2023 Panels

Skillshare: Editing Documentary Films with Sarah Garrahan

Wednesday, March 1st 12pm - 1pm

Barnard Observatory

Univessity of Mississippi

Sarah Garrahan (she/her) is a documentary producer and editor from San Antonio, Texas (occupied Somi Se’k land). She is based in Los Angeles, CA (occupied Tongva land). She co-produced and was an additional editor on the hybrid documentary The Infiltrators by Cristina Ibarra and Alex Rivera, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2019 and was awarded the NEXT Audience and Innovator Awards. She edited the Emmy-nominated feature documentary Building the American Dream by Chelsea Hernandez, which premiered at SXSW in 2019 and was broadcast nationally on PBS. She edited the short documentary Status Pending by Priscilla González Sainz, which was supported by IF/Then Shorts and acquired by Al Jazeera. She edited the feature documentary Silent Beauty by Jasmin López, which premiered at the 2022 Hot Docs Film Festival. She holds an MFA in Experimental and Documentary Arts from Duke University. She is a former Flaherty Fellow (2013) and Felsman Fellow (2015).

HOW TO SUCCEED IN THE NEW WORLD OF DISTRIBUTION

Saturday, March 4th 11:15am - 12:15pm

Powerhouse

Peter Broderick will provide an overview of the latest distribution opportunities and challenges facing independent filmmakers. He will discuss:

- the limitations of Old World distribution

- the benefits of hybrid distribution

- the growing importance of virtual screenings

He will also share the lessons of the 2023 Sundance Film Festival.

Peter Broderick is one of the world’s leading Distribution Strategists. He spearheads the distribution of exceptional documentary films and has consulted on over 1800 films around the world. As President of Paradigm Consulting, he helps filmmakers and media companies maximize distribution, audiences, and revenues. Peter specializes in state-of-the-art strategies, including new approaches to global distribution.

Peter was President of Next Wave Films, which supplied finishing funds and other support to filmmakers from the US and abroad. He helped launch the careers of outstanding directors including Christopher Nolan and Amir Bar-Lev.

A key player in the growth of the ultra-low budget feature movement, Peter became one of the most influential advocates of digital moviemaking. Now focused on the revolution in film distribution, Peter gives keynotes and presentations internationally including at Cannes, Sundance, Toronto and IDFA.

Peter publishes The Distribution Bulletin about the latest in independent film distribution and marketing, which has over 9,000 subscribers worldwide. To subscribe and read his articles, visit www.peterbroderick.com.

Peter has written for The New York Times, The Times of London, The Economist, and Scientific American. He is a graduate of Brown University, Cambridge University, and Yale Law School.

Falkner Documentary Panel

Faulkner: The Past is Never Dead

Saturday, March 4th 10am - 11am

Powerhouse

Moderated by Michael Modak-Truran

Deborah N. Cohn is Provost Professor in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at Indiana University Bloomington. She is author of The Latin American Literary Boom and U.S. Nationalism during the Cold War (2012) and History and Memory in the Two Souths: Recent Southern and Spanish American Fiction (1999). She has also co-edited, with Hilary Kahn, International Education at the Crossroads (2021) and, with Jon Smith, Look Away!: The U.S. South in New World Studies (2004). Her work has appeared in Diplomatica, Diplomatic History, Inti, Mississippi Quarterly, Latin American Research Review, and Teaching Faulkner Newsletter, among others. Her work on Faulkner explores his literary impact on writers from Spanish America and the Global South as well as his role as cold war cultural ambassador for the U.S. Department of State. She has received awards from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Harry Ransom Center, the Rockefeller Archive Center, and others.

W. Ralph Eubanks is faculty fellow and writer-in-residence at the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi. He is the author of A Place Like Mississippi: A Journey Through A Real and Imagined Literary Landscape as well as two other works of nonfiction, Ever Is a Long Time and The House at the End of the Road. A writer and essayist whose work focuses on race, identity, and the American South, his writing has appeared in Vanity Fair, The American Scholar, The Georgia Review, and The New Yorker. He is a 2007 Guggenheim fellow and a 2021-2022 Harvard Radcliffe Institute fellow.

Robert Hamblin, a Mississippi native, is Professor Emeritus of English and founding director of the Center for Faulkner Studies at Southeast Missouri State University.  He is the author or editor of more than 60 books, including 22 on William Faulkner.

