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The NYU Cinema Research Institute brings together innovators in film and media finance, production, marketing, and distribution to imagine and realize a new future for artist-entrepreneurs.
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Thanks to Scott Macaulay for the recognition of work CRI Fellow Artel Great is doing with his innovative Project Catalyst App!
FILMMAKER MAGAZINE is the latest publication to be talking about Project Catalyst - keep an eye out for more news as the project grows!
2014 CRI Fellow Artel Great is a thought leader on media visibility and an advocate for the improved representation of both multicultural content creators and audiences. As a PhD candidate in Cinema Studies at NYU, a filmmaker with degrees from UCLA, and a CRI Fellow, Artel has been tirelessly instigating positive change on both sides of the camera.
During his CRI Fellowship, he has dedicated himself to Project Catalyst - an app that delivers content produced by multicultural filmmakers to multicultural audiences. Through Project Catalyst , Artel is working to give voice to often-marginalized artists and to satisfy a largely underserved audience's demand for better, more resonant entertainment . In this interview, writer/director/producer Kiara C. Jones talks with Artel about Project Catalyst - from the philosophy behind its development to how to download the app for free.
Artel claims that "visibility is power" and we wholeheartedly agree. If you do, too, share the interview and download the app!
Last week we shared Part I of our case study on Distribution as Marketing with Stewart Thorndike and Alex Scharfman. Today, we're pleased to share with you their thoughts and lessons learned on the marketing side of the equation. Watch, share, enjoy!
Earlier this year, Stewart Thorndike was approaching financiers to make her first feature film - a female-driven, female-directed horror film - but was told there wasn't an audience who wanted that content. Disappointed but resilient, Stewart and her producer, Alex Scharfman set out to make a movie called LYLE, find an audience, and fund their next one, PUTNEY. Their plan - to use free distribution of one movie to market another - worked.
We talked to Stewart and Alex, and filmed it for you in two parts. PART 1 is about self- distribution and is available for you now - Enjoy!
Ingrid Jungermann's web series, F TO 7TH.
Back in June, IndieWire's Aymar Jean Christian, wrote a compelling article on "Why Views Don't Matter for Indies," and it's worth re-reading this month as the traditional media outlets prepare to bombard American television audiences with the next season of sitcoms.
The article highlights NYU Grad Film thesis student Ingrid Jungermann's latest web series, F TO 7TH, as an example of the kind of high quality, diverse, intelligent, and progressive performance and storytelling that the web promises and that we should be watching. His comparison of Jungermann's F TO 7TH to Louis C.K.'s LOUIE demonstrates that ratings aren't a measure of success, or art, and shouldn't be considered as such online.
Christian makes a couple of excellent points in his article:
On disregarding ratings and popularity as a measure of success:
Ratings "are best-guesses based on statistical probability and constantly at odds with how and where viewers watch television."
"...virality' is not a significant measure of art." (Glazer, for Televisual)
On the flawed practice of measuring web series' value by ratings, or shares:
"The web has exponentially more channels, so audience measurement is more fraught. Nielsen and Comscore, the major measurement firms for web video, routinely disagree on ratings, often by wide margins. YouTube has spent years trying to legitimize viewcounts on the site, which are scarily easy to manipulate. Google's most recent solutions -- auditing views and choosing "preferred" networks for advertisers -- may reinforce existing inequalities on the site..."
"...most popular videos... are designed to hook viewers in the first three seconds and encourage them to post on their timelines or subscribe at the end of the video."
"...academic studies on spreadable media suggest that what's most likely to spread tends to focus on 'ordinary people, flawed masculinity, humor, simplicity, repetitiveness and whimsical content'..." (Shifman, New Media & Society)
On the great promise of the internet for the proliferation of diverse, quality content:
Non-traditional media outlets, like Vimeo and YouTube to an extent, offer some room for the absurd, which is good because, "as we know from "Louie," absurdity exposes cultural norms and the fluidity of identity. Social life is absurd."
