ITVS Summer Summit: Bringing Our Community Forward

ITVS Independents Summit will commence on July 28th and, in keeping with the unusual and ever-changing nature of things, be spread out virtually over the course of several weeks, through the end of August. 

The theme of this convening is Our Community Forward, coming at a time when everyone feels incredibly isolated. ITVS wants to support our gifted community of filmmakers, and at virtual Summit documentary producers can gather and receive support from their peers. The month-long gathering will kick off with a welcoming message from ITVS President and CEO Sally Jo Fifer on July 29, before ending on a hopeful note August 26 with an inspirational keynote speech by Alonzo King, a visionary choreographer whose LINES Ballet has been guided by his unique artistic vision since 1982.

Adapting our all-virtual Summit includes the addition of a new Slack channel created for both invited filmmakers, guests, and ITVS staff to schmooze and support. As well, ITVS will be offering something especially important to the invited filmmakers at this time of sheltering place we're all cloistered in: Brave Spaces, which are private Zoom chats for invited filmmakers only, one focused on mental health and another on reimagining public media, led by professional moderators.

Highlights for invitees include a panel on "Filmmaking During the Pandemic," featuring filmmakers Bernardo Ruiz (Open Call-supported Harvest Season and the SSP-supported Latino Vote: Dispatches from the Battleground), Beth Levison (Open Call-supported Made in Boise and Untitled Storm Lake Project), Phil Bertelsen (the Open Call and SSP-supported Untitled Withers Project), cinematographer Derek Howard (Open Call-supported The Hottest August), and renowned producer Carrie Lozano sharing their experiences and insights about what working during the COVID pandemic really looks like and hard choices they've had to make. There will also be a virtual engagement and impact workshop led by ITVS Sr. Director of Engagement Operations Beatriz Castillo and Sherry Simpson, Sr. Director of Engagement & Impact, as well as two workshops on distribution, a marketing and publicity workshop, and much more. 

We are thrilled to announce the visionary feature filmmakers who will be attending the Summer 2020 ITVS Independents Summit, the first-ever all-virtual ITVS Summit.

• Nina Alvarez

• Colin Askey

• Caterina Barbera

• Emily Best

• Rachel Dickson

• Vicky Du

• Sabaah Folayan

• Megan Goedewaagen

• Hazel Gurland-Pooler

• Monika Navarro

• Marc Serpa Francoeur

• Kevin Shaw

• Robinder Uppal

• Danielle Varga

The Summer 2020 Summit enthusiastically welcomes in our newly greenlit short-form filmmakers to join us for sessions and online networking. 

• Nausheen Dadabhoy
• Milo Daemgen
• Reid Davenport
• Jennifer Fodor
• Ruth Gebreyesus
• Derek Howard
• Madeleine Hunt-Erlich
• Josh Polon
• Theo Schear
• Emily Schuman
• Scott Sheppard
• Asha Stuart
• Tunde Wey

Attendance is by invitation only. Invited guests can use our Summit Schedule and Summit Calendar to see what we have planned.

Follow along at #ITVSIndieSummit on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.