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News and events: February 2010
In This Issue
Filmmakers Workshop
Memorial Service for Karen Schmeer
ITVS event STREAMING TONIGHT!
CALL TO ACTION ON MA TAX CREDITS
Quick Links
ITVS streaming event on Feb 8
Join Our List
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We are very excited to unveil our newly re-designed website at documentaries.org!  We hope you'll take a moment and visit! We'll be adding more features in the coming days and weeks, so please check back in frequently! And of course, we hope to see you at the upcoming filmmakers workshop NEXT WEEK! And please note that the ITVS workshop below is STREAMING ON THE WEB LIVE TONIGHT!
 
FILMMAKERS WORKSHOP:  FEBRUARY 17, 2010
aimm logo small with full nameROUGH CUT SCREENING OF ADAM MAZO'S "COEXIST"

About "Coexist"
Coexist explores the experiences of trauma survivors searching for ways to coexist with their loved ones' murderers. As killing continues in Rwanda today and the government forces citizens to consider reconciliation, we examine how survivors cope when forced to face adversaries every day. In a world where innocent people are regularly attacked or killed because of who they are, we challenge the viewer: how can the experiences of Rwandans inform your efforts to build peaceful coexistence, eliminate hate crimes, and prevent all types of violence? When hate persists, how will you coexist?

About the Filmmaker
Adam Mazo is an experienced commercial television news producer embarking on his first full-length documentary film. Three years prior to production he spent time in Rwanda researching and shooting around the country beginning the investigation for what became "Coexist".

Adam has a rough cut and would really appreciate YOUR feedback! We hope you'll come!  As usual, we'll have some snacks...but bring something to add to the table if you are so moved!

Filmmakers Workshop
WEDNESDAY
February 17,2010
6:30-9:30pm

6:30-7:00- networking
7:00-8:25 - screen rough cut
8:25-9:30 pm  discussion followed by conversation

You can view the trailer at the Center for Independent Documentary YouTube channel.


Filmmakers Workshops are held at the new CID space at 93 Border Street in West Newton.
The workshop is FREE. Please feel free to bring some food or beverage to add to the snack table.

While RSVPs are not required, we do appreciate knowing if you plan to attend so that we can plan refreshments. RSVP HERE


Memorial Service for Karen Schmeer
Karen SchmeerFebruary 20, 2010 Memorial Service for Karen Schmeer
We have all been shocked and saddened by the loss of editor Karen Schmeer. A memorial is being planned for February 20th, which would have been her 40th birthday, at the Coolidge Corner Theatre.  Karen worked there as a ticket taker when she was in college and celebrated the screenings of many of the films that she edited there as well.
Time: 12pm-3pm
Location: Coolidge Corner Theatre
290 harvad Street
Brookline, MA 02446
 
Thinking Outside The Doc Box
TONIGHT!!!!

 ITVS is hosting a special live streaming webcast on Monday, February 8 at 7:30 PM PST (10:30 pm EASTERN TIME TONIGHT!)of the San Francisco Film Society (SFFS)'s Arts Forum, a bi-monthly workshop that includes dynamic presentations, topical panels, works-in-progress screenings, and trade secrets.

Beyond the Box will be streaming the event live on Monday so filmmakers across the country --and around the world -- can learn more. The forum, entitled "Thinking Outside the Doc Box," is designed to explode the myth that funders and broadcasters only want one kind of film.

The evening will feature a keynote address by ITVS Senior Programming Manager Richard Saiz. Karen Everett, owner of New Doc Editing(and an alum of the Kopkind CID film camp!) will give an overview of innovative structural approaches to documentaries and Michele Turnure-Salleo, director of filmmaker services at SFFS, will address the topic of institutional funding of documentaries. The evening will conclude with a conversation between Saiz and Everett about contemporary issues in documentary production and questions from the live audience.

We hope you'll take advantage of this great opportunity. The discussion will begin streaming on Monday, February 8 at 10:30 PM EST.

