The Filmmaker Program, the filmmaker-to-business forum for independent filmmakers, retailers, and distributors, returns to Las Vegas for a fifth year to the Video Software Dealers Association’s (VSDA) Home Entertainment 2005, show and program organizers announced today. The Filmmaker Program has been expanded to include business opportunities for film festival organizers.
VSDA’s Home Entertainment 2005 is scheduled to take place July 26-28, 2005 at the Bellagio Hotel & Casino.
“The program continues to provide a unique opportunity to filmmakers and with so many success stories of films getting distribution through the program, we continue to grow and are on the path to quickly selling out space” notes John Mitchell, program director.
Organized in conjunction with Had To Be Made Films, the Filmmaker Program is a meeting place for filmmakers and retailers, as well as distribution and acquisition executives. The program allows filmmakers the opportunity to access and experience the business side of filmmaking. Filmmakers are invited to register and attend seminars, be a part of the Filmmaker Marketplace and to advertise their films in the highly sought-after full-color Showcase Catalog.
New to the Filmmaker Program this year is the Film Festival Program where festival programmers and directors can network and reach out directly to independent filmmakers for content.
“Adding the new Festival Program completes the perfect triangle of filmmakers, distributors and festivals,” said Mike Kyle, executive director of the Filmmaker Program. “Each has a synergistic relationship with others and VSDA’s Home Entertainment 2005 provides a unique and ideal setting for these relationships to develop.”
One of the benchmarks of the Filmmaker Program is the Filmmaker Marketplace, which provides a unique chance to display the works of independent filmmakers. Retailers and distribution executives can personally meet the filmmakers participating at the marketplace. For those filmmakers not exhibiting, there is the opportunity for films to be highlighted to potential distributors, retailers, and studio executives through the program’s full color print catalog, handed out to all attendees.
The Filmmaker Program also boasts an enhanced roster of sponsors. New sponsors for this year include DavidLynch.com, Heretic Films, www.indieprinting.com, and The Nevada Film Office, which chose a sponsorship opportunity after participating in 2004. Returning sponsors include Hilton Hotels, Final Draft, Subversive Cinema, the LA Indie Film Group, and indieWire.com.
