FILM FESTIVAL CONSULTANTS

Lauri Rose Tanner – Founder

Oakland, California  •  U.S.A.

Email:   Laurirose@mac.com

Since 1993, FILM FESTIVAL CONSULTANTS has been a premiere authority in the creation of new film festivals and the development of established festivals, as well as in precedent-setting work with filmmakers in the areas of fundraising, marketing, festivals and strategic planning.  (http://filmfestivalbook.com)  FFC has offered the following customized services, both in the United States and internationally -- CURRENTLY RETIRED DUE TO LONG COVID ILLNESS 2021-2024, HOWEVER PLEASE CONTACT ME TO RECEIVE COMPLIMENTARY COPY OF “CREATING FILM FESTIVALS” BOOK.

•  Feasibility Analysis and Strategic Planning

FFC has created organizational proposals, business plans and positioning options; undertaken competitive market analyses, and produced and managed film festival events.

Clients have included:  Malibu Film Festival;  Puerto Vallarta Film Festival;  Firelight Shocks Horror & Fantasy Festival; Bahamas International Film Festival;  Saratoga Springs 'Words & Music' Film Festival;  Americas on the Verge Traveling Film Festival;  Ocean Film Festival;  Toronto Comedy Film Festival;  Dubrovnik International Film Festival;  ESPN / EXPN.com (TUBE Film Festival);  City of Carlsbad, CA Arts Office;  Key West Film Society & Festival;  Hollywood Black Film Festival;  Musicland Group Inc./ Suncoast Motion Picture Co.;  CineVegas Film Festival;  Birmingham AL Film Festival;  and the Idaho Children’s Film & Television Festival, among others.

Film festival consultation proposals pending include:  Discovery Communications Educational Festival;  Prescott Film Festival;  Durango Independent Film Festival;  Zanzibar International Film Festival;  Santa Fe Film Festival;  Fort Collins Film Festival;  Captiva Island, FL;  Festival in Dubai, United Arab Emirates;  Detroit International Film Festival;  Atlanta Black Film Festival;  among others.

•  Fundraising and Sponsorship

FFC has created highly successful fundraising and sponsorship campaigns; carried out comprehensive and creative prospect research for individual and institutional funders; and identified and qualified potential collaborative partners.  It has provided these resources to numerous organizations and individuals including:  DocFest– New York Documentary Festival; Cine Accion – Festival Cine Latino; S.F. Arab Film Festival; National Educational Film & Video Festival; American Indian Film Festival; San Francisco International Film Festival; Canyon Cinema; Fifty Crows Foundation; CA League for Conservation Voters; The Riot Group Theatre Project; Changemakers; Berkeley Symphony Orchestra; SF Symphony; CA Shakespeare Festival; Pacific Environment & Resources Center; California Summer Music; Institute for Global Communications; CA College of Arts & Crafts; Pro Bono Legal Assistance; OpNet; The Peacemaker Order; Rigoberta Menchú Foundation; SCRAP– Scroungers Center for Reusable Art Parts, The Israel/Palestine Project, among others.     

Lauri Tanner also served for several years as a Development Consultant for the Buddhist Film Society and its International Buddhist Film Festival (see http://www.buddhistfilmfoundation.org/ )

•  Technical & Program Development and Implementation

FFC has established operational timetables for effectual project implementation; evaluated personnel requirements and budgets; and assisted with artistic direction and curatorial planning. 

Clients have included:  San Francisco Media Archive;  FILMOUT- San Diego Gay & Lesbian Film Festival; Jackson Hole Filmmakers Festival; Sierra Club Environmental Film Festival (New York); Cheyenne Western Film Festival; and University of Arizona Media Arts Department, among others.

1. • Services to Filmmakers
   

FFC assists all types of filmmakers in developing and executing appropriate fundraising and film festival strategies, as well as in creating dynamic press kits, innovative grant proposals, film festival application materials and other informational documents.  Award-winning clients and pro bono advisees include:

Documentarians Lucia Cuevas, England-Guatemala; Dani Menkin, Israel; Anand Patwardhan, India; and Abby Ginzberg, Stephen Olsson, Steve Michelson, Dale Djerassi, Bo Boudart, Christopher Upham, Yun Suh, Ed Gaffney, Ray Gatchalian, Gaetano Kazuo Maida, Robert Harrison & Beto Lopez, Steve Most, Carlos Bolado, Tomas McCabe, Steve Bartz, Gail Dolgin & Vicente Franco, David L. Brown, Tucker Sonoma, Jonathan Berman, K.C. Chamberlain and David Donnenfield, California;

Narrative filmmakers David Becerra, Panama / California, Alex Bowen, Chile, Oleg Harencar, California / Slovakia, Jonathan Hoffberg, Mary Liz Thomson, Alan Greenberg, and Marc Lafia, California;  Plus Blues musician/composer Otis Taylor, Colorado.

BIOGRAPHICAL INFO – FFC Founder – LAURI ROSE TANNER

Oakland, California  •  U.S.A.

