US Indy Filmmakers Brings Grant Programs to NZ

Fairy Godmother to US Indy Filmmakers Brings Grant Programs to New Zealand

Hollywood, CA—November 10, 2002—Carole Dean, U.S. film philanthropist who has awarded more than $1.5 million in goods and services to aspiring U.S. documentary filmmakers will arrive in New Zealand November 18 to promote two new film grant competitions designed for New Zealand filmmakers. Dean will spend the next four months at her country cottage on the Wye River.

Dean, former CEO of Studio Film & Tape and founder of From the Heart Productions, started her film and video competitions 12 years ago in honor of her father, an ardent supporter of struggling independent filmmakers. “There is a great need in our industry to help the least funded, most dedicated, passionate and determined group of filmmakers in our business,” Dean said.

Past grant recipients claim winning the coveted Roy W. Dean award helped pave their way toward a successful career in the film industry. "This always stays with you throughout your career as a filmmaker," says producer Jocelyn Glatzer, recipient of the eleventh annual Roy W. Dean New York Film Grant. "It's like winning the Oscar of film grant awards," agrees co-producer Christine Courtney.

Glatzer and Courtney received over $50,000 in goods and services to aid in their production of The Flute Player, an intimate, first person documentary that explores the life of Am Chom Pond, a survivor of the 1970’s death camps of Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge military regime.

Dean’s grants are created from services donated through entertainment industry suppliers and professionals. Through the generosity of heart-felt donors like Kodak and Panavision, Dean has created some of the most lucrative film grants in the industry. Works produced through Dean’s support have premiered at Sundance, the Discovery Channel, Starz, PBS, the History Channel, and have been optioned for full-length feature films by Warner Bros.

For more information on Carole Dean’s NZ Film & Video grants and her NZ Writing Research grant go to www.fromtheheartproductions.com or to reach Carole Dean to schedule an interview, or an appearance at a seminar or workshop e-mail her at CaroleEDean@worldnet.att.net.

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