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Greteman Group to Sponsor the Inaugural DOX Spotlight Competition at the 2017 Tallgrass Film Festival

WICHITA, Kan. – When the Tallgrass Film Association sought out a sponsor for its new juried competition for women-directed, feature-length documentaries; it turned to woman-owned marketing agency, Greteman Group. President and creative director Sonia Greteman said yes. Immediately.

“Women belong behind the camera as well as in front of it,” says Sonia Greteman. “Our agency’s sponsorship signals our belief in amplifying women’s voices and ensuring more people hear them. Giving emerging directors an elevated platform can launch their careers. Even better, their stories could change the world.”

The DOX Spotlight winner will debut the evening of October 19 at the 15th annual Tallgrass Film Festival, while the rest of the selections will screen throughout the weekend. (Schedule, tickets and information will be available at tallgrassfilmfest.com on September 22.)  All finalists will screen as official selections and all three films are eligible for the Audience Award for Best Documentary and a $2,500 cash prize.

“Our hope is that this recognition helps to celebrate the women in the documentary trenches and inspire future female documentarians to record the accomplishments, the issues and real life from a women’s perspective,” says Gretchen Mitchell, Tallgrass co-director of programming.

Tallgrass runs October 18-22 in venues throughout downtown Wichita. Tallgrass is the largest independent film festival in Kansas, evaluating close to 2,000 submissions a year. For the past three years, it has been included in MovieMaker Magazine’s annual, “50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee.” Entries were due June 14. Cash awards totaling $11,000 and other special recognition awards will be given. The greatest award, however, could be the experience itself.

“Time and again I’ve had directors tell me they leave Tallgrass totally energized,” Mitchell says. “Something powerful happens when you gather around film and filmmakers, sharing stories, unique perspectives and passions. It’s why we do this.”

DOX Spotlight eligibility rules state that films can be made by co-directors, but every co-director must be a woman. The project must not have secured any traditional distribution deal at the time of the fest. Films from all countries and all budgets are welcome. The Tallgrass programming committee selects the finalists, all of which will also be screened in regular competition at the festival. A special DOX Spotlight three-woman jury will decide the winning film. It will screen as part of a Tallgrass evening spotlight with a post-screening Q&A with the filmmaker(s) and an awarding of special honors.

The DOX Spotlight three-women jury includes Seattle International Film Festival Artistic Director Beth Barrett, Women Make Movies Executive Director Deborah Zimmerman, and award-winning documentary filmmaker Maisie Crow. The three DOX finalists include Madeleine Gavin’s City of Joy, Skye Borgman’s Forever ‘B’ and Robin Berghaus’ Stumped. You can read more about the filmmakers and their movies, the jurors and the competition on the festival’s website.

Part of Greteman Group’s sponsorship included developing an identity for the new DOX Spotlight competition. The logo includes the classic gender symbol for a female, providing an at-a-glance reinforcement of the competition’s focus. DOX (pronounced “docks”) is expressed in all caps. Orange and fuchsia make the identity pop against a white background. The agency also designed the award. Since 2007, only 4 percent of the top 1,000 movie titles were directed by women. The DOX Spotlight could help change that.

“There’s a young girl out there with a story and a camera,” says Greteman. “Let’s give her some more role models, showing that it can be done.”

PHOTOGRAPHY FOR DOWNLOAD

https://www.gretemangroup.com/press/tallgrass-dox-spotlight/

Coverage:

The Wichita Eagle
08.24.17

08.23.17 · Greteman Group

Improve Your Small-Group Presentation Skills

Most of us will do many more small-group presentations in our life than standing in front of a large crowd. Whether you’re presenting to an internal team or a group of shareholders, here are a few suggestions to keep your audience engaged and your points remembered.

Provide an overview of what you’re going to say. Set the scene. You don’t have to have a formal speech written out, in fact, please don’t do that. People will tune out. But you shouldn’t completely wing it. Jot down an outline of key points, even if you don’t refer to them when you’re talking. They will help you make a mental map and ensure you hit the points you want to make. It will also help you make them quicker. You will ramble less.

Establish yourself as an expert. But do it quickly. People want to learn from you. Not listen to your life story, though I’m sure it’s fascinating.

Ask if anyone has an experience to share. This invites participation and immediately makes it more of a conversation than a presentation. This kind of discussion can enrich the presentation by making it more relevant and real. Just don’t lose control. Manage your time and move on when you need to.

Present the material. Clearly, concisely and in a manner that helps people remember your message later. That can be through bold visuals, props, a listing of your top three to five points, and through stories. We remember anecdotes, the more personal the better. “I witnessed… I experienced…”

Modulate your energy level to capture and maintain attention. Provide variety. Raise and lower your volume to create interest and emphasize key points. Enunciate so people don’t have to strain to catch your words. Show your enthusiasm.

Help people understand the relevance of what you’re sharing. If something appears to have no connection to you, you’ll tune it out. Find commonality. This requires an understanding of your audience. Why should they care about what you say? Answer that question in your presentation.

Think about what your audience needs and wants to know. The curse of knowledge can make us blind to key points we should make but don’t. Put yourself in their place.

Watch your audience. Make eye contact. Ensure people are engaged. Pick up on cues people may be sending. Are they acting restless? Checking the time? Even worse, nodding off?

Leave ample time for Q&A. Too often we squander the front end of our presentation with useless chitchat or meandering, then scramble and cut things short toward the end. The question-and-answer period can be the most important part of your presentation. Don’t give it short shrift.

Open your Q&A by asking, “Before I close, do you have any questions?” This lets people know you will remain in control and you will close the session on time, not simply trail off. Always repeat questions to ensure everyone heard it – and that you heard it correctly, too. This also buys you a little time to formulate your answer.

If you get unfriendly or combative questions, answer them as factually as you can and move on. Same thing with soft questions. If someone asks something that doesn’t advance understanding or add anything new, don’t spend any more time on those than you need to. Try to add some new information then move on.

Close by repeating your key points. Thank your audience and provide your email or a link where attendees can download your presentation or resources or follow up with you individually. Do all this and your next presentation ought to be a winner.

 


Humor can be a good way to capture attention in small-group presentations. I’ve been known to put on a flight suit on occasion to get our team to listen to me at agency retreats and lunch and learns. Yes, I’ve even impersonated my father, aviation photographer Paul Bowen, as a way to get my points across.

This column ran in the August 10th issue of BlueSky Business Aviation News.

08.09.17 · Ashley Bowen Cook

Wichita Eagle; Have You Heard

Wichita Eagle business reporter and columnist Carrie Rengers recently asked business leaders for big-dream suggestions to improve Wichita’s river corridor. Greteman Group president and creative director was one of those who offered their thoughts. Here’s what Sonia had to say:

Read the full article here.

08.07.17 · Greteman Group