FREE Filmmaker Workshops & Presentations
Beloit College Powerhouse
850 Peasant Street
BIFF2023 has some great opportunities for guests who want to get inside the business of filmmaking.
And it’s all FREE!
-
- Saturday Feb. 25, 12:30 p.m.
Art of the Reveal — Daniel Pico, BIFF 2023 Artist in Residence - Saturday Feb. 25, 2:30 p.m.
You’ll Have A Story In No Time — Michael Keeney, Bob Barhite, Nate Clark, TJ Hill - Sunday Feb. 26, 10:30 a.m.
Filmmaking on a Shoestring Budget — Michael Keeney, Bob Barhite, Nate Clark, TJ Hill - Saturday Mar 4, 10:30 a.m.
The Art of Horror — Daniel Pico, BIFF 2023 Artist in Residence - Saturday Mar 4, 2:30 a.m.
Into The Outdoors — Rick Rose & Andi Patilliet, Discover Mediaworks
- Saturday Feb. 25, 12:30 p.m.
Director’s Cut Presentations
Hosted by 2o23 Honorary Chair, filmmaker Gavin Michael Booth
- Saturday Feb. 25, 5:00 pm
Last Call Retrospective - Saturday Mar. 4, 5:00 pm
Pull Up Your Shorts
Cinema, like any art form, has a language that communicates its ideas and feelings to its audience.
Being fluent in its language deepens your appreciate for a great work, the way your understanding of English allows you to appreciate a great novel. These workshops are a study in the language of cinema.
Saturday, Feb 25
12:30 pm
The art of
the Reveal
Every part of your story is a reveal of some kind. It could be a straight cut, a pan, a boom, a push into a character, etc. It’s about deciding the most impactful way to reveal your story to your audience and choosing the right tools for the job.
I demonstrate the ways you reveal the story or a character, then assign the correct emotion to the type of reveal.
Saturday, Mar 4
10:30 am
The art of
Horror
Often maligned as the lesser genre to the drama and thriller, even when the first horror movie won the Academy Award for best picture (Silence of The Lambs) they relabeled it a “Psychological Thriller” because Horror is not Academy material. But I disagree, I think that horror is the genre that uses the tools of cinema to their greatest effect.
Take a tour of the beautiful macabre as we examine scenes from the greatest horror films and how they use the language of cinema in extraordinary ways.
Presented by:
BIFF 2023 Artist In Residence
Daniel J. Pico
Director, Writer, Producer
Daniel J. Pico Is a graduate of Columbia College Chicago with a BA in directing and screenwriting. He has been shooting films his entire life having made his first movie at the age of 8.
Daniel has directed two theatrically released feature films “Common Senses”, and “Farewell Darkness” which won three best feature film awards in the international film festival circuit. Additionally, Daniel has directed more than 85 short films, music videos, commercials, and documentaries, including 11 episodes of several popular TV and web series, garnering over 40 independent film awards and nominations for his work.
Daniel is the founder of Pico Blvd Entertainment, a production company whose core focus is on independent cinema. Not only is Dan a maverick director, he is an accomplished editor and has worked in several major capacities in film, from producing multiple feature films, to first assistant directing several multi-million-dollar features films around the world.
Currently he co-wrote the Gala Films/Exertion3 series “RZR” and will be serving also as a director when it goes into production this winter in Los Angeles.
Films screened at BIFF
Pico Blvd Entertainment
The Madison 48 Hour Film Project Workshops
Saturday, Feb 25
2:30 pm
You’ll Have A Story In No Time At All
Filmmakers Michael Keeney of Key Media Entertainment and the Wisconsin 48 Hour Film Project, and Bob Barhite of I’m Busy Films, give a brief explanation of what the 48 Hour Film Project is and how it can kickstart your filmmaking career, and discuss their writing processes, with Q&A included.
This interactive seminar will include creating, with attendees, a simple two-page scene using items at hand. This scene will then be given to filmmakers TJ Hill and Nate Clark for use in their production seminar the following day.
Sunday, Feb 26
10:30 am
Filmmaking On A Shoestring Budget:
How to leverage locations, talent and gear with a minimal or non-existent budget.
