February 6, 2025 • 30 mins
Community DC Host Dennis Glasgow visits with the DC Independent Film Festival Executive Director Deirdre Evans-Pritchard to talk about the upcoming Film Festival, how to attend, tickets, seminars, workshops and much more for any fan of independent film.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Good morning, and welcome to another edition of Community d C.
I'm your host Ennis Glasgow. This morning we get a
chance to talk about movies, specifically the DC Independent Film
Festival is coming up this week with some of the
up and comers in the film industry. Joining us. From
the DCIFF will be executive director Deirdre Evans Pritchard, and
we'll go over everything that is DCIFF, where you can
(00:23):
buy tickets and also tend seminars and workshops. If you're
a movie fan, the next thirty minutes is for you.
Here's my conversation with Deirdre. I hope you enjoy it
as much as I did. Good morning, dear Dree.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Good morning, how nice to talk to you.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Well you two, and I'm so excited to talk about
the DCIFF. Of course, the DC Independence Film Festival coming up,
and it's so fortuitous that we're talking to you on
this Sunday morning because everything's coming up this week and
it's the first chance that I've had to talk to
you and about the film festival. Now, I know everything
started in nineteen ninety nine, but if you could just
give our listeners a brief history about why it started,
(00:58):
when it started and and we can get into what's
coming up this week.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Yeah, absolutely delighted. So we're thrill out of being DC. Still,
that we've been here for so long is very important
to us and we hope to our community. We started
in nineteen ninety nine at a time when most film
festivals were flashy. They were basically aimed at making cities,
(01:27):
I think noticed, and they were very tied into the industry,
the main industry of film. And so the independent in
our title is because we focused on people who were
making independent films outside of the main studio world, and
that was the reason for us coming into existence. And
(01:48):
also because at the time, especially DC filmmakers, of which
there were not as many as there are now, were
not really very well represented, and so we felt that
it was necessary. That's been core to one of the
things we do, which is to make sure that we
are supporting both the creating and the exhibition of film
(02:08):
here in the DMV.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
So we're going to talk a lot about how you
can be a part of this if you're a film
fan or you want to get in the industry. So
there are programs, schedules, how to buy tickets and passes,
and seminars and all sorts of different things. February twelfth
through the seventeenth. Where's everything going to be located? Are
you at different areas for this whole film festival?
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Good question. Our hub is the Regal In Gallery place
in Chinatown, in the middle of Washington, d C. Easily
accessible by Metro, I might point out, and we do
that as a point of principle because we want everybody
from around the city to be able to reach us equally.
And we do also screen however, Opening night screening is
(02:51):
at the Miracle Theater, which is on Capitol Hill, a
fabulous old theater if nobody's ever been there, Victorian and preserved.
And we also screen at another preserved theater called the
Avalon Theater, which is up in Chevy Chase on Thursday night.
So that way we're covering three areas. But for the
long weekend we are based in Chinatown, all right.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
And let's do this. So let's give the website now,
and I promise everybody who's already hasn't googled it, we'll
give it to you again at the end of our interview.
But if people just want to start checking out what
we're talking about, der Dree what's the website for everybody.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
That's d ciff dash, indy nde dot org outstanding.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
So I'd like you to give, maybe just from your standpoint,
because you're in such a prominent position as executive director
and the programmer, about the state of the industry when
it comes to the DMV. And I think anybody who
watches television streams or shows goes to the movies. DC
over the years has been great for so many different
kinds of shows of there. And I know, like every
(03:57):
other industry, there's ebbs, and there's flows where the industry
is doing really well and then they go away for
a little bit. And of course tax breaks are always
involved when it comes to Hollywood or anybody wants to
do a production. But when it comes to the industry overall,
how are we doing in the DMV?
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Very good question. So I like to sort of give
an anecdote that when I started taking over the festival,
which is fifteen years ago now, in the first year,
there was a lady who'd made a feature film who
had mortgaged her house wow to make it, And I'm going, oh,
(04:34):
I'm not sure you should do that, And she had
put all his heart into it, and that is symptomatic
of the energy of independent filmmakers. They put it. It
is frequently a passion piece, even if it has a
commercial life, it is a big commitment to make a film.
(04:55):
So nowadays there is much more opportunity. There's also more
support making films here, and the net result is that
DC has moved from what was a ninety percent sort
of let's make documentaries city. Obviously documentaries. There's lots of
nonprofits here with issues to deal with and lots of media.
(05:20):
But now we're receiving many films that are feature films.
We are showing one called The Other U, which is
actually at the Avalon on Thursday, which is an entirely
DC area production, cast, director, producer, everybody. And so we're
moving into a space in which DC surprisingly is becoming
a place where fiction films are being made as well
(05:44):
as animation and documentaries, and so I see it growing.
But the challenges are there. It's very expensive to make
these films. I think we imagine because we see people
on TikTok that it's going to it's all easy. Now,
you know, you do thirty second staff and it's all easy.
But it's a very different thing when you're producing something
(06:05):
that is professional enough to go up on screen.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
Yeah, you make a good point in for anybody who
gets on TikTok or follows different directors out there. Steven
Soderberg actually filmed the whole movie on an iPhone, and
I'm not joking about that. He actually did that. But
believe me, there's hundreds of people involved, so it is difficult.
And I think that goes to a good question about
funding when it comes to the film festival. And we'll
talk about this for our listener who either want to
(06:29):
attend or want to be a part of it, Maybe
help you out. How are you funded right now?
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Well, we're delighted to get some support from the city,
which is very good. Washington, d C has an extremely
strong support system through the city. It is the mayor's
intention that DC be considered a creative city. She calls
it too or two creates, and she has been putting
a lot of time, energy, and dollars behind that belief.
