2013 Film Independent Spirit Awards NY Screening Series Kicks-Off Today

Related: 2013 Film Independent Spirit Awards

The Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP) is the nation's oldest and largest not-for-profit advocacy organization for independent filmmakers. Since its debut at the 1979 New York Film Festival, IFP has supported the production of over 7,000 films and offered resources to more than 20,000 filmmakers, providing an opportunity for many diverse voices to be heard. IFP believes that independent films enrich the universal language of cinema, seeding the global culture with new ideas, kindling awareness, and fostering activism. The organization championed the early work of pioneering independent filmmakers Charles Burnett, Todd Haynes, Mira Nair, Michael Moore, Joel and Ethan Coen, Kevin Smith, and Todd Solondz. IFP continues to play a vital role in launching first films of many of today's rising stars on the independent scene including Debra Granik ("Down to the Bone"), Miranda July ("Me, You and Everyone We Know"), and Ryan Fleck & Anna Boden ("Half Nelson").

IFP represents a network of 10,000 filmmakers in New York City and around the world and fosters the development of 350 feature and documentary films each year. Through its workshops, seminars, conferences, mentorships, and Filmmaker Magazine, IFP schools its members in the art, technology, and business of independent filmmaking. The year-round program includes Independent Film Week, Envision, The Cross-Media Forum, The Gotham Awards, and the Independent Filmmaker Labs. IFP's programs promote diverse voices in independent film by working to include racial, ethnic, religious, ideological, gender and sexual diversity. IFP, often in collaboration with other cultural institutions, builds audiences by hosting premieres and special screenings.

For more information, visit ifp.org.

ABOUT NYIT AUDITORIUM ON BROADWAY

A state-of-the-art event space just off Columbus Circle, the NYIT Auditorium on Broadway can accommodate a range of events, from conferences to film screenings, executive meetings to classy cocktail parties. A versatile, bi-level layout boasts a 262-seat auditorium and two reception areas including a glass-façade atrium and a lower-level concourse.

For more information, visit nyit.edu/aob.

New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) is a non-profit independent, private institution of higher education with more than 14,000 students attending campuses on Long Island and Manhattan, online, and at its global campuses. NYIT is guided by its mission to provide career-oriented professional education, offer access to opportunity to all qualified students, and support applications-oriented research that benefits the larger world.

For more information, visit nyit.edu.

ABOUT SAG FOUNDATION

The Screen Actors Guild Foundation, formed in 1985, is an educational, humanitarian and philanthropic nonprofit organization committed to enhancing the lives of performers by investing in programs which help them in their professional endeavors and the communities in which they live.

The SAG Foundation is independent from SAG-AFTRA and offers substantive no-cost services and programs to SAG-AFTRA members, their families and the public at large. These include instructional workshops, career empowering seminars, scholarships, emergency and catastrophic health care assistance and award-winning children's literacy programs: BookPALSand Storyline Online.

The Foundation relies solely on the support of grants, corporate sponsorships, bequests and individual contributions to maintain its programs and create new ones in its mission to assist, educate and inspire performers.

For more information, visit sagfoundation.org.

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