The Paley Center for Media has announced a call for entries for its celebrated Art of the Documentary Pitch Workshop, which will be held at the Paley Center in New York on Saturday, November 15, 2014. In this workshop/competition- now in its eleventh year - a panel of documentary executives and producers discuss the process of developing a documentary and will hear and evaluate pitches from five pre-selected up-and-coming filmmakers who are hoping to sell either a nonfiction concept or a documentary work-in-progress. The winner of the pitch competition in November will receive a $5,000 grant to be used towards the completion of their project.
This call for entries is to be selected as one of the five filmmakers who will participate in the workshop in November.
Complete submission guidelines and entry forms can be found Here or filmmakers can submit electronically through Withoutabox - the free online resource that helps filmmakers connect with film festivals- Here
The deadline for entries:
Late Deadline: September 17, 2014 ($35 regular submission fee / $30 for Withoutabox members submitting through Withoutabox)
Special Extended Deadline: October 1, 2014 ($45 / $35 for Withoutabox members)
Withoutabox Extended Deadline: October 8, 2014 ($55 / $40 for Withoutabox members)
Past winners include: "The Age of Love" by Steven Loring, "Eleven" directed by Laura Paglin and Kahlil Pedizisai, "The View from Bellas Luces" directed by Christa Boarini; "Charge" by Mike Plunkett; "From Texas to Tehran" by Till Schauder; "Circo" by Aaron Schock; "The House that Herman Built" by Angad Bhalla; "Whatever it Takes" by Christopher Wong; and "Asparagus! (A Stalk-umentary)" by Anne de Mare and Kirsten Kelly
The Paley Center for Media, with locations in New York and Los Angeles, leads the discussion about the cultural, creative, and social significance of television, radio, and emerging platforms for the professional community and media-interested public. Drawing upon its curatorial expertise, an international collection, and close relationships with the leaders of the media community, the Paley Center examines the intersections between media and society.
The general public can access the collection and participate in programs that explore and celebrate the creativity, the innovations, the personalities, and the leaders who are shaping media. Through the global programs of its Media Council and International Council, the Paley Center also serves as a neutral setting where media professionals can engage in discussion and debate about the evolving media landscape. Previously known as The Museum of Television & Radio, the Paley Center was founded in 1975 by William S. Paley, a pioneering innovator in the industry. For more information, please visit paleycenter.org.
This call for entries is to be selected as one of the five filmmakers who will participate in the workshop in November.
Complete submission guidelines and entry forms can be found Here or filmmakers can submit electronically through Withoutabox - the free online resource that helps filmmakers connect with film festivals- Here
The deadline for entries:
Late Deadline: September 17, 2014 ($35 regular submission fee / $30 for Withoutabox members submitting through Withoutabox)
Special Extended Deadline: October 1, 2014 ($45 / $35 for Withoutabox members)
Withoutabox Extended Deadline: October 8, 2014 ($55 / $40 for Withoutabox members)
Past winners include: "The Age of Love" by Steven Loring, "Eleven" directed by Laura Paglin and Kahlil Pedizisai, "The View from Bellas Luces" directed by Christa Boarini; "Charge" by Mike Plunkett; "From Texas to Tehran" by Till Schauder; "Circo" by Aaron Schock; "The House that Herman Built" by Angad Bhalla; "Whatever it Takes" by Christopher Wong; and "Asparagus! (A Stalk-umentary)" by Anne de Mare and Kirsten Kelly
The Paley Center for Media, with locations in New York and Los Angeles, leads the discussion about the cultural, creative, and social significance of television, radio, and emerging platforms for the professional community and media-interested public. Drawing upon its curatorial expertise, an international collection, and close relationships with the leaders of the media community, the Paley Center examines the intersections between media and society.
The general public can access the collection and participate in programs that explore and celebrate the creativity, the innovations, the personalities, and the leaders who are shaping media. Through the global programs of its Media Council and International Council, the Paley Center also serves as a neutral setting where media professionals can engage in discussion and debate about the evolving media landscape. Previously known as The Museum of Television & Radio, the Paley Center was founded in 1975 by William S. Paley, a pioneering innovator in the industry. For more information, please visit paleycenter.org.