(07:00):
So we are very grateful for that. We have some
sponsorship from companies that work with us around DC. We
also have a slightly equity approach, by which I mean
that we do sell tickets and our aim is as
a nonprofit, we don't have to make a profit, so
(07:21):
we need to break even and we aim for that
to happen. So we work diligently to make sure that
films are reaching communities, that people have a chance to
come and see it, and that we like to feel
that when you come and see it because all the
filmmakers are attending, you get the extra experience because the
(07:42):
filmmakers there, and you are also actually supporting them in
the journey of their film.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
So before we get to the seminars and the workshops
and all the other things that you offer and actually attending.
As a film director or somebody that's putting a film together,
what's the criteria for them to submit a film to
this actual film festival?
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Good, I'm glad you asked that question. So we receive
a couple of thousand films a year, and that's a lot.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
That's a lot.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
It is a lot, just evidence of how many people
need places like ours right to have their films shown,
and it makes it just want to make it clear,
it makes quite a big difference when you're selected. It
does help the life of your film quite a lot.
So the criteria that we have is you cannot have
shown it in Washington, DC before. The logic behind that
(08:34):
is very straightforward. How can we build audience, try and
get you press and help your film have a life
and go further if we've if you've already been through
the process once, it has to be within a year
of production. And that is really because again we're a
country here in the United States. That's very he's great
(08:56):
attention to the new and we also cannot get attention
from press for your work unless we unless things are
fairly new. We have to be up aware of these things.
And then we do have a special attention to filmmakers
from the DC area. We do have a special award
(09:19):
that's given to DC filmmakers for the best of DC.
And so you submit through film Freeway, which is the
main platform for all film festivals in the world. And
I think if you've made a film and you want
to get it out, then you go onto film Freeway.
You'll be actually a bit shocked about how many film
festivals there are in the world right. Some are free,
(09:41):
some you have to pay a little bit. So if
you're going to do it, I advise you to write
down your list and think carefully about where you're applying
and make the most of your dollars.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
That's good advice. So if you could do maybe just
a favor to all of us and just give us
a little tease. And I know that you don't want
to single anybody out, but when it comes to maybe
the types of films or something that you're hearing buzz
about that you're excited to either see or you would
like our listeners to come see. When it comes to
some of these documentaries or other films, what are you
hearing right now that people could get really excited about.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
So we do. We do hit Valentine's Day, and we
did schedule a few films with that in mind. We
have what I think is a very interesting film called
Bittersweet by Steve Martini. He's actually not a local person,
he's from la and it's a kind of rom com
type film. It's one of the films that actually sort
(10:38):
of has a known, well known actor in William Baldwin
is in the film, and it's a I'm not quite
surey to describe it, but it's a happy ending film that, however,
at the same time takes on the issue of what
happens when somebody missed reads what a parent is doing
(11:01):
with a child and separate and tries to separate the
family for the sake of the child. So there's a
lot of discussion about that. So I think it's very
timely while being sweet and funny.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
I love it. I love that, you know, as you
mentioned William Balden's my name. The one thing I've noticed
as just a movie viewer, who will go see an
independent film, something small that doesn't have a lot of
money behind it. I love how actors will get behind
a budding project that doesn't have any money, does have
any hope and heck of being shown anywhere, yet they
(11:34):
want to be involved. And that's always something nice about
your industry is there seems to be a lot of
paying it forward by the actors all the time that
do it for scale, or will do it for whatever
they can so that person that they believe in will
get an opportunity. I really do love that about the industry,
and I imagine you do two.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
I think it's it's surprising how many people will do it.
I'm sure they get some compensation, but compared to what
they normally get, it's not very much. It does help
their film the films sometimes, I mean, Bittersweden is almost
certainly going to end up, you know, somewhere it'll take.
It will take much longer than maybe some other films
(12:12):
to get distribution, but I'm convinced it will and so
so I think it does make a difference. And I
think people do feel they want to take part in
these pro projects, and partly it's because they get an
opportunity to work with people who don't have the same
constraints as mean as the central industry. They can make
(12:34):
what they want as they want as long as the
people who've backed them, whether those be hundreds of people
who did it through crowdsharing or whether it be actual
investors who've put their money into it. They have a
lot more freedom because there's no studio making decision. And
so I think they quiet like that, and you will
see people taking these these big risks, and indeed in
(12:56):
the oscars every year some of these films.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
Come up, all right, So I wanted to ask you
about the intent from some of these directors of people
that submit films. Obviously, you know with YouTube and all
these other digital platforms that people have a lot more
opportunities to stay to put their projects out there. But
it still seems to me that when you get a
part of a film festival, specifically yours with DCIFF, is
(13:20):
that if it gets shown and then there's a little buzz,
what happens at that point, If people are starting to
enjoy the movie there's a little buzz out there, what's
the hope from the director of the person that is
financed and put the film together about next steps for
them if they're are getting some good buzz about.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
Something that's interesting. So, you know, I think so a
lot of film festivals are created on the basis, I
would say of on the basis of it being a
kind of distribution opportunity for filmmakers. So big film festivals
like Toronto, south By, Southwest, Tribeca more in the past
(14:00):
than today, and some Dance these are places where traditionally
filmmakers got to meet distributors and much excitement that a
film might get picked up. Needless to say, it can
all be done online. So in our festival have we
call ourselves a forum now and we don't claim to
(14:23):
be able to forward it in that way, although we
do know that when press, when there's press about a
particular film or if something does very well, we do
know what impacts it. So along those lines, I think
it would be true to say that our aim by
calling it a forum is to allow our filmmakers to
really meet and talk to people in the audience. So
(14:45):
we allow a lot of time for discussion afterwards. We
allow the audiences to ask many, many questions so that
people can really know about the film. And that's what
makes film festivals that are filmmaker based very very interesting
because you become part of the you know what I mean,
(15:05):
the discussion and community, and you go meet a filmmaker
at the bar afterwards. That's that's the idea for the
for the people going on. I mean, I think, I
think it depends. So I'd like to give an example
of a film that we showed a few years ago.
