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Free -- an IFP Community Membership that Offers a Golden Opportunity to Get Your Film Made

The Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP) is a not-for-profit membership association dedicated to helping emerging and experienced filmmakers smoothly navigate the industry to get that film made. Joining IFP will link you with over 700 registrants for Independent Film Week, connect you with industry leaders who will give you information, advice, a mentor, support with both financing and film distribution and stand on the red carpet applauding as others come to view your final product.

Thanks to a collaboration with the IFP Communications and Programming Coordinator, John Sylva, Maine Media Workshops + College students receive a Community Membership at no cost. The usual $35 fee is waived for all Maine Media students. With this online, Community Membership, you will receive the following:

* Hundreds of hours of audio podcasts from past conferences and seminars.

* Hundreds of video tips from top industry experts.

* Online Independent Film Week Industry Directory (300+ company profiles).

* Searchable online versions of Filmmaker Magazine from the past five years.

* Online job listings and classifieds.

* Access to Daily blogs from Industry Experts (Ask the Experts).

* Discounted Theatre Tickets at Quad, Cinema Village, ImaginAsian, and Museum of the Moving Image.

* 25% off to IFP workshops and seminars (Filmmaker Conference, Script to Screen Conference, Envision).

* Free Membership to Shooting People.

* Ability to apply to IFP’s Competitive Programmatic sections.

* Weekly IFP Newsletter.

To take advantage of this free offer, you must visit the IFP website and register with this code: CMC11

 

Slide on into Winter, Then Sail on into Spring at Maine Media

Yes, the Maine Media Workshops + College lineup of winter and spring workshops is being finalized right now!

Check back often for the most amazing line-up of the tried-and-true favorites along with brand new photography, filmmaking and multimedia workshops. Allow the winter/spring line-up to increase your technical skill base, energize your creativity, expand your vision, and offer you a destination journey that you will want to repeat time and time again!

Maine Media Faculty Ride the Tide on the Midcoast

Maine Media’s Daniel Stephens, Joel B. Strunk, Anelisa Garfunkel, and other Maine Media Workshops + College (MMW+C) alumni are seeing their dream come true as filming progresses on their certain box office hit, Anatomy of the Tide. This feature film is pure Maine starting with script writing through to post-production.

Strunk, the film’s writer/director and tuna fisherman from Rockland, Maine, artfully crafted the script, which was a finalist in the Academy of Motion Pictures Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting Award. The Maine Film office also gave a proud nod to Anatomy of the Tide .

Stephens, the film’s producer/director of photography, former Film Technical Director and current faculty member at MMW+C, revels in the location choice, “We have some of the most beautiful scenery in the United States. We may not have a big production studio, but look around – the state of Maine is our studio.”

Anatomy of the Tide, a coming-of-age story brimming with passion, intrigue, and island life, would not have been possible without the creative genius of Strunk, Stephens, Garfunkel and local support. “Mainers” are a unique bunch whose love of the state’s natural beauty and sense of community rivals that of any locale across the globe. Maine’s lobstermen, boat builders, fishermen, doctors and myriad of hard-working community members rallied to provide a majority of the financial and in-kind support needed.

You too can produce a feature film! Join Maine Media’s film program from 4-Week Film School to Advanced Screenwriting.

Letterpress to Debut at Maine Media

In keeping with its emphasis of respecting the traditional forms that have shaped the contemporary media environment, Maine Media Workshops + College is looking forward to its first workshop teaching a technology invented over 550 years ago – and that Mark Twain called, “the greatest event in the history of the world.”

Introduction to Letterpress Printing will be taught by David Wall, long-time printer and typographer. "Though I’ve been working with the letterpress process now for more than twenty years,” says David, “I still experience the same little rush that I felt when I first held a letterpress-printed sheet up to a raking light…I’ve seen a lot of beautifully printed pieces produced by other means, but no other printing process has ever given me that same visceral thrill.”

While Maine Media has been offering bookmaking workshops for many years, this is the first time that the school is running a workshop featuring this historic process. Says Maine Media President, Charles Altschul, “One of the very special things about this school is that while we are constantly updating our programs to reflect the very latest changes in technology, we also offer workshops that take advantage of some of these media forms’ wonderful traditions. During any given week, we might be running a workshop of 3D Cinematography while at the same time we might be running a workshop on Collodion Process. This is another example of that dual allegiance.” 

Maine Media College’s Professional Certificate Students Launch

To a photographer, it’s all about the sense of place and the light. To Maine Media, it’s all about the student. Last week’s expedition to Vinalhaven island, bonded our newest group of Professional Certificate (PC) in Photography students to each other, to Maine and to Maine Media College.

“I came to be with like-minded, creative people and to learn the techniques I’ve missed as a self-taught photographer. The only way to get to Vinalhaven is by ferryboat. There wasn’t any landscape to look at, so for over an hour we had to look at the commuters, the tourists, the water and the ferry,” Matt Cosby explained.

Leslie Inman shot Matt a smile and added, “The trip was a good beginning to the program because it removed the clutter of daily life. We forgot about our cell phones and got ‘in the moment’ as photographers.”

