, a program through which Cinereach provides a $5,000 grant, sponsorships, mentorship and industry exposure to four young filmmakers making socially conscious short films. The program is for recent film school grads and self-taught filmmakers at an early stage in their careers. Our behind-the-scenes video (featuring the 2009/10 Fellows, and program Advisors Ellen Kuras, Edet Belzberg, Jeremy Kipp Walker, So Yong Kim and others) gives an inside look at RFF. Click to apply.

Announcing the First Annual Chicken & Egg Pictures and The Fledgling Fund Grantee Residency - Applications due June 24th

You can’t just want your film to be a powerful tool for creating social change.
YOU HAVE TO ENSURE IT!


Announcing the First Annual Chicken & Egg Pictures and Fledgling Fund Grantee Residency August 2009

Working Films is accepting applications for the first annual Chicken & Egg Pictures and Fledgling Fund Grantee Residency to be held in the beautiful Hudson Valley at the LifeBridge Sanctuary Retreat Center, August 12-15, 2009. Eight filmmakers will be selected to participate in this interactive retreat focused on the nuts & bolts of audience and community engagement campaigning for non-fiction films.

Working Films will guide a select group of grantees from these two organizations as they create and/or refine audience engagement plans for their non-fiction media and film projects. Linking the documentaries to organizations committed to progressive social change will be a key component of the residency.

Over the course of the workshop Working Films’ staff, together with invited experts in the field of community engagement, will cover topics such as:

• Identifying and reaching out to potential partners (community allies and non-profit organizations)
• Developing support materials such as screening guides and activist toolkits
• Fundraising for outreach and community engagement
• Pitching a project or campaign at a public forum
• Creating DVD extras as supplemental tools for social movements
• Using social networking and online tools to increase the impact of films and campaigns
• Using and leveraging traditional distribution venues (film festival circuit, television broadcast, theatrical and/or educational sales) in new ways that are linked to a goal driven campaign
• Identifying & using metrics to assess a project’s social impact

In addition to rigorous work as a group, this retreat will include down time to allow participants to rest and renew their energy. This will include yoga and opportunities for outdoor exercise in this beautiful setting.

This gathering will be modeled on Working Films’ unique residency, The Content + Intent Documentary Institute, which has been held annually at MASS MoCA in North Adams, M.A. for the past five years. Through the participation of filmmakers from around the country, the residency has evolved into a powerful model for interactive education - helping dozens of filmmakers strategize and create audience engagement plans that have had concrete impact. Because of our commitment to impact and the success of the residency model, Chicken & Egg Pictures and The Fledgling Fund are collaborating with Working Films to offer a similar experience to our grantees.

We look forward to receiving your application!

Submission Process: Please email natalie@chickeneggpics.org for the application form. Submit the application form to Anna Lee at Working Films (alee@workingfilms.org)
Application Deadline: June 24, 2009, 11:59 p.m. EST
Costs: Round-trip travel to residency. All other costs are covered by Chicken & Egg Pictures and The Fledgling Fund.
Food: All meals provided and prepared by a fantastic organic caterer

Selection of participating films will be based on the following:

• Where the project is in its process and how this intensive week could help push the film and/or campaign forward.

• How the collection of films fit together as a unit, including: themes, production phase, type of proposed community engagement campaign, representation of different kinds of engagement.

• How the film and / or campaign is linked to external pressures, deadlines and opportunities (e.g. current policy efforts, national and international days of action, anniversaries, and ongoing national campaigns.)

Feedback from past participants of the Working Films Content + Intent Documentary Institute at MASS MoCA.

“We definitely left Mass MOCA feeling like we had a 'plan' and lots of great ideas to move forward both outreach and partnership wise, but also in our case, content & edit wise. I'm excited to say that these will be a simultaneous process for us.”

“I wanted to thank you so much for an amazing experience at Mass MoCA. You were wise, witty and most of all, unflappable! I learned so much from the collective wisdom and knowledge of the group. I also came away feeling energized and extremely well-supported. The work that you do is amazing and truly important.”

Beth Murphy reports from The Good Pitch roundtable.

