Sundance Institute Artist Services Program Expands Self-Distribution Opportunities to Filmmakers Supported by Six Additional Organizations

Sundance Institute Artist Services Program Expands Self-Distribution Opportunities to Filmmakers Supported by Six Additional Organizations The Bertha Foundation BRITDOC Cinereach Film Independent | Independent Filmmaker Project San Francisco Film Society

Posted Jan 17, 2013

Artist Services Announces Collaboration with REELHOUSE, VHX, VIMEO and TUGG, Offering Filmmakers Additional Platforms and Tools

Los Angeles, CA Keri Putnam, Executive Director of Sundance Institute, today announced that the Institute's Artist Services program which provides Institute artists with exclusive opportunities for creative self-distribution, marketing and financing solutions for their work has expanded to include selected films supported by one foundation and five nonprofit organizations. Additionally, these organizations will join with Sundance Institute in continuing to shape the program and the services it offers.

The Bertha Foundation, BRITDOC, Cinereach, Film Independent, the Independent Filmmaker Project and the San Francisco Film Society will each select films that they have supported to receive access to best-in-class digital distribution arrangements that have been negotiated by Sundance Institute Artist Services. These services are targeted for filmmakers who intend to pursue an independent release plan. In support of these filmmakers, the Institute will curate submitted films and work closely each organization, the filmmakers, and exclusive aggregation partner Cinedigm New Video to develop independent distribution strategies. Furthermore, each organization will work with the Institute to expand educational opportunities to their alumni building on the model of the Artist Services Workshop that takes place each year during the Sundance Film Festival.

Now more than ever filmmakers need to be creative and entrepreneurial in order to get their stories to audiences. Sundance Institute embraces cross-organizational collaboration in an effort to increase the collective impact on the field; it is in this spirit that we welcome the input of our colleagues to further help us shape the Artist Services program, said Putnam. Our hope is that it contributes to the long-term sustainability of independent film careers and a greater diversity of films reaching audiences each year.

With the addition of new partners Tugg, Reelhouse, VHX, and Vimeo, Sundance Institute is expanding its suite of digital platforms and tools offered by Artist Services. Current partners include ten digital retailers as well as Kickstarter , GoWatchIt, and Topspin Media. Tugg is a web-platform that allows filmmakers and fans to create screening events at their local theater. Direct-to-fan platforms Reelhouse, VHX and Vimeo, like longtime Artist Services collaborator Topspin Media, will work with Sundance Institute and its interested supported filmmakers to develop opportunities to sell their films and merchandise directly to end users. All four new partners will participate in the annual Artist Services Workshop on Monday, January 21, at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.

Since the Artist Services program launched in January 2011, more than $3.2 million has been raised for nearly 100 Institute artists' projects via Kickstarter and more than 40 films are now accessible by the public on a variety of platforms and storefronts.

The exclusive aggregation partner for distribution participating in the Artist Services program is Cinedigm New Video. The Artist Services initiative is made possible by The Bertha Foundation. These deals were brokered via pro bono legal services generously provided by law firm O'Melveny & Myers LLP, which has built the legal framework for the Artist Services program and participating filmmakers since its inception.

Sundance Institute

Founded by Robert Redford in 1981, Sundance Institute is a global, nonprofit cultural organization dedicated to nurturing artistic expression in film and theatre, and to supporting intercultural dialogue between artists and audiences. The Institute promotes independent storytelling to unite, inform, and inspire, regardless of geopolitical, social, religious, or cultural differences. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival and its artistic development programs for directors, screenwriters, producers, film composers, playwrights, and theatre artists, Sundance Institute has nurtured such projects as Born Into Brothels, Trouble the Water, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Amreeka, An Inconvenient Truth, Spring Awakening, Light in the Piazza, and Angels in America. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

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QUOTES FROM COLLABORATING ORGANIZATIONS

The Bertha Foundation

The Bertha Foundation has been a proud supporter of the Artist Services initiative since it began, said Rebecca Lichtenfeld of Bertha Philanthropies. It not only gives films the much-deserved opportunity to reach broader audiences but it also offer resources for the filmmaker and producers that assist with their distribution strategies. We are looking forward to this next phase of the initiative and the support it will provide Bertha Foundation film grantees among others. http://www.berthafoundation.org/

BritDocs

Wow. Thank you, Sundance Institute. remarked Jess Search, CEO Britdoc Foundation, BRITDOC is delighted to be joining Artist Services and to be able to get some films we love to audiences who will love them also. Artist Services is just the kind of smart distribution intervention that independent filmmakers, independent organizations like ours and independent audiences need. Kudos to Sundance Institute for having put it together and we look forward to being part of the innovations to come. http://britdoc.org/

Cinereach

Philipp Engelhorn, Founder & Executive Director, Cinereach, stated, Artist Services is a

LINK:	http://www.sundance.org/press-center/release/sundance-institute-artist...
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