Independent Cinema Office Blog

Animators from our acclaimed BAFTA Shorts 2014 programme discuss their work.

News & opportunities

• You're nearly out of time to apply for ICO courses Strategic Income Building for Independent Exhibitors(deadline Monday 10 March) and Elevate - Management Development for Distributors, Sales Agents and Exhibitors (deadline Thursday 13 March). If you want to focus your venue's long-term income building strategy, or you're a distribution, sales agent or exhibition exec in need of professional management training, book NOW.
• Membership and funding streams are now open for @FilmHubSE members. Apply for support for programming specialised film, enhancing community links with cinema or attending training courses and film festivals.
• Last chance for London exhibitors to apply for @Film_London's Boost Award, offering up to £3k to support Film Hub London members broaden their programming & increase audience engagement. Deadline 12 March.
• Fill out @SkillsetSSC's film industry survey and you could win a £100 John Lewis voucher. Not too shabby.

Calls for submissions

• @FL_FLAMIN Productions is now open for applications, offering awards of up to £40k to artist filmmakers to support the development of ambitious single-screen works. Deadline 27 May.
• The IMDb Bath Film Festival Awards are now open for submissions. Earlybird deadline 15 April.
• Applications are now open for Guiding Lights 2014, run by @LighthouseArts and funded by @SkillsetSSC and supported by @FilmHubSE. They're looking for talented writers, directors and producers who (if successful) will gain 9 months of mentor support from an industry professional (previous mentors include Danny Boyle, Barbara Broccoli, Sam Mendes, Clio Barnard). Deadline 5pm, Monday 31 March.
• Young independent filmmakers have until 14 March to enter the INDIs 2014 & win cash prizes of up to £250... @leedsyoungfilm.
• Director or producer aged 18-30? Apply for £4,000 short film funding from @IdeasTap. Producers: deadline 10 March. Directors: deadline 2 April.
• @whirlygigcinema is calling for local filmmakers' work for Spotlights, their monthly film night at Hackney Attic in London. Deadline 30 May.
• Aesthetica Short Film Festival 2014 @asffest is now calling for submissions of shorts of all genres. Deadline 31 May.
• Documentary-makers and producers: you've two weeks left to submit to MeetMarket - an opportunity to pitch your projects to over key industry decision makers taking place during @sheffdocfest 2014 - deadline 19 March.
  

Good reads

• Ever wondered about exactly what happens to your film after you submit it to @edfilmfest? Well, wonder no more!
• Our friend George Clark from @Tate writes about the rise of artists' film in this piece.
• After our recent, wildly popular New Audiences for Screen Heritage: Innovation Lab, check out the course Tumblr featuring the lovely Robin Baker (Head Curator, BFI Archive) discussing the future of archive film.
• "We took years to get there, and suddenly it was obvious." Under the Skin director Jonathan Glazer interviewed on the long genesis of his much awaited sci-fi thriller.
• How to tell stories about your country through cinema: see this list of programmes created by international students at Goldsmiths for inspiration (via @deptfordfilm).

Here in the office we're celebrating the success of our latest release, Kiss the Water. Hailed variously as 'a must-see for any angler', 'cinematic magic' and more esoterically 'like dreaming and eating dessert at the same time' by well known fisherman Jerry Seinfeld, it's still available to book on DCP, Blu-ray or DVD. Fishing is the biggest participation sport in the UK. Fact.

We're also taking bookings on BAFTA Shorts 2014, a feature-length programme of BAFTA-nominated shorts. Maxine Peake and Mackenzie Crook are among the actors featured in this superb programme, which comprises live action and animation, and represents an excellent way for you to a) support young British filmmaking talent and b) develop your audience for short films.

News & opportunities

• The UK box office is worth £1bn for the third year running, according to @BFI stats released this week.
• @Film_London has launched a funding scheme to boost community cinema. If you're a London-based exhibitor looking to start or grow a local film club or event, don't forget to apply - the deadline is 21 Feb.
• Creative Europe has opened its first calls for proposals - apply for funding for audience development, film literacy and film festival support.
• Our release, Carlos Reygadas' Post Tenebras Lux wins the Heterodox prize in the 2014 @cinemaeyehonors awards!
• Plans are hotting up for @Scalarama 2014 - keep an eye on their Twitter to stay informed.