- 9/14/2014
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
The renowned Paley Center for Media will hold its 10th Art of the Documentary Pitch Workshop in New York on Saturday, November 16th, 2013. The event aims to connect a group of several producers and executives with five preselected up-and-coming participants in an effort to discuss the process of developing a documentary and making it a reality. The panel will also evaluate the new talent's pitches and select one of them to be awarded a $5,000 grant to be used towards the completion of the winning project.
Some of the winners from past editions include: Eleven directed by Laura Paglin and Kahlil Pedizisai, The View from Bellas Luces directed by Christa Boarini; Charge by Mike Plunkett; The Iran Job by Till Schauder; Circo by Aaron Schock; Herman's House by Angad Bhalla; Whatever it Takes by Christopher Wong; and Asparagus! (A Stalk-umentary) by Anne de Mare and Kirsten Kelly.
Entries to be part of the exclusive group of five contestants at the workshops are now being accepted. The regular deadline is September 18th, 2013 (at $35 per entry), there is also a special extended deadline on October, 2, 2013 (at $45 or $35 for Withoutabox members) and a Withoutabox extended deadline on October 9,2013 ($55 or $45 for Withoutabox members).
To read a complete list of submission guidelines click Here
To submit your entry electronically on Withoutabox click Here
To learn more about the Paley Center for Media and their support of the creative community click Here...
Some of the winners from past editions include: Eleven directed by Laura Paglin and Kahlil Pedizisai, The View from Bellas Luces directed by Christa Boarini; Charge by Mike Plunkett; The Iran Job by Till Schauder; Circo by Aaron Schock; Herman's House by Angad Bhalla; Whatever it Takes by Christopher Wong; and Asparagus! (A Stalk-umentary) by Anne de Mare and Kirsten Kelly.
Entries to be part of the exclusive group of five contestants at the workshops are now being accepted. The regular deadline is September 18th, 2013 (at $35 per entry), there is also a special extended deadline on October, 2, 2013 (at $45 or $35 for Withoutabox members) and a Withoutabox extended deadline on October 9,2013 ($55 or $45 for Withoutabox members).
To read a complete list of submission guidelines click Here
To submit your entry electronically on Withoutabox click Here
To learn more about the Paley Center for Media and their support of the creative community click Here...
- 9/12/2013
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Sydney's Buzz
"The circus is tough and beautiful" says Tino, the ringmaster and central character of Aaron Schock's documentary Circo (2010), charting the ups and downs of a Mexican troupe. One could say the same of Schock's film. The film follows the Ponce clan, who have worked in the circus for over a hundred years but mounting debts and Mexico's erratic economy strain both the business and family life.
Read more »...
Read more »...
- 9/12/2011
- by Daniel Green
- CineVue
If you have ever had an illusory dream to join the circus, Circo, a documentary film by Aaron Schock, will dispel any myths about the reality of what it takes to live life in the ring. Filmed throughout rural Mexico, Circo is a bittersweet portrait of the Ponce family, and life in a traveling circus. Exploring both the economic and cultural pressures facing their traditional way of life, the film expressively captures the ups and downs of a life on the road in rural Mexico.
A century-old family business, the Ponce family circus has survived extinction thus far, due to the dedication of its family members. In order to ensure its long-term survival, the circus requires a no-exit policy. But much to the chagrin of Grandma and Grandpa Ponce, the owners and solo shareholders of the family circus, with love comes marriage and with marriages comes the possibility of losing a valuable circus member.
A century-old family business, the Ponce family circus has survived extinction thus far, due to the dedication of its family members. In order to ensure its long-term survival, the circus requires a no-exit policy. But much to the chagrin of Grandma and Grandpa Ponce, the owners and solo shareholders of the family circus, with love comes marriage and with marriages comes the possibility of losing a valuable circus member.
