The last stops on Docs In Progress Executive Director Erica Ginsberg's roadtrip into the world of midwestern film communities continues...

Docs In Progress Executive Director Erica Ginsberg continues her journey through the midwest to learn more about film organizations and communities with a stop in Chicago.

The continuing adventures of Docs In Progress Executive Director Erica Ginsberg as she travels through the midwest en route to the 2012 NAMAC Conference and stops along the way to learn more about film communities in different cities.

Docs In Progress Executive Director Erica Ginsberg continues her blog about meeting with film organizations and communities in cities between Washington DC and Minneapolis.

Our Executive Director Erica Ginsberg is in the middle of a roadtrip en route to the NAMAC Conference in Minneapolis. She is driving and stopping in different cities along the way to get insights into different film communities. This is the first of her blogs along the way.

Fiscal sponsorship is something that many documentary filmmakers seek out so they can raise grant funds which are only given to nonprofits and are able to accept contributions from donors who want a tax deduction. How to decide on the right fiscal sponsor? So much of the emphasis has been on what fiscal sponsors are looking for in fiscal sponsorees and yet fiscal sponsorees also should explore all their options to find a fiscal sponsor who is a good fit for their project.  Too many filmmakers focus only on which fiscal sponsor takes the lowest admin fee and not enough on all the other factors which can make or break a successful fiscal sponsorship relationship. After giving talks at the Foundation Center on Fiscal Sponsorship in the Arts, our Executive Director Erica Ginsberg adapted her presentation into this list of considerations.

“I spent all my money making my film and have no money left for festivals. Will you please waive my submission fee?”

This is the start of many an e-mail film festival programmers seem to receive while their festival’s submission period is open. While it is likely a true statement in most cases, the question is why? Why are filmmakers not budgeting for outreach as a part of their planning? It is a bit like budgeting to get you through a pregnancy and not saving any money to help feed, clothe, or save for a child’s education.

Perhaps this topic is particularly on my mind because I have recently returned from a trip through Arkansas, Tennessee, and Mississippi where I had a chance to see some of the places which formed some of the most powerful images of the civil rights movement - Little Rock Central High School, the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, and the Lyceum at Ole Miss. Until the moment I saw those places firsthand, I could only imagine them through written descriptions of what happened there and from the still and moving images of what happened at each of them more than half a century ago. Iconic images which tell a story so much more deeply than the written texts or even on-camera interviews which accompany them. They help connect me to a world before I was born, a world it is sometimes hard to believe existed if not for these images as everlasting evidence.

Docs In Progress Executive Director Erica Ginsberg here.    In the coming weeks, I'll countdown from 10 to 1 of what I consider the most important tips on film festivals.   I will preface my tips by saying that, as an organization focused on documentaries, I am writing with documentary films in mind...and specifically knowing that many of our readers are emerging documentary filmmakers who may be working on their first films and are not necessarily coming out of film school.  That said, I think there are some things which may be relevant to fiction filmmakers and hopefully even more seasoned documentary filmmakers might find a tidbit here and there.  You may or may not agree with all I have to say but that's why I decided to share these on our blog.  Your comments are welcome.  So, without futher ado, let's get started: