Kartemquin Educational Films

Kartemquin is accustomed to receiving record numbers of
intern applications from both journalism and film students across the country.
We plan to host a total of 15 interns in 2012, both undergraduates and
post-graduates—many from around Chicago. We value our interns as productive
members of our team and seek to engage them in, and expose them to, the full
documentary film production process from budgeting to post-production, all the
way through distribution and marketing. Kartemquin itself currently
employs 4 former interns in key staff positions, including Production Director
and Executive Director.

 

Across the past few years, the internship
has grown to involve a heavy amount of web-based work, allowing them not only
to help with our social media presence through twitter and facebook, but to
actually manage the process and voice as well. Additionally, we teach
invaluable workplace skills such as content and website management with basic
HTML and our CMS drupal. In addition to this hands-on experience, we offer the
intern workshops on topics such as: lighting and sound, camera techniques,
fundraising, budgeting and fair use in the media. Including staff time and
supplies, this internship program costs Kartemquin about
$21,000 a year, but in future years we’d love to be able to cover a working
stipend for our extremely talented pool of interns, which would tack on an
additional $15,000 a year. Without additional funding, it’s difficult for us to
even devote the resources to the program itself, let alone the stipend, which
is why we are seeking additional support not only to keep the internship
vibrant, but also to attract a larger pool of talented candidates who wouldn’t
otherwise be able to take on an unpaid internship.

Staff and associates routinely take on speaking and
teaching engagements in Chicago and will continue to do so throughout 2012. We
plan to make appearances at career fairs for local college and universities,
give guest lectures at high schools and colleges across the city, and continue
to educate the media, legal, business, and academic communities about the
importance of film as a tool for education.

Diverse Voices in Docs is a professional development and mentorship program for emerging documentary filmmakers of color, organized by Kartemquin Films and the Community Film Workshop of Chicago. Backed by funding from Joyce Foundation and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the program hones skills and unites filmmakers who share experiences and expertise across six monthly workshops as they develop new projects.