Artivist Film Festival

Research:

1. What time is your interview scheduled and who will you be talking with when you call/skype?

-I have emailed Bettina Wolff twice and sent her the questions about the styling and management of the Artivist Film Festival. I am still waiting for a response.

2. Who started it and who runs it?

-Diaky Diaz is the Founder/President and the Executive Producer of Artivist.

            “The Artivist Film Festival remains the only event dedicated to raising awareness for humanity, animals and the environment through international films."

                                   -Diaky Diaz

            (http://www.prweb.com/releases/ARTIVISTFILMFESTIVAL/2012/prweb9949340.htm)

-Bettina Wolff is the Co-founder and Executive Producer.

3. What is the mission of the festival/conference? (copy and paste the first paragraph)

-Founded in 2003, our mission is to raise awareness for international human rights, children’s advocacy, environmental preservation, and the humane treatment of animals through film, music, and community action. What began as a Film Festival and Awards Show 10 years ago evolved into a platform for guiding the public “From Awareness to Positive Action” by connecting our audiences to more than 100 Organizations, where they can actively participate in positive change. In 2012, ARTIVIST became a proud ngo member of the UNITED NATIONS Department of Public Information. Among the 7+ million NGOs operating worldwide, less than 1% are affiliated with the United Nations.

-The Artivist Film Festival is a unique and dynamic opportunity for advocate filmmakers to share their work with an audience committed to recreating our world. Founded in 2003, Artivist is the only film festival dedicated to raising awareness for International Human Rights, Children's Advocacy, Environmental Preservation, and the Humane Treatment of Animals. (withoutabox)

            -The name “ARTIVIST” is a combination of “Artist” and “Activist.”.                                (http://www.prweb.com/releases/ARTIVISTFILMFESTIVAL/2012/prweb9949340.htm)

 4. How does this compare with their actual programming choices from the past two years? Be specific in describing what they program (mode, categories within mode, niche, Political? Global? Local? Gender? Sexuality? Race? Any themes that you see? etc…)

-The Artivist Film Festival ONLY accepts Films that address social, global, political, human rights, animal rights or environmental issues. They do this so they can raise awareness for “international human rights, children’s advocacy, environmental  preservation, and the humane treatment of animals through film, music, and community action.”

- Artivist has promoted and collaborated with more than 100 NGOs, (including UNICEF, Amnesty International, Greenpeace, Global Green, Humane Society of the United States, PETA, CARE, Witness, Save the Children, ONE, Rock the Vote, and more).

5. Where is the event?

-Los Angeles, California at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre

6. When is the event? (Give dates from last year if not current)

-October 17^th,  2013

-Airs on television November 17^th, 2013.

7.  How do you submit? Snail mail, online, withoutabox, through their site, etc…

-A filmmaker can submit a film via withoutabox.com under the categories of international human rights, children’s advocacy, environmental preservation, animal advocacy, or the artivist spirit (this category represents films that explore the spiritual and philosophical nature of this interconnectednessàall beings on earth are connected)

8. When are the deadlines to enter? Early? Reg? Late?

-Previously in 2010, the early deadline for entry was June 1^st, regular entry began July 1^st and the late entry deadline was October 1^st.

-For 2012, the final deadline for submission was April 30^th

9. How much does it cost to enter?

-$39 – SHORT FILM OR VIDEO (60 Minutes & Under, Including Credits)

-$49 – FEATURE LENGTH FILM OR VIDEO

10.Who’s eligible, what are the guidelines to enter?

-Any filmmaker is eligible to enter the film festival but the Artivist Film Festival ONLY accepts Films that address social, global, political, human rights, animal rights or environmental issues. English subtitles or dubbing is required for Films not produced in English.

11.  Is there a Student category?

-There is no student category, Artivist Film Festival tends to focus on the quality of the message the film contains (artistic merit and international advocacy), no matter the age of the filmmaker.

               (They once had a 15 year old screen a film he made)

12. What formats do they except for jurying? DVD, Vimeo, Flash drives?

-“Once your payment is submitted below you are directed to a confirmation page with instructions on where to upload – or mail – your video. It’s that simple!

13. What formats do they except for exhibition/screening?

-Filmmakers receive an email on how to upload their videos so if their video gets selected for this festival they probably send a follow up email describing what format they would like the film in for exhibition.

14. How many films screened at the festival last year?

-31 international advocate films that raised awareness for human rights, children’s advocacy, environmental preservation and animal advocacy.

            (Found under press release)

15. How long is a typical shorts block or paper presentation block at their event?

-Unfortunately, I could not find a schedule from last year’s film festival.

 16. How many films or papers do they program per block?

-Unfortunately, I could not find a schedule form last year’s film festival.

17. How do people register to attend? Is there a cost to attend as a guest?

-Limited availability of seats to public. On Artivist’s website it has a tab that says “Participate” and a subcategory that says “Join Us”. However, this link brought me to a page where I could sign up to be Producer/Consultant/Intern. There doesn’t seem to be a place on their website where the general public can register to attend.

18. Look at sponsorship page and see what businesses. Grants and private entities give money to the event. Figure out how many of each kind and note any leads that might be useful to us.

