For emerging and established nonfiction media makers, navigating the world of grantmaking is key to getting their work off the ground.
Join several of the leading documentary film nonprofits (some which are funders), and all of which happen to have folks right here in New York City - for a primer on current opportunities, and how the landscape is shifting.
Patricia Finneran
Good Pitch Local Producer
Doc Society
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About Patricia Finneran
Patricia is a nonprofit arts leader with more than two decades of experience in documentary media. At Doc Society, she looks after the Good Pitch program which connects non-fiction films to social justice change-makers globally she is leading on a new iteration of the program with local events in locations across the US. Her work connects media makers with funders, organizations, media platforms and other partners to advance social good, and supports the growth of a vibrant ecosystem of high impact public media. She previously worked with the Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program as Creative Producer for the Sundance | Skoll Stories of Change project and representative of the Fund globally. As Director of SILVERDOCS: AFI/Discovery Channel Documentary Festival from 2003 to 2008, she lead its growth to become the largest documentary festival in the US and created the International Documentary Conference. She served as Artistic Director of the IFP Market in New York. In 2012, she founded Story Matters, which created content, campaigns and events at the intersection of non-fiction film and social change. Projects include the Alliance 2016 conference, campaigns for films l“Bully” “How To Survive A Plague” and “The Revolutionary Optimists”; clients included Britdoc, Hot Docs, Kering, and Results for America. Her current passion project is “Cumari: Jungle to Table” a TV series about Latin American chefs partnering with indigenous peoples to create sustainable markets for Amazonian food. She is a graduate of from Barnard College, Columbia University and the AFI (American Film Institute) Conservatory.
Marjon Javadi
Film and Partnerships Executive
Doc Society
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About Marjon Javadi
Marjon Javadi is the Film and Partnerships Executive at Doc Society. Based in New York, she works across all international film funds supporting non-fiction storytelling. Her experience is in development, production, and acquisitions for both fiction and non-fiction features. Prior to Doc Society, she worked in the documentary division at Netflix Originals on series and films including Emmy-award winning series Chef's Table and Making a Murderer, and Academy-Award nominated films Virunga, What Happened Miss Simone? and Winter on Fire. She previously worked as the development executive for Scott Rudin Productions and in CAA's Media Finance division. More recently she was an associate producer on Waiting For Hassana (Dir: Ifunanya Maduka; Sundance 2017) and co-producer on Crossing the Divide (Dir: Streeter Phillips) for WGBH and Groundtruth. She is a 2018 Impact Partners Producers Fellow.
Jenni Wolfson
Executive Director
Chicken & Egg Pictures
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About Jenni Wolfson
As the Executive Director of Chicken & Egg Pictures, Jenni sets the overall vision of the organization and ensures the achievement of its mission. Jenni builds and leads a talented team in implementing Chicken & Egg Pictures’ strategic plan, building financial sustainability, and engaging the film and human rights communities of which Chicken & Egg Pictures is a dedicated member. Before joining Chicken & Egg Pictures, Jenni was the Managing Director of WITNESS, the international human rights video advocacy organization co-founded by musician Peter Gabriel. Jenni has worked for UNICEF, protecting the rights of children affected by armed conflicts and natural disasters, and has served in numerous posts around the world for the United Nations, including the UN International Civilian Mission in Haiti and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Rwanda. Jenni wrote and still performs a solo play, RASH, about her experiences as a human rights activist. She has an MA in Human Rights and an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Strathclyde.
Debra Zimmerman
Executive Director
Women Make Movies
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About Debra Zimmerman
Debra Zimmerman has been the Executive Director of Women Make Movies since 1983. For 12 of the last 13 years films from WMM have won or been nominated for Oscars. She is in great demand around the world as a speaker on independent film distribution, marketing and financing. She is a member of numerous Advisory Boards for many media organizations, a jury member for many international film festivals, and regularly sits on foundation and government funding panels. She is the recipient of New York Women in Film and Television's Loreen Arbus Award and the Hot Doc's Doc Mogul Award, given to those who "over the course of their career has made an essential contribution to the creative vitality of the documentary industry, both in his or her country or abroad."
