Wed June 11 - 12:00 PM
Stories That Matter, Investments That Count: Funding Independent Films
Free Talks
| 60 MINUTESAs the funding landscape for independent storytelling faces sweeping changes, filmmakers must expand their knowledge of fundraising strategies in order to stay resilient in these challenging times. In response to these arising difficulties, A-Doc presents a rare panel featuring three individual funders who have supported fiction and nonfiction films with investments and/or private donations. They have agreed to talk candidly about how they became interested in investing in storytelling, the process of how they find projects, what they look for in films and filmmakers, and specific terms they require. This is not a pitch session, and we are withholding names to respect our participants' privacy so we can continue to have these important insider conversations.
Panelist
Lauren Chen
Lauren Chen is an independent producer based in New York City. Her company, Black Box Features, is currently in development on several feature films and recently produced Thomas Percy Kim’s debut feature, ISLE CHILD. Chen was previously Director of Production and Development for James Schamus at Symbolic Exchange, where she worked on films such as CASTING JONBENET (2017), A PRAYER BEFORE DAWN (2018), and ADAM (2019). Chen was also an Associate Producer on Andrew Ahn’s DRIVEWAYS (2019), and worked on Kitty Green’s sophomore feature, THE ASSISTANT (2020). Prior to Symbolic Exchange, Chen was at Maven Pictures, where she worked on films such as TEN THOUSAND SAINTS (2015), and AMERICAN HONEY (2016). Her team has also Post-Production Supervised multiple recent projects, including THE LAST MOVIE STARS (2022), ALL DIRT ROADS TASTE OF SALT (2023), and THE SHALLOW TALE OF A WRITER WHO DECIDED TO WRITE ABOUT A SERIAL KILLER (2024).
* Rush Tickets will be offered at venues when advanced tickets for a screening or event are no longer available (EXCLUDES: Beacon Theatre and United Palace).
The Rush system functions as a standby line that will form at the venue approximately one hour prior to scheduled start time. Admittance is based on availability and will begin roughly 10 minutes prior to program start time. Rush Tickets are the same price as advance tickets and are payable upon entry.
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