The Art of Film Funding

Brynn Lucas is an award-winning producer with extensive expertise in post-production supervision, delivery, electronic press kit (EPK), and feature film development and production. She has led numerous successful projects to completion, leveraging her deep knowledge in music videos, film production, and documentaries. Her client list includes Independent Filmmakers, Studios such as WB, Universal, and Paramount, Major Streamers like Hulu, Netflix, and Apple, and Sales Teams/Distributors such as Studio Canal, S&R Films, Saban Films, and Lionsgate. ([email protected])

To learn more about Carole Dean and From the Heart Productions please visit www.FromtheHeartProductions.com.

Our special guest today is Sarah Moshman, an Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker and TEDx speaker whose work has been featured on Netflix, PBS, Upworthy, Marie Claire, CNN, and Good Morning America. Sarah has directed and produced 3 feature-length documentaries: The Empowerment Project: Ordinary Women Doing Extraordinary Things, Losing Sight of Shore, and Nevertheless. She has also directed several narrative shorts including Unbound and A Mother is Born. Sarah is dedicated to telling stories that uplift, inform and inspire as well as showcase strong and complex female role models on screen. Sarah is honored to be the Artistic Director of the non-profit arts and filmmaking organization Look what SHE Did! and the leader of their newest filmmaking program for women over 30: Look what SHE’s Doing! Today we’ll discuss her career and focus on her documentary, Losing Sight of Shore.

Meet filmmaker Gillian Greenfeld who holds a BA in anthropology from the University of British Columbia and an MFA in documentary from Ryerson University.  Currently, she is just finishing up co-directing "Phoolan," a feature documentary on the life of Phoolan Devi, India’s celebrated feminist “Bandit Queen.” The film is now in post-production and set to be released in the new year (https://phoolandevimovie.com/). Gillian is also the president of Cielo Films, a newly-launched independent film company aiming to produce thought-provoking films on women’s rights.

To learn more about Carole Dean and From the Heart Productions please visit www.FromtheHeartProductions.com.

Fred Siegel is an indie film, tax, and business consultant and founder of Fred Siegel, CPA (1997, NYC), a premium, boutique consulting/CPA firm specializing in key tax and business issues for producers and dealing with the business of film, from development through distribution.  Primary practice areas are Consulting, Financing, Deal Structures, Film Tax Credits, Taxation, Accounting.  Working almost entirely with indie filmmakers and their production and development companies, and with a focus on consulting, the firm provides a range of "niche" film tax, tax credit, accounting, and business services for indie filmmakers throughout the U.S.. Fred has worked with indie filmmakers for over 30 years, including highly acclaimed filmmakers such as Christine Vachon ("Past Lives;" "Still Alice;" "Boys Don't Cry"); Chris Smith ("Branson;" "Sr.;" "Tiger King;" "100 Foot Wave;" "Fyre;" "American Movie");  Debra Granik ("Winters Bone,") and many others, as well as filmmakers in the earlier stages of their careers.  Fred is a graduate of Columbia University and began his public accounting career at a "Big 4" firm. Earlier in his professional life, Fred was a jazz musician and an entrepreneur, those experiences infusing his professional work today with an independent spirit, conceptual approach, and artistic bent and an understanding of the life of an artist/producer and the world of business and the interplay between the two. 

To learn more about Fred Siegel visit www.fredsiegelcpa.com

For more info about Carole Dean and From the Heart Productions please visit www.FromtheHeartProductions.com

In his nearly 35 years in the media, Tony has repped luminaries such as Stan Lee and William Shatner, written speeches for Bill Gates and various CEOs/public figures and worked on high profile national PR campaigns. He has produced documentaries, such as Marvel Then and Now: An Evening with Stan Lee and worked on numerous not-for-profit campaigns for The Hero Initiative and Consent Florida. He is a former award-winning journalist and currently a columnist on various pop culture and political news outlets. In recent years, he has developed various properties for film and television, and acted as a publicist for several feature film productions.

Today Tony supports and works with independent filmmakers to create Marketing and public relations plans to attract your audience during production.

For more info abou Carole Dean and From the Heart Productions please visit www.FromtheHeartProductions.com.

Director So Yun Um, discusses her Sundance supported documentary, Liquor Store Dreams. The film is about two Korean American children of liquor store owners reconciling their dreams with those of their immigrant parents, against the backdrop of struggles for racial equity in Los Angeles.

Helen Hall’s music has been performed and broadcast internationally, in festivals such as New York’s Bang on a Can, the Subtropic Music Festival in Florida, and in prestigious venues such as Merkin Concert Hall in New York. Her writing and research has been published by Leonardo Magazine (MIT Press), and her music is published by Da Vinci Edition (Japan).

She is currently in production with Pictures of Infinity. The film is based on more than 20 years of her original research and received the Roy W. Dean award in 2013 for this important historical film.

To learn more about Carole Dean and From the Heart Productions please visit www.FromtheHeartProductions.com.

Our special guest today is director and producer Nancy Svendsen. A passionate storyteller since her childhood in rural Iowa, Nancy recently turned from the healthcare field to filmmaking. Her first feature documentary, "Pasang: In the Shadow of Everest," tells the story of the indigenous trailblazer Pasang Lhamu Sherpa, who battled racism, gender discrimination, and political opposition in her quest to become the first Nepali woman to summit Mt. Everest. Nancy is related to Pasang by marriage. Her film played at numerous festivals worldwide and received many accolades including winning the Charlie Fowler Best Adventure Film at Mountainfilm and the Clio Visualizing History Prize for the Advancement of Women in Film at the Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival. The film also won best documentary and best mountaineering film awards in Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Slovenia, the UK, and South Korea and India. Today we’ll learn more about Nancy's journey telling Pasang's story.

Filmmaker and Author Rona Edwards, shares tips from her book, The Complete Filmmaker’s Guide to Film Festivals: Your All Access Pass to Launching Your Film on the Festival Circuit, soon to be in its 2nd edition.

Breaking Boundaries: Diversity and Humor in Television with Hollis Rich. To contact Hollis send your email to [email protected]. 

To learn more about Carole Dean and From the Heart Productions please visit www.FromtheHeartProductions.com.