imagineNATIVE’s 2012 Industry Series Announced

Free Workshops and Panels!
Industry Series presented by Astral’s Harold Greenberg Fund

Toronto – imagineNATIVE’s popular Industry Series, presented by Astral’s Harold Greenberg Fund, runs Thursday, October 18, 2012 to Saturday, October 20, 2012 at the TIFF Bell Lightbox as part of the 13th annual imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival. The Industry Series is the world’s largest annual, public and FREE line-up of networking sessions, pitch competitions, and professional development panels targeted to Indigenous media arts and content producers at all stages of their careers.

The 2012 Industry Series brings new opportunities and a variety of engaging discussions and practical workshops. The series kicks off Thursday, October 18 with Roundtable Talks each hour by Public Funders, Distributors, Content Buyers and Festival Programmers, where representatives engage with artists in a communal environment to share strategies and information about how to navigate industry, funding, and festival environments to achieve success for their work.

“With high-profile Industry decision makers offering support from development to acquisition for film and video works, Roundtables give our delegates direct, valuable networking and information gathering opportunities to grow their artistic business,” remarks Daniel Northway-Frank, Programming + Industry Manager. “The Industry Series is the destination for Indigenous artists and media arts supporters to network and make new connections for creating and presenting Indigenous-made work. You can’t get access like this for FREE at any other Festival!”

The Industry Series also presents Music in Film & TV: A Guide for Filmmakers and Musicians. This practical panel, supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, is the first step in a growing commitment from imagineNATIVE to link Indigenous musicians and producers with the film and television industries. This panel will provide sample licensing contracts and agreements.

In response to the current industry landscape, and as broadcasters and funders increasingly demand transmedia content, imagineNATIVE presents Navigating Transmedia, a highly informative panel designed to assist Indigenous artists navigate the transmedia mountain (also known as “convergent media,” “digital media,” etc.). This panel, presented by the Canada Media Fund, will bring together funders and established content producers in a discussion about managing multi-media projects at each stage of development.

The entertaining and always rousing ROCK YOUR DOC! Documentary Pitch Competition and DRAMA QUEEN! Drama Series Pitch Competition (both presented by the National Film Board of Canada with additional support from APTN for the drama pitch) starts Friday off with a bang. Hosted and mentored by Deborah Day, four teams in each category pitch in a live, staged event to a jury of Canadian Broadcasters and content producers to win over $10,000 in cash and in-kind services. Many past project winners have screened at imagineNATIVE or have succeeded in the broadcasting world, so come and see who may be the next audience favourite!

Don’t miss out on imagineNATIVE’s in-demand MICRO MEETINGS (pre-application is necessary and applications are due October 3!) a networking event for artists with works under their belts or in development looking for sales or financing from broadcasters, buyers and distributors in one-on-one meetings. With over $100,000 in sales annually, this event has become crucial to the vitality of artists’ careers and sustainability of their artistic businesses.

The Industry Series on Saturday continues with Alternative Audiences and Interactive Storytelling: Infusing Indigenous Art and Issues into the Public Consciousness.

This discussion will share creative methods from Indigenous and non-Indigenous storytellers and their works, successes with collaborators and collectives, and their interactive and alternative exhibition methods, to incite new discussions about creating and presenting works that support Indigenous ways of expression. This talk will be preceded by the Alternative New Media on Screen, an in-cinema screening of selected online works and the world premiere of imagineNATIVE’s Stolen Sisters Digital Initiative and ITWE Collective’s De Nort, followed by Q&A with artists.

Ending our Industry Series is an extended Q&A discussion on Indigenous Filmmaking in Latin America featuring attending Mapuche and Indigenous Latin American filmmakers. This discussion immediately follows the International Spotlight on the Mapuche Nation II on Saturday, October 20 at 2:00 p.m.

With 11 panels and over 50 panelists in attendance, come learn, meet and benefit for FREE at imagineNATIVE’s Industry Series.

For complete information, visithttp://imagineNative.org/festival2012/industry/2012 For questions, please contact programming@imagineNATIVE.org

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