Creative Distribution 101

"Creative Distribution 101" features interviews with experts and filmmakers who have used creative, alternative and non traditional ways to get their films out there. Whether you're interested in the future of filmmaking, or just want to learn some distribution tips, this is for you !

Carlos A. Gutiérrez, Cinema Tropical Co-Founder 01/25/2023

Carlos A. Gutiérrez, Cinema Tropical Co-Founder This interview was recorded in July 2022 and dives into the entire film ecosystem. Carlos serves on the board of directors of Film Forum and is the Co-founder and Executive Director of Cinema Tropical, a New York-based non-profit and media arts organization that has become the leading presenter of Latin American cinema in the United States, founded in 2001 with the mission of distributing, programming and promoting what was to become the biggest boom of Latin American cinema in decades. Carlos is also one of the co-founding members of the coalition in formation Distribution Advocates. /episode/index/show/creativedistribution101/id/25725360

Christie Marchese - Kinema 12/15/2022

Christie Marchese - Kinema Christie Marchese is the founder and CEO of Kinema, a social cinema platform connecting films to in-person and virtual audiences. Before Kinema, Christie founded the award-winning impact agency Picture Motion in 2012, developing grassroots marketing and social action campaigns for films such as Free Solo, 13th, Fed Up, and many more. This episode dives into what filmmakers can expect from working with the Kinema platform, and what role this new company plays in the indie film ecosystem. /episode/index/show/creativedistribution101/id/25341201

OVID.tv 10/25/2022

OVID.tv Jonathan Miller runs the new subscription video-on-demand service called OVID.tv. which is a collaborative effort between several documentary distributors. Jonathan is also president of the distributor Icarus Films. OVID.tv aims to provide North American viewers with access to documentaries, independent films, and notable works of international cinema, that may be unavailable on other platforms, streaming a library of over 1600 titles. The content partners behind OVID are a group of established distribution companies. OVID was founded with a commitment to openness and transparency regarding their data. /episode/index/show/creativedistribution101/id/24796470

Karin Chien 10/06/2022

Karin Chien In this episode, we are exploring more radical paths for indie distribution with Karin Chien, an award-winning producer and distributor. She is the founder and president of , the leading distributor of independent, contemporary Chinese cinema. She is also one of the co-founding members of the "coalition in formation" called Distribution Advocates. /episode/index/show/creativedistribution101/id/24608868

TikTok 101 - Sarah Kambe Holland and Mollie Mulvey 07/13/2022

TikTok 101 - Sarah Kambe Holland and Mollie Mulvey Two young filmmakers Sarah Kambe Holland and Mollie Mulvey share tips and insights from their successful TikTok experiences for their films Egghead & Twinkie and The Better Part. Learn how to leverage TikTok to build your audience. /episode/index/show/creativedistribution101/id/23700803

Naomi McDougall Jones - DIY Digital & the Distribution Ecosystem 06/29/2022

Naomi McDougall Jones - DIY Digital & the Distribution Ecosystem Naomi McDougall Jones was a guest on this podcast before talking about her second feature film called , which developed into the Joyful Vampire Tour of America, an innovative 51-screening, 40-city, three-month tour in an RV. Naomi has since teamed up with the former CFO of the City of Chicago to found , an investment fund to finance films written, directed, and produced by women. Through it, Naomi became an Executive Producer of the acclaimed documentary feature film, which premiered at Sundance in 2021. She was also a writer for season 1 of Amazon's original series, The New Yorker Presents. In this episode Naomi dives into everything she's learned about the film ecosystem, starting with her DIY iTunes strategy. /episode/index/show/creativedistribution101/id/23576366