- 4/11/2011
- by Clare Halpine
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
The baseball season has begun, but the weather in most of the country still frustratingly refuses to move forward into actual spring. That's why this weekend might be best spent at your local cinema, and luckily there are plenty of options at your disposal. In addition to some still-around must-sees like "Jane Eyre" and "Rango," there is a lot opening this weekend. You could check out the haunted house movie "Insidious," which is directed and written by the team of James Wan and Leigh Whannell, the creators of the first "Saw" flick. There's also "Super," the dark indie action comedy featuring "The Office" star Rainn Wilson as a wannabe masked hero. Another option is "Hop," the animated adventure starring Russell Brand as the Easter Bunny. And if you're tastes are extra-indie, there's the action comedy "Cat Run," the devastating cyber-stalking flick "Trust," the Mexican circus documentary "Circo" (which features music...
- 4/1/2011
- by Kyle Anderson
- MTV Newsroom
Contemporary circus life hasn’t changed much from the previous century. Families still pass down acts from generation to generation, and troupes still rely on sensationalistic attractions like “The Spectacular Globe Of Death” to draw in the rubes, and on sickly sweet refreshments to pad out their take. The troupe featured in Aaron Schock’s documentary Circo is more family-bound and archaic than most. For over 100 years, the Ponce family have been circus folk, scattered into small ensembles that that tour the parts of Mexico where people are often too poor to pay admission. One of those circuses, Gran ...
- 3/31/2011
- avclub.com
Circus life
Under the big top world
We all need the clowns to make us smile
Through space and time
Always another show
Wondering where I am
Lost without you -- "Faithfully," by Journey
Those Jonathan Cain lyrics kept flashing through my mind while I watched "Circo," a melancholic documentary about the slow dissolution of a Mexican circus family. To the folks in the stands, the circus is excitement and thrills. To the men, women, and children who run that circus it's a job, and not an especially glamorous one, either. Like Steve Perry sang, there's always another show, and that grind takes its toll.
The family grinding away is the Ponces who have operated the Circo Mexico for decades. Three generations of Ponces work the circus; patriarch Don Gilberto inherited the life from his own father and his three siblings each have their own traveling circuses as well. Though Gilberto runs the business,...
Under the big top world
We all need the clowns to make us smile
Through space and time
Always another show
Wondering where I am
Lost without you -- "Faithfully," by Journey
Those Jonathan Cain lyrics kept flashing through my mind while I watched "Circo," a melancholic documentary about the slow dissolution of a Mexican circus family. To the folks in the stands, the circus is excitement and thrills. To the men, women, and children who run that circus it's a job, and not an especially glamorous one, either. Like Steve Perry sang, there's always another show, and that grind takes its toll.
The family grinding away is the Ponces who have operated the Circo Mexico for decades. Three generations of Ponces work the circus; patriarch Don Gilberto inherited the life from his own father and his three siblings each have their own traveling circuses as well. Though Gilberto runs the business,...
- 3/31/2011
- by Matt Singer
- ifc.com
By Sam Weisberg - April 1, 2011
From its premise alone, "Circo," Aaron Schock's documentary about the struggles of a traveling, multi-generation family circus, seems to have "small" written all over it. With all the horror stories you hear about crime, poverty and industrial exploitation in Mexico, a story about one little tight-knit brood, acting out this insufferably cheesy form of entertainment seems doomed to fade fast in the memory. And yet, clocking in at a slender seventy-five minutes, "Circo" achieves an abundance of chilling, unforgettably sad moments—perhaps more than a probing exposé on the current state of rural Mexico would.
Among them: a camel dies, most likely from exhaustion, and is laid to rest unceremoniously in an open field. A pre-teen child, his arms and pecs prematurely ripped, tries in vain to hammer down a tent spike, petrified that his errors will anger his father. In two non-consecutive scenes,...
From its premise alone, "Circo," Aaron Schock's documentary about the struggles of a traveling, multi-generation family circus, seems to have "small" written all over it. With all the horror stories you hear about crime, poverty and industrial exploitation in Mexico, a story about one little tight-knit brood, acting out this insufferably cheesy form of entertainment seems doomed to fade fast in the memory. And yet, clocking in at a slender seventy-five minutes, "Circo" achieves an abundance of chilling, unforgettably sad moments—perhaps more than a probing exposé on the current state of rural Mexico would.
