Weekly Portrait: We tune in for the ads
Best Super Bowl Spots, Looming Fellowship Deadlines, Stolen Youth Premiere, and so much more
Happy Thursday, friends, and welcome to the 151 people who’ve joined us this month.
Looking forward to Sunday’s pulse check on our national psyche, delivered one Super Bowl spot at a time? Us too.
If you’d like to see where the brouhaha started, check out the 1967 Goodyear ad above — heavy on film noir mimicry and overt misogyny — and give this Smithsonian piece a read.
Now: let’s see how you moved the ball down the field this week!
Jean Ellen and Kasia
Co-Founders, Portrait
Roll of Honor
Premieres, Press, Awards, and Standout Member Work This Week
A Kinder, Gentler Boston… and Other Awesome Super Bowl Ads of 2023
The race to catalogue this year’s best Super Bowl ads has begun. Check out the fun spot above with camera work by Portrait member Julia Liu. In this imaginary "brighter Boston," Red Sox and Yankee fans hug it out and mafia bosses recycle.
Is your work premiering Sunday as well? Share it on Portrait. We’d love to see what you’ve pulled off in 60 seconds or less.
Stolen Youth Premieres Tonight on Hulu
Steel yourselves for this one. Produced by Portrait member Andrew Helms, the three-part documentary examines how Lawrence Ray brainwashed and exploited his daughter’s friends for years.
From the Wall Street Journal (with impressive alliterative flourish):
"Stolen Youth" gets tricky—and absorbing and salutary—and becomes something other than the regurgitation of the sordid, sensational and expansively scandalous.
… what distinguishes the interviews with Ray's targets is their chagrin, shame and wonderment, even now.
On Being’s New Season with Neon Zoo
Animation studio Neon Zoo, founded by Portrait member Elyse Kelly, partnered with On Being with Krista Tippett to bring the podcast’s latest season to life. The first episode, out now, talks about the science of “awe”. From Elyse:
We’ve been taking “awe walks” since we started this project—you’ll have to listen to the full episode to know what we’re talking about. It’s pretty special, we promise. This is just the beginning! More animated goodies throughout the season.
Awards Round Up
Congratulations to Jonathan, Emma, Erica, and their teams!
“The Janes,” directed by Portrait member Emma Pildes and Tia Lessin, won the DuPont Columbia Award for journalism on Monday.
“The Lesbian Bar Project,” directed by Portrait member Erica Rose and chronicling the decline in female queer spaces, has been nominated for Queerty and GLAAD media awards.
“Starring Jerry As Himself,” produced by Portrait member Jonathan Hsu, won Best Documentary Feature at Slamdance. From Indiewire this week:
[The film] constructs a clever subversion of genre storytelling akin to “The Mole Agent” as Jerry’s account of getting enlisted by the Chinese police to help combat a money laundering scheme baffles his relatives …
Speaking of “The Mole Agent”…
In the latest Top Docs episode, recorded at our Sundance House, host Mike Merrill interviews “Mole Agent” director Maite Alberdi about her new film, “The Eternal Memory.”
Have something exciting to share? We’ll include it next week.
Window of Opportunity
Weekly Jobs, Grants, Labs, Intensives, Programming, Events, and More
February Doc Club Features Mission: Joy
Optimist, founded by Portrait members Chris Temple and Zach Ingrasci, hosts a monthly Doc Club. Next week they’ll discuss “Mission: Joy” with director Peggy Callahan, author Doug Abrams, and Dalai Lama translator Thupten Jinpa. RSVP here.
Date: Next Thursday, February 16th
Time: 5:00pm PT/ 8:00pm ET
Katrina Babies Event Tomorrow in NYC
In honor of Black History Month, the Girls Club of New York is hosting a screening of “Katrina Babies,” produced by Portrait member Kate Ferraguto, followed by a discussion with director, Edward Buckles Jr.
Date: Tomorrow, Friday, February 10th
Time: 6:30pm
Coming Soon / Closing Soon
Programming
Today: Show & Tell Webinar: Step #1 for Fundraising & Distribution: Identify Target Audiences. 4 pm EST
Tonight: The Gotham Virtual Networking Mixer. 5:30 pm EST.
Tomorrow: NYWIFT Talks: Legacy of Media Arts Organizations Amplifying BIPOC Creators. 4 pm EST.
Labs, Grants, Intensives
Film Independent Lab: Application deadline February 10th
Women in Film: Financing Intensive, Line Producers Fellowship, Specialty Producers Fellowship, Business Fellowships, Artisan Fellowships, and Crew Fellowships. All application deadlines February 13th.
Roy W. Dean Film Grant: $3,500. Deadline March 31st.
Sundance Self-Paced Courses. Sundance has just announced a range of new courses, from financing your feature to collaborating with your team. Applications accepted on a rolling basis.
Jobs/Gigs Roundup
Impact Producer / Campaign Director for feature documentary “Repairing the World: Stories From the Tree of Life”
Gotham EDU Program Manager (Contract), The Gotham
Senior Program Manager, Chicken & Egg Pictures
Producer, CNN International
VP, Production - Unscripted, Starz
Have an opportunity? Share it on Portrait and we’ll include it here.
End Credits Scene of the Week
We’ve loved following along as Nausheen Dadabhoy and Tim Metzger lead their American Film Showcase Cinematography Workshop in Gambia this week. Teach us how to make those bounce frames from PVC pipes and bed sheets!
Until next week, friends,
— JE + K