One of my favorite film events I have ever covered was this year’s inaugural First Time Fest, which was a film festival made up of films from first-time writers and directors. It also featured panels of several famous film industry figures talking about their first films and the challenges they faced, including Sofia Coppola, Christine Vachon, Michael Shannon, and Philip Seymour Hoffman. The event ended with a gala that featured Martin Scorsese presenting Darren Aronofsky with the John Huston Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cinema (Huston’s first film, The Maltese Falcon, remains one of the best debut films ever made). However, the best part of the festival was meeting many of the filmmakers and discussing with them their films — most of which were wonderful. You can read about how much fun I had (and why film lovers should continue to support this unique festival) in my wrap up report here.
I’m happy to announce that the First Time Fest will be returning next year, and it is currently seeking entries for consideration for the festival competition. An entry may be a feature-length narrative film or documentary and must be the “very first feature of the writer, director, producer, editor, cinematographer or composer of each film” and submissions are accepted from all over the world. However, as co-founder Johanna Bennett likes to say, the First Time Fest is really a contest in disguise as a film festival. That’s because the Grand Prize winning film receives a theatrical release in New York and Los Angeles and full international sales representation. In other words, it’s the big break that every first time filmmaker is looking for. Though the Grand Prize winner last year was Sal, other films in the competition have sinced been picked up for distribution (including ZIPPER, and my favorite, Junction).
The 2nd Annual First Time Fest will be held April 3-7, 2014 in New York City and will be hosted by NeueHouse. To submit an entry, check out the submission page here. With luck, we’ll get to see it at the festival next April!
Check out the full announcement below, including some details about an upcoming Kickstarter campaign to raise money for the festival:
FIRST TIME FEST
The Second Time Around
April 3-7, 2014
CELEBRATING FIRST-TIME FILMMAKERS
WITH A GRAND PRIZE OF THEATRICAL DISTRIBUTION
12 NEW INTERNATIONAL FILMS IN COMPETITION
Voted On By Industry Professionals & FTF Audience
RETROSPECTIVE PROGRAM
‘FIRST EXPOSURE’
PRESENTS DEBUT FILMS BY NOW PROMINENT DIRECTORS
PANELS AND DISCUSSIONS:
“How They Did It” &
“Stand Alone! Conversations with the Outstanding”
JOHN HUSTON PRIZE
FOR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMA
Tony Bennett, And Others, Contribute Many Special Gifts to FTF’s Kickstarter Campaign
First Time Fest Partnering With
Village Voice
Hosted By NeueHouse
Films Presented At Loews Village VII
(New York, September 30, 2013) The Second Time Around for FIRST TIME FEST is set for April 3 – 7, 2014, announced Fest Co-Founders Johanna Bennett and Mandy Ward at a kick-off event at FTF’s new home. NeueHouse (110 East 25th St.). NeueHouse will be the location for panels, workshops, selected film presentations, parties and the filmmaker lounge. FTF will continue to present film programs at the Loews Village VII (11th St. & Third Ave.) Martin Scorsese, who presented Darren Aronofsky with the 1st John Huston Award last year, stated, “This venture is very very important to encourage young filmmakers.”
FIRST TIME FEST is a unique film festival in New York City, celebrating first-time feature films and showcasing the first films of established filmmakers! FTF s a contest, a film festival and a filmmaking showcase with a Grand Prize of theatrical distribution and international sales representation. Aimed at discovering and providing exposure for the next generation of great filmmakers from around the world, FTF is a five-day event showcasing new and exciting first films from new filmmakers and the debut works of prominent filmmakers, all in an intimate, New York City setting. FTF provides audiences with an unprecedented interactive experience with veteran and novice talent.
Film submissions are now open for FIRST TIME FEST – The Second Time Around. Submission information is available at the festival’s website: www.FirstTimeFest.com.
FTF harkens back to the days where independent film festivals were truly independent; our out-of-competition lineup showcases the sometimes auspicious, and ambitious debuts by artists who went on to become major filmmakers, allowing many people to see these works presented in a theater environment for the first time, hosted by the filmmakers themselves. Last year, our First Exposure series featured Sofia Coppola, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Todd Solondz, Christine Vachon, Hal Hartley, Nancy Savoca, Mario van Peebles, Mary Engel and Barbara Kopple discussing their filmmaking following screenings of their debut films.
All of the films in competition at FTF are the very first feature of the writer, director, producer, editor, cinematographer or composer of each film. To find the best possible films, FIRST TIME FEST aspires to be an international affair. Last year, there were films from all seven continents (yes, including Antarctica) submitted for its International Competition consideration, 70% of which were non-US films. Of those, only twelve were chosen and screened for our New York audience, including films from Argentina, Australia, Belarus, Belgium, France, Egypt, Israel, and Mongolia; they were judged by a panel of industry VIPs who attended every competition screening. Last year’s judges included Gay Talese, Fred Schneider, Christine Vachon and Ann-Katrin Titze.
The FTF Grand Prize Winner receives what every budding filmmaker dreams of: theatrical distribution. Through our partnership with Cinema Libre Studio, the winning film receives a theatrical release in New York and Los Angeles and full international sales representation, a unique offering for any film festival. The winner of last year’s Grand Prize went to the Chile/Argentinian film Sal, from director Diego Rougier.
Our Stand Alone series featured two incredible conversations, one with seasoned entertainer Harry Belafonte, who spoke on the evolution and importance of diversity in show business; the other with explosive actor Michael Shannon, who discussed his screen career from its humble beginnings to his breathtaking performances in Take Shelter and on Boardwalk Empire.