Audience Building with Michaela Bethune, Participant 06/23/2022

Audience Building with Michaela Bethune, Participant Michaela Bethune is Vice President of Audience Development for Participant, which is a global media company dedicated to entertainment that engages audiences to participate in social change. Previously, Michaela was Head of Campaigns for DoSomething.org, the largest tech company exclusively for young people and social change, and she led California’s digital strategy and voter mobilization programs for Elizabeth Warren’s presidential campaign. Today, Michaela leads impact campaign strategy for Participant. Participant’s more than 100 films include academy award winners Spotlight, "American Factory", "CITIZENFOUR", "The Cove" and "An Inconvenient Truth", and recently the award-winning film "Judas and the Black Messiah" which we will talk about today. /episode/index/show/creativedistribution101/id/23518169

Ani Mercedes - Looky Looky Pictures 04/27/2022

Ani Mercedes - Looky Looky Pictures Ani Mercedes who is C.E.O., Founder and Impact Producer of , an impact production company that connects the power of films with the power of people. They work with stories that go beyond empathy; that aim to participate in the transformational work of building solidarity with (rather than for) the communities they aim to serve. Ani and her team have implemented and advised on impact production for over 800 filmmakers including the films Through the Night, Councilwoman, Building the American Dream, and LIYANA. /episode/index/show/creativedistribution101/id/22929197

Director Preston DeFrancis 04/20/2022

Director Preston DeFrancis An indie horror movie case study with the acclaimed director of "Ruin Me", Preston DeFrancis. /episode/index/show/creativedistribution101/id/22851509

Director Christina Raia 04/13/2022

Director Christina Raia Christina Raia is an award-winning Writer/Director. In this episode, she dives into an intriguing distribution case study and the film ecosystem. She is the Founder of was also head of education at crowdfunding & distribution platform Seed & Spark. Her work, consisting of over a dozen , a , and two , has screened at film festivals around the world. /episode/index/show/creativedistribution101/id/22779026

Sian-Pierre Regis - Duty Free 04/06/2022

Sian-Pierre Regis - Duty Free Sian-Pierre Regis shares everything he learned on the incredible distribution and impact journey of his first feature film Duty Free, telling the story of his immigrant mother who at the age of 75 was fired from her lifelong job as a hotel housekeeper. Duty Free premiered on PBS Independent Lens in 2021. It was not only a #1 Apple News story, but one of the most-talked about documentaries of the year, receiving press from CBS Sunday Morning, USA Today, NYT, CNN, and getting an IDA Award nomination for Best Writing in a Feature. /episode/index/show/creativedistribution101/id/22708442

And So I Stayed - Natalie Pattillo & Daniel A. Nelson 03/30/2022

And So I Stayed - Natalie Pattillo & Daniel A. Nelson This episode features journalists Natalie Pattillo and Daniel A. Nelson, Co-Directors and Producers of AND SO I STAYED, an award-winning documentary about survivors of abuse fighting for their lives and spending years behind bars. This is the story of how the legal system gets domestic violence wrong. The film was featured in the NYT, ABC News, and more. It is a moving portrait of Kim DaDou Brown, Tanisha Davis, and Nikki Addimando three survivors whose strikingly similar stories are separated by over 30 years. None of them were believed, and each of them was criminalized for fighting back. /episode/index/show/creativedistribution101/id/22620776

Documentary Fandom with Julia Largent 02/02/2022

Documentary Fandom with Julia Largent True crime fans, anyone? For our last episode of the power of fandom season, we'll talk about documentary fans with Julia Largent, an Assistant Professor of Communication at McPherson College in Kansas. Her research focuses on documentary studies, fan studies and social media. She is the vice president of The Midwest Popular Culture Association and will dive into her research on fandom and documentaries. /episode/index/show/creativedistribution101/id/22000016

The Business of Fandom with Fangirl Jeanne 01/26/2022

The Business of Fandom with Fangirl Jeanne This episode explores the business of fandom, how marketing and fan communities are increasingly connected within the corporate world, which communities get power, inequities in media representation, and much more, with Fangirl Jeanne, a writer, media critic, consultant, and unapologetic fangirl, who built a great following with her expertise in deconstructing popular media. /episode/index/show/creativedistribution101/id/21903722

