June 1, 2006Newsletter

Upcoming Events
SILVERDOCS, June 13-18
AFI Silver Theater & Cultural Center, Silver Spring, MD
SILVERDOCS AFI/Discovery Channel Documentary Festival presents this years International Documentary Conference, “The Future of Real.” The Center will sponsor a panel on the future of public media, called “Do Documentarians Still Need Public Media?” Among the speakers are Sally Jo Fifer, President, Independent Television Service; Stephen Segaller, WNET; Ian Inaba, Guerrilla News Network; Gareth Benest, OneWorld TV; and Denise DiIanni, WGBH Labs. Also look for another panel, “Public Television in Action,” and meet other public media figures such as Luca Bentivoglio, director of Latino Public Broadcasting; Donald Young, Center for Asian-American Media; Jacquie Jones, National Black Programming Consortium; Cara Mertes, P.O.V., and Debra May Hughes, Public Interactive. And drop in on Thursday, June 15, for a Silverdocs reception, sponsored by the Center.

Center for Social Media members get a $50 discount on the Industry Pass, at www.SILVERDOCS.com

Just Films: A Teach In on the Poetics, Politics and Practice of Films for Change, June 24
Provisions Library, Washington DC
The Center inaugurates a relationship with Washington, D.C.’s Provisions Library, which provides a salon-like atmosphere for discussion of art and social change with the session, “Just Films: A Teach-In.” This day-long event offers a chance to consider the role of film in promoting justice and social change. What exactly is a ‘just film’? What are the just filmmaker’s rights and obligations? How can film advocacy best be used to reach a wide audience and change people’s minds? How do the public roles played by international human rights films, ‘new political documentaries,’ and historical memoirs differ? Featured participants will include film scholars, documentary filmmakers, social change activists and cultural property experts (and, as always, engaged community members).

Alliance for Community Media Conference, July 5-8
Boston Park Plaza Hostel, Boston, MA
When the nation’s cable access center leaders gather this July, they will watch a new Center video produced by Martin Lucas, on cable access’ role in public engagement. Lucas, the Center’s media fellow, has also organized a conference panel “Being Public Media: Effective Models and Practices.” Lucas has a long background working with and for cable access organizations. “In a time of decreasing localism in mainstream media , it's exciting to get a chance to see how media centers are reaching out to new publics and generating new forms of participation in civic life,” said Lucas.

Annual UFVA Conference, August 1-5
Chapman University, Orange, CA
The Center’s fair use project has been woven into the fabric of this year’s University Film and Video Association conference. The association’s annual conference brings together representatives of more than a hundred higher education institutions’ film and video programs. In addition to a panel discussion on copyright and fair use, the winners of the UFVA/CSM "Fair Use & Free Speech" contest will be screened and prizes awarded. As well, conferees will meet for a working breakfast to discuss how to teach copyright effectively. The Center will also distribute teaching materials, including a new Center DVD that includes a revised version of “Stories Untold” and a new video, “Fair Use and Free Speech.” Browse the Center's revised video collection and improved viewing on the web.

IFC Puts Fair Use Guidelines to Work, Wins Big
Cable programmer IFC has boldly adopted an internal fair use guideline, after saving itself hundreds of thousands of dollars by invoking fair use of Hollywood film clips for the upcoming film Wanderlust. Lawyer Michael Donaldson, who conducted negotiations, was an advisor to the Documentary Filmmakers’ Statement of Best Practices in Fair Use, and used the Statement in his work. A New York Times article May 28 tells the story.

PBS’ Head Lawyer Shares Statement with Pubcasters
The PBS general counsel’s office has distributed a copy of the Documentary Filmmakers’ Statement of Best Practices in Fair Use to public television station managers and general counsels.

Center Director Testifies on Smithsonian/Showtime Controversy
Center director Pat Aufderheide provided testimony on May 25, 2006 to the House Committee on House Administration, raising concerns about the Smithsonian’s 30-year joint venture with Showtime. The venture could limit professional filmmakers’ and the public’s use of the Smithsonian’s materials and professional staff expertise. Aufderheide’s testimony follows a public letter that echoes similar concerns to the Smithsonian director Lawrence Small.

Just the Beginning for Public Media 2.0

At Beyond Broadcast, co-organized by the Center, public broadcasters, bloggers, lawyers, scholars, geeks and filmmakers exchanged views on the future of public media. If you were unable to attend Beyond Broadcast, you can still catch up via blog, podcast and the rapporteur’s report now available on the Center website. Brave New World for Public Media by Mark Anderson appeared on Wired News with a few of the conference’s major debates: what is the new funding model and how do traditional public media stalwarts incorporate the audience to create participatory culture?

The rapporteur report by Barbara Abrash is now available on the Center's site: Beyond Broadcast: Reinventing Public Media in a Participatory Culture.

Get it Made the Legal Way, June 8
Newport International Film Festival, Newport, RI
Grappling with tough business affairs issues in making your documentary? Center outreach coordinator Agnes Varnum joins other experts, and addresses fair use options for filmmakers, on a panel at the Newport International Film Festival.

Creatives, Communities, Consumers and Citizens, June 19-20
Trans-Atlantic Consumers Dialogue Conference, Paris, France
Filmmaker Gordon Quinn (Hoop Dreams, The New Americans), one of the leading filmmakers who shaped the Documentary Filmmakers’ Statement of Best Practices in Fair Use, will speak about creators’ need to assert their user rights through fair use and similar clauses in international law, at a Trans-Atlantic Consumers Dialogue conference, “New Relations between Creative Individuals and Communities, Consumers and Citizens.”

Copyright Society of America, June 11-13
Bolton Landing, NY
At this years annual meeting of the Copyright Society of America, user rights in copyright will be featured on a panel including Prof. Peter Jaszi of American University’s Washington College of Law. The panel will showcase the fair use initiative. As well, the Society’s evening entertainment will feature films that employ fair use, including Byron Hurt’s Beyond Beats and Rhymes. The Copyright Society brings together the nation’s leading practitioners of intellectual property law.

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HotDocs Launches Docs In Schools
A film festival is usually characterized by screenings, Q&A with filmmakers, parties and with luck, a few business deals. HotDocs, Toronto’s documentary festival and its accompanying Toronto Documentary Forum for project funding, is all of those things—and now more. HotDocs launched a new program this year called Docs In Schools, offering special screenings and educational materials for a select group of films. HotDocs hosted 7000 school aged kids and their teachers in free programs. More>>