Often maligned as the lesser genre to the drama and thriller, even when the first horror movie won the Academy Award for best picture (Silence of The Lambs) they relabeled it a “Psychological Thriller” because Horror is not Academy material. But I disagree, I think that horror is the genre that uses the tools of cinema to their greatest effect.
Take a tour of the beautiful macabre as we examine scenes from the greatest horror films and how they use the language of cinema in extraordinary ways.
About
The Madison 48 Hour Film Project
The 48 Hour Film Project is an annual film competition in which teams of filmmakers are assigned a genre, a character, a prop, and a line of dialogue, and have 48 hours to create a short film containing those elements. The competition has been active since 2001.
Michael Keeney
Key Media Entertainment
Workshop Presenter
Keeney is the Wisconsin cliché. Born on a dairy farm on a dead-end gravel road. 4H. Holsteins. All that. Won the tractor-driving competition in high school.
And yet … he’d read every book in the school library by the third grade. Started writing fiction in the fourth, and began selling short stories and poetry in the 6th. Made his first movie at 17 with 8mm film, razor blades and Scotch tape. Went off to school and became an award-winning investigative journalist and photographer. Had his work broadcast on CNN.
He maintains a career both locally and in the Hollywood “bigs” by working studio blockbusters, serial TV, small indie films, commercial work and industrials. Having been a part of nearly a billion dollars worth of budgets, his efforts include work in both DC and Marvel cinematic universes and such productions as, “Public Enemies,” “Jupiter Ascending,” “Botox: Weapon of Beauty,” “Freaky Deaky,” “Bad Ambulance,” Fargo,” Lovecraft Country,” “No God, No Master,” and “Sunday Drive.”
You’ve probably seen his work, even if you don’t recognize his face. Much of that work comes through the production company he shares with Co-Producer Kat Thompson, Key Media. There he serves as writer, script doctor, producer and director. He considers “The Fall” by Tarsem Singh to be a cinematic and story-telling masterpiece, and he literally wore out his VHS copy of “Space Balls.”
Bob Barhite
I’m Busy Films
Workshop Presenter
I was born in Champaign, Illinois, shortly after the glaciers receded from North America. I grew up in Waukon, Iowa, to the chagrin of its residents. Much to their relief, after high school I moved to Portland, Oregon and graduated from Portland State University with a B.S in Political Science. Contrary to popular belief, I did not enroll at PSU because the team nickname is “Vikings.” I’ve always enjoyed reading. In grade school I’d check out a book literally every other day. and on a whim, I enrolled in the MFA Creative Writing program at Southern New Hampshire University in 2015 and graduated in 2017. To avoid paying back student loans, I enrolled in the MFA-Professional Screenwriting program at National University in La Jolla, California, and earned the degree in 2021.
As a screenwriter I’ve participated in numerous 48 Hour Projects, starting in 2018 as a writer with Nate Clark. I even acted in it because we needed a grizzled old man. My Oscar must have been lost in the mail. Since then, I’ve been involved with the 48 every year as writer/director. In 2021, one of our 48 Hour shorts, “Long Day on a Lonely Planet,” won “Most Creative Sci-Fi Short” at the Star City Film Festival.
Outside the 48 I have a production company – I’m Busy! Films. We’ve produced an award-winning short, “Seeking Bigshoe” a parody of cryptozoology shows and based upon my experiences working on “Finding Bigfoot” in 2016. We’re in post-production on its sequel – “Seeking Bigshoe – Oregon.” In 2021 I was asked to be the sound engineer on “Painting Jane.” It was a great experience.
Currently I’m wrapping up principal photography on a web series proof of concept, “Hotel Bar,” which began in 2018.
Nate Clark
RedWax Productions
Workshop Presenter
Nate Clark is a filmmaker working in both the video game and film industry. He has worked on several award winning games and features, as well as independent films. He has received awards for character rigging, animation, cinematography and visual effects. Projects he has worked on have been awarded or nominated for the Hugo Award, the BAFTA Award, Game of the Year, and the Teen Choice Award.