The Dark Side of Fandom with Stitch 01/19/2022

The Dark Side of Fandom with Stitch A deep dive into the dark side of fandom, racism, toxic fans, the complex business of fandom, and more, with Stitch, a writer and critic who has spent two decades in online fandom and is vocal about anti-blackness. Stitch writes a Teen Vogue column called Fan Service studying fandom, and personal blog Stitch's Media Mix, with commentary on and criticism of both pop culture and the fandoms it spawns. /episode/index/show/creativedistribution101/id/21825161

When Fans Take The Reins 01/12/2022

When Fans Take The Reins Looking at case studies such as the Venom movie franchise, TV shows Supernatural, The 100, and more, this episode explores the power of fan communities to influence storylines and distribution in entertainment, and dives into the issue of queerbaiting, featuring interviews with fans and fandom experts Yael Tygiel, Stephanie, and Chrisha Anderson. /episode/index/show/creativedistribution101/id/21752807

The Supernatural phenomenon with Samantha Highfill 01/05/2022

The Supernatural phenomenon with Samantha Highfill Interview with Samantha Highfill of Entertainment Weekly. Samantha covered the CW show Supernatural for many years. 15 seasons, 327 episodes later, Supernatural is the longest-running sci-fi/genre series in the history of American broadcast television. It is well known for its very passionate fandom who has rallied many times to keep the show on the air and for charity projects. /episode/index/show/creativedistribution101/id/21682979

Fan Activism with Shawn Taylor & Katie Bowers 12/15/2021

Fan Activism with Shawn Taylor & Katie Bowers Shawn is a founding author of www.thenerdsofcolor.org, and a founding organizer of The Black and Brown Comix Arts Festival. He is a recognized scholar and speaker in the areas of pop culture and participatory culture studies. He was a Senior Fellow with the Pop Culture Collaborative. /episode/index/show/creativedistribution101/id/21492908

Director Sami Khan 12/09/2021

Director Sami Khan Sami Khan is an Oscar-nominated filmmaker. His first feature documentary THE LAST OUT (with Michael Gassert) won a Special Jury Prize at the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival and will be released in 2022. His 2019 short documentary ST. LOUIS SUPERMAN (with Smriti Mundhra) about Bruce Franks Jr., a Ferguson activist turned politician, was nominated for an Academy Award and won prizes at Tribeca, Hot Docs, Big Sky, Traverse City, AFI Docs, and Indy Shorts. The film was acquired by MTV Documentary Films. /episode/index/show/creativedistribution101/id/21437636

Director Julie Cohen 12/01/2021

Director Julie Cohen Julie Cohen directed and produced alongside Betsy West, the Academy Award-nominated documentary “RBG,” about the pioneering Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Their new films include "My Name Is Pauli Murray" about the non-binary Black lawyer, activist and poet, and "Julia", profiling America’s food icon” Julia Child. Before she started making documentaries, Julie Cohen was a staff producer for Dateline NBC. In this episode, we're talking about fans, social media, and audience building! /episode/index/show/creativedistribution101/id/21338834

New Season - The Power of Fandom 12/01/2021

New Season - The Power of Fandom Welcome to the new season on the power of fandom. We obsess over films, shows, etc., and were wondering, how does that translate to filmmaking and film distribution? What can we learn about audience engagement, community building, and impact from fandom? This season features many incredible guests and will dive into the Venom franchise, the Supernatural tv show, fan activism, documentaries like RBG, and much more. /episode/index/show/creativedistribution101/id/21339311

Author Leigh Stein 08/11/2021

Author Leigh Stein Leigh Stein's critically acclaimed novel Self Care was released in June 2020. She is the author of 3 other acclaimed books. Her non-fiction writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker online, and many more publications. Leigh was also the co-founder and executive director of Out of the Binders/BinderCon, a feminist literary nonprofit organization. Her fifth book, What to Miss When, is a collection of poetry written during the Coronavirus pandemic. /episode/index/show/creativedistribution101/id/20111447