Web series provide a space for diverse media creators and performers that largely doesn't exist in the current traditional media environment. F to 7TH highlights female talent on both sides of the camera, and does so such an extent that the myriad roles for women on the show challenge the media-made image of a woman on screen.
Web series, and F TO 7TH as an example, move toward fulfilling the promise of the internet in its capacity to provide "Open access to distribution was [that can] diversify the narratives we see from the media."
Christian's article makes great sense, and is encouraging both for creators of quality online content and audiences, but is denying the centrifugal force of ratings - which beget reviews, which beget sharing, which begets larger audiences, which beget ratings - an OK answer for content creators like Ingrid? LOUIE might not have the ratings that matters to traditional media, but the show and Louis C.K. certainly have the accolades of the traditional media outlets; the multiple (well-deserved) Emmys for which LOUIE has been nominated since its debut may make up for low ratings that, for a creator of his stature, could be dubbed "niche."
What does the online ratings mess and potentially comprising "spreadability" factor mean for creators who are making LOUIE-level content but don't have his cache or the swooning awareness of the media (which translates to funding)?
This is why the CRI exists. There is quality content at our fingertips, but it must be seen and shared and valued in order for it to thrive. 2014 CRI Fellow Forest Conner is working on ways for filmmakers to better market their films to diverse audiences and have a chance at story-driven spreadability. Artel Great, also a 2014 CRI Fellow, is establishing an alternative distribution network for diverse content - Project Catalyst - which is targeted directly at a large but underserved multicultural audience. 2013 CRI Fellows Josh Penn and Michael Gottwald wrote extensively on campaign-inspired methods of sharing and promoting original independent content.
The promise of the internet for independent filmmakers isn't fulfilled yet, but the CRI is working on it.
2014 CRI Fellow Artel Great has just completed a three-city release tour for the Project Catalyst App, a multicultural media distribution tool that he's been developing during his Fellowship, to enthusiastic crowds and positive press from industry trades.
Indiewire has followed Artel's CRI Fellowship and featured the Project Catalyst app launch events in an article last week. Writer Curtis Caesar John notes,
"The Project Catalyst app presents a significant breakthrough. It is the first application software to distinctively showcase narrative short films, documentaries, and music videos all made by and featuring the brightest new multicultural talent from Black, Latino/a, and Asian communities. With a wide array of film genres represented including drama, animation, and experimental, the app’s content deals with themes of love, identity, sacrifice, family, and more. The app features three separate content channels with fresh names in place of typical categories: 'Reflections,' 'Vibes,' and 'Truth' to replace narratives, music videos, and documentaries. Users who download the app receive a new way of experiencing culture through mobile devices and digital content that reflects the type of programming multicultural communities are clamoring for."
The app is available for Apple and Android mobile devices; download the app here to start watching!
See more about Project Catalyst at ProjectCatalyst.com
Congratulations, Artel!
We're thrilled to announce that Mike Kelly, veteran media and advertising industry executive and leader, has joined the Cinema Research Institute as a mentor to its Fellows. Welcome, Mike!
Named by Mediaweek as one of the “50 most influential executives shaping the future of media”, Mike is currently investing in and advising digital media and software companies.
His career spans virtually all forms of media and entertainment, most recently as CEO of the Weather Channel Companies. He was also President of AOL Media Networks, President of Marketing at Time Warner, Founder and CEO of Americantowns.com and Publisher of Entertainment Weekly Magazine.
He is the Chairman of the Board at Unruly Media and Colspace Software and is a board director of several other high growth companies.
Mike was Chairman of the Advertising Hall of Fame, a former member of the Ad Council and is currently a Director of the American Advertising Federation. He is also a founding member of the Kelly Gang LLC (501c3) and serves on the Board of Counselors at the President Carter Center.