The Good Pitch opened its doors in North America for the first time this month at Hot Docs. Chicken & Egg were delighted to be invited to participate and had the good fortune of witnessing the amazing legs this forum gave Chicken & Egg grantee Beth Murphy for her project, The Promise of Freedom. Here, Beth shares her experience from this amazing day. Thanks to all at BRITDOC for such a worthwhile experience - deadline this week - get in your applications now! http://britdoc.org/real_good/pitch/

What a thrill to be part of the very first North American Good Pitch at TDF! It was electric when the “regular” pitches were finished, and the pitching table was resized and topped with a periwinkle blue cover as Johnny Nash’s “I Can See Clearly Now” pumped through the speakers. “It’s gonna be a bright, bright, bright sunshiny day…” co-producer Sean Flynn and I hummed quietly as commissioning editors made their way to the table – this time joined by human rights organizations, foundations and NGOs. If there was ever any question about the Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation claim that THIS is the future of documentary filmmaking, those doubts were laid to rest as Julie leBrocquy and Nic Dunlop began their moving pitch for Burma Soldier.

Knowing that everyone else around the table chose to be there gave me an incredible feeling of camaraderie: We all want the same thing, I thought. We all recognize that it’s harder than ever to make documentary films, but we are committed to what we do and what we want to achieve… it sounds lofty, but we still believe it’s possible to harness the power of human rights storytelling to create change. It echoes something Cara Mertes (Sundance Institute) wrote a while back for the International Documentary Association: Increasingly, documentaries are fulfilling two great mandates. They are embedding the possibility of action in their storytelling, and they are filling some of the void left by the dying art of journalism as we have known it through our major media. This confluence is making contemporary documentary the seminal storytelling form of the 21st century.

Of the five “good pitches” ours came third, and as we made our way to the table, we felt confident that the Working Films training offered by Judith Helfand and Robert West over the past two days had prepared us well. We took their recommendation to show two short video clips from The Promise of Freedom (rather than one longer one), and were stunned by what happened next: Julie Parker Benello (Chicken & Egg Pictures) announced production and outreach support--the first and only on-the-spot funding at TDF’s pitch table!, Ryan Harrington (Gucci Tribeca Fund/IndiePix) guaranteed distribution, Jan Rotekampf (Films Transit—our number one choice for international sales) was confident he’d be able to attract pre-sales and co-productions, and two human rights organizations signed on for our outreach campaign.

It was a bright, bright, bright sunshiny day! Sean and I are still beaming from the experience! We just wish Kevin Belli, our amazing DP and editor, could have been in Toronto to celebrate with us, and that all of our projects could benefit from this simultaneous exposure to commissioning editors and the third sector. I’m sure it’s wishful thinking, but I’d love a second Good Pitch experience at IFP with Zabuli, our new film about girls’ education in Afghanistan.

For more information on The Promise of Freedom click here.

UNAFF call for entries!

Chicken & Egg Pictures are proud to be involved with UNAFF this year. We hope you will take a moment to look at their website and tell a friend to submit their film!

www.unaff.org

12th UNITED NATIONS ASSOCIATION FILM FESTIVAL (UNAFF)
October 17-25, 2009 Palo Alto, East Palo Alto, San Francisco and Stanford University -
celebrates the power of international documentary films and videos dealing with human rights issues, environmental themes, protection of refugees, famine, homelessness, racism, disease control, women's issues, children, universal education, war and peace. In addition to our ongoing celebration of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, this year we emphasize the theme ENERGY & THE WORLD

Early Deadline – May 25, 2009
Regular Deadline - JUNE 1, 2009
Late deadline - June 9, 2009

Visit www.unaff.org for more information

Awards:
• UNAFF Grand Jury Award for Best Long Documentary
• UNAFF Grand Jury Award for Best Short Documentary
• Stanford Video Award for Cinematography
• Stanford Video Award for Editing

Questions or comments: Email info@unaff.org or call (650) 724-5544

Mary Katze, Director of About Face, reports about her experience at Hot Docs

All I can say is "O Canada!" What an experience to be immersed with the world's best documentary filmmakers for a full week. The festival is exceptionally well-organized and helpful to all the players from the fledgling first-timer to the lifetime achiever. The city was so user-friendly and the events were all of interest. I loved the Doc Shop and spent every free moment in there and only made it through the "C's" in the alphabetized collection of films. They also open the day time screenings to seniors and students at no charge- what a wonderful infusion of new faces and questions.

