The work we develop together starts with what each of us wants to accomplish.
What draws you to filmmaking? Making your first movie? Telling a story you can’t let go of? Building an entertainment empire? Simply a love of entertainment?
The Filmmakers Group is taking shape around a question: how could people with related aspirations develop work together that would be harder to pursue separately? Independent filmmakers and established entertainment professionals are invited to help develop the answer.
Participants’ goals will help determine the projects, working relationships, and opportunities the group develops. That could include an existing film, a shared story world, or a continuing collaboration across productions.
Filmmakers already collaborate to bring individual productions to life. What if some of that collaboration began earlier, with people discovering shared ambitions and developing opportunities across several projects?
The Filmmakers Group invites people to explore possibilities such as:
Each creator could pursue their own work while contributing to something larger. Shared planning, continuing creative relationships, and new technology could help independent filmmakers build some of the advantages of a studio while keeping their individual voices. These collaborations would be optional; a standalone film or an existing project can be a starting point, too.
These are possibilities to develop with participants. Bring an aspiration, an existing project, or an idea for what could come next. Help shape how this can work, and where it could add value to the collaboration filmmakers already practice.
Democrify Foundation is proud to support Film Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers Film Festival. We will introduce If I Go Will They Miss Me on November 8 and join the Filmmaker Brunch on November 13 to explore how filmmakers can build on their work, reach audiences, and pursue shared ambitions.
By working collectively, independent filmmakers can compete more effectively with larger studios while keeping their individual voices.
Read about our festival involvement and the Filmmakers Group →
Democrify Foundation is supporting Film Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers Film Festival because we believe in the value of independent filmmaking. Independent films bring more voices, experiences, and possibilities into public view, helping democratize storytelling and broaden who gets to shape entertainment.
We are introducing our first community, the Filmmakers Group, through our festival involvement. Our aim is to help filmmakers pursue their aspirations while supporting Film Pittsburgh’s work to get independent films seen and their creators heard.
We are inviting Film Pittsburgh’s team and participating filmmakers to help shape the community around the goals, challenges, and opportunities they know firsthand. We welcome people from across the entertainment world who want to contribute and collaborate.
You might want to earn a living, tell a personal story, and change education through film. You might dream of Hollywood while building a creative community right where you live.
In Democrify, you can join whichever groups reflect your aspirations. Find like-minded people, connect with people whose skills complement yours, and work toward something you care about together. As your aspirations grow or change, your participation can change with them.
Our vision is an entertaining and economically rewarding way to pursue your dreams. Everyone comes with equal standing and respect, whether bringing a first idea or decades of industry experience.
These seven aspirations, along with Mainstream Hollywood, are starting points for groups that participants can help develop. Groups can connect through shared interests and projects, and you can participate in more than one. Suggest another group or an aspiration that is not reflected here.
The groups are being developed. Film Pittsburgh and interested filmmakers are invited to help decide how they could work and what would make participation worthwhile.
“I want to build something big.”
A production company, a studio, a franchise, or an entertainment empire. Find people who share your appetite for creating what comes next.
“I know I have something to contribute. Help me find my opening.”
Find collaborators, recognition, and a place for your talents, whether your destination is Hollywood, independent film, or a thriving creative life close to home.
“I have a message that could change the world.”
Connect with people who care about your message and want to help it reach audiences, start conversations, and inspire action.
Immersive Experiences can invite audiences to explore your film’s choices and ideas for themselves, helping carry its message into their own lives.
“I want to support myself doing work I love.”
Build relationships around paid work, dependable collaborators, and sustainable creative businesses.
“There is a story I feel compelled to tell.”
A personal experience, a community's history, an imagined world, or a perspective that deserves a place on screen. Find people who can help bring it to life.
“I want to give audiences an experience they will love.”
Make people laugh, cry, hold their breath, or see something they have never imagined. Find others who share your sense of what makes entertainment irresistible.
“Let me see what I can do.”
Take a lifelong dream or a sudden spark seriously enough to try. Make your first film, explore a different role, or help someone else get started. Discover where the experience could take you.
“We are looking for the next successful entertainment trend.”
Studios, producers, distributors, representatives, and established creatives can engage on their own terms. Explore the talent, stories, audiences, and ideas that could shape your next success.
A filmmaker wants a story heard. An editor wants meaningful paid work. A producer sees an audience waiting for something fresh. Working together can move each of them toward their own aspirations.
The group is a place to discover those connections and help shape a shared direction for entertainment. Bring your ideas, experience, curiosity, and ambitions. Help identify what should happen next.
Tell us which groups interest you and what you hope to accomplish.
Share what you can contribute and the people or opportunities you would like to find.
Help develop a group, an Experience, a project, or a practical opportunity.
Tell us which aspirations speak to you, what you are working toward, and what you might bring to the community. Share a challenge you are facing, the collaborators you would like to find, or an idea you want to develop. Your interests will help shape the groups and what we do together.
Discuss your ideasEmail info@democrifyfoundation.org with the subject “Filmmakers Group.” You can express interest in as many groups as you wish.
The Filmmakers Group is the first in a planned family of Democrify communities spanning Education, Economics, Entertainment more broadly, Politics, and other fields.
Each community will bring independent people and established organizations together around shared aspirations, combining their talents and perspectives to shape a common vision and put it into practice.
Your interests can connect across communities. A filmmaker who wants to change education could work with educators. Someone developing a creative business could connect with entrepreneurs and people exploring economic opportunity. You can pursue several aspirations and help shape more than one field.
The broader Entertainment Group is planned to include Film, TV/Streaming, Games, Internet Experiences, Sports, Music & Audio, Live Performance, and Immersive & Location-Based Experiences, with Careers connecting people across these fields.
Follow your aspirations across forms of entertainment, or help shape a group around something new.