Among them: a camel dies, most likely from exhaustion, and is laid to rest unceremoniously in an open field. A pre-teen child, his arms and pecs prematurely ripped, tries in vain to hammer down a tent spike, petrified that his errors will anger his father. In two non-consecutive scenes,...
- 3/31/2011
- by Screen Comment
- Screen Comment
Opening Friday at IFC Center, Aaron Schock's Circo draws back the curtains on a hardscrabble family circus struggling to stay intact despite mounting debt, dwindling audiences, and a simmering family conflict. Circo follows the Ponce family along the winding backroads of rural Mexico where they have lived and performed for over a hundred years. Tino, the ringmaster, is driven by his dream to lead his parents' circus to success. Undeterred by Mexico's collapsing rural economy, he corrals the energy of his whole family, including his four young children, towards this singular goal. But Tino's wife Ivonne is determined to make a change. She feels exploited by her in-laws - who appear to be the only ones to benefit from the family's hard work - and laments over the childhood her kids have lost to the circus. Through this intricately woven story of a marriage in trouble and of a...
- 3/30/2011
- TribecaFilm.com
Reviewed by Bryan Buss
(from the 2010 Los Angeles Film Festival)
Directed by: Aaron Schock
Written by: Aaron Schock and Mark Becker
Aaron Schock’s moving documentary tells the story of the Ponce family, who have run Circo Mexico, a traveling circus, for more than 100 years. Tino Ponce, the ringleader, and his wife, Ivonne, tour Mexico nonstop with their four children, their niece Naydelin, Tino’s parents and his brother Tacho. Parents and children share the work, erecting the tents, selling the tickets, performing the acts and then striking the sets. They live in a camper, the kids don’t go to school, and they are deeply in debt. And their circus being a scrappy affair, they don’t play the big cities for big money. They tour hardscrabble communities, living hardscrabble lives.
Tino performs a delicate balancing act between Ivonne , unhappy and fearing for the futures of their children (they can’t write,...
(from the 2010 Los Angeles Film Festival)
Directed by: Aaron Schock
Written by: Aaron Schock and Mark Becker
Aaron Schock’s moving documentary tells the story of the Ponce family, who have run Circo Mexico, a traveling circus, for more than 100 years. Tino Ponce, the ringleader, and his wife, Ivonne, tour Mexico nonstop with their four children, their niece Naydelin, Tino’s parents and his brother Tacho. Parents and children share the work, erecting the tents, selling the tickets, performing the acts and then striking the sets. They live in a camper, the kids don’t go to school, and they are deeply in debt. And their circus being a scrappy affair, they don’t play the big cities for big money. They tour hardscrabble communities, living hardscrabble lives.
Tino performs a delicate balancing act between Ivonne , unhappy and fearing for the futures of their children (they can’t write,...
- 3/28/2011
- by admin
- Moving Pictures Network
Reviewed by Bryan Buss
(from the 2010 Los Angeles Film Festival)
Directed by: Aaron Schock
Written by: Aaron Schock and Mark Becker
Aaron Schock’s moving documentary tells the story of the Ponce family, who have run Circo Mexico, a traveling circus, for more than 100 years. Tino Ponce, the ringleader, and his wife, Ivonne, tour Mexico nonstop with their four children, their niece Naydelin, Tino’s parents and his brother Tacho. Parents and children share the work, erecting the tents, selling the tickets, performing the acts and then striking the sets. They live in a camper, the kids don’t go to school, and they are deeply in debt. And their circus being a scrappy affair, they don’t play the big cities for big money. They tour hardscrabble communities, living hardscrabble lives.
Tino performs a delicate balancing act between Ivonne , unhappy and fearing for the futures of their children (they can’t write,...
(from the 2010 Los Angeles Film Festival)
Directed by: Aaron Schock
Written by: Aaron Schock and Mark Becker
Aaron Schock’s moving documentary tells the story of the Ponce family, who have run Circo Mexico, a traveling circus, for more than 100 years. Tino Ponce, the ringleader, and his wife, Ivonne, tour Mexico nonstop with their four children, their niece Naydelin, Tino’s parents and his brother Tacho. Parents and children share the work, erecting the tents, selling the tickets, performing the acts and then striking the sets. They live in a camper, the kids don’t go to school, and they are deeply in debt. And their circus being a scrappy affair, they don’t play the big cities for big money. They tour hardscrabble communities, living hardscrabble lives.
