All seminars are held at the US Navy Memorial (Metro: Archives), unless noted otherwise. All Seminars are $16 with the exception of: “Getting Started in Your Media Career: A Discussion” ($5) / “Going to the Movies oral history taping and demonstration” (Free).
Saturday, March 5th
2:00-3:30pm / $5 at the door
Getting Started in Your Media Career: A Discussion
With director David Burkman and Dara Padwo-Audick, President, Creative Strategies Media L.L.C. This seminar is directed at students but all are welcome to attend.
David Burkman received his MFA from USC School of Cinematic Arts. He wrote & directed the award winning short film Breaking Up With Maggie Moore, which aired on the Independent Film Channel (IFC) and co-wrote the feature film Fishing Without Nets, which premiered at Sundance in 2014.
Dara Padwo-Audick is a veteran filmmaker, TV producer, media strategist and educator who has worked in both documentary and narrative forms and with a wide range of TV stations, non-profits, companies and organizations.
3:30-5:00pm / $16 here or at the door
Screenwriting Masterclass with writer George Pelecanos
A chance to watch The Confidential Informant (USA/2015/21mins) written by master screenwriter and novelist George Pelecanos (The Wire, Treme) and talk with the same master screenwriter about the process of writing for the screen.
Pelecanos is the author of eighteen novels set in and around Washington, D.C. and has been the recipient of the Raymond Chandler award in Italy, the Falcon award in Japan, and the Grand Prix Du Roman Noir in France. Pelecanos served as producer on the feature films Caught (Robert M. Young, 1996), Whatever (Susan Skoog, 1998) and BlackMale (George and Mike Baluzy, 1999), and was the U.S. distributor of John Woo’s cult classic, The Killer and Richard Bugajski’s Interrogation. Most recently, he was a producer, writer, and story editor for the acclaimed HBO dramatic series, The Wire, winner of the Peabody Award and the AFI Award. He was nominated for an Emmy for his writing on that show. He was a writer and co-producer on the World War II miniseries The Pacific, and is currently at work as an executive producer and writer on David Simon’s HBO dramatic series Treme, shot in New Orleans.
5:00pm-6:00pm / Free
Going to the Movies: DCIFF’s oral history taping, demonstration and discussion
Join us to learn about our memory-collecting and add your memories to the collection as DCIFF takes “Going to the Movies” national.
Sunday, March 6th
3:30-5:00pm / $16 here or at the door
Animation Meets Documentary: Innovations and New Directions
A chance to meet with industry professionals to think about the impact of animation on documentary filmmaking and its reception by the audience. Does this change expectations of what constitutes documentary film? A seminar on what is working, how you do it and what resources are available.
With Dee Hibbert-Jones whose animated documentary Last Day of Freedom was nominated for a 2016 Academy Award, Gillian Klempner Willman, and Steven Fischer. Moderated by documentary filmmaker Hannah Jayanti (in partnership with Docs In Progress).
This seminar is held at the Carnegie Institution for Science.
5:30-7:00pm / $16 here or at the door
Making Us Laugh on Screen: Actors and Writers Seminar
How to write comedy, improvise for the screen and make the written word funny on screen. Timothy Busfield (Emmy Award-winning actor – Thirtysomething, The West Wing ) and co-director of One Smart Fellow screening at DCIFF2016 March 5) and Samantha Herman and Jesse Herman, writers for the hit film Let’s Rap (screening at DCIFF2106 March 6), talk about what it takes to keep the audience smiling.
This seminar is held at the Carnegie Institution for Science.
Saturday, March 12th
11:30am-1:00pm / $16 here or at the door
Entertainment Law 101 – Intellectual Property and Beyond
A macro level discussion about copyright, trademark, fair use, licensing, options, using images/music, WGA registration, releases, film permits, location considerations, and legal considerations for the use of drones in production. With Janet Fries and Josh Carpenter, and in partnership with WALA.
1:00-2:30PM / $16 here or at the door
Entertainment Law 202 – Funding, Contracts, Litigation, and Best Practices
A macro level discussion about funding, contracts, overview of litigation process in settling disputes, business organizations, insurance, employment issues, and some best practices. With John Mason and Beverly Davis, moderated by Brian Frankel. In partnership with WALA.
2:45-4:15pm / $16 here or at the door
Acting Masterclass with Eva Tamargo
With over 20 years of experience actress Eva Tamargo shares why Hollywood actors love indie films, the ins and outs of the film business, what it takes to land your next big star and how a director can, from the actor’s perspective, get the performance you’re looking for.
Eva Tarmargo is currently one of the stars of Tyler Perry’s O.W.N. Hit Show – “The Haves and the Have Nots.” She is headlining the film “American Bred,” as well as currently filming her own reality show. As an actress her body of work spans 20 years of both television, film and theater.
4:15-5:45pm / $16 here or at the door
Having Your Film and Art Reviewed: A Conversation Between Artists and Writers
Bill Claps (artist and director of Artspeak) with NY Times Film Reviewer, Jeanette Catsoulis and Washington Post columnist/WETA’s “About Town” panelist Jane Horwitz discuss writing about art and film: how a film gets reviewed, who are the reviewers and what is the impact. Moderated by Robert Bettman, DayEight. A screening of ArtSpeak (USA/2015/16mins.) sets the stage for the discussion. The film follows New York artist Bill Claps discovering everyday people’s thoughts and feelings about contemporary art as he develops a video installation and a series of artworks that comment on the phenomena of Artspeak: the language used by many curators, writers, critics, and other art insiders.”
5:45-7:00pm / free
Revisiting Virtual Rights and Avatars: A Discussion and Review of DCIFF’s 2016 Summit on the Hill
With Festival Director Deirdre Evans-Pritchard and On The Hill Coordinator Russ Imrie. We will screen key sections of the Summit that was held as part of DCIFF on Thursday, March 3rd
Sunday, March 13th
3:00-4:30pm / $16 here or at the door
The Future of Film, TV, and Music: Streaming and a Sustainable Creative Economy
Where do we go from here? In light of many changes in the distribution of film and music, piracy is the disruptive force that works against the creative future of our industry. In this seminar we will explore the present and future sustainability of the film and music industry in a new streaming economy. Ruth Vitale, CEO for CreativeFuture and David Pike, VP of Distribution for BRINKvision & Film Strategist. Moderated by producer/director Doug Maddox, DMB Films.
5:00–6:30pm / $16 here or at the door
Lighting and Grip Workshop with Ed Baxter
Ed Baxter is an Emmy award winning producer/cinematographer, and native Washingtonian. In 2007, he joined the effort to launch RLTV, cable network for generation 50+, where he soon became the Director of Production and Development. After leaving RLTV, he went freelance as an independent writer, producer, shooter, editor – though not always on the same projects.