Satoshi Kanazawa graduated University of Kyoto (Ph.D.) and has been teaching American Literature in Japan for more than 30 years. His main interest is later novels of William Faulkner, especially A Fable. His publications include “Between Allegory and History: Reading William Faulkner's A Fable” (http://repo.kyoto-wu.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/11173/2766/1/0020_062_002.pdf). He also edited The Politics of Aging in American Literature (2012, in Japanese), and William Faulkner and the Figure of Aging (2016, in Japanese). He wrote about his experience of teaching Faulkner in Japan in “To Uplift Students' Hearts: Teaching Absalom, Absalom! and A Fable in a Japanese Women's University” (https://mailchi.mp/43c952b459fa/teaching-faulkner-newsletter-issue-36). His current interest includes reexamination of Japanese literature in the context of the Post-World War II US-Japan relations.

Michael Modak-Truran, raised in Mississippi, is a filmmaker and law and business graduate student at New York University. After graduating from the University of Chicago and working as a non-profit consultant, he started working full time on this documentary. As a millennial, he wasn't sure if he could relate to Faulkner. There were things he reportedly said that he didn't like, and still struggles to completely understand. But during his journey into Faulkner's  life and work, he was able to find commonality. Faulkner didn't seek fame or grand adventure like some of his contemporaries. Faulkner's writing was his salvation. His work demonstrated the inner conflict of the social tensions of his times—and our own. 

Jay Watson is Distinguished Professor of English and Howry Professor of Faulkner Studies at the University of Mississippi, where he also directs the annual Faulkner and Yoknapatawpha conference.  He is the author or editor of seventeen published or forthcoming books, most recently Fossil Fuel Faulkner: Energy, Modernity, and the US South.  From 2009 to 2012 he served as president of the William Faulkner Society.

Stunt Acting on Film

Saturday, March 4th 10am - 11am

Malco

Ned Yousef is an Ole Miss Theatre alum. While in college Ned was invited to attend a prestigious conference in London hosted by the British Academy of Dramatic Combat ( B.A.D.C). There, Ned quickly ascended to the advanced level, usually a 3-year effort, earning him the right to serve a 300 hour apprenticeship with a fightmaster for the certification and adjudication as a Director of Stage Combat.


After graduating Ole Miss, Ned moved to London where he performed for several venues including the Royal Opera Hall and live action shows at Madame Tussaud. Ned also taught stage combat at the American School of London, MountView Academy and Arts Educational Schools on behalf of B.A.C.D.

Since his return, Ned joined SAG-AFTRA and has appeared in over 100 Productions sharing the screen with film greats such as Woody Harrelson, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Hugh Jackman, Sandra Oh and others. Most recently Ned worked opposite Giancarlo Esposito and Paula Malcomson in the upcoming AMC drama 'Parish'.
Ned is honored to be invited to the Oxford Film Festival and represent Ole Miss theatre, Hotty Toddy....!

"In the world of film, good actors can elevate crude backhanded slaps, stomach punches and knife fights to high art"
-NY

Writing for the Big Screen Panel

Saturday, March 4th 12:30pm - 1:30pm

Powerhouse

  • David Sheffield

    Writer

  • David Sheffield has been writing comedy for over forty years. His began his career at Saturday Night Live where he was named Head Writer and Supervising Producer. His screenwriting credits include Coming to America, The Nutty Professor, Boomerang, and Coming 2 America, all in collaboration with writing partner, Barry W. Blaustein.

Distribution Panel

Saturday March 4th at 1:45pm - 2:45pm

Powerhouse

  • Katie McCullough

    Festival Formula

  • Katie graduated from Bournemouth Media School with a degree in Scriptwriting for Film & TV and is also a graduate of the London Royal Court Young Writer’s and Invitation Only Groups. For 19 years and counting she has provided strategy and submissions support to filmmakers worldwide, resulting in creating the consultancy brand Festival Formula in 2014. As an active member of the Short Film Conference and the Film Festival Alliance, Katie is also a key spokesperson on festival issues with coverage in The Hollywood Reporter and Screen Daily regarding suspect and fraudulent film festivals. She co-created the Filmmaker Lounge in partnership with Film Festival Alliance – an online space for programmers and filmmakers to discuss their roles. Previous guests include: Tribeca, Slamdance, PÖFF Shorts, and many more. Previous speaking engagements include: HollyShorts, Heartland Film Festival, BFI Flare, Encounters Film Festival, Flickers Rhode Island Film Festival, Sundance, SXSW and many more. Selected prior jury service includes: Cleveland International, Heartland International, St. Louis International, DC shorts.