Tino performs a delicate balancing act between Ivonne , unhappy and fearing for the futures of their children (they can’t write,...
- 3/28/2011
- by admin
- Moving Pictures Magazine
By Aaron Schock (director of the documentary “Circo”)
(premiering at the 2010 Los Angeles Film Festival)
The inspiration to make “Circo” was a desire to reverse the direction of the documentary lens that has typically looked at Mexico only from the border up and singularly through the subject of immigration. Instead, I wanted to go deep into the Mexican countryside and find a story that could communicate both the richness and the complexities of a vast culture and social order unfamiliar to most Americans. My original plan was to make a film about corn farmers. But one night while I was in a small village doing field research, a traveling circus came to town.
That night I went to the circus. The plan changed.
Over the next several days, I got to know the family that had brought this little bit of magic and diversion to this poor farming town. The...
(premiering at the 2010 Los Angeles Film Festival)
The inspiration to make “Circo” was a desire to reverse the direction of the documentary lens that has typically looked at Mexico only from the border up and singularly through the subject of immigration. Instead, I wanted to go deep into the Mexican countryside and find a story that could communicate both the richness and the complexities of a vast culture and social order unfamiliar to most Americans. My original plan was to make a film about corn farmers. But one night while I was in a small village doing field research, a traveling circus came to town.
That night I went to the circus. The plan changed.
Over the next several days, I got to know the family that had brought this little bit of magic and diversion to this poor farming town. The...
- 3/28/2011
- by admin
- Moving Pictures Network
By Aaron Schock (director of the documentary “Circo”)
(premiering at the 2010 Los Angeles Film Festival)
The inspiration to make “Circo” was a desire to reverse the direction of the documentary lens that has typically looked at Mexico only from the border up and singularly through the subject of immigration. Instead, I wanted to go deep into the Mexican countryside and find a story that could communicate both the richness and the complexities of a vast culture and social order unfamiliar to most Americans. My original plan was to make a film about corn farmers. But one night while I was in a small village doing field research, a traveling circus came to town.
That night I went to the circus. The plan changed.
Over the next several days, I got to know the family that had brought this little bit of magic and diversion to this poor farming town. The...
(premiering at the 2010 Los Angeles Film Festival)
The inspiration to make “Circo” was a desire to reverse the direction of the documentary lens that has typically looked at Mexico only from the border up and singularly through the subject of immigration. Instead, I wanted to go deep into the Mexican countryside and find a story that could communicate both the richness and the complexities of a vast culture and social order unfamiliar to most Americans. My original plan was to make a film about corn farmers. But one night while I was in a small village doing field research, a traveling circus came to town.
That night I went to the circus. The plan changed.
Over the next several days, I got to know the family that had brought this little bit of magic and diversion to this poor farming town. The...
- 3/28/2011
- by admin
- Moving Pictures Magazine
This interview with "Circo" director Aaron Schock was originally published during indieWIRE's coverage of the 2010 Los Angeles Film Festival. "Circo" hits select cinemas this Friday, April 1. Gorgeously filmed along the back roads of rural Mexico, "Circo" follows the Ponce family's hardscrabble circus as it struggles to stay together despite mounting debt, dwindling audiences, and a simmering family conflict. Tino, the ringmaster, is driven by his dream to lead ...
- 3/28/2011
- Indiewire
This interview with "Circo" director Aaron Schock was originally published during indieWIRE's coverage of the 2010 Los Angeles Film Festival. "Circo" hits select cinemas this Friday, April 1. Gorgeously filmed along the back roads of rural Mexico, "Circo" follows the Ponce family's hardscrabble circus as it struggles to stay together despite mounting debt, dwindling audiences, and a simmering family conflict. Tino, the ringmaster, is driven by his dream to lead ...
