How We Come Together
Film Fatales members in Los Angeles are invited to an in-person mixer hosted by BECiNE with members of Alliance of Women Directors, Film Girlz Brunch, International Collective of Female Cinematographers, NYDF, Slmbr Party, and Women in Media. Sponsors will be present at the event with lenses to showcase on camera builds so that we can all check out different visual aesthetics. Drinks and light bites will be provided.
We will hear from representatives of participating groups, enjoy small bites, drinks, and explore the amazing lenses showcased by lens vendors: Atlas Lens Co, BandPro, Cooke and Zeiss.
This is a celebration so if you want to get a little fancy, go for it! Capacity is limited. Kids are welcome. No plus ones. We are so excited to have you all with us.
Pitch It
Join Film Fatales for an intensive online workshop about How to Create Impactful Decks and Pitches led by Film Fatales member Jenny Deller (writer-director of Future Weather and producer of Claire in Motion). Moderated by Film Fatales member Maria Breaux (director of Vulveeta).
In this interactive workshop, filmmaker and designer Jenny Deller will walk you through five simple steps to help you pre-visualize and pitch your film, music video or TV series. Learn the latest ideas that are helping showrunners, directors and producers advance their projects and walk away with some basic concepts, design tips and resources to get your pitches off to a great start. Jenny's decks have assisted award-winning film, television and commercial creators land work for Warner Brothers, HBOMax, Showtime, AppleTV+, TNT and USA Networks; as well as national brands like Toyota, Cox, Amazon and Home Depot.
Selected filmmakers received live feedback on their decks during the workshop, including Christy Veeder (Sweet Home Sarasota), Gabriella Moses (Leche), Jay Melena (Grit), and StormMiguel Florez (Welcome to Roswell). Filmmakers of all backgrounds are invited to audit the live class, download the sample decks, participate in the chat, and watch the recording afterwards.
Presented by ShotDeck with additional support from community partners Big Apple Film Festival, Cherry Picks, Minorities in Film, NFMLA, NYWIFT, Pano Network, Seed&Spark and Urbanworld Film Festival.
Recommended Reading
Advice To Women Who Pitch written by Hanna Hart
An Easy Guide To Writing The Perfect Logline written by Noam Kroll
Art to Successful Pitching written by Pat Saperstein
Filmmakers and Financing written by Louise Levison
How Reed Morano Created the Emmy-Winning Look written by Jada Yuan
How To Pitch For Film & TV written by Guillermo Garcia Ramos
How to Write a Logline from Masterclass
How To Create a Pitch Deck written by Alejandro Cremades
Mood Reels and Lookbooks written by Ariston Anderson
On Decks written by Meredith Alloway
Pitching Do’s and Don'ts written by Matt Warren
Selling Your Story in 60 Seconds written by Michael Hague
The Hollywood Pitching Bible written by Ken Aguado and Douglas Eboch
What is Readability? written by Lisa Marchand
What the 'Stranger Things’ Pitch Deck Tells Us About Creativity written by Toni V. Genov
What Was Soviet Montage Theory? written by Jason Hellerman
105 Famous Loglines + How They Work from Industrial Scripts
Additional Resources
Adobe Express
Canva
Chat GPT
Color Palette
DaFont
Dall-e-2
Dribbble
Figma
Flim.ai
Film Grab
Flickr
Font Space
Font Squirrel
Google Fonts
Google Slides
Hollywood Creative Directory
IMDbPro
InDesign
InstantShot
KeyNote
Library of Congress
Midjourney
Pinterest
Pitch
Pixabay
Pixieset
Powerpoint
Runaway AI
Shorpy
ShotDeck
Slidebean
Sundance Deck Info
Tumblr
Unsplash
Vimeo
We Heart It
WGA Perfect Pitch
Writers Market
Episodic Shadowing
Film Fatales hosted an in-depth Episodic Television Directing Class led by prolific television director Bethany Rooney, whose credits include more than 250 episodes of prime-time narrative shows, most recently Law & Order, Chicago PD, Law & Order SVU, The Rookie, Criminal Minds Evolution, and Chicago Med.
Eight emerging episodic directors participated in this highly interactive class as virtual shadows including Alcyia Cooper, Elaine Del Valle, Iram Parveen Bilal, Julia Weisberg Cortés, Kate Tsang, Maya Table, Nikki Taylor-Roberts and Stacie Hawkins. Filmmakers of all experience levels are invited to audit the class by reading the script, observing the live class, and watching the completed episodes after.
Learn how to prep from a working TV director! Episodic directing is such a multi-layered job with unique scripts and visual styles, including different staff, cast and crew in every episode. In this interactive workshop, you will explore ways to solidify your prep so that you can show up ready for success. Bethany will use a script from a recent episode of Network Television she has directed to walk you through scene blocking, shot listing and more.
Bethany co-created two of the industry’s leading diversity director training programs: Warner Bros. and the DGA Director Development Initiative. She co-wrote (with Mary Lou Belli) the industry’s preeminent directing craft textbook, Directors Tell the Story, which Rooney uses when she teaches the WB Access Craft Intensive and the NBC-Universal Launch program.