It was called American Ish by a lady called Imman Zahari.
(15:28):
Sorry z A W A h R. Y apologies, I
blew your name. She's from Northern Virginia. She works down
in Florida in as a professor, and her film American Ish,
which is a sort of Pakistani Indian version of Eddie
(15:50):
Murphy's Coming to America, entirely independent, fabulous, film. The last
time I was flying across the year from Europe to
to that here to d C, it was showing on
the plane. So a film travels around festivals, It gets attention,
it gets Laurels, distributor looks at that, it looks at
(16:12):
the level and the kind of festival that it went into,
and it builds influence. American Wish one and awarded at
our festival. It's wonderful and then it has a life.
Speaker 1 (16:24):
Yeah, it's a wonderful story. I was curious about length
of some of these depending on what type of film
it is. When somebody is prepared to see some of
these films, imagine they are different lengths. I don't know
if that comes into the criteria about how short or
how long they have to be, But how long are
some of these films that you're showing.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
We have gone up to two hours. Our opening night film,
God is an Astronaut, is a two hours long that's
on Capitol Hill, and we're thrilled to show that. That's
the second film by this filmmaker that we are showing.
Especially thrill because God Is an Astronaut is based on
a novel by Alison Foster, who will be signing the books.
(17:00):
Who is a DMV author.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
Oh that's huge.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
Yeah, that's really great. And she's she was picked out
by Oprah Winfrey her book, so we feel that's a
perfect combination for her. I love that and that film
is that the film is two hours long. You may
have noticed that the industry has begin likes really long films.
I'm not quite sure why, but you know, your average
(17:23):
film is now moving between two and three hours. I
don't quite know why they're doing that, but generally speaking,
films about an hour and a half.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
Okay, you know that's funny you say that because it's
such an acquired taste, because anytime I hear if Scorsese
is making a film or somebody else, I'll give you
an example, like when The Irishman came out on Netflix.
It's over three hours long, but it's it's it's you know,
whether it's Coppola or Scorsese or any of those guys,
and it star studied, You're probably gonna watch it, even
though that's really really long. And there's some Marvel movies,
(17:55):
and in fact, the one that's coming out with The
Captain America, which is just under two hours, which is
one of the shortest Marvel movies of all time. So
I think it's always an acquired taste about how long
a film is. But I thought i'd ask that just
to see what people were up against when they came
to see some of the films. Listen, if you enjoy it,
it really doesn't matter how long it is, folks, And
I think that's the point. I did want to ask
(18:16):
you about seminars and workshops, and I know that you're
not reinventing the wheel here, but I'm glad you offer
these things because there's a lot of people that are
either in the industry, want to be in the industry
and want to meet people like minded, and you're doing
that with the workshops and the seminars. Can you go
into detail about what you're offering.
Speaker 2 (18:35):
Yeah, yeah, we have a sort of wide range, and
so we have one that's actually about archiving, and this
is designed for anybody. We realize that if you're a filmmaker,
you need to use archives, especially documentary filmmakers, and there's
huge barriers and difficulties and what's going on and what
(18:56):
are you allowed to use, how much does it cost?
And then there's also people who've ended up with film,
whether they're filmmakers or indeed maybe their grandpa father had stuff,
and what do we do with it? Or do we
give it to do we donate it to an archive?
Do they want it? So this is a free event
that's happening on Friday the fourteenth in the afternoon at
(19:19):
MLK Library, and we've got four experts coming in who
can just really address these issues. And this has opened
up for anybody. We feel it's a value to anybody
who might be going, what do I do with all
this stuff? You know, even if you had photos, because
I think it's a very difficult issue and there is
(19:39):
so much being generated. Just imagine so much being generated
now and it's all digital. I mean, are we keeping it?
Are we trashing it? Those are the difficult questions. So
we think that's an interesting one. Then our main seminars
are on Saturday, the fifteenth of February and Sunday the sixteenth.
On Saturday, we are delighted to have Washington Area lawyer
(20:02):
for the Arts who are very active in our community,
who are sort of pro bono lawyers who give time
to give advice on contracts and the like. These are
in the afternoon. We have a little animator meetup, Got
any animators listening? Just an hour where you can come
and have a cup of coffee and talk about animation.
(20:24):
At DCFF, we teach animation to high schoolers around the year,
and we have Yeah, and we have three animation programs
at the festival this year. We're very, very keen to
promote animators who work incredibly hard to produce beautiful work
and sometimes don't have a venue for it to be shown.
So Yeah, if you like animation, please come and see
one of those programs. Then, because of this sort of
(20:48):
we see this interesting focus of the going from page
or stage to screen seems to be happening a lot now,
people using stories, and so we have a couple of
three screenwriters telling you a little bit about how you
might cope with it if you have a short story
you wrote, or if indeed you bravely acquired the rights
(21:11):
to a short story, they're going to come. And then
I think Sunday is probably the really interesting time for
people who want to make a film. We have a
very popular program called Working with Investors, a film financing seminar,
which has two people, one people who one person who's
(21:33):
a producer and is indeed actually the founder of the
festival who's gone off to become a producer. We have
an investor and we have somebody who works with investors,
so we know that's really important. Getting investment in your
film is a huge, an important step. Then we have
a session on writing grants, understanding grants, understanding how to
(21:59):
pull it together, what you know, what you need to do,
how you need to think about it, because it's not
always obvious. It's really good to have a good approach.
And we have a session after that with distributors also
how to distribute your film, so we try to choose
topics that we know filmmakers care about. And then for
(22:22):
the general public again at the end of Sunday, followed
by drinks at the bar, we have a conversation with
author and screwrider TERRELLD. Tannin, who's worked for years in Hollywood,
and he's going to read from his memoir about the
things you should and shouldn't do in Hollywood and how
it's exciting and glamorous but hm, not necessarily.
