2014 Big MINI Media Festival Panel Discussion
Friday, November 14th
7:00 - 8:00 pm Panel Discussion: Future of Film Distribution
Firstly, a quick introduction of our panel members:
- Konstantin Rubchinsky is a co-founder of DigiPops.TV
- Joanna Vicente is the Executive Producer of IFP (Independent Filmmaker Project)
- Carl Deal is a Academy Award®-nominated co-director and co-producer of the documentary, Trouble the Water
- Steven Ascher is an Oscar-nominated filmmaker and author,The Filmmaker’s Handbook: a Comprehensive Guide for the Digital Age, a bestselling text.
This group of passionate industry professionals and experts on the topic would like to enlighten students, filmmakers, and the general public about new methods of distribution for movies in the digital age. Together, you will get to discuss what are the modals, platforms, and how can young filmmakers/aspiring and underground filmmakers best leverage digital media/Internet to spread their work, grow audiences, and advance their careers.
- Konstantin Rubchinsky is a co-founder of DigiPops.TV
- Joanna Vicente is the Executive Producer of IFP (Independent Filmmaker Project)
- Carl Deal is a Academy Award®-nominated co-director and co-producer of the documentary, Trouble the Water
- Steven Ascher is an Oscar-nominated filmmaker and author,The Filmmaker’s Handbook: a Comprehensive Guide for the Digital Age, a bestselling text.
This group of passionate industry professionals and experts on the topic would like to enlighten students, filmmakers, and the general public about new methods of distribution for movies in the digital age. Together, you will get to discuss what are the modals, platforms, and how can young filmmakers/aspiring and underground filmmakers best leverage digital media/Internet to spread their work, grow audiences, and advance their careers.
Panel Moderator - Konstantin Rubchinsky

Konstantin Rubchinsky is an expert of DIY filmmaking, development, and production for startups. He conceived DigiPops.TV, published the patent, built the team, and oversaw site development, soup to nuts. In 2013, he managed a team of 8, built the beta platform, acquired 17 partner film schools, 3 sponsors, and 2 affiliates.
As owner of Papalove Productions, he has worked for top brands like Sony Music, Toll Brothers, and Posner Advertising. Prior, to filmmaking, Konstantin produced and directed stage plays for Graham Windham and Jewish Community Center. He also taught special education, college composition, and has a master’s degree in literature. My first start-up was Good Karma Living, a personal training business I started during my theater years.
As owner of Papalove Productions, he has worked for top brands like Sony Music, Toll Brothers, and Posner Advertising. Prior, to filmmaking, Konstantin produced and directed stage plays for Graham Windham and Jewish Community Center. He also taught special education, college composition, and has a master’s degree in literature. My first start-up was Good Karma Living, a personal training business I started during my theater years.
Panelists

Joana Vicente is Joana Vicente has been the Executive Director of the IFP- the oldest and largest nonprofit organization for independent filmmakers in the U.S.- since December 2009. Under Vicente's leadership, the IFP was most recently bestowed with the honor of developing and operating the Made in NY Media Center after an RFP was issued by the Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment and the New York City Economic Development Corporation. The state-of-the-art Media Center brings together professionals from the film, television, advertising, new media, gaming, marketing and branding industries for collaboration and new opportunities, and opened in DUMBO, Brooklyn in October 2013.
Prior to the IFP, Vicente and her partner Jason Kliot produced/executive produced over forty films by such acclaimed directors as Jim Jarmusch, Miguel Arteta, Brian De Palma, Hal Hartley, Steven Soderbergh, Nicole Holofcener, and Todd Solondz. She has co-founded three separate and unique film production entities over the course of her career. These include Open City Films, Blow Up Pictures, the first digital production company in the United States, and HDNet Films, an award-winning digital production company founded with Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner.
Want to learn more? Read about Joana.
Prior to the IFP, Vicente and her partner Jason Kliot produced/executive produced over forty films by such acclaimed directors as Jim Jarmusch, Miguel Arteta, Brian De Palma, Hal Hartley, Steven Soderbergh, Nicole Holofcener, and Todd Solondz. She has co-founded three separate and unique film production entities over the course of her career. These include Open City Films, Blow Up Pictures, the first digital production company in the United States, and HDNet Films, an award-winning digital production company founded with Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner.
Want to learn more? Read about Joana.

Carl Deal is an Academy Award® nominated filmmaker who, with collaborator Tia Lessin, produced and directed CITIZEN KOCH which premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, and TROUBLE THE WATER, winner of the Gotham Independent Film Award, the Sundance Film Festival’s Grand Jury Prize, and the Full Frame Documentary Festival Grand Jury Prize. Carl was a co-producer of Michael Moore’s FAHRENHEIT 9/11, winner of the Palme d'Or at Cannes, and CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY. Carl has contributed to many other documentary films, and previously worked as an international news producer and a writer. He has an M.S. in Journalism from Columbia University, is a Creative Capital Artist, a Sundance Fellow, and member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He lives in Brooklyn.

Steven Ascher is an Oscar-nominated filmmaker and author, whose work includes Troublesome Creek (Sundance Grand Jury Prize) and The Filmmaker’s Handbook: a Comprehensive Guide for the Digital Age, a bestselling text. He has taught at MIT and Harvard and in workshops around the world.