The Silverdocs Documentary Film Festival and Tribeca Film Institute have teamed up to present the first “Silverdocs Transmedia Lab” this Friday, June 24, 2011 in Silver Spring, Maryland. From the official press release:
AFI Discovery Channel Silverdocs Documentary Festival and the Tribeca Film Institute announced today the co-presentation of “The Silverdocs Transmedia Lab,” a unique one-day event open to observers that will give six filmmakers the chance to develop the cross-platform, interactive elements of their projects with experienced mentors.
A private morning session will give filmmakers a chance to work closely with the mentors with a focus on taking their interactive projects to the next level and ready to pitch. The public afternoon sessions will consist of presentations from all the mentors followed by pitches from the filmmakers. The audience and the mentors will choose a winning pitch to be awarded $5,000. The presentations and pitches will also be streamed live at and the online audience will be included in the vote for the winning pitch.
The presentations and pitches will be streamed live, Friday, June 24, 2011, on TribecaFilmInstitute.org from 2-6pm EST, and the online audience will be able to vote for the winning pitch.
“AFI-Discovery Channel Silverdocs is committed to nurturing filmmakers at all stages of their careers, and in creating pitching forums that result in real world impact and funding. We are excited to partner with our Tribeca Film Institute colleagues who share this vision and commitment,” said Sky Sitney, Festival Director.
“TFI is proud to partner with Silverdocs on the Transmedia Lab. This expands our commitment, through our work with the TFI New Media Fund, to story-driven projects using new technologies, said Ryan Harrington, director of documentary programming for TFI. “The work from the participating filmmaker highlights some of the most important social-issues affecting our world today. We are excited to assist them in developing story extensions as we believe this is the future of finding new audiences and creating real impact and engagement.”
Confirmed Lab participants
Steve James – THE INTERRUPTERS
The heart of THE INTERRUPTERS’ web campaign is powerfully moving stories of “violence interrupters” who protect their Chicago communities from violence they themselves once employed. Through interactive web stories and a digital “shrine” visitors grapple with personal, social and economic forces that bear on the violence that plagues our cities.Marco Williams – THE UNDOCUMENTED CAMPAIGN
THE UNDOCUMENTED CAMPAIGN seeks to enhance the impact of the documentary, spurring education and discussion regarding immigration policy and border issues, most notably the issue of migrant deaths, through the creation of an The Map of the Missing, an interactive website and The Migrant Trail an online game.Lee Hirsch – THE BULLY PROJECT
Through development of an online strategy that includes a website, short “webisodes,” and use of social media, THE BULLY PROJECT will build an online community/movement to create awareness of the film and the issue of bullying.Margaret Brown – THE GREAT INVISIBLE
THE GREAT INVISIBLE is an interactive look at the global oil economy through the lens of characters that work in the oil and fishing industries on the Gulf Coast.Amir Bar-lev – THE TILLMAN STORY INTERACTIVE EDITION
THE TILLMAN STORY INTERACTIVE EDITION is a groundbreaking website that allows audiences to actively participate in the acclaimed 2010 documentary The Tillman Story while viewing it; a navigable platform through which audiences can view outtakes, investigate documents, interact with others, and keep up to date on the latest developments in the Tillman controversy.Michael Collins and Marty Syjuco – GIVE UP TOMORROW
Much more than a film, GIVE UP TOMORROW is a call to action with the goal of working across multiple platforms to galvanize international support for organizations and communities working to change perceptions and initiate strategic action around the death penalty, wrongful convictions, lack of democratic media and miscarriages of justice wherever they occur.Confirmed Lab mentors
Wendy Levy – Director of Creative Programming, BAVC:
http://www.bavc.org/producersinstituteLina Srivastava – Principal of Lina Srivastava Consulting and creator of the Transmedia Activism framework:
http://linasrivastava.blogspot.com/
http://transmediaactivism.wordpress.com/Mark Belinsky – Co-founder of Digital Democracy:
http://digital-democracy.org/Susana Ruiz – Co-founder of Take Action Games:
http://takeactiongames.comBen Moskowitz – Media Team Lead at Mozilla:
https://www.drumbeat.org/en-US/benmoskowitz/Zach Wise – Freelance producer and Associate Professor at the Medill School at Northwestern University:
http://digitalartwork.net