Speaker 1 (22:46):
Yeah, I think we've all been there, and I'm so
glad you're doing that. You know what's so nice about
hearing about all these things Deardrie, is that you're giving
people access to people that are making it in the
business and working their tails off there. And besides just
acknowledgment that we need as human beings having access to
somebody that's saying, boy, I can attain to that, but
(23:07):
I don't know how to do it. And here these
people are going to be talking about that and you
can ask them a question and they can look you
in the eye. And I love that for all but
the budding filmmakers or people that want to get into
the business, that it's kind of boots on the ground
that you're offering everybody and saying, hey, I'm here to
talk about my experiences. Doesn't mean that I've made in
the business. I'm grinding it out. But if you want
(23:28):
to get into it, here you go. And I imagine
the feedback you get from people that are either in
the business or want to be in the business. It's
probably just fantastic that all this access is being provided
by you. I really love that you're doing that.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
Yeah, pick a good conversations startup, and I emphasize, you know,
you don't have to be planning to make a film
this week. You don't have to be an expert to
come and attend these things. If you're interested in the
process and how it works, come and intend it. I mean,
filmmakers are an inclusive group. They don't think they know
more than other people, and so it's this isn't a conference.
(24:06):
I think this is an open opportunity here.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
So I want to ask you just about advice for people,
not only just there's gonna be a lot of people
that are going to come to this week and on
the weekend to enjoy everything, but for people that they're
either starting in the business want to get in the business.
I know that everybody's journey is very specific to them
and to you as well too, But if you were
just to give some general advice for somebody that would
(24:31):
like to get started in the industry or is in
the industry and maybe finding some doors or closed right now,
what kind of advice would you give them?
Speaker 2 (24:40):
That's that's interesting. So last weekend we held Ycam High
School Film Festival, which is a two day event which
has been going on for ten years and is growing
bigger and bigger, I'm pleased to say, and we actually
did have somebody an actor JB. Blank zoom in to
talk to the young the young folk and give them
some ideas, and you know, sharing with him, I would say,
(25:05):
you know, the things that I would agree with what
he was putting out was it is really important that
you understand that filmmaking is a team activity. It is
not really possible, except for if you're an animator, it's
not really possible to make a film alone. And diving
(25:28):
into that and building people, a building group of people
who work with you is I think really important. It's
one of the reasons I think people go to film school.
They build cohorts of people who work with them. It's
also why we teach high schoolers in the summer. We
have some intensive programs. It's on our website if anybody's interested,
(25:49):
because they end up meeting others working together and oh
they want to make a film. Suddenly they've got somebody
to call up who's going to hold the camera, And
that I think is essential. I'm afraid it does require
persistence as as there will be no's. You know, we
(26:12):
after all reject many people each year from our film
festival and they are not thrilled, of course, and we
understand that. You know, you've got to just keep trying
and find connections. But I do think it's also important
(26:35):
to have a really clear vision of what you're doing,
and you have to kind of do two sides of
the coin at the same time. Stick to your vision
and at the same time or the other side of coin,
jump in and help anybody all the time. Yeah, you
know what I mean. That's because at some point they'll
(26:55):
call you back and say, you know, actually, this is
happening and we cannot predict who's going to succeed in
this industry, right, it just happens.
Speaker 1 (27:08):
Yeah, so I'm going to interpret everybody so laser focus,
grind it out, be inclusive, and this is a team
thing and that goes with a lot of different jobs,
including the industry that I'm in. I think, Deirdre, that
is a great advice. I thank you for that. We
only have about a minute and a half left, So
let's tell everybody how to get tickets. Let's give the
website again. Let's give the dates and the times just
(27:31):
so everybody knows and then they can go to the
website and check out more. But let's kind of recap everything.
Speaker 2 (27:35):
The floor is yours, super So. The film Festival runs
from the twelfth of February through the sixteenth, late at night.
We welcome everybody, and the tickets are available at two places.
You can get them through event right, or you can
go to our website dci ff dash in d N,
(27:56):
d I E dot org. You can just type into
Google dc iff and you'll find us. The tickets are
basically I think they're all around thirteen dollars, maybe a
little bit less depending on time of day. We keep
a few tickets at the door in case you walk in.
We do not force you to make decisions in advance,
(28:19):
and we hope that you have a good time. We've
chosen many films designed to uplift we feel that we
feel that this time around, a lot of the fiction
films are funny and light while being well made, and
all our documentaries are dealing with important issues that need
to be discussed with a great group of people coming
(28:41):
to discuss it. So whether you want to go serious
or light, I assure you there's something there. And hey,
we're a largely volunteer bunch and we welcome you all standing.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
Let's get that website one more time.
Speaker 2 (28:56):
Dciff dash in DND not altogether, So dciff dash I
Ndie dot Org.
Speaker 1 (29:08):
Outstanding, Deirdre. I can't tell you how much I appreciate
your valuable time because I know this is coming up
this week and how busy you and your team are,
but it's just fantastic that you're giving a voice to
all these people for whatever kind of film they want
to make in the DMV, and I just think it's wonderful,
And with my daughter being in the industry, knowing how
hard she works, just graduating last year and grinding it
out in Brooklyn, New York, where it's one of the
(29:30):
hubs of the industry. It's a hard industry, but it
can pay off if you really grind it out. You
have focus about what you want to do. And I
just love the medium. I've always been a fan of
always wanted to do it, so I'm kind of one
of those people that enjoys films and TV shows from afar,
but I know how hard the industry is. Listen, thanks
for everything, continue success and enjoy the great effort that
(29:51):
you're about to put on this week with you and
your team. We really appreciate your time on Community DC.
