Week 6 - 2022

Weekly Updates
Written By Sarah Mosses

Intro

This week involved a lot of film festival action, as we launched 2 programs and had a site visit in Sheffield to scout cinema and party venues for Sheffield DocFest in June. We also closed on an exciting new deal with a US partner which is in line with our growth plans.

✅ Road trip to Sheffield DocFest to visit cinema and party venues

@sarahmosses #roadtrip to #Sheffield with our Head of #DigitalMarketing & Partnerships, JP, to check out venues for Sheffield DocFest. #FilmFestival #Documentary ♬ Still Don't Know My Name - Labrinth

Together Films took over responsibility for Marketing & Audiences at Sheffield DocFest last month. The 29th edition will be live June 23-28th, 2022, and we are planning for an in-person celebration of all things documentary.

JP Pierrot (our new Head of Digital Marketing & Partnerships) and I did a road trip to Sheffield this week to scope out cinema and party venues for the festival. Having attended the festival for over 10 years, I knew my way around the city, but everything was new for JP.

Sheffield DocFest is the UK’s leading documentary festival and one of the world’s most influential markets for documentary projects. We champion and present the breadth of documentary form – film, television, immersive and art – in the vibrant city of Sheffield each June. We offer makers and audiences a place for inspiration, debate, development, learning and challenge. Our programming represents our core values – creativity, empathy, freedom, inclusivity and internationalism.

Industry Passes are now available here.

✅ Athena Film Festival (NYC) Program launch

We started working with Melissa Silverstein and her team at Athena Film Festival in the summer of 2020. We delivered the first online version in March 2021, and are now back for a hybrid edition hosted at Barnard College and online from March 11th-20th.

Together Films delivers both the technical operations for the festival (including setting up the virtual screening platform, print traffic organization, and website updates) and marketing (across social media and partnership outreach). Our Head of Technical Services (Kendal Bessette) is the power behind our technical department and has advised multiple film festivals on their technical setup and automation. Shout out to Hannah Gauntlett on our team who created a range of compelling graphic assets for the festival. After months of hard work, it was great to see the program launch announcement in The Hollywood Reporter.

The festival will open with a screening of Mariama Diallo’s Master, starring Regina Hall, Amber Gray, and Zoe Renee as women trying to find their place at an elite, historic Northeastern university. The 12th annual event focused on female leadership will also feature the New York premiere of Tia Lessin and Emma Pildes’ abortion documentary The Janes, as well as documentaries about 1940s female director Ida Lupino and former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard as well as a 20th anniversary screening of Real Women Have Curves.

✅ Human Rights Watch Film Festival (London) announces lineup

On the other side of the pond, on Thursday we also announced the lineup for the Human Rights Watch Film Festival taking place at the Barbican Cinema and online. We have been working with the passionate team at Human Rights Watch for the past 5 years (big shout out to our main collaborator Jennifer Nedbalsky). The festival yet again brings an array of insightful, informative, and entertaining films.

Titles selected include Boycott (Director Julia Bacha), Bangla Surf Girls (Director Elizabeth D. Costa), and You Resemble Me (Director Dina Amer). Tickets on sale Feb 17th. You can see the full lineup here.

We are also working directly with the term from Eternal Spring to build out an impact distribution strategy for their global launch. When members of Falun Gong hack China's state TV to expose brutal repression - lives are changed forever. Celebrated comic book artist Daxiong tells a story of the resilience of those fighting for religious freedom.

Following the success of FLEE at the Oscar Nominations last week, there is an increased interest in animated documentaries, and so we will be reviewing how this can be applied to their strategy.

✅ Participation in European Film Market Think Tank on Mental Health in the film industry

On Friday afternoon I took part in a Think Tank organized by the European Film Market to talk about mental health in the film industry. The exact conversations are to be kept confidential, but I can share that the group included experts across production, sales, press, and exhibition and we covered some of the current issues affecting the industry and some of the potential solutions.

A new initiative has just been launched called DocuMentality, which I highly encourage my readers to check out. It was founded by Rebecca Day (Film In Mind), as a resource to support those working in the documentary industry. She is looking for participants to take part in focus groups. Please consider applying below.

On Monday 14th February I’ll be hosting 2 roundtable sessions to discuss Impact Distribution and in conversation with Deadline’s Diana Lodderhose about mental health alongside Rebecca Day (Film In Mind).

Mental health is an issue that employers can no longer ignore. Encouragingly, the last few years have seen conversations increase surrounding the issue of mental health in the film and television industries. There is now awareness that there has been, and still is, a stigma against mental health. But what exactly are companies doing going forward to change the narrative and support employees in the workplace when it comes to issues concerning mental health? What action plans are being made to change perceptions of mental wellbeing? Deadline’s Diana Lodderhose sits with representatives of the industry to discuss what best practices they are implementing to support people and their wellbeing in the workplace. Monday 14th Feb, 1pm CET.

Feedback this week

“Thanks for sharing your insight into the different sales agents on the market - that has really helped us think about next steps” - Consultancy client on reviewing potential partners for their project.

Sarah Mosses
Previous

Week 7 - 2022
Next

Week 5 - 2022