Calls for submissions

• Film and video artists - responses to COBRA 1.3 are being sought. Submit a film or video work of art between 1-9 mins long by 7 Feb 2014 and your piece will be included in a resulting DVD of artists' moving image work.
• A really exciting opportunity - @Artangel has issued an open call for UK-based artists to submit "bold site-specific proposals that will transform the UK’s cultural landscape". Deadline 28 Feb.
• Filmmakers, a great brief: submit shorts responding to the Imperial War Museum's collections on war and conflict for their Short Film Festival (deadline 31 July).
• @SensoriaFest, the film, music and digital festival is also looking for submissions - in particular of fiction features or short films with an innovative soundtrack/score, music docs, music-related biopics and music videos. Deadline: 5pm 28 Feb.
• The submissions deadlines for @edfilmfest are fast approaching - regular deadline 4 Feb, latecomers 18 Feb. They're also looking for volunteers...
• Can you captivate an audience for 10 seconds? 9:88 Films' 10 second film challenge needs your shortest shorts.
• @SheffieldFringe is calling for artists' moving image submissions, deadline midnight Sun 16 Feb.
• Need film festival experience? @UKgreenfilms is looking for festival volunteers - see our jobs page.

Good things

• The Cinema Theatre Association's new website will bring joy to cinema-lovers everywhere - and has an important list of cinemas at risk. If you sign up for their emails they'll keep you updated on all things cinema, such as stories like this.
• Help @tynesidecinema build a new screen, video art gallery and cafe bar by donating to their fundraising page. 
• An inspiring resolution from @BirdsEyeViewFF - worth a read, especially given recent stats like these (via @Screendaily).
• Since its release, 12 Years A Slave has variously: stormed the UK box office, been garlanded with praise, won Best Picture at the Golden Globe and is nominated for the Oscars. Read more about the incredible life of Solomon Northup here (via @TelegraphFilm).
• And finally some handy tips for filmmakers trying to attract press attention... it's like dating, apparently.

Feeling Christmassy yet? Let Will Ferrell take you there (Elf photo credit: Entertainment Film Distributors).

News

• @BAFTA has launched Give Something Back, a campaign to help young people to enter the film, TV and games industries. Could you offer your time as a mentor, or a work placement in your organisation?
• @creativeengland is inviting applications for their £2m Film Enterprise fund, aimed at improving the growth and sustainability of film-related businesses outside London.
• 2014 is the centenary year of the First World War, and a programme of cultural activities across all artforms, including film, will launch early next year in commemoration.
• The annual REMIX London conference was held this week at Google HQ. Missed it? Check out @GdnCulturePro's round-up or @British_Film's Storify.
• Box office stats geeks: it's your lucky day. Cinemas are now required to report all alternative content figures - including theatre, opera, ballet, exhibitions, sports events, music concerts - to Rentrak, who will include it in their official UK box office chart (via @charlesgant).
• @FL_FLAMIN supported film artist Laure Provost wins the 2014 Turner Prize.
  

Training & opportunities

• @sheffdocfest and Crossover Labs in partnership with @SkillsetSSC have presented Devise to Deliver 3 – an 8-month, two stage UK-wide training scheme designed for filmmakers, digital media makers, digital producers and other film professionals. D2D3 provides practical training in producing interactive projects technically, creatively and financially, as well as a guide to innovative ways to fund, distribute and market your films through digital technology.
• Do you want to work for a film festival? @glasgowfilm festival needs volunteers. You could gain invaluable experience in Front of House, Communications and Coordinator roles. Deadline: 8 Jan.
• Filmmakers: ten days left to submit to the @BFI London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival!
• @PlymShortFilms is looking for entries for its May 2014 festival, deadline 20 April. There are awards a-plenty for category-winning entrants.
• International submissions of short films from secondary school / undergrad students on global women's issues are welcomed by @ConnectHer's Girls Impact the World Film Festival - deadline 31 Dec.
• Another one for the ladies, @Frauenfilmfest needs debut features from female directors - deadline 10 Jan.
• Short filmmakers & video artists, London's @JW3Cinema is looking for work for its Artists' Film Salon, their new film club. The theme for the first event - scheduled for 17th Feb - is Secrets & Surprises. Get cracking!
• Annual exhibition @theopenwest is looking for work from up to 40 artists - including those working in film - for submissions for its 2014 edition. Work will be exhibited and three £500 prizes awarded. Deadline: 10 Feb.
• @FACT_Liverpool is looking for shorts on the theme of 'Science Fiction: Myths of the Present Future'. "No efforts are too low budget or otherworldly", they say. Selected shorts will screen at the venue from March to June next year and the deadline is 17 Jan. Get to it!
• @HammertoNail is looking for shorts to be screened at US festivals and discussed by their "dedicated audience of online cinephiles". Deadline: midnight 1 Jan.
• CINEASTES EVERYWHERE: send your favourite films of 2013 to worldpoll@sensesofcinema.com for @SensesofCinema's annual World Poll, and feel important. Deadline 19 Dec.