Speaker 2 (29:56):
Absolutely fab It's so great to talk to you and
to all the folks out there in the DMP
Good morning, and welcome to another edition of Community d C.
I'm your host Ennis Glasgow. This morning we get a
chance to talk about movies, specifically the DC Independent Film
Festival is coming up this week with some of the
up and comers in the film industry. Joining us. From
the DCIFF will be executive director Deirdre Evans Pritchard, and
we'll go over everything that is DCIFF, where you can
(00:23):
buy tickets and also tend seminars and workshops. If you're
a movie fan, the next thirty minutes is for you.
Here's my conversation with Deirdre. I hope you enjoy it
as much as I did. Good morning, dear Dree.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Good morning, how nice to talk to you.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Well you two, and I'm so excited to talk about
the DCIFF. Of course, the DC Independence Film Festival coming up,
and it's so fortuitous that we're talking to you on
this Sunday morning because everything's coming up this week and
it's the first chance that I've had to talk to
you and about the film festival. Now, I know everything
started in nineteen ninety nine, but if you could just
give our listeners a brief history about why it started,
(00:58):
when it started and and we can get into what's
coming up this week.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Yeah, absolutely delighted. So we're thrill out of being DC. Still,
that we've been here for so long is very important
to us and we hope to our community. We started
in nineteen ninety nine at a time when most film
festivals were flashy. They were basically aimed at making cities,
(01:27):
I think noticed, and they were very tied into the industry,
the main industry of film. And so the independent in
our title is because we focused on people who were
making independent films outside of the main studio world, and
that was the reason for us coming into existence. And
(01:48):
also because at the time, especially DC filmmakers, of which
there were not as many as there are now, were
not really very well represented, and so we felt that
it was necessary. That's been core to one of the
things we do, which is to make sure that we
are supporting both the creating and the exhibition of film
(02:08):
here in the DMV.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
So we're going to talk a lot about how you
can be a part of this if you're a film
fan or you want to get in the industry. So
there are programs, schedules, how to buy tickets and passes,
and seminars and all sorts of different things. February twelfth
through the seventeenth. Where's everything going to be located? Are
you at different areas for this whole film festival?
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Good question. Our hub is the Regal In Gallery place
in Chinatown, in the middle of Washington, d C. Easily
accessible by Metro, I might point out, and we do
that as a point of principle because we want everybody
from around the city to be able to reach us equally.
And we do also screen however, Opening night screening is
(02:51):
at the Miracle Theater, which is on Capitol Hill, a
fabulous old theater if nobody's ever been there, Victorian and preserved.
And we also screen at another preserved theater called the
Avalon Theater, which is up in Chevy Chase on Thursday night.
So that way we're covering three areas. But for the
long weekend we are based in Chinatown, all right.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
And let's do this. So let's give the website now,
and I promise everybody who's already hasn't googled it, we'll
give it to you again at the end of our interview.
But if people just want to start checking out what
we're talking about, der Dree what's the website for everybody.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
That's d ciff dash, indy nde dot org outstanding.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
So I'd like you to give, maybe just from your standpoint,
because you're in such a prominent position as executive director
and the programmer, about the state of the industry when
it comes to the DMV. And I think anybody who
watches television streams or shows goes to the movies. DC
over the years has been great for so many different
kinds of shows of there. And I know, like every
(03:57):
other industry, there's ebbs, and there's flows where the industry
is doing really well and then they go away for
a little bit. And of course tax breaks are always
involved when it comes to Hollywood or anybody wants to
do a production. But when it comes to the industry overall,
how are we doing in the DMV?
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Very good question. So I like to sort of give
an anecdote that when I started taking over the festival,
which is fifteen years ago now, in the first year,
there was a lady who'd made a feature film who
had mortgaged her house wow to make it, And I'm going, oh,
(04:34):
I'm not sure you should do that, And she had
put all his heart into it, and that is symptomatic
of the energy of independent filmmakers. They put it. It
is frequently a passion piece, even if it has a
commercial life, it is a big commitment to make a film.
(04:55):
So nowadays there is much more opportunity. There's also more
support making films here, and the net result is that
DC has moved from what was a ninety percent sort
of let's make documentaries city. Obviously documentaries. There's lots of
nonprofits here with issues to deal with and lots of media.
(05:20):
But now we're receiving many films that are feature films.
We are showing one called The Other U, which is
actually at the Avalon on Thursday, which is an entirely
DC area production, cast, director, producer, everybody. And so we're
moving into a space in which DC surprisingly is becoming
a place where fiction films are being made as well
(05:44):
as animation and documentaries, and so I see it growing.
But the challenges are there. It's very expensive to make
these films. I think we imagine because we see people
on TikTok that it's going to it's all easy. Now,
you know, you do thirty second staff and it's all easy.
But it's a very different thing when you're producing something
(06:05):
that is professional enough to go up on screen.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
Yeah, you make a good point in for anybody who
gets on TikTok or follows different directors out there. Steven
Soderberg actually filmed the whole movie on an iPhone, and
I'm not joking about that. He actually did that. But
believe me, there's hundreds of people involved, so it is difficult.
And I think that goes to a good question about
funding when it comes to the film festival. And we'll
talk about this for our listener who either want to
(06:29):
attend or want to be a part of it, Maybe
help you out. How are you funded right now?
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Well, we're delighted to get some support from the city,
which is very good. Washington, d C has an extremely
strong support system through the city. It is the mayor's
intention that DC be considered a creative city. She calls
it too or two creates, and she has been putting
a lot of time, energy, and dollars behind that belief.
