GO EDIT is donating their grant again for 2008. This is 2 months free in a top editing house in Los Angeles. This grant is available for indies, docs and shorts. We want films that are unique and make a contribution to society. The grant deadline is 6/30 and you may not be finished shooting but you must be finished and ready to edit by 8/30/08. Send us your unedited footage and your trailer and proposal. We review and give the top films to GOEDIT to choose the winner.

Please support all our sponsors with your production needs, at least call them first for a quote and you can find all their phone numbers and information under the sponsor section for LA, NYC & NZ. Tell them you saw them listed on the Dean grant information and how much you appreciate their donation to filmmakers. We have a wonderful group of kind-hearted people in our industry.

From the Heart is saddened by the passing of St. Clair Bourne. He has been a judge for us and generously given advice on occasion. We will miss his intelligence and understand of the art of documentary filmmaking.

"Everyone should have the right and opportunity to see themselves reflected in the cultural expressions of the land in which they live and examine the issues that affect their lives. The documentary is one of the best methods to do that." -St. Clair Bourne

What’s New?

Film Budget.com is a donor to our grant. They have a brilliant software package based on 25 years experience in the business. They work with and for emerging to experienced filmmakers. All info is on their site at ProducersBudget.com I highly recommend their software and services.

Morrie's second edition of this informative book is out now and it is a must for Doc funding.

The first edition got the party started. Now the expanded seconded edition keeps the party rolling.

Nonprofit consultant and author, Morrie Warshawski, announces the publication of: THE FUNDRAISING HOUSEPARTY: HOW TO PARTY WITH A PURPOSE AND RAISE MONEY FOR YOUR CAUSE - 2nd Edition (ISBN # 9780971278912), $19.95 plus $4.00 s&h (Available now).

ORDER FROM:

Morrie Warshawski
1480 Cedar Avenue
Napa, CA 94559
www.warshawski.com
morriewar@sbcglobal.net

Winning Grants

We read scores of proposals at once so to win grants you need to hone your writing skills and knock us off our seats with your first 2 paragraphs. Tell a compelling story, that’s what I am looking for and that’s what funders really want. Leave the history for its section and forget about the technical information. Don’t tell me who you are, leave that for the bio. Just tell me a good story.

In the beginning of your proposal I want to feel your passion for the project, I want to know you are totally connected to this film and that you will be there for the long term. This comes from your connection to your film.

Reach out and touch my heart, that’s what funds films, touch my heart and I reach for my pocketbook. I believe we communicate through the heart chakra so I want to “feel” your film, hear your words and see your images as they will appear on the screen. That’s a tall order but that’s what wins grants.

To sum it up we want a visual description of your film. If you can’t tell me what it will look like then you need some “day dreaming time.” You need to sit and meditation on what your film will look like to the audience and then write about it.

Even documentaries where you don’t have any idea of the outcome can be visualized. You know the style you want in the film and you think you know the direction of the film, so tell us that. If the film changes in mid flight we don’t come back to you and ask you to return the money, we applaud you for finding the heart of the film.

When you can become the film, like the characters in Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 became the books then you can write a compelling proposal. I want your proposal to tell me you are so close to the material that you are the film.

New CD on the law of attracting

"The art of Manifesting: Creating Your Future" book and CD are now available in the store. We have the first chapter on the site for you to review and the CD covers everything in the book. This information on the Law of Attraction explains how it works and why. You will find many of the concepts in the Film “The Secret” in my book, published before the film was released. However, I give you outlines on what to do and how to use this information plus comments from filmmakers who funded their films against all odds mostly using these tried and true concepts. This CD and book are excellent for filmmakers and artists of all types to fund their art and create a joyful life. You might like to listen to the interview with Claire Papin for her radio show, “It’s all Good.” You can learn all about the concepts in “The Art of Manifesting CD” and how they can change your life. Go to the first page and click on INTERVIEW ON MANIFESTING under the picture of the book.

Shooting on Kodak?

This filmmaker often has film deals that can save you money. If you have stock left over or want to buy new Kodak, email her with the film types and state when you are shooting or what you have left over for a quote. Allison is at filmdeals23@yahoo.com

Good news! We have two new donors. Go Edit is donating editing for the LA video grant and Claire Papin is donating voice over for the LA film grant.

Open Letter
We live in a sea of good and bad, black and white, lies and truth, our planet survives on death following life. Balance is the key word here. When this balance is upset then catastrophes happen like the one we have now with global warming. Our job as filmmakers is to keep the balance.

The airways are narrowing; PBS is not open for new voices. Ideas that don’t conform to current political beliefs may never be heard on the airways. Most of our top investigative reporters have been felled. Independent & documentary filmmakers are now our only hope to ask tough questions and bring important issues to light. I submit to you, who else but creative, innovative documentary filmmakers could become our investigative reporters of this century?

Why not bring us dissident voices no matter how unconventional? Your job would be to ferret out the Noam Chomsky’s and the Barbara Trent’s, of this world and let us hear their views. It is our job to find the balance but we can’t do that without the light of truth and that resides in the minds of our people. I beg you to consider bringing us those voices in your films. Only when we have these various views can we truly understand and find solutions to these serious problems we face as a nation.

All of you are in the communication field at one the most important times in the history of man, the digital revolution. Here you are with your cameras, your passion for films and your beliefs in the righteousness of mankind. I submit that you can become our unbiased airways; you are the ones who can keep the pipelines of truth open for us. I believe it is up to you to bring us the various voices of honest, caring and sometimes frightened people so that truth does not become a voice lost in the wind.

Please see the interview page as I have added an excellent interview about film stock for features and docs with Robert Mastronardi from Kodak, Fernanda Rossi give us interesting concepts on creating your trailer and Craig at Able Cine on cameras and current trends in filmmaking.

My friend and excellent Unit Production manager Tony Estrada has written two excellent guidelines for procedures for producing documentaries and features, they are both on the interview page. Let me know who else in the industry you would like to hear from.

We need more donors for the grants
Now, I want to add more donors to the grants and I now need your help. Who have you worked with that you really like in the film industry? Which editors are great, where did you get the best price on transcription or on a film camera or the best price for an editing system and which one do you like the most? Think about these things and please send me an email with any of this information so that I can go to those manufacturers or individuals to be part of our grants.

Free book as a thank you
I know it’s a lot of time to do this so as a thank you, I will send you my new book, “the Art of Manifesting: Creating Your Future” or the E book of “The Art of Funding: Alternative Financing Concepts.” Who knows you may be next year’s winner and get the prize yourself! Caroleedean@att.net Many thanks.