Micro-Seminar: Authenticity in Filmmakers & Creatives: Speaking About Yourself & Your Work PART ONE

Micro-Seminars have two parts. Attendance to both parts is required. Registering for the PART ONE session will automatically enroll you in the PART TWO session on Friday.

Part 1: Thursday, August 22, 2024 from 3:00 – 4:30 pm (PST)
Part 2: Friday, August 23, 2024 from 10:00 – 11:30 am (PST)

Overview: Being able to talk about yourself and your work in an authentic way is one of the most powerful tools a filmmaker or artist can possess as they embark upon their studies and career. This seminar will begin a conversation about what authenticity means, how to recognize it in others and foster it in yourself, and how to harness and utilize your authentic voice as you pursue creative and professional goals. The seminar will focus largely on filmmakers, but is open to other creatives - fine artists, performing artists, etc.

Expecting learning outcomes:
- Assess authentic voices in established filmmakers/artists and yourself
- Communicate effectively and succinctly about yourself and your creative work
- Offer concise, supportive, and constructive feedback

Day 1:
- Introduction to the concept of authenticity & how to assess it in others ----- Case studies & class suggestions: Filmmakers & artists who produce work that feels like an authentic extension of themselves
- Discussion: How to foster your own personal sense of authenticity ----- Identity, creative vision, and point of view ----- Harnessing and utilizing your authentic voice
- Discussion: Making an impression by talking about yourself and your work in an authentic way
- Discussion: Offering feedback to others
- Workshop: Breakout groups of 2-3 students practice pitching themselves and their creative work to each other & offering feedback
- Assignment: Complete “authenticity worksheet” & prepare a 2-3 minute verbal “pitch” of yourself and your creative work, to be presented on Day 2.

Day 2:
- Micro-pitches & feedback: Students will verbally present a 2-3 minute overview of themselves and their work, followed by brief & concise feedback from the group.

Target audience: Incoming School of Cinematic Arts students & any interested creatives – fine artists, performing artists, etc.

Lead By: Professor John Palmer

John Ira Palmer is a producer and director, and a founding partner of Projected Picture Works with Sean Penn and John Wildermuth. He teaches in the Film & Television Production division at USC School of Cinematic Arts. Palmer produced the upcoming SEPTEMBER 5 (directed by Tim Fehlbaum, starring Peter Sarsgaard & John Magaro), as well as ASPHALT CITY (directed by Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire, starring two-time Academy Award winner Sean Penn & Tye Sheridan, Cannes 2023). Other producing credits include FLAG DAY (directed by Sean Penn, starring Dylan Penn & Sean Penn, Cannes 2021), AL IMAM (directed by Omar Al Dakheel, Vimeo Staff Pick, National Geographic release, KCET Fine Cut’s top documentary prize winner), THE DARE PROJECT (directed by Adam Salky, follow-up to the beloved queer short DARE, Frameline & Outfest 2018), and CONTRA-INTERNET: JUBILEE 2033 (directed by Zach Blas, Berlinale 2018). Palmer was a production executive for Projected Picture Works titles including DADDIO (directed by Christy Hall, starring Dakota Johnson & Sean Penn, Telluride & Toronto 2023) and SUPERPOWER (documentary about Ukrainian President Zelenskyy and the War in Ukraine, Berlinale 2023).

As a director, Palmer’s most recent project is the Outfest 2023 Audience Award winner OUT OF THE CORNER OF OUR EYE, funded by National Endowment for the Arts and commissioned by SCI-Arc Channel for their Queer Perspectives series. The film was recently featured at the Detroit Institute of Arts for the Mighty Real/Queer Detroit international biennial. He also directed ELWOOD TAKES A LOVER, which screened at festivals worldwide and was an official selection of The American Pavilion Emerging Filmmaker Showcase at Cannes 2019. His experimental short films have been shown at festivals and venues such as Outfest, Frameline, REDCAT, Blum & Poe, and Pacific Film Archive. Palmer has curated film series and programs for American Cinematheque, Echo Park Film Center, and San Francisco Art Institute. As a consultant for Sundance’s Documentary Film Program and Concordia Studio, he has helped identify the next generation of documentary filmmakers. Palmer earned his MFA in Film & Television Production at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts and his BFA in Fine Arts at San Francisco Art Institute. Before attending USC, he spent nearly a decade as an entertainment marketing executive and producer, overseeing campaigns for studio films and network series. Outside of filmmaking, Palmer is dedicated to community-based service. He served as Chief of Staff at CORE (Community Organized Relief Effort) throughout its Covid-19 response–which included offering vaccines and testing throughout the United States, Navajo Nation, Brazil, India, and Haiti–and during its initial months in Ukraine, Poland, and Romania offering shelter, resources, and services to refugees from the Russo-Ukrainian War. While studying at USC, Palmer co-founded the Our Voices speaker series under the School of Cinematic Arts’ Diversity & Inclusion initiative with inaugural speakers John Singleton, Cheryl Boone-Isaacs, and Andrew Ahn. For over a decade, Palmer also volunteered as a crisis counselor and training mentor for The Trevor Project, dedicated to suicide prevention and crisis intervention for LGBTQ+ youth.

Academic Honors and Fellowships | Website | View More Events

Contact the organizers