Click on the Video Below and Sample a Session from a previous Digital Hollywood event. For Additional Video Sessions, Click Here Digital Hollywood, May 4-7, 2009 Tuesday, May 5th Presented by the International Documentary Association 2:00 PM – 3:15 PM How to Grow your own Audience: Alternative Methods of Distribution and Marketing for Documentary Films Adam Chapnick, President, DocWorkers Scott Hamilton Kennedy, Writer/Director, The Garden Rick Allen, CEO, SnagFilms Peter Yared, CEO, iWidgets Steve Savage, Co-principal, New Video Slava Rubin, Co-founder, IndoeGoGo Amy Goldstein, The Hooping Life Eddie Schmidt, President of the board, IDA, Moderator Scott Hamilton Kennedy: Scott’s debut documentary, OT: our town, tells the amazing underdog story about the first play in twenty years at Dominguez High in Compton, California, and their attempt - with no stage, money or theatre experience - to produce Thornton Wilder's American classic OUR TOWN. OT garnered rave reviews, and was included on several ‘best of’ lists, including Kenneth Turan of the L.A. Times. Scott’s latest feature-length documentary The Garden, about the struggle of farmers in South Central Los Angeles to keep their 14 acre community garden, the largest in the U.S., was nominated for a 2008 Academy Award for Best Documentary feature. (thegardenmovie.com) At its world premier at the prestigious AFI Silverdocs film festival, The Garden won best documentary, and went on to garner rave reviews from the likes of Kenneth Turan of the L.A. Times who wrote: “Excellent! Its lessons about the levers of power and politics, about rebels becoming the establishment and how easy it is to get co-opted, are relevant everywhere.” Rick Allen has run successful companies in nearly every form of media, and helped to develop or extend some of the country’s most prestigious brands. Allen is the CEO of SnagFilms, a new digital distribution company formed with AOL Vice-Chairman Ted Leonsis, AOL founder Steve Case and others. Launched in July, 2008, SnagFilms equips everyone with the latest in web tools to find, watch and share great documentary films, and then engage in the causes, charities and communities these films spotlight. SnagFilms offers filmmakers an effective method of reaching the broadest audience at a time when the traditional distribution methods for independent movies are severely challenged. SnagFilms also owns indieWIRE, which CNN has recently deemed “everything you need to know about independent films”. Allen previously was President and CEO of Sporting News, the country’s oldest sports media company, leading a revitalization that saw it named twice to Adweek’s annual “Hot List” as a top-10 media property. Earlier, he served as President and CEO of the for-profit arm of the National Geographic Society, responsible for television and film; interactive products, websites and e-commerce; and five other industry sectors. The National Geographic Channel launched under his leadership and became one of the fastest growing cable channels in recent history. Peter Yared is the Founder & CEO at iWidgets, the social syndication company that helps publishers syndicate their content deeply into social and mobile platforms. Peter has 15 years of experience helping companies to adapt new technology platforms and was most recently the Founder and CEO at ActiveGrid, a commercial open source company delivering the LAMP stack to the enterprise. Previously, he was CTO of Sun Microsystems' Liberty Network Identity initiative. Peter was also CTO of Sun Microsystems' Application Server Division. Before its acquisition by Sun, Peter served as CTO of NetDynamics, which pioneered the then-leading J2EE application server. Earlier, he was Founder and CEO of JRad Technologies, an enterprise Java company acquired by NetDynamics. Peter holds a BS in Computer Science from the University of Maryland. ADAM CHAPNICK is a new-model film distribution and marketing specialist known for flipping Hollywood convention on its ear by innovating grassroots, online and digital distribution strategies. He has overseen the theatrical, home video and grassroots distribution of dozens of independent films, from political documentaries to romantic comedies. He co-founded Cinema Libre Distribution, where, during his tenure as President, he distributed over 20 independent films, including Robert Greenwald's Uncovered: The War On Iraq. Since 2005, his company, DocWorkers, has helped filmmakers keep their rights and multiply their profits by employing outside-the-box DIY distribution techniques. Adam’s new service, Distribber.com, puts indy films on iTunes for a flat fee, while allowing filmmakers to keep all rights and 100% of their royalties. Slava Rubin co-founded IndieGoGo to help independent filmmakers overcome their fundraising challenges. Focused on bringing 'filmocracy' to the people, Slava frequently speaks at conferences and writes on the disruptive technologies impacting the media industry, from finance to distribution. Recent speaking engagements include Sundance, Berlin, SXSW, Slamdance, IFP Film Week, & Internet Week NY. Recent projects include producing the short, The Wonder of Sea-saws. Slava also serves as an Advisor to the IFP Film Week and Film Labs. Prior to IndieGoGo, Slava was a strategy consultant working on projects from start-up go-to-market strategies to corporate execution plans. He offers expertise in audience building, marketing, and DIWO (Do-It-With-Others). Beyond his passion for film, Slava started Music Against Myeloma, an annual charity event raising funds and awareness to fight this rare form of cancer. Steve Savage: As President and co-founder of New Video (newvideo.com), Steve leads one of the largest independent home entertainment companies on the east coast. Founded with Susan Margolin in 1991, New Video specializes in releasing non-fiction and niche films on DVD and emerging digital formats. New Video currently markets and distributes over 5,000 titles for top-tier brands such as A&E, History, Scholastic, and Major League Baseball. In 1999, the company launched Docurama Films® (docurama.com), the first DVD label focusing exclusively on cutting edge documentaries, releasing over 250 films since its inception. In 2007 the company launched New Video Digital®, which has become a top tier supplier of digital content for iTunes, Amazon, Netflix, Hulu and others. New Video Digital currently offers a library of over 1,500 feature films and 3,500 hours of television programming from 80 content partners. Steve regularly contributes his thoughts on the nascent digital marketplace on “The Digital Download” blog at newvideodigital.wordpress.com. Amy Goldstein is in post-production on her first documentary, THE HOOPING LIFE, raw portraits of seven “hoopers” who transform a 50’s fad, hula-hooping, into an explosive subculture and along the way invigorate their communities. She is re-reading The Art of War by Sun Tzu to get ready for a marketing blitzkrieg. Amy is a graduate of Hampshire College and NYU Graduate Film School. Amy directed music videos including Rod Stewart's Downtown Train. She directed for Lifetime on the episodic show Veronica Clare. She then went on to direct the femsploitation film The Silencer and to develop pilots for HBO, CBS, Fox, Showtime, and MTV as well as the hip-hop musical feature script Check Under the Hood for Jersey Films/Polygram. She recently directed the award-winning feature film East of A, an edgy comedy about an alternative family facing the challenges of raising a child with HIV. The ensemble cast includes Adam Arkin, David Alan Grier, Rashida Jones, Camryn Manheim and Mary McCormack. Amy also served on the board of OUTFEST for 10 years, directed a PSA for the Human Rights Campaign Fund, and ran a documentary program at a homeless shelter. She was just awarded the HBO DGA directing fellowship.