Canadian documentary-makers have new venues for perfecting their craft, with new funding and commissioning announcements from Hot Docs festival organizers and TVO public broadcasters.
Hot Docs will launch Doc Ignite this month, its new online crowd-funding service designed to help Canadian documentary filmmakers raise financing and build audiences.
Meanwhile, public broadcaster TVO is calling upon Ontario documentary filmmakers to exhibit their creative skills with the introduction of its inaugural Doc Studio Contest.
The winning film will air on TVO in the spring of 2012 and its filmmaker will receive a mentoring session as well as an industry pass to the 2012 International Hot Docs Festival, which is a supporting partner to the TVO initiative.
Doc Ignite projects will be selected and supported by Hot Docs industry experts, with only one project's campaign being run and promoted at a time. The first six projects featured on Doc Ignite will receive an additional boost: Toronto's Open Roof Films, presenters of the popular summer outdoor film and music series Open Roof Festival, has generously ignited each campaign with a $1000 advance pledge.
On Doc Ignite, like a social media network for doc makers, media creators can keep followers up to date on their campaigns and film projects through blog and video posts and social media channels. Campaigns will be jointly promoted by the filmmakers to their online communities and by Hot Docs to its considerable public and industry followings.
"Filmmakers have greater direct access to their audiences, and crowd-funding is one tool of many to engage with their public, raise funds, and 'ignite' their film." says Elizabeth Radshaw, Hot Docs Forum and Market Director. "We're excited to cultivate a culture of crowd-funding in Canada with Doc Ignite, as well as through our curated page on the wildly popular Kickstarter."
Filmmakers selected for Doc Ignite will set crowd-funding targets around specific production or post-production needs for their film projects, and run campaigns to reach their goals. In return for their financial support, those who pledge will receive a variety of benefits from the filmmakers, as well as incentives from Hot Docs, depending on the level of their support.
TVO's challenge is to create a five minute film.
Inspired by filmmaker-in-residence Alan Zweig (Vinyl, I Curmudgeon, Lovable, A Hard Name), TVO's Doc Studio Contest dares participants to reveal "Life in 5" - a memorable moment, a shift in perception, a secret no one else could uncover - through an interview-based, five-minute film.
"Asking filmmakers to submit a documentary under five minutes in length forces them to hone in on the true essence of a story," describes TVO's supervising producer, Jane Jankovic. "The Doc Studio Contest is all about capturing what moves us and illuminates our lives and our world. There are thousands of untold stories out there. I can't wait to see what we get."
"Hot Docs is delighted to support TVO's Doc Studio Contest," adds Hot Docs' executive director, Chris McDonald. "Years before the Hot Docs Festival or the new Bloor-Hot Docs Cinema, TVO was one of the only places to see creative documentaries in this province. TVO has helped to nurture the public appetite for these docs, and we are very glad they did!"
Universities and colleges across Ontario are teaming up with TVO to show their support. Brock University, Humber College, Ryerson University, the University of Toronto, the University of Western Ontario, the University of Ottawa, and many more are joining in to help foster talent from new filmmakers.
A panel of judges, including Zweig, will evaluate eligible entries and select the top five films. TVO will showcase the five finalists on docstudio.tvo.org from March 5 to 11, 2012 and TVO's online audience will vote on the winner. The Grand Prize winner will be announced on March 12, 2012.
The TVO contest closes Monday, February 27, 2012.
TVO commissions between 8-10 new point-of-view documentary films every year, more than any other Canadian broadcaster, focusing on point-of-view films that resonate with Canadians and spark interesting discussions and debate.
TVO created docstudio.tvo.org to provide a platform for Canadian documentary filmmaking talent, in-development projects, exclusive filmmaker interviews and online mentoring.
Hot Docs' Doc Ignite is the latest effort in the organization's ongoing mission to assist documentary filmmakers in getting their films made and seen. In addition to the Hot Docs Forum, Hot Docs' renowned international co-financing pitch event, The Doc Shop online market, and a wealth of other market events and services offered each year during the Festival, Hot Docs also administers several production funds. The Shaw Media-Hot Docs Documentary Funds have provided more than $1.8 million in grants and no-interest loans to 73 Canadian projects over the past four years.
The newly launched Hot Docs-Blue Ice Group Documentary Fund, a $1-million development and production fund for African filmmakers, will announce the recipients for the first round of disbursements in February 2012.
Doc Ignite was made possible by the support of the Ontario Media Development Corporation, Telefilm Canada, the City of Toronto, and the Toronto Community Foundation.
For more Mediacaster Magazine coverage related to this topic, please see:
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