My two screenings were well- attended and included locals with professional interest in the topics of mental illness and facial disfigurement. Thanks to Julie, Wendy, Sheila and Judith for being there for this special moment in our film's life.
The gravy for us was the awards ceremony. I was in the back row, in the middle, in very casual dress, having no expectations after seeing such a saturation of outstanding work. So when the announcer set up the Special Jury Prize for International Documentary Feature, he said, "There's probably no-one in this room who wouldn't want to be in this list," and then proceeded to list the four finalists. First up, larger than life, came clips from About Face! I was humbled, astounded, and in a panic as I was not prepared to go in public, nor say anything! However, twas not to be a source of worry- we didn't win. Yet somehow I do feel like a winner because we were recognized in that completely packed auditorium in front of peers, the one group of people with whom one is always most proud of experiencing recognition. Re-entry into the regular world of proposal writing and follow up is definitely a bit of post-partum blues, but thankfully spring has come to the Arctic and fresh green abounds.

Visit http://www.aboutfacefilm.org for more information on the film and relating issues.

The Good Pitch at IFP 09 call for entries

From http://britdoc.org/real_good/ifp/

We're so proud of Chicken & Egg grantee, Beth Murphy, who presented her project, The Promise of Freedom at last week's Good Pitch, hosted at the impeccable Hot Docs 09. We were so proud and impressed by her pitch in-fact that we matched our support for her film with a production grant. Could your pitch work wonders at the last Good Pitch of 2009 at the Independent Film Week?

The Good Pitch brings together inspiring social-purpose film projects and a group of expert participants from charities, foundations, brands and media to form powerful alliances around groundbreaking films.

The Good Pitch is borne out of the conviction that documentary is a powerful tool for creating social change. We believe that only by working with the right partners can filmmakers create real impact and ensure that ambitious, issue-driven films get made, find audiences and inspire and enable participation. This ambition – to create powerful coalitions around films – is why we created the Good Pitch, an evolution in the traditional pitch format.

The Good Pitch at Independent Film Week is now open for submissions. The deadline is Monday May 25 2009.

ABOUT THE GOOD PITCH AT INDEPENDENT FILM WEEK
The Good Pitch at Independent Film Week builds on IFP’s program, “Envision – Addressing Global Issues through Documentaries,” a partnership with the United Nations Department of Public Information. We are looking for documentary projects from US filmmakers, which intersect with the eight UN Millennium Development Goals:

MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS
* End Poverty and Hunger
* Universal Education
* Gender Equality
* Child Health
* Maternal Health
* Combat HIV/Aids, Malaria and other diseases
* Environmental Sustainability
* Global Partnership for Development

WHAT ARE THE GOOD PITCH LOOKING FOR?
* Projects which intersect with the UN’s eight Millennium Development Goals (outlined above). For more on the MDGs, visit the UN website
* Film projects with an ambition either to promote public engagement and/or policy change, or which engage with the issues raised in new and interesting ways

Visit http://britdoc.org/real_good/ifp/ for more information on their criteria and how to apply

Story Leads to Action continues with William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe

Chicken & Egg Pictures and Working Films present the next installment of
STORY LEADS TO ACTION
a monthly series at the 92Y Tribeca Screening Room

Thursday, May 21st at 7:00 PM. Buy tickets here

Please Join us for a Sneak NYC Preview of William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe

Fresh from their festival tour (where they have received great attention and awards – L’Oreal Paris Women of Worth award at Sundance, Full Frame and New Orleans Human Rights Watch Film Festival) Emily and Sarah Kunstler are bringing the film home to New York City.

Expertly put together and never less than compelling. - The Hollywood Reporter

A perfect balance of the personal and the public. - Salt Lake City Weekly

Might just help reawaken viewers to find their own Goliaths and slingshots. - The Jewish Journal


About the film:
The late civil rights attorney William Kunstler was one of the most famous and controversial lawyers of the 20th century. He represented civil rights and anti-war activists, as well as accused terrorists and murders. In William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe, filmmakers Emily and Sarah Kunstler explore their father's life, from middle-class family man, to movement lawyer, to the most hated lawyer in America.

About the evening:
Filmmakers (and sisters) Emily and Sarah Kunstler, joined by NYC activists — some featured in the film - will be present for an interactive brainstorm. Come prepared to watch and listen to the Working Films methodology at work -- flying ideas, flip charts, and a commitment to design the bones of a community engagement campaign that will leverage the film’s release this fall and offer other cities and communities across the country the chance to link the story and power of William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe to their current struggles for justice.