-They had a lot of sponsors from the LA area including a local radio station (which could be useful to Visionsàmaybe we can contact local radio stations in Wilmington), LA Weekly, LA Times, HBO, Fox Searchlight and a number of environmental sponsors including the Sierra Club, Environmental Defense and Global Children’s Organization.

19. What are their sponsorship levels and incentives for each level?

-They intentionally limit their number of sponsors in order to customize each partnership to provide the maximum amount of quality, exposure and attention.

-Presenting partner: $250,000 (150+ Million Impressions)

·      Interactive kiosks

·      30 second cable-TV commercial (LA)

·      60 second internet commercial

·      15 second radio commercial (LA)

·      street flag branding

·      billboard branding

·      newsletter banner ads

·      magazine cover, poster and post card branding

·      red carpet press interview

·      stage banner

·      branding on all event-site camera interviews

·      2 page cover spread advertisement in magazine

·      Q & A onstage branding

·      Commercial slide card prior to all Film Screenings

·      50 VIP passes to all screenings and music show etc.

-Leading Partner: $125,000 (75+ Million Impressions)

·      60 second internet commercial

·      15 second radio commercial (LA)

·      radio podcast interview

·      red carpet press interview

·      40 VIP passes

·      newsletter banner ads

·      commercial slide card prior to all film screenings

·      2 page color ad in magazine

·      poster and postcard branding

·      press wall branding and Gobos etc.

-Sustaining Partner: $50,000 (30+ Million Impressions)

·      15 second radio commercial (LA)

·      radio-podcast interview

·      poster and postcard branding

·      commercial slide card prior to all film screenings

·      inclusion in all event press releases

·      1 page color ad in magazine

·      30 VIP passes etc.

-Advocate Partner: $25,000 (10+ Million Impressions)

·      newsletter banner ad

·      poster and postcard branding

·      commercial slide card prior to all film screenings

·      1 page color ad in magazine

·      2 month of banner ads and links on Artivist.com

·      25 VIP passes

(http://artivist.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/2012-ARTIVIST-EPSK-.pdf)

20. Did they have a kickstarter or indiegogo? What incentives did they have for each level of donor?

There is no evidence if Artivist has a Indiegogo account or a Kickstarter account but there is a way to donate money to their cause on their website.

21. What kind of non-traditional film/video events have they had before? Things like Installations, 'Visual Soundwalls,' VJing etc.

-Artivist pairs a music festival up with the film festival that takes place outside simultaneously. Last year it took place outside on the Barnsdall Park's main grounds.

22. Are there ways in which they have expanded the typical film screening event? How have they branched out from sitting in a dark room in front of a screen?

-Last year, Artivist did an encore screening of the 10 international winning films in New York City at Tribeca Cinemas. They had panel discussions, the filmmakers were present and representatives from the United Nations.

WEBSITE

23. Is the layout easy to navigate? What makes it easy?

-It was not particularly easy to navigate but they did have points of reference at the top of the page such as: Home, About, News, Press, Sponsors, Participate and Contact.

24. Is the layout difficult to navigate? What makes it difficult?

It was difficult to navigate, because I feel there wasn’t enough information readily available to someone doing a research assignment on this festival. Also, some tabs on their website were not “clickable” and information was in scattered all over the place.

25. Can you find the information you are looking for on the homepage or via a link on the homepage?

It was difficult at some points to find out information on the website. The only substantial information available from their website about the festival was their mission statement and a few facts about why the festival was started. It was difficult to find a lot of the questions I needed to answer for this assignment based off their website.

26. Aesthetically, what catches your eye? What's cool about it?

I like the incorporation of the Los Angeles skyline into their webpage design. I also like how at the bottom of the page they have some of the logos of their sponsors,  including Unicef, Amnesty International and American Red Cross. There is also a quote from each organization explaining what makes Artivist such a unique film festival and elaborates on the causes it supports.

27. Aesthetically, what doesn't fit in? What makes it look bad?

There is not a significant usage of color in the webpage. It is also very minimalistic. There are the bare bones of the festival and that is it. I would have liked to see a more vibrant webpage with more information on the homepage.

28. Should there be more information? Is the page too bare?

Yes! This webpage is entirely way to bare. I had to find majority of my information outside their site. It would have been more credible if I had received the information I researched on the festival directly from their site.

29. Should there be less information? Is the page too busy?

The page isn’t too busy but I was confused at first as to why they had all these pictures of celebrities as the header on the website. It aroused a lot of questions that weren’t really answered until I read the latest press release. It turns out that these celebrities were being honored for their contributions to human rights and environmental activism at this year's festival.

30. What would you do differently if you were to redesign this website?

I would have information from last year’s festival available to the public. More information on the page could also encourage more individuals to participate in the festival including volunteers and filmmakers.

31. What would you keep the same if you were to redesign this website?

I would keep the incorporation of the Facebook , Twitter and YouTube icons that link to their respective social media as outlets for further information of the festival.

FUN FACT: “Speaking at the premiere of SUPER SIZE ME during the first Artivist Film Festival in 2004 at the historic Egyptian Theatre, director Morgan Spurlock aptly summed up the spirit and intent of Artivist when he declared ‘one person with one camera and one idea can change the world.’ So, if you’re ready to change the world, be sure to submit to the Artivist Film Festival.”