The discussion will be recorded and a video replay link will be available for an additional 48 hours after the class ends. With support from event partners Black Film & TV Collective, Chicana Directors Initiative, Free the Work, The Gotham, Latino Filmmakers Network, NYWIFT and Women In Film
Recommended Reading
A Guide to TV Directing written by Ben Pluimer
Backstage: How To Become A TV Director written by Benjamin Lindsay
Behind the Curtain written by Scott Myers
Character Emotion Makes the Plot written by Martha Alderson
Directing Comedy 101 written by Ray Richmond
Directors Tell the Story written by Bethany Rooney and Mary Lou Belli
Essential 10 Step Guide to Shot Lists with Free Templates written by Jackson Kingsley
How to Transition From Acting to Directing on TV written by Shawn Hatosy
Location Scouting 101 written by Loring Weisenberger
Top Five Female TV Directors on Breaking Barriers written by Debra Birnbaum
The Art of Episodic Directing written by Danielle Turchiano
The Ultimate Guide to Camera Shots from StudioBinder
Tips for Running Excellent Tone Meetings from Edit Share
The Ultimate Pre-Production Checklist from StudioBinder
Transitions: A Directors Journey and Motivational Handbook by Pete Chatmon
What is a Storyboard and Why Do You Need One? from Vyond Team
Women Are Directing More TV Shows, but Minorities Aren't written by Cara Buckley
Women TV Directors Can Call the Shots written by Libby Hill
3 Reasons Why Great Directing Hinges On Prep Work written by Noam Kroll
10 Things to Know About Directing for Television written by Shipra Harbola Gupta
Additional Resources
Apple Studios Director Program
Commercial Directors Diversity Program
DGA Director Development Initiative
Film Independent Episodic Intensive
Breaking Glass
Film Fatales hosted a panel discussion and happy hour presented by United Airlines at the Sundance Film Festival.
Discover groundbreaking works of independent cinema in this all-star panel highlighting iconic women filmmakers whose work is being celebrated at Sundance including Ondi Timoner (DIG! XX), Ramona S. Diaz (And So It Begins), Carla Gutiérrez (Frida), and Asmae El Moudir (The Mother of All Lies). Moderated by Latasha Gillespie, Executive Head of Global Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Amazon Studios.
Learn about new techniques in storytelling, the importance of diverse perspectives, and how these visionary filmmakers are changing the ratio and pushing the boundaries of cinema on screen and off.
With support from event sponsors IMDbPro, Portrait Creative Network, ShotDeck and The Utah Film Commission.
Consider This!
Join Film Fatales for an online discussion about how to launch a successful awards campaign with limited resources.
Hear from filmmakers who have directed or produced feature films that have been nominated for Spirit Awards, Gotham Awards, and Academy Awards. Panelists include producers Elizabeth Woodward (SXSW winning Another Body) and Nikkia Moulterie (Gotham and Spirit nominated Nanny). Moderated by Film Fatales member Liz Sargent (Take Me Home).
Awards matter in raising the visibility of films for a mainstream audience, introducing new cultural perspectives, and elevating films seeking distribution. In the past 95 years, only three women have won an Oscar for Best Director and only seven have been nominated. As Variety recently reported, “Every year, the race for the Oscar gets more expensive and less inclusive.” Campaigns for Spirit Awards and Gotham Awards are similarly challenging. Filmmakers must figure out how to independently cover their marketing costs and get their films seen by voters and audiences alike. Learn the nuts and bolts of what it takes to run an independent awards campaign in this round table conversation.
With support from event partners Pano Network, The Gotham and NYWIFT.
Recommended Reading
A Brief History of Oscar campaigning written by David Caballero
A New Kind of Disability Storytelling written by Liz Sargent
Academy Explains Diversity Rules for Best Picture Oscar written by Nicole Sperlin
Embracing Self-Distribution written by Elizabeth Woodward
Everything You’d Ever Need to Know About the Spirit Awards written by Esther Zuckerman
Film Marketing written by National Film Institute
Gotham Awards written by Hilary Lewis
Here’s What You Need to Know About Working with a Publicist written by Tom Sveen
How to win an Oscar written by Alissa Wilkinson
How We Learned to Stop Worrying written by Dear Producer
Is an Oscar Campaign Worth the Cost for an Independent Documentary? written by Anthony Kaufman
Oscars Campaigning Has Gone Global written by David Canfield
When Building a Team Around Your Film Don’t Forget to Build Your Own written by Scott Macaulay
Why do the Oscars keep Shutting Women out of Best Director? written by Eliana Dockterman
11 Ways to win an Oscar written by Radhika Seth
Additional Resources
Academy Awards Qualifying Festival List
Academy Screening Room Guidelines
Film Fatales NYC Winter Party
Film Fatales members celebrated at an in-person Winter Party in New York!
With support from our event partner Women Independent Producers.