Sponsorship Opportunities with Docs in Progress  

As Docs in Progress continues to grow as one of the premiere documentary film organizations in the Mid-Atlantic region, we are also working to grow our public events and professional development programs and still keep them affordable for independent filmmakers.  We welcome general sponsors and event sponsors.   

We have expanded our sponsors to include such organizations as Current TV, VER – Video Equipment Rentals, JDK Music, and TIVA-DC.  Will you be next?  

What’s In It For Sponsors?  

By supporting Docs In Progress through cash and/or in-kind contributions, industry partners will gain exposure with our primary audience of the Greater Washington DC/Baltimore film community.  Film-related companies (post-production houses, editing software companies, camera equipment and accessory manufacturers, etc.) can target both film professionals and the growing ranks of emerging filmmakers, many of whom invest in their own equipment.  

We also have a following among documentary film aficionados in the Washington DC area, making us an attractive sponsorship possibility for movie theaters, home video distributors, and restaurants which cater to those who seek a meal to accompany their entertainment outings.  

As examples of what you could get with support for Docs In Progress, depending on level of sponsorship:

• Logo with live weblink on our website www.docsinprogress.org
• Logo with live weblink on our online newsletter (four times/year)
• Listing on handouts given for our bi-monthly workships or to sponsor a specific one-time event.
• Listing as sponsor on e-mails sent out to various film listservs (WIFV, ITVA-DC, DC Film Salon, etc.)
• Opportunity to give out postcards, handouts and/or promotional swag at sponsored events.

How is Docs In Progress Growing?  

Since 2004, when Docs in Progress was founded, we have grown by leaps and bounds:  

• We have screened several dozen films by documentary filmmakers, 90% of whom are based in the Mid-Atlantic region. We feature works-in-progress by established filmmakers and students alike.
• More than 600 people are subscribed to our mailing list for e-mail updates on upcoming workshops and our quarterly newsletter.  We have tracked that many subscribers are forwarding the e-mails to others, so we estimate our e-mailings reach closer to 1500 people.
• Traffic on our website (www.docsinprogress.org) averages about 2500 hits per month.   There are links to our site on websites and blogs from other film organizations, universities, film festivals, and filmmakers.
• We have partnered on programs with other local film organizations such as The Documentary Center at the George Washington University, Women in Film and Video, The Creative Alliance, and local film festivals.
• We have been featured in the industry and general press, including the Washington Post Weekend Section, NPR (WAMU Metro Connection and WETA The Intersection), International Documentary Magazine, and indieWIRE.
• Several major distributors and film organizations based in New York, Boston, and Los Angeles have subscribed to our mailing list to keep abreast of the latest documentaries coming out of Washington DC and to read our newsletter which includes interviews with documentary film professionals, film reviews, events calendars, and a blog. 

Docs in Progress is More than Just Our Public Workshops…  

While our bi-monthly public workshops form the core of our program, we are continuing to grow Docs in Progress through other programs which present some unique sponsorship opportunities:  

• We have partnered with Women in Film and Video to present “Peer Pitch” a semi-annual program which gives documentary filmmakers real world experience pitching their projects at any stage of development to each other.
• We co-sponsored an In-the-Works screening of Ken Burns’ film The War at the 2006 SILVERDOCS Film Festival and presented a Docs in Progress program at the 2007 Utopia Film Festival.  We are in discussion with several other local film festivals to sponsor works-in-progress events during their festivals.
• We have sponsored several popular workshops on documentary story structure and trailer development with New York-based story consultant, Fernanda Rossi, “The Documentary Doctor.” 
• We established a free quarterly online newsletter which has featured interviews with key figures in the documentary world (examples include the editor of Fahrenheit 9/11, the documentary programmer for the Toronto International Film Festival, and several key documentary funders); reviews of documentary films; calendars of upcoming local documentary events; and updates on workshop alumni).
• We have a growing list of private clients who seek one-on-one consultations from us for documentary projects at various stages of development.
•  We have plans to coordinate some larger seminars for documentary filmmakers to help them develop their films from planning to post-production.

If you are interested in sponsoring Docs In Progress, please contact us at contact@docsinprogress.org.