(07:00):
So we are very grateful for that. We have some
sponsorship from companies that work with us around DC. We
also have a slightly equity approach, by which I mean
that we do sell tickets and our aim is as
a nonprofit, we don't have to make a profit, so
(07:21):
we need to break even and we aim for that
to happen. So we work diligently to make sure that
films are reaching communities, that people have a chance to
come and see it, and that we like to feel
that when you come and see it because all the
filmmakers are attending, you get the extra experience because the
(07:42):
filmmakers there, and you are also actually supporting them in
the journey of their film.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
So before we get to the seminars and the workshops
and all the other things that you offer and actually attending.
As a film director or somebody that's putting a film together,
what's the criteria for them to submit a film to
this actual film festival?
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Good, I'm glad you asked that question. So we receive
a couple of thousand films a year, and that's a lot.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
That's a lot.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
It is a lot, just evidence of how many people
need places like ours right to have their films shown,
and it makes it just want to make it clear,
it makes quite a big difference when you're selected. It
does help the life of your film quite a lot.
So the criteria that we have is you cannot have
shown it in Washington, DC before. The logic behind that
(08:34):
is very straightforward. How can we build audience, try and
get you press and help your film have a life
and go further if we've if you've already been through
the process once, it has to be within a year
of production. And that is really because again we're a
country here in the United States. That's very he's great
(08:56):
attention to the new and we also cannot get attention
from press for your work unless we unless things are
fairly new. We have to be up aware of these things.
And then we do have a special attention to filmmakers
from the DC area. We do have a special award
(09:19):
that's given to DC filmmakers for the best of DC.
And so you submit through film Freeway, which is the
main platform for all film festivals in the world. And
I think if you've made a film and you want
to get it out, then you go onto film Freeway.
You'll be actually a bit shocked about how many film
festivals there are in the world right. Some are free,
(09:41):
some you have to pay a little bit. So if
you're going to do it, I advise you to write
down your list and think carefully about where you're applying
and make the most of your dollars.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
That's good advice. So if you could do maybe just
a favor to all of us and just give us
a little tease. And I know that you don't want
to single anybody out, but when it comes to maybe
the types of films or something that you're hearing buzz
about that you're excited to either see or you would
like our listeners to come see. When it comes to
some of these documentaries or other films, what are you
hearing right now that people could get really excited about.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
So we do. We do hit Valentine's Day, and we
did schedule a few films with that in mind. We
have what I think is a very interesting film called
Bittersweet by Steve Martini. He's actually not a local person,
he's from la and it's a kind of rom com
type film. It's one of the films that actually sort
(10:38):
of has a known, well known actor in William Baldwin
is in the film, and it's a I'm not quite
surey to describe it, but it's a happy ending film that, however,
at the same time takes on the issue of what
happens when somebody missed reads what a parent is doing
(11:01):
with a child and separate and tries to separate the
family for the sake of the child. So there's a
lot of discussion about that. So I think it's very
timely while being sweet and funny.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
I love it. I love that, you know, as you
mentioned William Balden's my name. The one thing I've noticed
as just a movie viewer, who will go see an
independent film, something small that doesn't have a lot of
money behind it. I love how actors will get behind
a budding project that doesn't have any money, does have
any hope and heck of being shown anywhere, yet they
(11:34):
want to be involved. And that's always something nice about
your industry is there seems to be a lot of
paying it forward by the actors all the time that
do it for scale, or will do it for whatever
they can so that person that they believe in will
get an opportunity. I really do love that about the industry,
and I imagine you do two.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
I think it's it's surprising how many people will do it.
I'm sure they get some compensation, but compared to what
they normally get, it's not very much. It does help
their film the films sometimes, I mean, Bittersweden is almost
certainly going to end up, you know, somewhere it'll take.
It will take much longer than maybe some other films
(12:12):
to get distribution, but I'm convinced it will and so
so I think it does make a difference. And I
think people do feel they want to take part in
these pro projects, and partly it's because they get an
opportunity to work with people who don't have the same
constraints as mean as the central industry. They can make
(12:34):
what they want as they want as long as the
people who've backed them, whether those be hundreds of people
who did it through crowdsharing or whether it be actual
investors who've put their money into it. They have a
lot more freedom because there's no studio making decision. And
so I think they quiet like that, and you will
see people taking these these big risks, and indeed in
(12:56):
the oscars every year some of these films.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
Come up, all right, So I wanted to ask you
about the intent from some of these directors of people
that submit films. Obviously, you know with YouTube and all
these other digital platforms that people have a lot more
opportunities to stay to put their projects out there. But
it still seems to me that when you get a
part of a film festival, specifically yours with DCIFF, is
(13:20):
that if it gets shown and then there's a little buzz,
what happens at that point, If people are starting to
enjoy the movie there's a little buzz out there, what's
the hope from the director of the person that is
financed and put the film together about next steps for
them if they're are getting some good buzz about.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
Something that's interesting. So, you know, I think so a
lot of film festivals are created on the basis, I
would say of on the basis of it being a
kind of distribution opportunity for filmmakers. So big film festivals
like Toronto, south By, Southwest, Tribeca more in the past
(14:00):
than today, and some Dance these are places where traditionally
filmmakers got to meet distributors and much excitement that a
film might get picked up. Needless to say, it can
all be done online. So in our festival have we
call ourselves a forum now and we don't claim to
(14:23):
be able to forward it in that way, although we
do know that when press, when there's press about a
particular film or if something does very well, we do
know what impacts it. So along those lines, I think
it would be true to say that our aim by
calling it a forum is to allow our filmmakers to
really meet and talk to people in the audience. So
(14:45):
we allow a lot of time for discussion afterwards. We
allow the audiences to ask many, many questions so that
people can really know about the film. And that's what
makes film festivals that are filmmaker based very very interesting
because you become part of the you know what I mean,
(15:05):
the discussion and community, and you go meet a filmmaker
at the bar afterwards. That's that's the idea for the
for the people going on. I mean, I think, I
think it depends. So I'd like to give an example
of a film that we showed a few years ago.
