Help Us Raise #40Kin40days to Bring Filmmakers to Atlanta for ATLFF '16!

It is our 3rd year running a Kickstarter campaign, but its our 40th birthday, so we have to do it bigger than ever! Help us raise money for our travel budget so that all filmmakers can attend next year's festival.

We need #40Kin40days to meet our goal, or we don't get a dime of it. This is an ambitious goal, but you have helped us drastically exceed our goal in the last two years, so we are confident that by December 15, we will be on our way to a successful 40th ATLFF!

Memberships to the Atlanta Film Society are tied to Atlanta Film Festival passes, so if you buy a pass through the Kickstarter campaign, you get membership to ATLFS through December 31, 2016. If you had a pass to ATLFF '15, your membership expires at the end of this year, so renew now by purchasing through Kickstarter!

You can also become one of our Founding Patrons by giving at levels from $1,000 to $10,000.

Please visit, give and share this link: atlantafilmfestival.com/fund

Become an ATLFF Member to see Sundance Winner "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl" Weeks Early!

As part of our year-round programming, the Atlanta Film Festival and Fox Searchlight proudly present an exclusive members-only screening of narrative feature film "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl," Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award winner, on Tuesday, May 26th!

ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL

Directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon
USA, 2015, English, 104 minutes 
Starring: Olivia Cooke, Thomas Mann, RJ Cyler, Nick Offerman, Connie Britton, and Molly Shannon

Up until senior year, Greg has maintained total social invisibility. He only has one friend, Earl, and together they spend their time—when not playing video games and avoiding Earl’s terrifying brothers— making movies, their own versions of Coppola and Herzog cult classics. Greg would be the first one to tell you his movies are f*@$ing terrible, but he and Earl don’t make them for other people. Until Rachel. Rachel has leukemia, and Greg’s mom gets the genius idea that Greg should befriend her. Against his better judgment and despite his extreme awkwardness, he does. When Rachel decides to stop treatment, Greg and Earl must abandon invisibility and make a stand. It’s a hilarious, outrageous, and truthful look at death and high school.

This is an exclusive screening open only to ATLFF members and special guests! To attend, sign up to be a member today!

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Last chance to enroll in The PA Academy until the Fall!

Are you eager to jump into the Atlanta film industry this summer? Before you take the plunge, be sure to know the basics by attending The PA Academy presented by GPP and ATLFF on May 16 & 17. Learn the Dos and Don'ts of working on-set and in production offices. 

Linda Burns, along with PC&E, bring in full time ADs and PAs to work with you on what a typical day as a production assistant entails. You will get hands-on experience with equipment and a working knowledge of set terminology. Learn how to present your resume and where to look for paid jobs. 

ATLFF Members receive 20% off this workshop! Registration ends May 15.

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A special message for our members (and those who might like to be members)

Today we're sending out a message to our members encouraging them to renew their memberships for 2014 as part of our Kickstarter campaign. This post contains additional information in long form that we didn't think was appropriate to dump into our members' inboxes. If you're not a member,  you're welcome to check it out to see what we're up to. Our members get year-round invitations to advance screenings and other perks, as well as all-you-can-watch movies at the annual Festival in the Spring.

Hello members! The holidays are here and there's lots going on, but please take a moment to review the handy Q&A below regarding your membership to the Atlanta Film Festival and our Kickstarter campaign to raise funds to bring more filmmakers to Atlanta during the 2014 festival.

My membership to ATLFF? I thought that expired / I don't remember signing up.

If you got an email asking you to renew, you're a member of the Atlanta Film Festival. We may have extended your membership or added one to your purchase of a Pass to the festival in 2013 without you realizing it. Hopefully you've been enjoying the privileges of membership, including the advance screenings we've invited you to and the upcoming members-only holiday party.

What's this about fundraising? Kick-what?

Kickstarter is a tool for online fundraising. It uses an all-or-nothing fundraising model to encourage fundraisers to create a realistic campaign, and to offer rewards that will incentivize potential backers to pledge money to the campaign. Many independent filmmakers have used Kickstarter to help pay to make their movies. It's a great tool when used properly.

We're using Kickstarter to supplement our travel budget for visiting filmmakers. A recent decline in travel sponsorship left us with fewer and fewer dollars to support visiting artists, despite the fact that you, the audience, tell us that meeting filmmakers is your favorite aspect of the festival.

We've set a realistic goal of raising $13,000 by December 22nd. Included in the reward structure are festival passes and memberships, so you can renew your membership through 2014, pick up your festival Pass, and support our Kickstarter campaign all in one transaction.
 

I wasn't planning on buying my pass and renewing my membership until closer to the festival in March. Why should I do it now?

• Unless you've already renewed in recent months, chances are your membership expires soon. Renewing now will grant you full membership benefits through the end of 2014 as well as all-you-can-watch access to movies at the 2014 Festival in March & April.
• Renewing through the campaign earmarks those funds for filmmaker travel -- you'll know that your money goes directly to support visiting artists. That also means more cool people you'll get to meet at the festival when you attend.
• There are perks we're offering through the Kickstarter campaign that you won't be able to get later, including participation in the Backers Jury and an invitation to the Backers Mixer. There are even some upper-level rewards like film concierge service (the programming staff will help you pick movies to see at the festival). 
• Because of the all-or-nothing nature of Kickstarter, your renewal will help us meet our goal. That will ensure that the festival will get to keep the funds we've already raised. (About $4500 so far.)
• If you're interested in Kickstarter for a campaign of your own, you'll want to tune in to our backers-only updates with exclusive Kickstarter strategy tips based on our own experiences.
• Maybe you can talk someone into giving you a 2014 membership as a gift. :)

I don't want to do this online. Can I pledge to the Kickstarter campaign at the holiday party?

Yes, but you'll still need to create a Kickstarter account. We'll have computers at the party and we'll walk you through the process. Then it's high-fives all around for a job well done!
 

I think I already renewed my membership. Can you check that for me?

Check your email (the one that probably led you here) - your membership expiration date should be there. If you can't find it, email membership@atlantafilmfestival.com
 

I can't do this right now, but I will renew my membership in the new year. Is that OK?

Of course it is. We realize that now isn't the right time for everyone. When you're ready to renew, you can check out our Passes page for all the details on the different Passes and what you get. Every Pass comes with a 2014 membership.
 

I have a question you didn't cover here. Can I get some help?

Sure thing! Just email membership@atlantafilmfestival.com and we'll do what we can to help.

Check out the Kickstarter project now and renew your membership.

ATLFF Members Get Free Tickets To Directors Series

Membership has its privileges, right? Well in this case they're some pretty darn good privileges. Not only do ATLFF members get to watch all the movies they want at the Festival in the Spring, we're also opening all of our remaining Fall Focus on Directors screenings to members as well. 

Members will get 2 free tickets to every remaining Fall Focus screening in 2013. There are about ten films left, so if you buy just the basic MovieHopper level membership for $50, that's just $2.50 a ticket if you see all of them. That doesn't even count the other great advance screenings you can see year-round. (Some of our members just got to see the new Clooney/Bullock film Gravity!)

Check out our membership page to pick up your membership (which includes a Pass or MovieHopper Card to ATLFF 2014) and then watch your inbox for info on how to claim your free tickets. (Oh, and did we mention all memberships are discounted 10% right now?)

Do it now, there's still time to catch Jaws on Sunday!