Clark has provided voice acting talent for both the flight simulator and astronaut training program for NASA. He has been teaching filmmaking to children, teens and adults through the Madison Public Library since 2013, and owns the RedWax Productions production house.
TJ Hill
Film Director
Workshop Presenter
From stage, to musical composition, to live broadcast, to film, TJ Hill has had a love for storytelling in all mediums his entire life. His film work has screened throughout the midwest and can be found in this Festival’s line-up. His award- winning short, “Key Witness,” is set to make its LA premiere this March.
A life-long movie lover, Hill began his film directing journey when he had to answer the question“how do I livestream this?”. Hill is originally from Rockford, IL. He prides himself on forging cohesive partnerships in creating entertainment while pulling no punches within the craft. By day, TJ is a specialist with Electronic Theater Controls, a global leader in lighting technology for film and stage.
Saturday, Mar. 4
2:30-4 pm
Into The Outdoors at BIFF
A lively 60-minute hands-on program on the elements of producing an award-winning TV series. Examine the process of producing a broadcast weekly series that also airs on YouTube and has its own app.
The Emmy Award-winning team of Beloit College alumni, Rick Rose ’86 and Andi Patilliet ’16 behind the popular PBS series for young people, “Into The Outdoors,” will share their stories and inspire a new generation of storytellers.
Co-Presenter:
Rick Rose
Content Producer – OTT Programming Director
Discover Mediaworks
Rose co-created this series for Discover Mediaworks 20 years ago alongside Mark McNease of “Sesame Street.”
Experienced Owner with a demonstrated history of working in the marketing and advertising industry. Skilled in Storytelling via Audio and Video, Advertising, Commercials, Journalism, Social Media, Creative Writing. Strong community and social services activist with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) focused in Theatre Arts and Asian Studies from Beloit College. My passions are in working within the HIV/AIDS, recovery, human equality, abused/neglected and cancer communities, having served on boards, action groups and being a heart and feet on the street.
Co-Presenter:
Andi Patilliet
Patilliet took over the reins as brand manager of the Into The Outdoors educational and entertaining series five years ago.
FREE Filmmaker Workshops
Beloit College Powerhouse
850 Pleasant Street
BIFF2023 has some great opportunities for guests who want to get inside the business of filmmaking.
-
- Saturday Feb. 25, 12:30 p.m.
Art of the Reveal — Daniel Pico, BIFF 2023 Artist in Residence - Saturday Feb. 25, 2:30 p.m.
You’ll Have A Story In No Time — Michael Keeney, Bob Barhite, Nate Clark, TJ Hill - Sunday Feb. 26, 10:30 a.m.
Filmmaking on a Shoestring Budget — Michael Keeney, Bob Barhite, Nate Clark, TJ Hill - Saturday Mar 4, 10:30 a.m.
The Art of Horror — Daniel Pico, BIFF 2023 Artist in Residence - Saturday Mar 4, 2:30 a.m.
Into The Outdoors — Rick Rose & Andi Patilliet, Discover Mediaworks
- Saturday Feb. 25, 12:30 p.m.
Director’s Cut Presentations
Hosted by 2o23 Honorary Chair, filmmaker Gavin Michael Booth
- Saturday Feb. 25, 5:00 pm
Last Call Retrospective - Saturday Mar. 4, 5:00 pm
Pull Up Your Shorts
Saturday, Feb 25
12:30 am
The art of
the Reveal
Every part of your story is a reveal of some kind. It could be a straight cut, a pan, a boom, a push into a character, etc. It’s about deciding the most impactful way to reveal your story to your audience and choosing the right tools for the job.
I demonstrate the ways you reveal the story or a character, then assign the correct emotion to the type of reveal.
Saturday, Mar 4
10:30 am
The art of
Horror
Often maligned as the lesser genre to the drama and thriller, even when the first horror movie won the Academy Award for best picture (Silence of The Lambs) they relabeled it a “Psychological Thriller” because Horror is not Academy material. But I disagree, I think that horror is the genre that uses the tools of cinema to their greatest effect.
Take a tour of the beautiful macabre as we examine scenes from the greatest horror films and how they use the language of cinema in extraordinary ways.