It was called American Ish by a lady called Imman Zahari.
(15:28):
Sorry z A W A h R. Y apologies, I
blew your name. She's from Northern Virginia. She works down
in Florida in as a professor, and her film American Ish,
which is a sort of Pakistani Indian version of Eddie
(15:50):
Murphy's Coming to America, entirely independent, fabulous, film. The last
time I was flying across the year from Europe to
to that here to d C, it was showing on
the plane. So a film travels around festivals, It gets attention,
it gets Laurels, distributor looks at that, it looks at
(16:12):
the level and the kind of festival that it went into,
and it builds influence. American Wish one and awarded at
our festival. It's wonderful and then it has a life.
Speaker 1 (16:24):
Yeah, it's a wonderful story. I was curious about length
of some of these depending on what type of film
it is. When somebody is prepared to see some of
these films, imagine they are different lengths. I don't know
if that comes into the criteria about how short or
how long they have to be, But how long are
some of these films that you're showing.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
We have gone up to two hours. Our opening night film,
God is an Astronaut, is a two hours long that's
on Capitol Hill, and we're thrilled to show that. That's
the second film by this filmmaker that we are showing.
Especially thrill because God Is an Astronaut is based on
a novel by Alison Foster, who will be signing the books.
(17:00):
Who is a DMV author.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
Oh that's huge.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
Yeah, that's really great. And she's she was picked out
by Oprah Winfrey her book, so we feel that's a
perfect combination for her. I love that and that film
is that the film is two hours long. You may
have noticed that the industry has begin likes really long films.
I'm not quite sure why, but you know, your average
(17:23):
film is now moving between two and three hours. I
don't quite know why they're doing that, but generally speaking,
films about an hour and a half.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
Okay, you know that's funny you say that because it's
such an acquired taste, because anytime I hear if Scorsese
is making a film or somebody else, I'll give you
an example, like when The Irishman came out on Netflix.
It's over three hours long, but it's it's it's you know,
whether it's Coppola or Scorsese or any of those guys,
and it star studied, You're probably gonna watch it, even
though that's really really long. And there's some Marvel movies,
(17:55):
and in fact, the one that's coming out with The
Captain America, which is just under two hours, which is
one of the shortest Marvel movies of all time. So
I think it's always an acquired taste about how long
a film is. But I thought i'd ask that just
to see what people were up against when they came
to see some of the films. Listen, if you enjoy it,
it really doesn't matter how long it is, folks, And
I think that's the point. I did want to ask
(18:16):
you about seminars and workshops, and I know that you're
not reinventing the wheel here, but I'm glad you offer
these things because there's a lot of people that are
either in the industry, want to be in the industry
and want to meet people like minded, and you're doing
that with the workshops and the seminars. Can you go
into detail about what you're offering.
Speaker 2 (18:35):
Yeah, yeah, we have a sort of wide range, and
so we have one that's actually about archiving, and this
is designed for anybody. We realize that if you're a filmmaker,
you need to use archives, especially documentary filmmakers, and there's
huge barriers and difficulties and what's going on and what
(18:56):
are you allowed to use, how much does it cost?
And then there's also people who've ended up with film,
whether they're filmmakers or indeed maybe their grandpa father had stuff,
and what do we do with it? Or do we
give it to do we donate it to an archive?
Do they want it? So this is a free event
that's happening on Friday the fourteenth in the afternoon at
(19:19):
MLK Library, and we've got four experts coming in who
can just really address these issues. And this has opened
up for anybody. We feel it's a value to anybody
who might be going, what do I do with all
this stuff? You know, even if you had photos, because
I think it's a very difficult issue and there is
(19:39):
so much being generated. Just imagine so much being generated
now and it's all digital. I mean, are we keeping it?
Are we trashing it? Those are the difficult questions. So
we think that's an interesting one. Then our main seminars
are on Saturday, the fifteenth of February and Sunday the sixteenth.
On Saturday, we are delighted to have Washington Area lawyer
(20:02):
for the Arts who are very active in our community,
who are sort of pro bono lawyers who give time
to give advice on contracts and the like. These are
in the afternoon. We have a little animator meetup, Got
any animators listening? Just an hour where you can come
and have a cup of coffee and talk about animation.
(20:24):
At DCFF, we teach animation to high schoolers around the year,
and we have Yeah, and we have three animation programs
at the festival this year. We're very, very keen to
promote animators who work incredibly hard to produce beautiful work
and sometimes don't have a venue for it to be shown.
So Yeah, if you like animation, please come and see
one of those programs. Then, because of this sort of
(20:48):
we see this interesting focus of the going from page
or stage to screen seems to be happening a lot now,
people using stories, and so we have a couple of
three screenwriters telling you a little bit about how you
might cope with it if you have a short story
you wrote, or if indeed you bravely acquired the rights
(21:11):
to a short story, they're going to come. And then
I think Sunday is probably the really interesting time for
people who want to make a film. We have a
very popular program called Working with Investors, a film financing seminar,
which has two people, one people who one person who's
(21:33):
a producer and is indeed actually the founder of the
festival who's gone off to become a producer. We have
an investor and we have somebody who works with investors,
so we know that's really important. Getting investment in your
film is a huge, an important step. Then we have
a session on writing grants, understanding grants, understanding how to
(21:59):
pull it together, what you know, what you need to do,
how you need to think about it, because it's not
always obvious. It's really good to have a good approach.
And we have a session after that with distributors also
how to distribute your film, so we try to choose
topics that we know filmmakers care about. And then for
(22:22):
the general public again at the end of Sunday, followed
by drinks at the bar, we have a conversation with
author and screwrider TERRELLD. Tannin, who's worked for years in Hollywood,
and he's going to read from his memoir about the
things you should and shouldn't do in Hollywood and how
it's exciting and glamorous but hm, not necessarily.
