Filmmakers Series

Lectures curated around films and filmmakers, as well as the art of pitching, producing and marketing films.

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Global Warming: Communicating Science Through Film
Gary Borisy
July 27, 2008
00:10:42
Gary Borisy moderates a discussion of the issue of Global Warming and filmmakers can do to help activate dialogue.
Creating Change with Documentaries
Andy Revkin
July 27, 2008
01:00:36
New York Times reporter Andy Revkin moderates a panel discussion of filmmaking that walks the line between art and activism, with a special focus on environmental issues. Documentary films have the potential to instigate action.
Acting in Independent Films
Jane Lynch
June 22, 2008
01:07:41
Heather Rae moderates a panel discussion about acting for independent films.
Documenting Boston
Rebecca Dreyfus
April 23, 2005
00:59:10
Documentary film directors Rebecca Dreyfus (Stolen,) Henry Corra (Same Sex America,) and Rudi Schwab (Closed on Sundays) sit down with moderator Ellie Lee to dis
Defining Your Market Before You Make Your Film
Cynthia Close
June 9, 2005
00:51:30
You have a compelling story to tell, but whom besides your mother and close circle of friends is interested? This is the first question you must answer before you make your film.
Pitch Panel for Documentary Filmmakers
Kim Brizzolara
June 9, 2005
01:29:19
Join in on a pitch session as a diverse group of documentary filmmakers present their ideas to an esteemed panel of experts who give feedback and advice. What do filmmakers need to know to make funders and broadcasters prick up their ears and fund their film projects?
Learning Through Remixing
Henry Jenkins
March 28, 2007
01:32:59
This panel is itself a remix. Each contributor has a unique project example to share, but in the end there is convergence.
Long Form Documentary in the Age of Internet Video
Les Blank
July 29, 2007
01:13:45
Les Blank leads a debate about the ability of long format documentary to adapt to an era of short form, online, video distribution. The ecosystem that supports the funding, production, promotion, and distribution of long form documentary film is changing in many ways.
Audio-only
Survival Strategies for Independent Media Producers
David Tames
August 4, 2007
01:22:26
Panelists discuss the producer's role in a successful narrative or documentary film and provide an opportunity for participants to ask a talented group of producers questions about funding projects, distribution, choosing talent and crew, working with directors, and new challenges and opportunities
After 9/11 and the Making of WTC View
Brian Sloan
September 14, 2006
00:40:49
After a screening of his film WTC View: A Story of New York After 9/11, Brian Sloan speaks on his career as an independent director and author. Sloan's films include Boys Life and I Think I Do; he is currently working on a comedy starring Carson Kressley.
Get Up, Stand Up: Using Media to Be Heard
Byron Hurt
August 20, 2005
01:29:27
Filmmakers and other media makers who have used the medium of film to get their messages across share some tools to help you let your voice be heard.
XWhaves: Where is The Digital Wave Taking Us?
Jonathan Wells
August 1, 2005
02:11:20
Members of the new media revolution join together for an active, open discussion of citizen journalism, personal media, video blogging, and the convergence of digital storytelling methods with a new era of novel, inexpensive, worldwide distribution and other aspects of the ever-changing landscape of
Realize Your Dream: Get Your Film on the Silver Screen
Jordan Walker Pearlman
August 20, 2005
01:17:38
A panel explains how the makers of films like Constellation and Squeeze got over the hurdles and realized the dream of getting their works to premiere festivals and up on the silver screen. This panel discussion is a part of the 2005 Roxbury Film Festival, a project of ACT Roxbury.
Ten Years of Killer Films
Christine Vachon
June 17, 2007
00:56:45
Killer Films and its triumvirate of partners, Christine Vachon, Pamela Koffler, and Katie Roumel, have created some of the most singular and daring work of the past decade.
Comedy on the Edge
Jeff Garlin
June 16, 2007
00:57:43
Jeff Garlin of Curb Your Enthusiasm, Michael McDonald of MadTV, and John Cooper, director of programming for the Sundance Film Festival, discuss making the jump from the small screen to the silver screen at the 2007 Provincetown Film Festival.
Audio-only
Filmmakers' Youth and Diversity Panel
Tchaiko Omawale
June 16, 2007
00:42:52
After a screening of Urban Youth/HIV Project at the 2007 Provincetown International Film Festival, young filmmakers discuss "diversity".
Audio-only
Wes Anderson on The Darjeeling Limited
Wes Anderson
October 31, 2007
00:20:00
Wes Anderson and the stars of The Darjeeling Limited discuss the film and their future projects.
Audio-only
Hitler's Filmmaker: A Biography of Leni Riefenstahl
Steven Bach
April 25, 2007
00:36:49
Steven Bach, author of Marlene Dietrich: Life and Legend, offers a stunning new biography of one of the 20th century's most fascinating and controversial figures, known as "Hitler's filmmaker", Leni Riefenstahl.
Audio-only
Peebles: Porsches and Pyramids
Melvin Van Peebles
October 26, 2005
01:24:10
Melvin Van Peebles, pioneer of independent and black cinema, discusses Porsches and pyramids.
Street Smart: The New York of Lumet, Allen, Scorsese, and Lee
Richard A. Blake
February 28, 2006
01:09:53
Richard A. Blake, fine arts professor and co-director of the Boston College film studies program, presents a multimedia discussion of his new book, Street Smart: The New York of Lumet, Allen, Scorsese, and Lee.