- 3/28/2011
- indieWIRE - People
Circo, a documentary that follows a family-run Mexican circus, was shot by a one-man crew made up of first-time feature director, Aaron Shock. After a successful tour of the festival circuit, First Run Features is releasing Circo in New York on April 1st. But, you can get a look at the trailer now:
Synopsis:
Gorgeously filmed along the back roads of rural Mexico, Circo follows the Ponce family’s hardscrabble circus as it struggles to stay together despite mounting debt, dwindling audiences, and a simmering family conflict. Tino, the ringmaster, is driven by his dream to lead his parents’ circus to success and corrals the energy of his whole family, including his four young children, towards this singular goal. But his wife Ivonne is determined to make a change. Feeling exploited by her in-laws, she longs to return to her kids a childhood lost to laboring in the circus. Through...
Synopsis:
Gorgeously filmed along the back roads of rural Mexico, Circo follows the Ponce family’s hardscrabble circus as it struggles to stay together despite mounting debt, dwindling audiences, and a simmering family conflict. Tino, the ringmaster, is driven by his dream to lead his parents’ circus to success and corrals the energy of his whole family, including his four young children, towards this singular goal. But his wife Ivonne is determined to make a change. Feeling exploited by her in-laws, she longs to return to her kids a childhood lost to laboring in the circus. Through...
- 3/5/2011
- by Kristy Puchko
- The Film Stage
Trailers are an under-appreciated art form insofar that many times they’re seen as vehicles for showing footage, explaining films away, or showing their hand about what moviegoers can expect. Foreign, domestic, independent, big budget: I celebrate all levels of trailers and hopefully this column will satisfactorily give you a baseline of what beta wave I’m operating on, because what better way to hone your skills as a thoughtful moviegoer than by deconstructing these little pieces of advertising? Some of the best authors will tell you that writing a short story is a lot harder than writing a long one, that you have to weigh every sentence. What better medium to see how this theory plays itself out beyond that than with movie trailers? Circo Trailer Here in the southwest I think you can take a band like Calexico for granted. They have a dusty, desert charm that draws...
- 2/25/2011
- by Christopher Stipp
- Slash Film
U.S. rights to Aaron Schock's Hamptons '10 winner "Circo" have been acquired by First Run Features. Set in a century-old traveling circus in rural Mexico as it struggles to stay together despite mounting debt, dwindling audiences, and a simmering family conflict, First Run plans a Spring 2011 theatrical roll out. The film centers on the Ponce family's circus, which has lived and performed in rural Mexico since the 19th century. According ...
- 10/19/2010
- Indiewire
East Hampton, NY (October 10th, 2010) – The Hamptons International Film Festival announced tonight their audience, jury and special prizes at their awards ceremony. Tom Hooper’s The King’S Speech and Jill Andresevic’s Love Etc. take the audience awards honored tonight among the film industries finest. Mamas And Papas, directed by Alice Nellis, was selected by the jury as the winner of The Golden Starfish Narrative Feature Award. The Documentary Golden Starfish went to Aaron Schock’s Circo. Mamas And Papas also took home the Zicherman Screenplay Award. Another winner in the Narrative category, Xavier Dolan’s Heartbeats took the Kodak Award for Best Cinematography. The festival’s Brizzolara Family Conflict and Resolution Award was presented to Lisa Gossel’s My So Called Enemy. Special awards went to The House Of Suh, directed by Iris Shim, which was the winner of the Investigation Discovery Award for Excellence in Journalism, and No Tomorrow,...
- 10/11/2010
- by MIKE FLEMING
- Deadline
David and Flora in Lisa Leeman’s One Lucky Elephant The Los Angeles Film Festival will take place from June 17-27. Camera, Camera: (Director Malcolm Murray Writer Michael Meyer, Producer Josh Haner.) This gorgeously shot, poetic documentary, set in the free-for-all playground of Laos, gazes at the ex-pats and tourists who live out their fantasies of the "exotic East" through the lenses of their omnipresent cameras. World Premiere Circo – USA/Mexico: (Director Aaron Schock, Producers Aaron Schock, Sally Jo Fifer, Jannat Gargi.) The Ponce family – who have owned a traveling circus for over one hundred years – find themselves struggling to survive a growing family conflict and the severe economic downturn in this beautifully crafted documentary. World Premiere Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone: [...]...
- 5/5/2010
- by Anna Robinson
- Alt Film Guide
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.