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New theater venue looking for indie films

Hello - I represent a non-profit arts advocacy group in Michigan called the Mackinac Arts Council. We recently acquired management of a historic theater and are looking to show new independent films for the public, especially movies that were made in Michigan or in the Midwest. These could be shorts or feature-length movies.

I am looking for some advice about how to get in touch with independent filmmakers to discuss screening their movies. My organization is new to this process, so any help would be appreciated!
 
welcome!

We've got lots of filmmakers on here :)
You might want to provide some information on the financial side of things, such as would you pay a screening fee or would you do a door split?
Also what screening formats can you handle (DCP, quicktime from a hard drive, HD-Cam, Blu Ray, DVD, etc).
 
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Thanks mlesemann! Those are the kinds of things I need to know about. We are set up to do DVD, Blu Ray, or a file from a computer. As for screening fees, one of my main questions is what that fee structure looks like. Since we're a non-profit, we can't offer much in the way of screening fees—what is a typical screening fee for up-and-coming independent filmmakers? I imagine this varies a lot. Most of our events are free, so a door split is probably isn't the right route.
 
You can do suggested donations and possibly make money selling concession items. Filmmakers can sell their DVDs. As a non profit, you can charge admission. That is how a lot of festivals cover their expenses. T shirts and even selling seat placards are some ways of getting money.
 
Thanks Morris - these are good suggestions. We do charge admission for some of our events, but we want to keep movies free for the first year or so. I like the idea of having DVDs and other items for sale to offset costs.

However, my question is more about how to get in touch with filmmakers to begin with. What are the best avenues for finding moviemakers? Obviously attending film festivals and meeting folks in person (I'm in Hollywood this week and have met a few people in real life who work in the industry), but I'd love to have some reliable sources of contact online as well. Are there other forums out there like this one where filmmakers tend to congregate? Or sites that showcase new work that I can browse?

Thanks
 
You could try the sites that handle festival submissions - post it as an ongoing event looking for submissions. If you make it free to submit, you'll probably get a lot of interest.

The 2 main sites are Film Freeway and Without A Box.
 
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