Week 3 - 2022

Weekly Updates
Written By Sarah Mosses

Intro

Welcome to my weekly blog, where I’m sharing how my company, Together Films, is growing throughout 2022. We are working on a range of exciting projects, and I thought it might be fun to take you on the ride with me.

This week includes a mix of personal and professional developments, thanks to a great power brunch with my friends. We started having regular brunches in 2021 to discuss our personal, financial, and relationship goals in order to hold ourselves accountable for our ambitions. It has been so helpful. We each come prepared to our Soho House brunch session with an agenda on what we have been focussing on and what we hope to achieve that quarter. Having this kind of forum outside of my business has been great to get an outside perspective. Do you have a group you can speak with (whether formal or informal) to help you strategize about your vision? If not, I highly recommend it. Whether joining a group such as the Documentary Producers Alliance, Brown Girls Doc Mafia, or just some of your college friends.

If there are particular things you would like me to go into more depth on, just let me know on Twitter.

✅ To The End, the follow-up to Knock Down The House (Directed by Rachel Lears) Premieres at Sundance Film Festival today!

I’m thrilled to share that the Sundance title we are supporting is To The End, the passionate follow-up to Knock Down The House (Directed by Rachel Lears). We are managing social media engagement and website development in the short term until we know where the film will land for distribution. It’s incredible to be involved with this powerful film at the start of its journey into the world.

There is an ambitious impact strategy in place that will require many stakeholders working in partnership to activate. Peace is Loud delivered an outstanding campaign for Knock Down The House, and that community will be pivotal in expanding the reach of To The End.

The film has already been listed as ‘one to watch’ at Sundance by Variety, Indiewire, and Deadline. We need your help to ensure that everyone knows this film is coming. It is premiering today, Sunday 1/23, 12pm MST / 2pm EST.

Stopping the climate crisis is a question of political courage, and the clock is ticking. To The End follows the intersecting stories of four remarkable young women of color who play key roles in the Green New Deal—a bold and ambitious plan to stop climate change and address economic and racial justice in the process. Through three volatile years of crisis and upheaval, from street protests to the halls of Congress, these young visionaries grapple with challenges of leadership and power that they have never encountered before. Featuring Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Varshini Prakash, Alexandra Rojas, and Rhiana Gunn-Wright, this film tells the definitive, behind the scenes story of a historic shift in climate politics in the United States, and a coming of age story for a movement.

The film will have its World Premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, which is online this year so you can attend from anywhere! 🙌

Sunday 1/23
12:00pm MST / 2:00pm EST - Film Premiere
1:50pm MST / 3:50pm EST - Q&A
2:15pm MST / 4:15pm EST - Virtual Premiere Party

You can also catch a second screening on Tues 1/25 starting at 8:00am MST / 10:00am EST. The film is available for viewing for 24hrs, so no need to make this a breakfast viewing. Tune in when it suits you later in the day!

We will be hosting a Live Twitter Watch Party on Sunday 1/23, 12pm MST / 2pm EST and would love to have your support. We have prepared a range of text and graphics that you can use to show your love for the film, and tell us your thoughts on the #GreenNewDeal.

✅ Hosted a Q&A between Waad Al-Kateab (For Sama) and Jimmy Goldblum, Mohamad Hafez (A Broken House)

We had the honor to support the courageous Waad Al-Kateab during the release of the Oscar-Nominated For Sama, to help to elevate her Action For Sama campaign. When we were engaged to support the campaign for A Broken House (Directed by Jimmy Goldblum), I knew that she would be the perfect host to discuss the themes in this film. Her understanding of the nuances of home, and loss, made this an informative conversation between the Syrian architect Mohamad Hafez and Director Jimmy Goldblum.

With thanks to amplification from partners like POV, there was great audience participation, with attendees clearly moved by the experience that Mohamad is living through.

If you have any further questions about the film, reach out to Jimmy on Twitter @JimGoldblum.

You can watch the full recording of the Q&A below.

✅ Attended Sundance Film Festival Opening Party in London

As no one could travel to the Sundance Film Festival this year, the team at Doc Society hosted a small (covid safe) gathering on Thursday night to celebrate some of the selected UK filmmakers. It was great to be in community with so many colleagues from across the documentary industry after such a long time apart during the lockdown. Highlights included:

The Territory - Sundance Film Festival

  • An intro from Festival Director, Tabitha Jackson, raising a toast to the UK talent who had been selected.

  • Hanging out with the wonderful Wendy Mitchell, who recently took over as the Sundance London Producer.

  • Seeing a range of current Together Films clients in the room - some of which I only met in person for the first time on the night - including Sonita Gale (Hostile), who was beaming from a 4* review in the Guardian.

  • Seeing a glimpse of the new feature doc The Territory, Produced by Lizzie Gillet (Passion Pictures).

✅ Documentary Producers Alliance website kick off call

We are working with the Documentary Producers Alliance to develop a new website that will enhance community engagement and operations for the network. The DPA has so far delivered some of the most important initiatives for the industry including the Documentary Crediting Guidelines and Guidelines for the Documentary Waterfall. If you haven’t read these reports as yet, I suggest you pause what you are doing and download them right away.

We have been consulting with the DPA over a series of months on how to add additional functionality to the website in order to further celebrate the work of the community and showcase the range of talent and resources of the network. This week we officially kicked off with a planning call to talk through functionality and requirements.

Having been through 2 website launches at his time at Picturehouse Cinemas, our Head of Digital Marketing & Partnerships JP Pierrot will take the lead on Product Management working alongside our NYC-based Head of Technical Services, Kendal Bessette. The process of discovery and build will take a few months to deliver, and we look forward to sharing the updated site once it’s live!

Client Feedback this week

  • “You are becoming the next documentary powerhouse. Seeing all of your news on Twitter, you are making an impact industry-wide” - Lovely feedback to get at the bar on Thursday night!

  • “I simply couldn’t have done this without you. Thanks for all of your support and guidance to ensure we made it this far” - Consultancy client

What were your wins this week? Have you got an accountability group to lean into? Let me know on Twitter.

Sarah Mosses
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