Suhad Babaa - Just Vision 07/01/2021

Suhad Babaa - Just Vision Suhad Babaa is the Executive Director of Just Vision, an organization that fills a media gap on Israel-Palestine through independent storytelling and strategic audience engagement. She executive produced their 2017 acclaimed documentary, Naila and the Uprising, which portrays the women at the forefront of the First Intifada. Suhad was also an integral member of the impact campaigns around Just Vision's critically acclaimed film Budrus, and the Peabody award-winning documentary, My Neighbourhood. /episode/index/show/creativedistribution101/id/19669109

In My Blood It Runs 06/24/2021

In My Blood It Runs In My Blood It Runs was made and distributed through a deeply collaborative process between the filmmaking team and the communities in the film, which this episode dives into. The acclaimed documentary was directed by Maya Newell who has previously directed the 2015 film Gayby Baby which streamed on Netflix. Rachel Edwardson, producer, is a Native from Alaska and her documentary series on the history of the Iñupiaq was the first all-native produced and directed history series in the United States. /episode/index/show/creativedistribution101/id/19587677

Eliza Licht 06/17/2021

Eliza Licht Eliza Licht has been working in the social-issue documentary field for 20 years, and spent 17 years at the PBS documentary series POV, where she spearheaded broadcast campaigns for over 250 films. Eliza has also spearheaded engagement campaigns for over 200 films, including American Promise & Food, Inc. /episode/index/show/creativedistribution101/id/19509152

Vanessa Cuervo Forero 06/10/2021

Vanessa Cuervo Forero Vanessa Cuervo Forero is a queer feminist Colombian cultural organizer, dancer & impact strategist working across art, activism & social justice. As part of the peace process in Colombia, she supports the ongoing work of the Colombian Truth Commission as an advisor for Historias en Kilometros. In this episode, she talks about various award-winning film projects she collaborated on. /episode/index/show/creativedistribution101/id/19425554

Andraéa LaVant - "Crip Camp" 06/03/2021

Andraéa LaVant - "Crip Camp" Welcome to our new season, "The Power of Community"! /episode/index/show/creativedistribution101/id/19338965

"Just Mercy" & Represent Justice 05/12/2021

"Just Mercy" & Represent Justice This episode features Gretel Truong and Carla Fleisher at Represent Justice, which started as an impact campaign inspired by the life and legacy of Bryan Stevenson, featured in the film "Just Mercy", starring Michael B. Jordan and Oscar winners Jamie Foxx and Brie Larson. The campaign was launched alongside the Warner Bros. theatrical release of the film. Represent Justice’s mission is to turn stories into action to change the justice system while building the capacity of system-impacted communities. /episode/index/show/creativedistribution101/id/19073963

Sriyanka Ray 07/01/2020

Sriyanka Ray Sriyanka Ray is a Brooklyn based Indian Video Journalist, Storyteller and Producer. She works as a Senior Producer at BRIC TV, an Emmy Award-winning cable TV and digital network for Brooklyn, New York. She helped create and develop BRIC TV's #BHeard strand of public affairs programming. Her films have broadcast on U.S. public television and earned her eight NY Emmy® nominations among other accolades. In 2018, Sriyanka and her team won a NY Emmy Award for their town hall on school segregation in NYC. /episode/index/show/creativedistribution101/id/15051767

Sonya Childress 06/18/2020

Sonya Childress Sonya Childress served as the Director of Partnerships and Engagement for Firelight Media for 16 years, where she led impact campaigns for veteran director Stanley Nelson’s films, including Freedom Summer, Freedom Riders, Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Black Colleges and Universities and The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution. She currently serves as a Senior Fellow with the Perspective Fund. /episode/index/show/creativedistribution101/id/14868374

Creative Distribution 101

TOPICS