  • Ian Bignell

    Festival Formula

  • Ian is a Film Festival Strategist at Festival Formula. He watches films that come into the company, providing impartial feedback on how they best fit into the worldwide film festival circuit. Drawing on his wisdom as the companies previous Submissions Coordinator, he has expert insight into the circuit and uses it to create bespoke festival strategies. Behind the scenes, he is the companies go-to nerd for technical help on anything from codecs to subtitles. Away from the desk, you will often find him at film festivals worldwide as an industry guest, sharing his expertise and giving honest advice. Previous speaking engagements include: HollyShorts, Heartland Film Festival, Encounters Film Festival, Flickers Rhode Island Film Festival, Bolton International Film Festival, Norwich Film Festival, Manchester International Film Festival and many more. Selected prior jury service includes: DC shorts, Indy Shorts.

Post Production Audio Panel

Saturday, March 4th 3pm - 4pm

Powerhouse

  • Jeffrey Reed

    Taproot Audio

  • Jeffrey Reed combines experience and intuitive talents to make him a reliable and multi-faceted audio engineer. Reed is the owner of Oxford-based post-production studio, Taproot Audio Design. An Emmy-nominated engineer specializing in mastering and Dolby Atmos, 7.1, 5.1 or 2.0 sound design and mixing for music and film and brings more than 30 years of experience in audio engineering and production to the table. Superb listening skills coupled with an innate love and feel for music and immersive audio, makes him a top choice of industry professionals.

Art Department: Set Dressing

Saturday, March 4th 4:15pm - 5:15pm

Powerhouse

  • The art and craft of Set Decoration is a mystery to most of the public and many filmmakers. Find out how set decorators “paint the frame” to help directors tell their story. Learn from two experienced professionals about the ways Set Decorators work to create the beautiful, historic, fantastic or horrifying worlds for the cinema.

  • Julie Fanton

  • Mary Goodson

Sound Sync for Film

Saturday, March 4th 5:30pm - 6:30pm

Powerhouse

  • Virginia Brick

    Originally from Oxford, MS and a resident of Murfreesboro, TN for twenty years, Virginia P. Brick has two superpowers: cultivating relationships and exhibiting the highest standards in customer service. She brings valuable wisdom and experience earned from 18+ years in event planning and operations management. Virginia is knowledgeable in Public Performance Licensing, administration of music publishing rights and metadata management.

    Currently, Virginia works full-time at SESAC Rights Management, LLC in Nashville, TN where she has become an integral part of the Licensing Department Customer Service Team. She is also launching her own start-up company, VPB Entertainment, curating a music catalog of emerging independent artists as a "one-stop shop" library. She also specializes in Artist Development, One-on-One Consulting, Motivational Speaker, Event Producer, Music Supervision and as a Creative Sync Licensing Manager for Television, Film, Gaming and Advertising.

    She is the 2023 serving President for the Women's Music Business Association (WMBA Nashville).

  • Dianna Maher

    Music Supervisor

    Faulkner: The Past is Never Dead

  • Angela Green

    Angela D. Green is an attorney in Memphis, TN. Ms. Green is also Executive Director of On Location: Memphis, Inc. (OL:M), which is a non-profit known for producing the International Film and Music Festival in Memphis for 17 years. In 2019, OL:M launched the Memphis Music Banq, which is a music licensing house for Film, TV and other visual media. In 2021, OL:M launched The Auteur Club, which is an online networking and resource platform for filmmakers and composers pursuing careers within the film and music industry.

    Over the years Ms. Green has represented or worked with such artists and entertainment companies such as Larry Dodson, lead vocalist for the Bar-Kays, The Funk Masters Tour, Mr. Del, Mali Music, Lil Rounds, Black Rock Revival, D’Mario, The Tennessee Mass Choir and various other artists and companies across the country. She has served as a guest panelist for the Franklin International Film Festival, International Black Film Festival, Memphis Music Foundation, Memphis Music Commission, Atlanta Gospel Fest, Bobby Jones Gospel Industry Retreat and NABFEME.

    Angela Green earned her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Telecommunications from Purdue University, West Lafayette in 1994, and her Doctorate of Jurisprudence Degree from Indiana University School of Law, Indianapolis in 1998. In August of 2000, Ms. Green opened The Green Law Firm where her areas of legal practice are Entertainment, Real Estate and Corporate.