Between films, we also hosted an array of Industry Panels with notable producers, financiers, agents, composers, critics and other members of the entertainment industry. Panels at FTF are intimate gatherings between attendees and special guests where questions are encouraged and discussion is lively.
Closing out the festival was the FTF Awards Gala, hosted by the magnificent Oscar/Tony/Emmy winning-Ellen Burstyn, at which our first ever John Huston Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cinema was presented by the incomparable Martin Scorsese to vanguard director Darren Aronofsky.
There are many moving parts involved with planning and running a five-day, multi-faceted film festival. Although First Time Fest’s inaugural event this past March was a huge success, it’s not easy for a new film festival to gain traction in a cinema-loving city like New York. Year One was very much about establishing our “brand” and sharing our mission and goals with audiences, sponsors and the media. Not only did we find our concept for the festival warmly embraced by the film community, but we also realized the potential the festival has for the years to come. With Year Two, our ambition has grown, and so has our list of collaborators and advisors from the film industry.
To help get Year Two underway, FIRST TIME FEST is inaugurating a KickStarter Campaign, effective this week, to raise approximately $50,000. And, FTF has some unusual and fun perks for the KickStarter contributors that we don’t believe have been offered before.
· First Film Memorabilia – We are offering items, some signed, from a few classic ‘first films’ such as Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, Being John Malkovich, Reservoir Dogs, Who’s That Knocking At My Door, Virgin Suicides, and many more.
· Keeping with FTF’s desire to keep the movie-going public engaged and giving them a voice in who becomes the FTF Grand prize winner, certain donors will have the opportunity to become part of the FTF Selection Committee.
· Musician Nile Rodgers will be donating a special ‘Nile Rodgers’ Fender Guitar which will be signed by him as well as some of his acclaimed musician ‘friends and collaborators.
· Tony Bennett has offered to donate several CD’s, many of them signed. One will be the latest “Duets” CD and we will be sending it around to be signed by everyone on the record. There will also be the “50 Years of Tony Bennett” box sets; tickets to shows across the country with meet & greets after the shows, (this will include his upcoming Atlantic City engagement at the Borgata). He will also do one portrait sketch of someone from a photograph that has been approved by his management. And, the pièce de résistance, if there is one person that strokes a check for the entire ask of $50,000, Tony Bennett will leave their outgoing telephone voice message — for example …“This is Tony Bennett, Fred is not here right now, but please leave him a message at the tone, and one of us will get back to you”
Village Voice has come aboard as the FTF’s Media Partner and has signed on for the next two years. Among the benefits of the collaboration will be Print, Web, Mobile and Email campaigns directed to VV subscribers and readers as well as an extensive Social Media management program.
Our world is increasingly less tolerant of the risks associated with supporting films by first time filmmakers. This creates an ever more challenging environment for filmmakers to create truly inspired content without the need to focus on fundraising and economic success. Unfortunately many festivals have become so large they only provide exposure to already prominent filmmakers, while others are too small to attract quality films. As a result, too many great films remain unseen and too many exceptional filmmakers undeveloped.
And so, FIRST TIME FEST was born.
Who We Are…
JOHANNA BENNETT, Co-Founder
Johanna began her entertainment career singing on stage with her father, Tony Bennett, at the age of ten. After years of training at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute, Johanna made her film debut in Martin Scorsese’s GoodFellas, and continued to appear in independent films, television, and numerous Off-Broadway plays. In 2000 Johanna segued into real estate, dealing in high-end international realty with Sothebys. Johanna serves on the Board of Governors for Nile Rodgers’ We Are Family Foundation and is an active advisor and fundraiser for The Shang Shung Institute in America, MusiCares, The American Cancer Society, and Urban Farming.
MANDY WARD, Co-Founder
After graduating from Savannah College of Art and Design in 2002, with degrees in film/video production and media and performing arts, Mandy moved to NYC to produce off-Broadway plays with JP Sarni. Together they formed a production company, Metropoleink, and created the pop culture blog JoyHog. From 2003 to 2010 Mandy worked at Radioaktivefilm, producing independent documentaries addressing social and political issues in modern society, such as We Will Not Die Like Dogs, Palestine Blues and Pennhurst.
DAVID SCHWARTZ, Director of Programming
As Chief Curator of the Museum of the Moving Image, David is responsible for organizing and overseeing the Museum’s wide-ranging film and video programs, which include independent and Hollywood films from the silent era to the present, experimental films, documentaries, animation, and other forms of the moving image. He is the regular host and moderator of the Museum’s ongoing series, Pinewood Dialogues: conversations with key creative figures in film and television, and is Editor-at-Large of Moving Image Source, the Museum’s online publication. Schwartz was formerly the Director of Programming for the Hamptons International Film Festival. He is the host of the Westchester Cinema Club, the country’s longest-running word-of-mouth film club, and a Visiting Assistant Professor in cinema studies at Purchase College.
MITCH LEVINE, Festival Producer
Mitch is one of the world’s leading consultants to filmmakers and film festivals. He founded The Film Festival Group after serving as CEO of the Palm Springs International Film Festival. He is also an award-winning film and stage director, was the host of AFI’s Great Filmmakers series, and is a former Special Representative to the United Nations. His current film projects include the just-completed drama, IN CONFIDENCE and the dance documentary MORPHING GRAVITY.
NEUEHOUSE
A workspace, a social space and mind space. It is built on a set of ideas that inspire creativity, collaboration and commerce. We believe that where we work, determines how we work. Where we spend our days should be beautiful as well as highly productive. We believe that an environment can be high-tech, but also warm and hospitable. We believe that work life and social life can coalesce, naturally and productively. Most of all, we believe that where we work should be inspiring.
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