After supporting a variety of packages uplifting the impartial movie group, together with Sundance’s Art of Nonfiction and the Dear Producer Award, philanthropist, grant maker and producer and govt producer (Pahokee, Aleph, The Tuba Thieves), Maida Lynn not too long ago introduced by her firm Facet a brand new “experimental” initiative, the Producer Group. Rather than the normal mannequin of offering project-specific assist that sees grantees working individually, and totally different in some ways from the prevalent “lab” mannequin, the place supported filmmakers collect for transient bursts of mentorship from trade professionals, the Producer Group will try and foster collaboration between producers and “create a space for creative inspiration and professional growth.” Three-to-five producers will obtain an annual residing stipend of at the very least $25,000 in the course of the Group’s three-year time period. They will probably be anticipated to commit the equal of two days a month to the Group, meet every year and create “a small producing community.” “Upon completion of the three-year term,” states the grant utility, “participants are expected to collectively document, gather and share aspects of their experience to the wider documentary community in order to benefit producers and the field at large.”
To study extra in regards to the Producer Group, which is open to producers with at the very least two accomplished feature-length credit, Filmmaker interviewed Lynn by way of electronic mail. The Producer Group application is presently open and has a deadline of this coming Monday, November 13, at midnight.
Filmmaker: Tell us extra about what you see this Producer Group program trying like in observe on a month-to-month, or year-to-year, foundation. You write, “It will center the well-being of a collective, explore new avenues for producer-to-producer collaboration, and create a space for creative inspiration and professional growth.” How do you see these objectives being manifested? Or, will that manifestation be a results of the collective’s resolution?
Lynn: It’s the latter. As a funder, I wish to watch out about being overly prescriptive, so I consider this initiative as a container for exploration, creativity and experimentation for the individuals with the deepest experience: producers themselves. The query it’s asking is, “What happens when a small group of collaboration-minded doc producers have a little time and money – aka space – to work together?” What will they establish as their best ache factors, and what sorts of options will they develop to handle them? How will they draw on their relationships and collectivity to work in direction of a extra sustainable model of their skilled expertise? What learnings will come from this that may inform the work of others?
Filmmaker: You already assist producers with the Dear Producer Award. What motivated you to launch a second producer-oriented grant?
Lynn: I suppose I’m a funder who likes to go deep. I turned extra passionate in regards to the particular challenges of the indie producer following the making of Pahokee (Sundance ‘19), which taught me everything I didn’t learn about producing, that I’d need to be about 30 years youthful to have the time and power to study all of it, and that it’s a really robust however important function in bringing to life the sorts of movies I really like. My first targeted assist for producers have been common working grants to the DPA and Dear Producer; I’m proud to say I used to be the primary funder of each of those initiatives and nonetheless contemplate them amongst my highest leverage grants. I’d lengthy been dreaming of a mechanism to make grants to individuals (vs. initiatives), which was the genesis of the Dear Producer Award. This new initiative represents a deepening of my understanding of the context for producers and an evolution in my grant-making, which is very influenced by the values and practices of trust-based philanthropy. It’s a solutions-based intervention of course of and construction, with lots of alternative for studying and classes that may be shared with the sphere.
Filmmaker: As somebody who has been across the non-profit house and has produced initiatives which have gone by numerous improvement and assist labs in addition to supported these labs themselves, what classes have you ever taken away from taking part in and witnessing these experiences? What are you aiming to do with this group that’s totally different from the labs you’ve been part of? (I’m considering right here notably about Sundance’s Art of Nonfiction, which shuttered in 2020.)
Lynn: Coming to movie from the world of “traditional philanthropy” I used to be mystified by the dominance of venture assist, and suppose that it presents a structural obstacle to filmmaker profession sustainability. So I’m most impressed by labs that focus the assist (each monetary and programmatic) on the artist. I’m delighted that an increasing number of organizations are shifting in direction of – or launching new – direct artist assist work. The Art of Nonfiction continues to be a significant inspiration to me; I liked how filmmaker-centric it was, from the applying itself (which might take any format of the applicant’s selecting) to the creation of the 12 months’s program. So I believe what makes this initiative distinctive amongst lab friends is that it will likely be completely filmmaker-led.
Filmmaker: In an interview with Anthony Kaufman for Documentary in regards to the paucity of assets for documentaries demonstrating “innovative artistic practice,” you mentioned, “There is a segment of nonfiction filmmaking which is better suited to be supported entirely by grants. It’s okay to acknowledge that a certain kind of film is art and doesn’t have to have commercial potential, but still has a ton of value. And that’s what philanthropy is for… the equity model is very funder-focused and the grant model is filmmaker-focused. If you’re a financier, and you’re looking to recoup, it’s at the expense of the filmmaker having a sustainable career.”
One of the objectives of your new Producer Group is to create “a space for professional growth.” What are your ideas on what that progress might appear to be given your above feedback?
Lynn: The design of this program is agnostic in regards to the movie financing enterprise mannequin, which is consistently evolving and totally unpredictable. So “growth” on this case is outlined by the contributors primarily based on their understanding of {the marketplace}, its constraints and alternatives, the objectives they set for themselves, and the assets required to fulfill them.
Filmmaker: You listing a lot of eligibility necessities — two function producing credit, and so on. — however, much less particularly, what kind of producer, or maybe, what kind of particular person do you hope will apply for this Producer Group program?
Lynn: We’re in search of skilled producers who’ve seen at the very least a few movies from inception to distribution in order that they have the lived expertise to carry to the others within the cohort. They are dedicated to the career and have a need to remain in it for at the very least the subsequent three years. Ideally, the candidates really feel deep skilled isolation and are excited to develop significant relationships with skilled friends. They must be beneficiant with their data and networks and inventive problem-solvers, keen to throw some spaghetti in opposition to a wall to see what sticks, study, adapt, and share the expertise with others. They worth relationships, and can prioritize the time it should take to domesticate and keep this collective.
Filmmaker: Finally, the Producer Group is a three-year program, which is longer than many if not the entire present movie lab and assist packages. On the opposite hand, it’s a extra logical span given the time it takes to supply a movie. Why is it necessary this system be three years lengthy?
Lynn: The timeframe isn’t a lot rooted within the movie improvement timeline as it’s within the actuality of the time it takes to storm, norm, and kind a brand new group – and give you some concepts, take a look at them out, study, and adapt. Building relationships to the purpose the place deep collaboration occurs takes time. The purpose is for this work to be significant and shareable – classes realized and doable fashions for different producers or collaboratives to undertake.