DENTON, January 8, 2019 – The DBFF Institute is launching at the fifth-annual Denton Black Film Festival with the mission to serve as a year-round clearinghouse for creatives in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Texas and the Southwest, nurturing, inspiring and fostering the development of current and future diverse storytellers.
The Institute will provide experienced and aspiring filmmakers information, educational and interactives workshops and seminars during the festival and throughout the year.
“What we’ve learned over the past five years is that there are so many creative and talented people in this area who are striving to transform their ideas about writing, producing, shooting and directing their own films, but just don’t know where to get help,” says Eboni Johnson, director of the Institute. Agatha Beins is the assistant director. “The Institute is aspiring to become that resource to convert these ideas into reality.”
Johnson says the Institute is setting out to:
- Provide year-round programing to assist filmmakers and all those affiliated with the creative process – script writers, screenplay writers, cinematographers, producers and directors.
- Serve as a forum for creatives to exchange ideas, brainstorm, collaborate and find opportunities.
- Establish partnerships with industry partners to support these creatives in all aspects of the process.
- Showcase talent, expertise and technology to further the craft of filmmaking.
Johnson say this year’s Denton Black Film Festival will preview some of the institute’s work that includes:
- Social Justice – An invitation-only Workshop on “Bias”
- 2 Panels: Mental Health and Human Trafficking
- Creative Resource Expo (wonderful offering with various
business, and orgs. Who work with Creatives/Filmmakers)
- The Expo also includes two panels: Intellectual Property and Marketing as An Independent Filmmaker
- Four Workshops:
- How to Independently Distribute Your Films
- What a Producer Does
- Screening and Discussion w/ Michael Dennis from Reelblack on “Black Cinema”
- A Young Filmmaker Focus Group with facilitators from Ghetto Film School in New York.
- Panel and Networking event for Women: Women, Wine and Wisdom
For more information about the DBFF Institute, contact Neil Foote, Foote Communications, neil@neilfoote.com, 214.448.3765.
About DBFF Institute
Th DBFF Institute is essential to help foster a community of creatives who are all around us. These individuals are driven to write, script, produce, shoot, edit and distribute stories that reflect people, events and institutions in the communities in which they live. These individuals produce work that sometimes reflect the harsh reality of life, death and dying. They sometime capture the imagination and fantasy of worlds yet to be found. What all these creatives want and need is knowledge, skill and resources – financial and human. They need money access to money to buy or lease cameras, lighting and software or hire actors or rent venues. They need access to people who can help them produce, shoot, edit and distribute their films. They need a community where they can find the support, the inspiration and tools to succeed.
The DBFF Institute relies on the financial support of the lovers of the cultural arts who, like us, profoundly believe that it is vitally necessary to preserve, share and invest in storytellers looking to create, produce and share stories about their communities, their culture and their heritage. It will seek out partners who recognize that culture is the essential fabric that strengthens the world around us.