He has passion for his family, great journalism, politics and classic movies. He splits his time between NYC, Martha’s Vineyard and Atlanta.
The Cinema Research Institute is pleased to announce that applications are now open for the 2015 CRI Research & Development Fellowship! In 2015, the Cinema Research Institute will award up to 3 research & development fellowships to individuals or teams interested in the conception, development and execution of new models and tools of film finance, marketing, and distribution. CRI Fellows will use their creative, strategic, and research skills, both individually and collectively, to address the challenges and seize the opportunities of the ever-changing film industry.
All interested individuals and teams are welcome to apply for the CRI Fellowship. Applicants may 1) propose research to examine independent film finance, marketing, and distribution models on a national and/or global scale for film, television, and other media; 2) develop an innovative idea to address a specific problem; or 3) demonstrate a proof of concept. Applicants may also submit a proposal to further work on existing CRI research projects.
Regardless of the developmental stage of the idea, appropriate candidates are academically and creatively accomplished individuals from a wide variety of disciplines. Successful applicants will receive up to $25,000 for their yearlong Fellowship (January – December 2014), during which time they will be introduced to industry mentors, have the opportunity to test their hypotheses and propose solutions, engage with academic and industry advisors, and publish their findings through the Cinema Research Institute .
Each CRI Fellow will be required to attend monthly advisor meetings, contribute to the Cinema Research Institute Blog, submit quarterly reports, publish a white paper on his or her research to the Cinema Research Institute Journal, host an individual symposium on his or her research topic, and participate in an annual CRI conference. Applicants are encouraged to review existing projects on the CRI website.
There are three rounds of application review for the CRI Fellowship.
Round 1 – Applicants submit:
The deadline for submitting an initial proposal is the end of day on June 2, 2014. Proposals should be emailed to miranda.sherman@nyu.edu. Applicants will be notified of their status by July 7, 2014.
Round 2 – Semi-finalists provide:
Deadline: end of day on August 4, 2014.
Round 3: Finalists participate in an interview with the CRI Advisory Board.
Indiewire's "Shadow and Act" featured 2014 CRI Fellow Artel Great this week, delivering an interview in which Artel outlined his plans to reach underserved film communities via his CRI Fellowship. NYU Think-Tank Awards Artel Great Fellowship To Aid Underserved Film Communities | Shadow and Act.
As part of his Fellowship, Artel founded Project Catalyst to "meet the needs of passionate, emerging communities of color who yearn to be inspired by new productions of culture that they can take pride in." Project Catalyst will serve as a platform that leverages technology, performance, and exhibition in the service of media diversity.
This is just the beginning for Artel and Project Catalyst - stay tuned for updates and invitations to events!
Earlier this week we filmed the pilot episode of the illy Salon at the Cinema Research Institute featuring John Sayles and Matthew Weise in a conversation about narrative at the intersection of film and games in an evolving media landscape. The conversation, moderated by CRI Advisory and Faculty Committee member Colin Brown and enriched by CRI Fellows and members of the NYU Graduate Film community, touched on issues of authorship, independent markets, and audience interaction. The conversation was a blast to hear and will be available via Tribeca's Future of Film website in early November. New episodes will be released once a month through May 2014 - stay tuned!
Melissa Silverstein of IndieWire reported yesterday the findings of a study released at Sundance on the gender disparity in the film industry. Silverstein's bottom line is that "there is some great news... and some really sucky news," but the article deserves to be read in its entirety. This is a pressing issue for emerging filmmakers; take a look.
The deadline to submit an application for a 2012 CRI Fellowship has been extended; initial proposals are due on May 11, 2012. Interested individuals should submit an application online, via the Apply page.
Please send questions to applications@cri.nyu.edu.
The deadline to submit an application for a 2012 CRI Fellowship has been extended; initial proposals are due on May 11, 2012. Interested individuals should submit an application online, via the Apply page.
Please send questions to applications@cri.nyu.edu.
