The Virtual Mentor

			MUSIC SUPERVISION AND RIGHTS CLEARANCE By: Brooke Wentz Music supervision is a vast job that can include many different smaller jobs: music selection, clearance, budgeting, scheduling, composer delivery and negotiation, to name a few. Music supervisors need a healthy dose of business finesse and a hard shell against rejection. In many people�s eyes, the job seems illustrious, hip and fun. In reality, a music supervisor is a hard-working mediator who caters to the needs of directors, producers and other creative people. As a supervisor, I must check my personal tastes at the door and do the best to service my client. More >
			WRITING; KEEP YOUR EGO HUMBLE BUT YOUR ART AUDACIOUS By: Georgia Jeffries Great books. Beloved verse. Compelling plays. Allow me to add one other art form to the literary canon of our imagination. The screenplay. That bastard child too often dismissed in the rush to embrace an auteur theory that glorifies the delivering midwife instead of the living, breathing, wailing life form itself: the story. Originally published in the October issue of Written By. More >
			THE WOMEN IN FILM INTERNATIONAL SUMMIT By: WIFTI Chapter PanelEvery �two years� since 1997, one of our 40 chapters worldwide hosts a Women In Film International World Summit meeting in one of their cities. The 4 day conferences are designed to provide professional networking , to receive up-to-date information on funding, distribution and trends, and to become acquainted with resources...More >
			FAIR USE By: NYWIFT Panel Arguably the most important legal challenge for documentary makers, this panel from NYWIFT discussed current thinking and current law with regards to copyright compliance (whether certain footage is own-able) in a move to return confidence to the documentary maker. (Also see The Statement of Best Practices at the IDA website: www.documentary.org.) More >
			WORKING IN CHINA By: Jenny Lam I had a fantastic experience while at Sesame Workshop, launching five co-productions in Greater China: "Zhima Jie", which is the Chinese version of Sesame Street; "I Love Science", the local version of the popular science series funded by the National Science Foundation called "3-2-1 Contact"; "1-2-3-4-5", a math game show; and a new global English language learning series called "Sesame English", which is a spin-off of Sesame Street. More >
			MINORITY REPORT By: WIF/LA Panel On February 28th, 2007, Women In Film Los Angeles held the Power Breakfast "Minority Report," in celebration of Black History Month. With over 200 in attendance, the panel of successful African American women discussed their diverse careers, the challenges of balancing family and work, and the obstacles and issues they faced as black women in the entertainment industry. The distinguished panel, moderated by actress Holly Robinson Peete, includes director/actress/choreographer/ producer Debbie Allen, television creator/ producer Mara Brock Akil, television and film producer Debra Martin Chase, film producer Stephanie Allain, and producer/writer/director Angela Robinson. More >
			KIDS IN THE BIZ By: NYWIFT Panel Working with child actors can present a challenge. Whether you're an agent, producer, writer, director or concerned parent , how do you help talented youngsters grow successfully in the acting profession? NYWIFT assembled a panel of agents, current and former child stars and parents to tell you what you need to know about child actor's education, school activities and personal development. They discuss the ins and outs of industry regulations and the one question that looms large; what happens when the child actor grows up? More >
			PRODUCING IN CANADA By: WIFTI Chapter Panel When we wrote to the international chapters for articles on producing in their countries, the Toronto Chapter (WIFT Toronto, www.wift.com) was already hard at work on this very comprehensive, detailed, excellent website. Developed in conjunction with the Toronto chapter of the Directors Guild of Canada, it deconstructs the myths and examines the myriad potentials of shooting in Canada, financing in Canada and resources in Canada - particularly in Toronto/Ontario but also offering very savvy advice and counsel about producing film in general. (There is information that applies to television production as in shows and series - though it's focus is film production - for theatrical or on cable). We highly recommend it. More >
			GAINING FINANCIAL FREEDOM: A GATEWAY TO CREATIVE FREEDOM By: Alex Levi Creative passion. It is what gets most of us out of bed in the morning, and what keeps us up at night. We spend all of our time and every ounce of energy in tireless pursuit of the telling of the story that burns in our soul. Sadly, however, many women are left financially vulnerable because in pursuing their passion, they've ignored a harsh reality.More >
			ARE YOU A DOCUMENTARY - FACTUAL -NON FICTION - REALITY -LIFESTYLE - PRODUCER? By: Phylis Geller So you want to make documentaries. Did you actually think you knew what the word meant? It used to mean an exploration of a true-life subject, whether contemporary or historical. The "traditional" documentary, what we think of as cinema verite, was a non-fictional, "slice of life", factual work of art. It was investigative, like FRONTLINE (PBS), or observational, like the work of Fred Weisman. It was carefully constructed history, like the BBC's Civilization. In any case, the audience was supposed to believe that what they saw on the screen was "true"... More >
			AGENTS AND MANAGERS By: Marion Rosenberg Who needs them? Well, if you want to be in "the business" the chances are, you do. Terence and Plautus probably didn't have an agent, nor did Shakespeare, and it's unlikely that Sarah Bernhardt found herself on a list of ten other beauties vying for the same role in Racine's new hot drama. Racine probably didn't have an agent, either. So why do we need them today?More >
			WORKING AS A FILMMAKER IN VIETNAM AND CAMBODIA By: Janet Gardner I produced my first film on Vietnam in 1993 when my documentary company was two years old and before "normalization of relations". The US still had an embargo against Vietnam at that time, a prohibition against trading with the enemy (lifted in 1994). Since then I've completed five films in Southeast Asia. They're all non-fiction films, and they've been broadcast on PBS stations, and internationally by Discovery Networks, National Geographic Channels International and STARTV in Asia and the Middle East. Some of the filmmakers who go to Vietnam sneak around and try to play tourist with digital cameras. More >
			TAX BASED AND OTHER INCENTIVES FOR FILM PRODUCTION IN IRELAND By: Geraldine East Ireland remains committed to assisting film production. Section 481 provides tax incentives for incoming productions. Advance funding production costs can be used for feature films, television dramas, animation productions and creative documentaries. Additionally, there is no requirement that a co-production qualifies as an official co-production under the European Convention on Cinematographic Co-Production or under a bi-lateral treaty.More >
			SO YOU WANT TO BOND YOUR PICTURE By: Marion Spiegelman The purpose of the completion guarantee is to provide a financier with assurances that the project can and will be delivered by a certain date, for a certain budget total and in accordance with pre-agreed specifications. In order for filmmakers to attract professional financiers (sales companies, banks, distributors, investment groups) to finance their projects, filmmakers will be required by such financiers to acquire a completion bond. The filmmaker/producers will then approach the bonding company for the bonding process to begin. More >