Ignite the Fuse

Fusion Conferance: Ignite the Fuse

Friday, March 6

10:00am-4:00pm Location: Universal Studios

Upload and Links
For the first time Fusion is offering a one-day program of professional development workshops for 20 People of Color LGBT filmmakers and community organizations seeking to develop commercial visibility in today's queer media market. The first part of the day will be spent discussing effective means of using media to tackle social justice and political issues. The second part of the day will be dedicated to linking filmmakers up with community organizations to produce a short PSA or video that will be streamed on the Outfest website.

10am-11am Registration and Welcome

11am-12:30pm Upload One: Community organizers and filmmakers will discuss how they have used media effectively to promote their organizations' mission or cause. They will focus on identifying the problem they were trying to solve/goals (ex. increasing education about HIV/AIDS among teens), the parameters for the project (ex. budget, timeline) and how they got the project made and online.
Confirmed Panelists: Nelson Melegrito (DIVA: Diverse and Inclusive Visionary Artists), Kortney Ryan Ziegler (Blackstarmedia; director of STILL BLACK)

12:30pm-1:30pm Lunch

1:30pm-3:00pm Upload Two: Community organizers, filmmaker and marketing experts will discuss how to develop audiences online and in person. Including social networking sites and how to measure results. Confirmed Panelists: Imoye Francis (Focus Features), Quincy Hussein LeNear (2 Cents Productions; creator of THE DL CHRONICLES), Dalila Ali Rajah (Cherry Bomb TV)

3:00pm - 4:00pm Links: 10 filmmakers and 10 community groups will meet in a speed dating setting with the goal of matching up to produce a short PSA or video (over a period of 6 months) that will be streamed on the Outfest website.

Application and registration are required for Upload and Links. Click here to apply.
Deadline for submission is February 15, 2009. The 20 selected participants will be notified by February 27, 2009.

Saturday

11:00am Location: Village at LAGLC

Seeing in The Dark: An Insight into Cinema by Queers of Color
As race and sexuality top the US political agenda for 2009, an increasing number of today's queer filmmakers are turning both eyes and ears to the body of work from queer communities of color from past decades. Dipping into the archives of the Outfest Legacy Collection at UCLA's Film & Television Archive, filmmaker, scholar and curator Cheryl Dunye investigates a selection of the most popular works from the 1980s and 1990s and will screen them with a panel of film and video professionals and makers including: Shari Frilot, Ernesto Foronda, Ming-Yuen S. Ma.
Click here to register.

1:00pm Location: Village at LAGLC

Prop 8 and the Fallacy of Single Issue Politics
November's disheartening passage of Proposition 8 has stimulated a range of discussion within LGBT communities of color - from criticism of the tactics utilized by the No On 8 campaign to despair over the homophobic and racist fissures exposed in communities of color and the LGBT community in the aftermath of Prop 8's passage. This esteemed panel will address tough questions such as: Is gay marriage really a civil rights concern for queer people of color? Should focus be placed upon combating racism within the LGBT community and homophobia
within communities of color as a first step? Can both sides recover from depictions of gay marriage supporters as threats to children and gay marriage opponents as promoters of hatred?

Moderated by: Jonathan Kidd (Outfest Board Member, Professor and Filmmaker) Panelists: Reverend Escoto (Metropolitan Community Church), Jasmyne Cannick (Journalist and Filmmaker), Maggie Gallagher (Institute for Marriage and Public Policy) and Doreena Wong (API Equality - Los Angeles)
Click here to register.

Sunday

11:00am Location: Village at LAGLC

Nuts and Bolts
Need to learn the basics of web media making but were afraid to ask? Want some constructive advice for your next queer media master piece? Want to better understand how to get work in the entertainment industry? Fusion 2009 will close its conference with an afternoon of "nuts and bolts" workshops.

11:00 - 12:30 Instant Gratification Media Making
A panel of DIYers will explain how to make a short film using a camera phone, edit on a laptop and get it out in the world. They will share tricks of the trade, take questions and provide hands-on help.
Panelists: Rex Rude (MMA Creative Group), Jian Chen (QTpi Media), Pat Branch (Comic, Screenwriter, Blogger on theDinah.com), Erica Cho (Filmmaker, Visual artist), Jay Esguerra (Filmmaker), Irina Contraras (Media artist/Writer/Curator)
Click here to register.

12:30 - 1:00 Snacks and Networking

1:00 - 2:30 Breaking In
A variety of industry insiders and accomplished filmmakers will share their success stories and advice for emerging writers, directors, producers, cinematographers and editors.
Panelists: Tajamika Paxton (Producer and Director), Patti Lee (Cinematographer and Producer), Michelle Crenshaw (Cinematographer), Angel Lopez (Participant Productions)
Click here to register.