Learn more about the event on the SFFS website >>

Bookmark the live video feed >>
 
CALL TO ACTION ON MA TAX CREDITS
A MESSAGE FROM THE MASSACHUSETTS PRODUCTION COALITION:

Last week, Governor Patrick proposed a cap on the Film and TV tax credit of $50 million per year for the next two years.

Yet, the Massachusetts Film and TV Tax Credit has created more than $1 billion in new economic activity in the Commonwealth since it was created four years ago.  As most of you know first-hand, it has been a tremendous boon to the Commonwealth, acting as an incentive to local investment by production companies that have come here in large numbers.

The proposed $50 million cap represents a 25% credit on $200
million of eligible production expenditures for each year of the
two years. The state has averaged between $75 and $100 million in credits per year for the last two years, so the cap represents a potential 50% decrease in production in our state.

The Governor¹s suggested temporary film credit cap has gone to the legislature, where the House and Senate will determine its fate. While we sympathize with the need to close the budget gap and want to do our part, the Massachusetts Production Coalition believes that capping this credit is not the best solution and will lead to lost jobs and lost economic growth.This, at a time when we need increased jobs and economic activity to work our way out of the current fiscal environment and encourage new investments in the commonwealth.

CALL TO ACTION

The Massachusetts Production Coalition is working to eliminate the proposed cap to protect production in our state and jobs for our members. We are coordinating our efforts with other stakeholders both inside and outside the state.  But we need your voice.

Who To Call
Targeted phone calls delivering a unified message are needed.
PLEASE MAKE PHONE CALLS TO THE FOLLOWING LEGISLATORS FIRST. If you want to send an email or fax a letter as well, the necessary contact information is provided.

1. Call your Massachusetts state Representative and your
Massachusetts state Senator.
If you do not know your State
Representative and/or Senator please go
to: http://www.mass.gov/legis/city_town.htm

2. Call the following key legislators:
Speaker of the House Robert DeLeo: 617-722-2500.
Fax: 617-722-1008.   Robert.DeLeo@state.ma.us
Senate President Therese Murray: 617-722-1500.
Fax: 617-248-3840.   Therese.Murray@state.ma.us
Rep. Charles Murphy, Chair, House ways & Means Committee:
617-722-2990.
Fax: 617-722-2998.   Rep.CharlesMurphy@hwm.state.ma.us
Senator Steven Panagiotakos, Chair, Senate Ways & Means Committee:
617-722-1630.
Fax: 617-722-1001.   Steven.Panagiotakos@state.ma.us

THE MESSAGE
Use the bullet points below. When you call, first ask to speak to the Representative/Senator, and if unavailable, leave a message with a member of his/her staff.
·         My name is
·         My address is (street address & town)

 NOTE: When calling your own Representative/Senator, BE SURE TO SAY that you are a constituent of the Senator/Representative.

·         I work in the film and television industry, my job is one of thousands of jobs created by the film tax credit.
·         I am opposed to the proposed cap on the film tax credit
in the Supplemental Budget because it will export my job to
another state.
·         The film tax credit has brought more than $1 billion in
new economic growth to Massachusetts, as well as scores of new businesses and thousands of new jobs for people like me, and I need that work.
·         Studios will still make movies and spend hundreds of
millions of dollars anyway- just not here.
·         The credit is a solution to the state's current economic
stagnation and job loss, not a problem.
·         I ask that Representative/Senator (name) preserve job
creation and growth in the Commonwealth by voting AGAINST the cap on the film tax credit.

You may also ask your family and friends to call. If they do not
work in the industry, they can use the appropriate bullet points
above and explain the benefits they have seen first-hand.

Every phone call counts.  Thank you!

 
CID support: The Center for Independent Documentary is supported in part by grants from the Massachusetts Cultural Council and by the National Endowment for the Arts -Arts Recovery Funds.  
Visit us at our website for more information