TFC February 2018 Newsletter

Sundance 2018 afforded us the opportunity to take a long overdue TFC TEAM pic! It was great to see so many of you at the festival…

…as well as at the party we co-sponsored with IDA and ro*co films!

TFC Blog

In case you missed Sheri Candler’s excellent blog on how you should be thinking about social media in 2018, or even if you read it in December, you may want to give it another look: it has been further updated to include the recent massive changes to the Facebook algorithm.

Also, Orly Ravid was on a Westdoc panel alongside some powerhouse guests in indie film producing and distribution to discuss distribution choices. You can watch the entire panel discussion and read a few important takeaways from the session!

TFC On Location

TFC is at Berlinale 2018!

Jeffrey Winter will be on the LGBT jury at Guadalajara International Film Festival, March 9-16, 2018.

Orly Ravid will be a Distribution Mentor at SXSW 2018, March 13, 2018, from 2-3:15pm (requires signup and badge level access).

Fiscal Sponsorship

A big shout out to our fiscally-sponsored films that got into Berlinale! Short film Cena d’aragoste (Lobster Dinner) and feature film Patrimonio.

BET Project CRE8

BET and Paramount Players are giving aspiring, undiscovered filmmakers the opportunity to produce an original film with the launch of a nationwide competition entitled, “Project CRE8.”

The winning screenplay will be purchased for $55,000 and BET will work with the winner and Paramount Players to produce a feature film with a one million dollar budget.

Deadline is March 3, 2018. For script guidelines and details, go to BET.COM/CRE8.

Tidbits

• Cultural Weekly released their annual study of the independent film sector on the eve of this year's Sundance. Several notable stats this year regarding film marketing, theatrical distribution and illegal downloads. “Of the Sundance films from the Class of 2017, only three got wide theatrical releases (more than 600 screens) and only nine grossed more than $1 million.” Read the study here.
• News on MoviePass, the low-cost theatrical subscription service: the company is moving into distributing movies. During Sundance, they announced a joint agreement with The Orchard to release Sundance title American Animals.
• U.K. film producer and data researcher, Stephen Follows, released a 4-part study that takes a deep dive into the biggest trends and changes we’ve seen in the film industry recently. Read all 4 parts, now published.