Email:   Laurirose@mac.com

In addition to the numerous clients listed above, Lauri R. Tanner also provided hands-on services in the areas of community and sponsor outreach, promotion, ticketing and other operational functions to the Sundance Film Festival, Festival ¡Cine Latino!, Jewish Film Festival, IFFCON, Film Arts Festival, National Alliance for Media Arts & Culture, and the Bay Area Women’s Film Festival, among others.  In her work as a non-profit development and strategic planning consultant, Lauri was an active member of the national Association of Fundraising Professionals as well as the Development Executives Roundtable.

Lauri shared her expertise for more than 25 years with numerous start-up and existing film & video festivals, local Film Commissions and Arts Councils, private investors, academic institutions, other non-profit organizations, as well as with award-winning filmmakers.  She also offered workshops and panels on funding, sponsorship and film festivals for groups such as Craigslist Foundation Nonprofit BootCamp, The Foundation Center, S.F. State University, CalFest & International Festivals & Events Association, and Golden Gate University.  As an artist, student and consultant, Lauri lived in Europe, Mexico, Guatemala and the Middle East for more than ten years.  She speaks Spanish, and has a strong interest in Latin American arts, culture, muralism, film production and exhibition.

As author of the book CREATING FILM FESTIVALS: Everything You Wanted To Know But Didn't Know Who To Ask – available at http://filmfestivalbook.com – (partially funded by a major grant from the Montréal-based Daniel Langlois Foundation for Art, Science & Technology), Lauri gathered unique specialized research, and received support, from more than 300 leaders in the international media arts and festivals fields.  She assembled the world’s largest archive and library on film festival management issues, including business development, operations, and marketing.

Lauri Tanner is a highly respected arts and media advocate and worked as a fundraising & strategic development professional, both nationally & internationally, for more than 30 years.  Lauri advised the S.F. Film & Video Arts Commission, which published her "Guide to Film & Video Festivals and Exhibition Venues”, and also the International Festivals & Events Association. For over five years, Lauri covered the regional festival scene for the international women’s film magazine Angles – Women Working in Film & Video, providing interviews with visiting filmmakers and yearly overviews.

Lauri was recently awarded the LL.M. degree in International Human Rights Law from Golden Gate University School of Law in San Francisco, California, where she earned her J.D.

SEE http://www.EnvironmentDefenders.org for more information.
She also holds a Master’s degree in Nonprofit & Arts Administration from Golden Gate University's Graduate School of Management in San Francisco, and her first M.A. program was in Art Therapy at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.  She received her B.A. in Psychology and Art from Antioch College after studying in Ohio, Maryland & Europe.

Consultants associated with FILM FESTIVAL CONSULTANTS include:

Jill C. Brooke (festival coordinator for theatre management, volunteer program, etc.);

Joanne Parsont (Consultant for festivals and filmmakers - SEE BELOW);

Zoe Elton (Mill Valley Film Festival Director/programming consultant) and others.

                        CURRENT BIO OF PRINCIPAL CONSULTANT - JOANNE PARSONT:

Joanne Parsont is a film festival programmer and consultant, media education specialist, writer, editor, and project manager with 20 years experience in film festivals, educational outreach, audience engagement, curriculum development, youth media, and children’s and documentary film. Over the last two decades, she has worked at more than 40 film festivals in a variety of capacities including programming, editorial management, filmmaker relations, and educational outreach.

Joanne is currently the Education Director at the California Film Institute: https://www.cafilm.org/joanne-parsont/
From 2009–2014, she was the Director of Education for the San Francisco Film Society, where she developed and managed a wide range of programs that served more than 10,000 K-college students and teachers each year, cultivating media literacy, global awareness, filmmaking skills, cinema appreciation and developing both live and online educational resources for educators and independent filmmakers. Prior to her tenure at SFFS, Joanne spent eight years directing the Mill Valley Film Festival’s Children’s FilmFest and managing the San Francisco International Film Festival’s Schools at the Festival program, and five years curating children’s programs for the Pacific Film Archive and the Boston Museum of Fine Art.

As a freelance programmer and consultant, she has curated programs for several Bay Area festivals; served on the Board of Advisors for LUNAFEST; helped launch the inaugural Bentonville Film Festival, presented by the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media; and developed a variety of hands-on film workshops for elementary, middle and high school students in Marin, Sonoma and Napa counties. With a BA in Russian and Political Science from Duke University and an MA in Mass Communication Studies from the University of Michigan, Joanne began her career in Washington, DC working for both the Public Broadcasting Service and The Learning Channel. In January 2015, she joined the Board of Directors of the National Association of Media Literacy Education (NAMLE).

PLEASE CONTACT JOANNE PARSONT for film festival consulting services VIA EMAIL TO LAURI TANNER - Laurirose@mac.com.

All material contained herein is
Copyright 1993-2024  Lauri Rose Tanner.  All rights reserved.