Tom Perrotta: Craft of Writing, Foray into Cinema
Tom Perrotta
February 17, 2005
01:00:44
Tom Perrotta reads from some of his works and discusses the craft of writing and his first forays into the world of cinema.
Momsrising.org: The Motherhood Manifesto
Joan Blades
October 18, 2007
01:17:27
Joan Blades, well known for co-founding the e-advocacy group MoveOn.org, discusses her new organization, Momsrising.org, and internet advocacy in general.
Consciousness, Creativity, and the Brain
David Lynch
October 1, 2005
01:32:13
David Lynch, the award-winning writer, director, and producer, answers questions on his films, his 32-year practice of Transcendental Meditation, and the role of consciousness in the creative process.
Cinema, Science, and Invention
John Underkoffler
May 4, 2007
01:09:20
John Underkoffler, science and technology advisor to major motion picture productions, gives a behind the scenes look at technology in the entertainment industry.
Audio-only
The New Queer Cinema
Tom Gustafson
June 19, 2008
00:55:08
Basil Tsiokos moderates a discussion on the distribution and reception of queer-themed films and new ways that queer filmmakers approach their themes.
American Experience: Eyes on the Prize
Judi Hampton
September 26, 2006
00:38:36
WGBH hosts a preview screening of part one of the American Experience: Eyes on the Prize series and a panel discussion with Coolidge Corner Theater audience members.
Bombay Sex Trade: The Day My God Died
Laura Lederer
December 9, 2004
00:57:53
Laura Leder and Brigitte Cazalis Collins expose the child sex trade industry in Bombay after a screening of , an independent film on the same issue.
Shifting Meaning: African Art in the World
Susan Vogel
February 22, 2007
00:55:19
New York University professor Susan Vogel, a renowned museum founder and specialist in African art shares her eight-minute film Fang: An Epic Journey, which covers the adventures of an African sculpture as it moves from Cameroon in 1910 to America in the 1970s.
George Stevens: D-Day to Berlin
George Stevens Jr.
June 20, 2005
01:31:50
George Stevens Jr. introduces and discusses D-Day to Berlin, the Emmy Award winning documentary he made using color footage that his father, acclaimed director George Stevens, filmed across Europe at the end of World War II. In 1943, Stevens Sr.
Two Towns of Jasper
Robin Chandler
January 15, 2003
01:17:49
A panel discusses Two Towns of Jasper, a documentary film that explores race relations in the town where James Byrd, Jr., an African American resident, was brutally dragged to death in 1998.
Wood, Wind & Water: Nantucket Opera House Cup Race
Anne T. Converse
October 7, 2003
01:03:45
Annie Converse and Camie Ford discuss their collaboration on the photographic essay Wood, Wind and Water, and the creative process that took years to complete.
Jennifer Jordan: Women of K2
Jennifer Jordan
January 29, 2003
00:57:13
Award-winning journalist and filmmaker Jennifer Jordan shares stories from her research expeditions on The Women of K2. In 2000, Jordan joined an American expedition of women climbers attempting to summit K2 on the Pakistan-China border.
Audio-only
Breakthrough: Foreign Language Films in the US
Sebastian Silva
June 19, 2009
00:53:41
Director Sebastian Silva, exhibition consultant Steven Raphael, and film distributor Marcus Hu discuss the current climate for finding audiences for foreign-language films in the US today.
Filming JFK
Thom Powers
November 16, 2003
01:09:51
Thom Powers, documentary film professor at New York University, talks about the career of political documentarian Bob Drew.
Swimming with Dolphins
Jonathan Bird
September 18, 2007
00:09:18
Jonathan Bird presents a slide show and talk on his experiences with wild dolphins in the Bahamas. For over 10 years, Bird has been traveling to the Bahamas to swim with wild Spotted Dolphins. He has learned about their habits and behaviors, as well as how to interact with them.
Civil Rights Movement on Film
Ernest C. Withers
January 19, 2004
00:53:00
Ernest C. Withers talks about his photojournalism career, which took him on travels with Martin Luther King Jr., Medgar Evers, and other figures in the civil rights movement.
Documentary Filmmaking Today
Lucia Small
June 20, 2008
01:19:10
Critic and filmmaker Gerald Peary moderates a discussion of the craft of documentary filmmaking among several independent directors.
Economics of Open Content: Film and Television I
David Pierce
January 24, 2006
01:36:56
David Pierce, President of Copyright Services and a consultant to the Library of Congress and the UCLA Film & Television Archive, discusses the economics of the public domain in a spellbinding lecture
Economics of Open Content: Film and Television II
Marsha Kinder
January 24, 2006
01:14:48
The new economics of film and television panel continues with analysis of the role of moving images at the university by Marsha Kinder, University Professor and Executive Producer and Project Leader o
Hollywood Heist: Movies and Myths of the Brink's Job
Stephanie Schorow
01:31:50
Stephanie Schorow investigates the Brinks Job, the largest robbery in US history to date, through excerpts of two films made about the case.
American Masters: Hollywood Chinese
Ty Burr
May 21, 2009
00:44:28
Ty Burr, film critic for The Boston Globe; Albert M. Chan, film and television actor; and Dr.