Mumbai Women’s International Film Festival Call For Entry

One of my favorite things to do is to keep track of Women’s Film Festivals around the world. 

This one just announced their call for entries. Take a moment to check them out and send in your films.

www.mwiff.com

https://twitter.com/mwiff2013

https://www.facebook.com/mwiff

*Do you have a helpful resource you’d like to promote? Do you know about a great resource to share with the Broads? Contact me to be a part of helpful resource Friday.

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Free 5-Day Professional Development Intensive for NYC Artists

 Do you live in NYC?  Then get your name on the list.  You might get picked by the lottery to be part of this great professional development intensive. 

I, for one, think lotteries are the best way to select artists for all sorts of programs.  Once you rise to the general level of requirements, it becomes personal taste and not artistry that makes the last cut.  In the "personal taste" realm also lives the -isms - you know - sexism, racism, cultural imperialism.  Anyway details below the fold or just go to the website:  NYC Artists Professional Development Program

QUEUE THIS!

For those of us in Los Angeles, this week sees the start of the LA Film Festival, and I'm really excited about it.  As many of you know, I was on the fest circuit with my itty bitty short film, The Director, in 2011-12 and it was a wonderful experience.  When things slowed down, however, I really started missing all that's great about film festivals-- meeting other filmmakers, seeing new films, being inspired by the creative energy swirling about, etc.  So, I decided to get a pass for this year's LA Film Fest to kinda-sorta pretend that I'm back on the circuit (don't worry, I'm not going to lie to people and say I'm a festival filmmaker, I'm only going to lie to myself a little bit).  So, if you see me around the fest, please say hello!  My favorite part is connecting with other filmmakers.  And if you're a woman director, I just might snap a picture of you to share with @TheDirectorList twitter followers (you'll have photo approval, of course). Don't be shy!

Good lord, there are a lot of great films by women at this year's festival.  To help you get to know a few of the women behind those films, I've put together a Netflix viewing list that includes some of their other film work. By the way, I love how easy the LA Film Fest makes it to find women directed films- just go to the film guide, click the Genre drop-down menu and pick Women Directors.  I wish every fest made it so easy (as well as Netflix, for that matter)!  It's too bad they don't include the short filmmakers, but it's a great start.

I'll be honest, there are a few filmmakers here I didn't know had other films, so working on this week's post led me to some nice discoveries.  I hope there are some discoveries for you, too.  Let's QUEUE THIS!

Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life (dir Tamar Halpern, 2011)  Netflix says: "Just before his 13th birthday, Jeremy Fink receives a mysterious box that needs four keys to be opened and promises to reveal the meaning of life. Aided by his feisty best friend, Lizzy, Jeremy goes on an extraordinary quest to open his treasure."

Do You Have A TV Pilot Idea? Then This Is The Contest For You!

Here's an interesting contest for anyone with a television pilot idea. It's both a class and a contest wrapped into one. To enter, you download a free "TV Pilot Kit"  -- which I love and use when I write all my pilots. So even if you don't plan to enter this contest, you can go download this kit and use it. Very helpful tool for your writing toolbox. The kit includes Show Proposal, Character Relationship Map, and examples from the show How I Met Your Mother.  To enter you complete the kit, submit it and the top 50 semi-finalists win attendance to a live TV Pilot 101 webinar given by funny woman Ellen Sandler, who was an executive producer on Everybody Loves Raymond. Those 50 folks have a month to write their pilots and judges will narrow it down to 10 finalists. Those lucky 10 writers take part in the Story Specialist Mentoring Program where they'll polish their pilot and create a Show Bible. I'm telling you, this is a full-service contest. The final projects are judged by industry pros and a winner selected who will meet with industry folk and undoubtedly go on to great success. But, this contest is one of those that you can honestly say that there are no losers, because everybody learns so much along the way.  That's the point of it. I like that. If you want to find out more, here's a link.  Oh, and the deadline is June 15th... so get crackin'!

TED TUESDAY - The Politics of Fiction

I have love TED talks for years, and many of them expand my thinking about story, creativity, and the world. I'd like to share some with you.

Top 10 Reasons A 9 to 5 is Better Than Waiting Tables

The life of a starving artist is a romantic idea, but for many of us, the romance dies on the first of every month, when rent comes due. Some struggling filmmakers are able to get enough freelance jobs working on crews to support themselves, others wait tables, and others work the dreaded nine to five. But, why is it dreaded? Personally, I find a nine to five much more appealing than waiting tables (and I get far fewer homicidal urges sitting behind a desk). Here are the Top 10 Reasons A 9 to 5 is Better Than Waiting Tables:

10) Either way, you'll probably get yelled at every so often by some jerk. At least at an office, it'll be the same jerk(s) and you can learn to deal with him/her/them.

9) Very few offices make you roll silverware for $2.13 an hour before you can finally go home. I dare say none.

8) You won't have to clean up after strangers, knowing they left you a crappy tip. You probably won't have to clean up after strangers at all.

7) The hours are consistent. Will I be free for brunch three Sundays from now? Yes, I will. My schedule never changes.

Ms. In The Biz – Online Magazine for Women in Entertainment

Happy Friday, everyone! After one week off I’m back with another great resource.

Last month I had the pleasure of collaborating with Ms. In The Biz, writing a piece about my short film “Unsolved.” You can read that post here.

Ms. In The Biz is a great site not only for its information, great writing and the powerful female presence, but it’s also a place for ladies in entertainment to meet each other and support each other’s endeavors. Check it out for yourselves!