November 25, 2003

THE 1ST INDEPENDENT FILM SUMMIT ADDRESSES DISTRIBUTION

The first quarterly summit of independent film groups in New York City will happen on December 1st at Downtown Community Television. The event was organized by Shane Snipes of Indieville, Dan Bianchi of VideoTheatre, NYC, and facilities provided by Downtown Community Television.

The meeting will tackle the issue of distribution in and around New York City. By bringing more than thirty New York City area film groups together to address the need for creating an alternative system for low-budget film/video distribution and presentation. This system involving participating indie houses and screening groups within all the boroughs of NYC will become a prototype for an eventual national network, outside of the Hollywood industry, that will share in the presentation of traditionally bypassed films and videos to live audiences.

These New York City film groups will discuss various issues, such as attracting particular audiences, sponsors and media coverage, as well as, solving necessities, such as shared advertising, joint offerings and citywide collaborations.
The agenda will also cover the possibilities of working with independent distributors and individual filmmakers in order to present their films, previously destined for video shelves, to live audiences in various communities via a grassroots, low-budget digital video network, thus completing the DV revolution of a film's inception through production to packaging, distribution and presentation all done entirely outside of the traditional Hollywood system.

Participating organizations include BAM, Blackfilm.com, Brooklyn Underground Film Festival, Cinekink, Cinema Tropical, Cinewomen, Dahlia's Flix and Mix / Sugar, DCTV, DVRepublic.com, Freight Film Salon, Gen Art, IndieClubNYC, IndieFilmPage, Indieville, Muddycup, Museum of Moving Image, Rooftop Films, Screeners Club, Shooting People, Stellar Networks, VideoTheatre, Witness, Hollywood East Foundation, and Two Boots / Pioneer.

Contact:
Shane Snipes
718-360-7393
http://indieville.net
Dan Bianchi
212-929-5213
http://www.videotheatrenyc.com
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