Presented by:
BIFF 2023 Artist In Residence
Daniel J. Pico
Director, Writer, Producer
Daniel Pico | About the Presenter
Daniel J. Pico Is a graduate of Columbia College Chicago with a BA in directing and screenwriting. He has been shooting films his entire life having made his first movie at the age of 8.
Daniel has directed two theatrically released feature films “Common Senses”, and “Farewell Darkness” which won three best feature film awards in the international film festival circuit. Additionally, Daniel has directed more than 85 short films, music videos, commercials, and documentaries, including 11 episodes of several popular TV and web series, garnering over 40 independent film awards and nominations for his work.
Daniel is the founder of Pico Blvd Entertainment, a production company whose core focus is on independent cinema. Not only is Dan a maverick director, he is an accomplished editor and has worked in several major capacities in film, from producing multiple feature films, to first assistant directing several multi-million-dollar features films around the world.
Currently he co-wrote the Gala Films/Exertion3 series “RZR” and will be serving also as a director when it goes into production this winter in Los Angeles.
Films screened at BIFF
Pico Blvd Entertainment
Madison 48 Hour Film Project Workshops
Saturday, Feb 25
2:30 pm
You’ll Have A Story In No Time At All
Filmmakers Michael Keeney of Key Media Entertainment and the Wisconsin 48 Hour Film Project, and Bob Barhite of I’m Busy Films, give a brief explanation of what the 48 Hour Film Project is and how it can kickstart your filmmaking career, and discuss their writing processes, with Q&A included.
This interactive seminar will include creating, with attendees, a simple two-page scene using items at hand. This scene will then be given to filmmakers TJ Hill and Nate Clark for use in their production seminar the following day.
Sunday, Feb 26
10:30 am
Filmmaking On A Shoestring Budget:
How to leverage locations, talent and gear with a minimal or non-existent budget.
Often maligned as the lesser genre to the drama and thriller, even when the first horror movie won the Academy Award for best picture (Silence of The Lambs) they relabeled it a “Psychological Thriller” because Horror is not Academy material. But I disagree, I think that horror is the genre that uses the tools of cinema to their greatest effect.
Take a tour of the beautiful macabre as we examine scenes from the greatest horror films and how they use the language of cinema in extraordinary ways.
Workshops presented by:
Michael Keeney
Key Media Entertainment
Workshop Presenter
Michael Keeney | About the Presenter
Keeney is the Wisconsin cliché. Born on a dairy farm on a dead-end gravel road. 4H. Holsteins. All that. Won the tractor-driving competition in high school.
And yet … he’d read every book in the school library by the third grade. Started writing fiction in the fourth, and began selling short stories and poetry in the 6th. Made his first movie at 17 with 8mm film, razor blades and Scotch tape. Went off to school and became an award-winning investigative journalist and photographer. Had his work broadcast on CNN.
He maintains a career both locally and in the Hollywood “bigs” by working studio blockbusters, serial TV, small indie films, commercial work and industrials. Having been a part of nearly a billion dollars worth of budgets, his efforts include work in both DC and Marvel cinematic universes and such productions as, “Public Enemies,” “Jupiter Ascending,” “Botox: Weapon of Beauty,” “Freaky Deaky,” “Bad Ambulance,” Fargo,” Lovecraft Country,” “No God, No Master,” and “Sunday Drive.”
You’ve probably seen his work, even if you don’t recognize his face. Much of that work comes through the production company he shares with Co-Producer Kat Thompson, Key Media. There he serves as writer, script doctor, producer and director. He considers “The Fall” by Tarsem Singh to be a cinematic and story-telling masterpiece, and he literally wore out his VHS copy of “Space Balls.”
Bob Barhite
I’m Busy Films
Workshop Presenter
Bob Barhite | About the Presenter
I was born in Champaign, Illinois, shortly after the glaciers receded from North America. I grew up in Waukon, Iowa, to the chagrin of its residents. Much to their relief, after high school I moved to Portland, Oregon and graduated from Portland State University with a B.S in Political Science. Contrary to popular belief, I did not enroll at PSU because the team nickname is “Vikings.” I’ve always enjoyed reading. In grade school I’d check out a book literally every other day. and on a whim, I enrolled in the MFA Creative Writing program at Southern New Hampshire University in 2015 and graduated in 2017. To avoid paying back student loans, I enrolled in the MFA-Professional Screenwriting program at National University in La Jolla, California, and earned the degree in 2021.