Speaker 1 (22:46):
Yeah, I think we've all been there, and I'm so
glad you're doing that. You know what's so nice about
hearing about all these things Deardrie, is that you're giving
people access to people that are making it in the
business and working their tails off there. And besides just
acknowledgment that we need as human beings having access to
somebody that's saying, boy, I can attain to that, but
(23:07):
I don't know how to do it. And here these
people are going to be talking about that and you
can ask them a question and they can look you
in the eye. And I love that for all but
the budding filmmakers or people that want to get into
the business, that it's kind of boots on the ground
that you're offering everybody and saying, hey, I'm here to
talk about my experiences. Doesn't mean that I've made in
the business. I'm grinding it out. But if you want
(23:28):
to get into it, here you go. And I imagine
the feedback you get from people that are either in
the business or want to be in the business. It's
probably just fantastic that all this access is being provided
by you. I really love that you're doing that.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
Yeah, pick a good conversations startup, and I emphasize, you know,
you don't have to be planning to make a film
this week. You don't have to be an expert to
come and attend these things. If you're interested in the
process and how it works, come and intend it. I mean,
filmmakers are an inclusive group. They don't think they know
more than other people, and so it's this isn't a conference.
(24:06):
I think this is an open opportunity here.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
So I want to ask you just about advice for people,
not only just there's gonna be a lot of people
that are going to come to this week and on
the weekend to enjoy everything, but for people that they're
either starting in the business want to get in the business.
I know that everybody's journey is very specific to them
and to you as well too, But if you were
just to give some general advice for somebody that would
(24:31):
like to get started in the industry or is in
the industry and maybe finding some doors or closed right now,
what kind of advice would you give them?
Speaker 2 (24:40):
That's that's interesting. So last weekend we held Ycam High
School Film Festival, which is a two day event which
has been going on for ten years and is growing
bigger and bigger, I'm pleased to say, and we actually
did have somebody an actor JB. Blank zoom in to
talk to the young the young folk and give them
some ideas, and you know, sharing with him, I would say,
(25:05):
you know, the things that I would agree with what
he was putting out was it is really important that
you understand that filmmaking is a team activity. It is
not really possible, except for if you're an animator, it's
not really possible to make a film alone. And diving
(25:28):
into that and building people, a building group of people
who work with you is I think really important. It's
one of the reasons I think people go to film school.
They build cohorts of people who work with them. It's
also why we teach high schoolers in the summer. We
have some intensive programs. It's on our website if anybody's interested,
(25:49):
because they end up meeting others working together and oh
they want to make a film. Suddenly they've got somebody
to call up who's going to hold the camera, And
that I think is essential. I'm afraid it does require
persistence as as there will be no's. You know, we
(26:12):
after all reject many people each year from our film
festival and they are not thrilled, of course, and we
understand that. You know, you've got to just keep trying
and find connections. But I do think it's also important
(26:35):
to have a really clear vision of what you're doing,
and you have to kind of do two sides of
the coin at the same time. Stick to your vision
and at the same time or the other side of coin,
jump in and help anybody all the time. Yeah, you
know what I mean. That's because at some point they'll
(26:55):
call you back and say, you know, actually, this is
happening and we cannot predict who's going to succeed in
this industry, right, it just happens.
Speaker 1 (27:08):
Yeah, so I'm going to interpret everybody so laser focus,
grind it out, be inclusive, and this is a team
thing and that goes with a lot of different jobs,
including the industry that I'm in. I think, Deirdre, that
is a great advice. I thank you for that. We
only have about a minute and a half left, So
let's tell everybody how to get tickets. Let's give the
website again. Let's give the dates and the times just
(27:31):
so everybody knows and then they can go to the
website and check out more. But let's kind of recap everything.
Speaker 2 (27:35):
The floor is yours, super So. The film Festival runs
from the twelfth of February through the sixteenth, late at night.
We welcome everybody, and the tickets are available at two places.
You can get them through event right, or you can
go to our website dci ff dash in d N,
(27:56):
d I E dot org. You can just type into
Google dc iff and you'll find us. The tickets are
basically I think they're all around thirteen dollars, maybe a
little bit less depending on time of day. We keep
a few tickets at the door in case you walk in.
We do not force you to make decisions in advance,
(28:19):
and we hope that you have a good time. We've
chosen many films designed to uplift we feel that we
feel that this time around, a lot of the fiction
films are funny and light while being well made, and
all our documentaries are dealing with important issues that need
to be discussed with a great group of people coming
(28:41):
to discuss it. So whether you want to go serious
or light, I assure you there's something there. And hey,
we're a largely volunteer bunch and we welcome you all standing.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
Let's get that website one more time.
Speaker 2 (28:56):
Dciff dash in DND not altogether, So dciff dash I
Ndie dot Org.
Speaker 1 (29:08):
Outstanding, Deirdre. I can't tell you how much I appreciate
your valuable time because I know this is coming up
this week and how busy you and your team are,
but it's just fantastic that you're giving a voice to
all these people for whatever kind of film they want
to make in the DMV, and I just think it's wonderful,
And with my daughter being in the industry, knowing how
hard she works, just graduating last year and grinding it
out in Brooklyn, New York, where it's one of the
(29:30):
hubs of the industry. It's a hard industry, but it
can pay off if you really grind it out. You
have focus about what you want to do. And I
just love the medium. I've always been a fan of
always wanted to do it, so I'm kind of one
of those people that enjoys films and TV shows from afar,
but I know how hard the industry is. Listen, thanks
for everything, continue success and enjoy the great effort that
(29:51):
you're about to put on this week with you and
your team. We really appreciate your time on Community DC.
Speaker 2 (29:56):
Absolutely fab It's so great to talk to you and
to all the folks out there in the DMP
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.