“I want to become a travel photographer so I focused on the ocean and the nature preserve,” said Allie Duda.

“The light in the nature preserve was perfect. There was a simple trail leading through a dense woods with sunlight filtering through. I came to become a better photographer,” Tracey Freeman beamed her own sunlight onto the group.

Leslie continued, “I am a retired insurance executive. I started coming to Maine Media last summer and my creative spirit woke up. I feel like a kid again and am working to develop a significant body of work to exhibit in galleries.”

Kari Wehrs, teaching assistant, summarized, “ Even though the group’s ages range from the 20s to the 50s, we all understand each other because each of us is at the same point in our creative lives. And, we are each launching our career.”

TED: Ideas Worth Spreading

Originating as a conference focused on Technology, Entertainment and Design, TED has expanded to give communities, organizations and individuals the opportunity to stimulate dialogue through TED-like experiences at the local level. TEDxDirigo is Maine’s own incarnation and will take place on Saturday, September 10 at the Portland Stage Company.

Dean Merrill, TEDxDirigo’s co-founder, has been part of this summer’s residency program at Maine Media. “I was looking for a way to expand the capabilities of my production and design business and Maine Media’s offerings provided just what I needed.” Dean is looking forward to participating in three more courses following the conference: The Camera and Visual Storytelling with Steve Fierberg, Feature Film Lighting with Mo Flam, and then the Director of Photography Master Class with Russell Carpenter.

On August 13, Dean was on campus filming in the school’s Sound Stage. The interview with Charles Altschul, President of Maine Media Workshops and College, will be part of an introductory segment for the upcoming event, “Working with TEDxDirigo has been a fabulous collaboration for us. More and more, Maine is recognized not only for the beauty of its landscape, but also for the creativity of its people. TEDx and Maine Media share an interest in seeing this grow.”

To apply to attend TEDxDirigo, please visit: www.tedxdirigo.com

Small Town, Big Films – CIFF Returns to Camden

The 7th annual Camden International Film Festival (CIFF) will take place in Camden, Maine from September 29-October 2. Now in its seventh year, the Camden International Film Festival is the largest documentary film festival in New England. CIFF is a non-profit organization dedicated to presenting a snapshot of the cultural landscape through the year’s best non-fiction storytelling, connecting audiences with the industry’s emerging talent to discuss documentary film as an art form, a catalyst for change and as an outlet for the independent voice.

The Camden International Film Festival will showcase nearly 60 documentary features and shorts over the course of the four-day festival, plus several special screenings and events, musical performances and the Points North Documentary Forum. The Points North Documentary Forum consists of workshops, panels and a live pitching session featuring dozens of filmmakers and industry delegates from all over the world. 

The official schedule is now available online. There are two pass options: The VIP Pass ($125), which grants attendees admittance to all films, panels, and special events – including the Points North Documentary Forum; and the Festival Pass ($75), which grants attendees admission to all films and panels, also including the Points North Forum.

For more information on the festival, or to purchase tickets visit www.camdenfilmfest.org

CIFF 2011 is made possible in part through the generous support from the Quimby Family Foundation, the University of Maine, Cellardoor Winery and Vineyard and media support from Maine Today Media, Maine Magazine and Maine Home and Design.

Important August Events Update

We have important updates regarding two of our August community events to share with you.

August 15 Masters of 20th Century Photography Presentation Topic: Ernst Haas

Craig Stevens and Todd Weinstein will be joining Susan Danly, Curator of Graphics, Photography, and Contemporary Art at the Portland Museum of Art, to discuss the legendary Ernst Haas, photography master and long-time instructor at the school, and his influence on the art form. Born in Austria in 1921, Haas was both a photographer and a photojournalist influential for his innovations in color photography. The Portland Museum of Art houses Ernst Haas Memorial Collection of works by photographers including George Tice, Maggie Steber, and Elizabeth Opalenik. This event takes place Monday, August 15, at 4 pm in the Union Hall Theatre, 2 Central Street in Rockport, Maine.


DATE CORRECTION: August 29 Vanished Kingdoms: A Woman's Extraordinary Journey

In the 1970s, Cabot discovered in Harvard’s Peabody Museum of Archaeology the journals, diaries and rare photographs that documented the adventures of her mother, Janet Elliott Wulsin, in the 1920s to remote corners of Western China, Inner Mongolia and northwestern Tibet. Cabot spent four years conducting research at Harvard to unravel her mother's fascinating story. Wulsin’s adventures are captured in a magnificent illustrated book, which contains over 140 extraordinary photographs documenting the lost world of Imperial China. In this presentation, Cabot discusses her mother’s journey as well as the process, for the first time, of digitizing rare colored lantern slides and then transposing them into exhibition prints which were exhibited in seven museums in the United States and Great Britain. This event takes place Monday, August 29, at 4 pm in the Union Hall Theater, 2 Central Street in Rockport, Maine.

 

To view the complete list of our community events through September 1, please click here.

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