As a screenwriter I’ve participated in numerous 48 Hour Projects, starting in 2018 as a writer with Nate Clark. I even acted in it because we needed a grizzled old man. My Oscar must have been lost in the mail. Since then, I’ve been involved with the 48 every year as writer/director. In 2021, one of our 48 Hour shorts, “Long Day on a Lonely Planet,” won “Most Creative Sci-Fi Short” at the Star City Film Festival.
Outside the 48 I have a production company – I’m Busy! Films. We’ve produced an award-winning short, “Seeking Bigshoe” a parody of cryptozoology shows and based upon my experiences working on “Finding Bigfoot” in 2016. We’re in post-production on its sequel – “Seeking Bigshoe – Oregon.” In 2021 I was asked to be the sound engineer on “Painting Jane.” It was a great experience.
Currently I’m wrapping up principal photography on a web series proof of concept, “Hotel Bar,” which began in 2018.
Nate Clark
RedWax Productions
Workshop Presenter
Nate Clark | About the Presenter
Nate Clark is a filmmaker working in both the video game and film industry. He has worked on several award winning games and features, as well as independent films. He has received awards for character rigging, animation, cinematography and visual effects. Projects he has worked on have been awarded or nominated for the Hugo Award, the BAFTA Award, Game of the Year, and the Teen Choice Award.
Clark has provided voice acting talent for both the flight simulator and astronaut training program for NASA. He has been teaching filmmaking to children, teens and adults through the Madison Public Library since 2013, and owns the RedWax Productions production house.
TJ Hill
Film Director
Workshop Presenter
TJ Hill | About the Presenter
From stage, to musical composition, to live broadcast, to film, TJ Hill has had a love for storytelling in all mediums his entire life. His film work has screened throughout the midwest and can be found in this Festival’s line-up. His award- winning short, “Key Witness,” is set to make its LA premiere this March.
A life-long movie lover, Hill began his film directing journey when he had to answer the question“how do I livestream this?”. Hill is originally from Rockford, IL. He prides himself on forging cohesive partnerships in creating entertainment while pulling no punches within the craft. By day, TJ is a specialist with Electronic Theater Controls, a global leader in lighting technology for film and stage.
About
The Madison 48 Hour Film Project
The 48 Hour Film Project is an annual film competition in which teams of filmmakers are assigned a genre, a character, a prop, and a line of dialogue, and have 48 hours to create a short film containing those elements. The competition has been active since 2001.
Saturday, Mar. 4
2:30-4 pm
Into The Outdoors at BIFF
A lively 60-minute hands-on program on the elements of producing an award-winning TV series. Examine the process of producing a broadcast weekly series that also airs on YouTube and has its own app.
The Emmy Award-winning team of Beloit College alumni, Rick Rose ’86 and Andi Patilliet ’16 behind the popular PBS series for young people, “Into The Outdoors,” will share their stories and inspire a new generation of storytellers.
Co-Presenter:
Rick Rose
Content Producer – OTT Programming Director
Discover Mediaworks
Rose co-created this series for Discover Mediaworks 20 years ago alongside Mark McNease of “Sesame Street.”
Experienced Owner with a demonstrated history of working in the marketing and advertising industry. Skilled in Storytelling via Audio and Video, Advertising, Commercials, Journalism, Social Media, Creative Writing. Strong community and social services activist with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) focused in Theatre Arts and Asian Studies from Beloit College. My passions are in working within the HIV/AIDS, recovery, human equality, abused/neglected and cancer communities, having served on boards, action groups and being a heart and feet on the street.
Co-Presenter:
Andi Patilliet
Patilliet took over the reins as brand manager of the Into The Outdoors educational and entertaining series five years ago.
Workshops Location
Beloit College Powerhouse
850 Pleasant Street
Downtown Beloit Wisconsin
Workshops Locations
Beloit College Powerhouse
850 Pleasant Street
Downtown Beloit WI