Moderated by Peabody Award-winning Filmmaker Judith Helfand, Co-Founder of Chicken & Egg Pictures/Working Films and Molly Murphy, Deputy Director, Working Films

Envision Documentary Forum: May 14-15th

Chicken & Egg Pictures is proud to join forces with Impact Partners and The Fledgling Fund as well as IFP to support the Envision Documentary Forum: addressing global issues through documentaries. Envision takes place THIS WEEK (May 14th and 15th) at the Directors Guild Theater, 110 W. 57 Street (between 6th and 7th Avenues).

Don't miss the opportunity to be a part of a unique two days putting the Spotlight on United Nations Millennium Development Goals and their impact on women.


Purchase tickets here www.envisionfilm.org.

12 Conversations, Panels & Screenings, including:

Opening Remarks by: The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon

Performance by: Tony Award winner and UNICEF Spokesperson Sarah Jones

Panelists: Filmmaker Jonathan Demme (The Agronomist); Filmmaker Mira Nair (The Namesake); Rachel Mayanja (UN Special Advisor on Gender Issues); Filmmaker/Activist/Philanthropist Abigail Disney; Mette Hoffmann Meyer (Head of Documentaries & Co-productions for Danish public broadcaster, DRTV); Executive Producer/Financier Dan Cogan (Impact Partners); Dory Halati (Trustee, Omid Foundation, USA); Shireen Zaman (Director Middle East & North Africa, Vital Voices Global Partnership); filmmaker Gayle Ferraro (To Catch a Dollar: Muhammad Yunus Banks on America)

Panels: "Seeing Africa Through African Eyes," "Establishing a Safety Net for Girls in Traditional Societies," "The Reality of Being the Subject," "The Issue is Money," and "Micro Credit as a Tool of Empowerment for Women."

Screenings: Kim Longinotto's ROUGH AUNTIES (Winner: 2009 Sundance Film Festival World Cinema Jury Prize for Documentary), Gini Reticker and Abigail Disney's PRAY THE DEVIL BACK TO HELL (Winner: 2008 Tribeca Film Festival Best Documentary Feature) and Hamid Rahmanian and Melissa Hibbard's THE GLASS HOUSE (Premiere: 2008 International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam)

Jesse Epstein comes away from the 92Y screening of her SHORT films with a LONG laundry list!

What an experience! Providing a huge amount of feedback and specific outreach strategies, the event was incredibly helpful. I came away with a large stack of note cards – that I am still sorting through - with input from audience members and the panelists about strategic ways the films can be used and who to reach out to. Especially useful was insight from Karina Lynch (panelist from Educational Alliance) and Amy Levine (Sex Ed. Educator) about the process of getting films “approved” for schools. They suggest organizing pilot screenings at High Schools and After-School programs – which can be models for more educators. I have screened the films at high schools and after-schools but didn’t quite know how to best build on these screenings to reach out to more institutions. Going to have a follow up meeting with Karina Lynch from Ed. Alliance and make a game plan.

Planning also to follow up on the panel and meet with Connect (http://www.connectnyc.org/) about partnering on a screening series in barbershops in NYC. Connect has been doing some community outreach and organizing in barbershops and seems like a great partner to help develop a screening kit. My plan is to co-host a pilot screening with barbers from the film Wet Dreams and False Images (http://www.newday.com/films/WetDreams.html) and have them lead the Q&A. After hearing feedback from the awesome girls on the panel from the Lower East Side Girl’s Club it seems like a co-ed screening might be the most effective.

Overall I have to say it was incredibly exciting and energizing to think about new ways the films can be used outside of traditional distribution models. I’m grateful that the films were part of this think-tank – with such a high-level panel!

The panel included wonderful people from the Lower East Side Girl’s Club, Educational Alliance, Connect, two Media literacy experts, a Sex Educator who works with teens and parents, and a High School teacher from Brooklyn (who happens to be Dee Dee the barber’s sister).

Now that I have really begun to connect with potential project advisors and partner organizations, the work that needs to be done to get the films into the hands of educators and activists seems more specific and is starting to feel manageable. I’m excited build on the connections made at the “story leads to action mini-summit” – this really does feel like team building rather than something I need to do on my own. Big thanks to Working Films, Chicken & Egg Pictures, and The Fledgling Fund!

--Jesse Epstein

For more info on this film project, to watch trailers, and find out how to get involved visit:
http://www.JesseDocs.com

Next up at the 92Y Tribeca? Join us on May 21st for William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe. Information found here: http://www.92y.org/shop/event_detail.asp?category=92Tri+92YTribeca+Film888&productid=T-MM5FM26