Good reads

• Check out the 2013 Arts Index, produced by the National Campaign for the Arts (@artscampaign). A 'health check of the arts in the UK', it analyses audience statistics and the current funding landscape for arts orgs.
• Our client cinema, @BarnCinema's considerable charms - including their 16th century, Grade I listed converted barn building - are profiled in the latest Cine-Files blog from @guardianfilm, making it the fifth of our venues to be featured (Showroom, Broadway, Stoke Film Theatre, MAC and Saffron Screen have also been written up). About time!
• Why is the film industry so darn negative?! Isn't it time filmmakers started to support and champion each other? Via @TedHope.
• A thoughtful piece from Matthew Taylor of the @theRSAorg, on how arts organisations should re-think their offer to local communities to ensure success when applying for regional funding.
• "More women worked at all levels inside and outside the Hollywood film industry in the first two decades than at any time since". While we're still struggling to get enough women into the UK film industry, read about Hollywood's early female film pioneers on Columbia University's Women Film Pioneers Project.
• And an endearing filmed Christmas card from the East Anglian Film Archive. Happy Christmas!

The Bechdel Test rating (now in use in Sweden) explained.

News

• The @EuropaCinemas Annual Conference took place this weekend - if you didn't make it to sunny Athens to discuss the issues of the day, check out the event's Storify and this piece on the discussion on young audience development.
• It's not exactly news, but it's newsworthy! Mark Kermode praises our friends @Saffronscreen in his new book, Hatchet Job.
• John Smith recently won the 2013 Jarman Award. See this list of his work available to book from @LUXmovingimage and gain insight into his work here.

Calls for submission/training opportunities

• @sheffdocfest has launched Fast Track to Features 2. A seven month programme of workshops, mentoring and networking for regional documentary filmmaking talent, it also offers participants a delegate pass for Doc/Fest and an opportunity to pitch at the event. Not bad.
• And @BirdsEyeViewFF has launched FILMONOMICS, a skills-based training programme for filmmakers who want to gain industry insight and effectively position and market their films. Sponsored by @SkillsetSSC.
• Our friends @flatpack are calling for submissions for their 2014 festival - deadline er this Friday 29 Nov (eek!).
• I've been to Tampere, and it was a delight. Submit your short film to @TampereFilmFest and you too might have an excuse to visit the Moomin Museum. 
• The @UKJewishFilm Fund needs submissions for its Pears Short Film Fund.  The scheme will see two lucky winners awarded £10k each to produce a short film on a theme significant to both Jewish and general audiences.
• @screenyorkshire is looking for UK-wide writers, directors and producers for the 4th edition of its talent development programme, Triangle 2014.
• @BristolFilmFest 2014 will run from 3 to 9 March next year and will include a dedicated short film strand. Are you a maker of films radical in topic, content or form? Submit away or if it's festival experience you need, they're also looking for volunteers.
• One for artist filmmakers, @artexpogroup is calling for artists' films for a screening at Nottingham Playhouse in Jan 2014 entitled BORDERLAND - The entropy of identities. Think you can interpret this visually? Submit by 7 Dec.
• @IdeasTap are offering free filmmaking advice sessions for ages 18 to 30 with directors @wearehalcyon in December. They'll feed back to you on shorts, music videos, art films, docs - you name it. Apply by 2 Dec.
• Filmmaking students! @Screentestfest is seeking submissions for its 2014 edition so get yours in, by 31 Dec.
• @KINOFILM Manchester Short Film Festival has extended its applications deadline to 31 Dec and @norwichfilmfest is now open for submissions for its 2014 edition.
• And, are you a poetic soul? Make a short film based on a poem and submit it to Berlin's @ZebraFestival.

Good reads

• A touching tribute to the late Ian White by his friend and collaborator Emily Roysdon.
• Show your support - the Rivoli Cinema on the Isle of Wight needs your help and so does @CUBECINEMA in Bristol with The Film That Buys The Cinema (also a fab example of innovative fundraising).
• While you're in supportive mode, check out @ArrowFilms' Kickstarter campaign to restore Walerian Borowczyk's masterpiece, Goto, l'île d'amour.
• A lovely piece by Jackie Brett-Holt, one of @BFI's projectionists, evoking the practical magic (yes) of projecting 35mm.
• Sweden introduces a rating based on the Bechdel test to address gender bias in cinema in a provocative and semi-brilliant move that's energised the discussion of women on film.
• @Screendaily explains the complicated launch plans for Von Trier's latest controversy-fest, Nymphomaniac, in perhaps slightly too much detail.
• Slightly surreal reading, this: a transcript of a discussion of government policy on indie cinemas in the House of Lords.
• And finally: good to see @guardianfilm asking the important questions.