18. JDocs: Jewish Documentary Film Portal
In my last post, I mentioned that I’m something of a gamer. And as a media consumer in general, I’m also something of a film buff. And just as I aspire to design my own games, as evidenced by my last post, I am an aspiring filmmaker as well. I’ve been at work on a documentary film about the relationship between Jews and drug use for many years, in fact. I also have a significant number of friends who are Jewish documentary filmmakers as well, and in speaking to several of them about issues of marketing, promotion and fundraising for their films, a number of common needs became evident to me:
Jewish filmmakers need a venue in which to highlight their films, so that they can be discovered both by the public and film curators/event programmers. They need a way to distribute their films, online and off, for private and public screenings. They need a place to raise funds for their films, both from the public and from the philanthropic community. And they need a way to energize the social marketing of their films, so that their fans can take the ball and run with it.
Jewish documentary is important. As a visual communications medium, documentary films have a capacity to communicate history, values and ideas with a power that few if any other mediums posses. The value of documentary film as an educational medium is therefore paramount. But little is presently being done to strengthen our connection to and use of this powerful medium.
A couple of months ago, the Foundation for Jewish Culture asked me to attend a meeting to conceive of technological solutions to address the common needs of Jewish documentary filmmakers. And they weren’t expecting it, but I’d already given the topic so much thought, that when I walked into the meeting, I simply laid the following mockup down on the table and the entire conversation took off from there.
JDocs would be an online platform for Jewish documentary filmmakers to showcase their films, distribute and finance their films, as well as a resource for movie lovers and theaters to discover new films.
The site would generally offer the following features:
- Watch Online: Watch streaming versions of full-length documentaries online. Some films will be free, some will be a one-time online rental. For a monthly fee, gain unlimited access to all online rentals, a la Netflix.
- Now Playing: Find and purchase tickets for Jewish documentary films playing in your area.
- Browse Films: Browse an archive of all Jewish documentary films in JDocs’ database.
- Support a Film: Make a financial contribution to a filmmaker seeking funds to complete their film project.
- Join: Create a filmmaker profile and add your films to the JDocs database.
- Shop: Order DVDs and/or licensing for private and public screenings of films.
- Forum: An online forum for Jewish filmmakers to talk shop.
- Search: Find a film by title, subject, keyword or filmmaker.
Each filmmaker would have a biographical profile showcasing their films, and each film would have its own film page that would contain:
- Video: Clips, trailers, outtakes, interviews and/or full-length features.
- News: A blog with news about the status of a work in progress or about recent film festival awards, etc.
- Screenings: A calendar of all upcoming screenings of that particular film around the world.
- Details/synopsis: Release date, location, runtime, etc.
- Reviews: Press reviews linked to by filmmaker plus user generated reviews of the film. Users can also rate the film on a four star rating system.
- Discussion guide: A resource for educators to facilitate discussions of the film’s content.
- Watch Online, Buy DVD and Arrange a Screening: Allows users to “rent” a film online, purchase a DVD edition from the JDocs store, or arrange a public screening using either streaming video or a DVD.
- Support this Film: Users can make a tax-deductible financial contribution to a filmmaker’s work-in-progress.
- Social media components: Users can share a given film with their friends via email or the social networks of their choice.
JDocs itself would then market and promote Jewish documentary film overall and engage the public in site participation by: Highlighting its online rentals, showcasing films currently in theaters, holding special online screening events, and organizing fundraising competitions for matched grants. It could also partner with local and international Jewish film festivals and create special sections and online events to market and promote those film festivals and the films they’re screening.
JDocs would also serve the Jewish filmmaking community by organizing events for filmmakers to talk shop, share skills, and collaborate on projects; by creating a members rewards program to help Jewish filmmakers get discounts on video gear; and by providing updates about available grants and other opportunities for Jewish filmmakers.
The site would require significant investment to get off the ground, but once it existed, it would be a boon to the Jewish documentary scene, and help foster not only a greater public interest Jewish documentary, but a sense of community among Jewish filmmakers and sense of greater Jewish communal commitment to the genre of documentary filmmaking.
