Helen Hall shares how to use MIPCOM for funding your documentary

Helen Hall is an award-winning producer, director, and composer whose work explores the intersection of art, science, and energy. With more than 30 years of experience, she creates films that combine original research with cinematic storytelling to explore complex and unusual subjects

She is currently completing the feature documentary Pictures of Infinity, based on more than two decades of research into Nikola Tesla’s long-hidden blueprint for a sustainable energy future. The film has received major honors, including the Roy W. Dean Award and the Carole Dorothy Joyce Award for Excellence in Documentary Filmmaking.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 1:16

Welcome to From the Heart Productions, where we support and champion independent filmmakers telling stories that matter. Today's conversation brings together science, cinema, and opportunity in a way I think many of you will find both inspiring and practical. We're honored to be joined by Helen Hall, an award-winning producer, director, and composer, whose work explores the intersection of art, science, and energy. For more than three decades, Helen has created films grounded in original research, cinematic storytelling, and a deep curiosity about the forces that shape our world. Her work has been performed, broadcast, and exhibited internationally, and her research has been published by Leonardo magazine, MIT Press, with music forthcoming from Da Vinci edition in Japan. Her first documentary, Power Lines, inspired by the sound waves of electromagnetic fields, won the International Jury Award at the International Festival of Films on Energy. Helen is completing Pictures of Infinity, a feature revealing Nicola Tesla's long-hidden blueprint for a sustainable energy future, recipient of the Roy W. Dean Award and the Carol Dorothy Joyce Award. Helen serves on the Advisory Council of the International Institute of Film Science and Arts in New York. And Carol, I understand this is a film you highly support and are working on with Helen.

SPEAKER_02 3:17

Yes, Claire. Helen has so much to share with us on her recent trip to Mipcom. So thank you, Helen, for joining us. Thank you for having me on the show. Oh, we have a lot of things to cover today. So let's get started. What is MIPCOM and what drew you to attend this year?

SPEAKER_01 3:38

So Mipcom is the largest global market for the audiovisual industry. And um it's it's a place where everyone converges in the audiovisual industry, apparently. So in the the year, it was just this past October when I was there, and there were uh more than 10,000 delegates from 107 countries. So it's huge, it's absolutely huge. Um and so what brought me there was that um I received a phone call, um, I think it was in late June last year, and uh on my cell phone, and and uh it was someone from Rx Global, which is the uh organization that manages Mipcom. And I I didn't know what it was, you know, it just sort of came out of nowhere. And uh and then he followed up with an email, and so he was representing Mipcom and he knew about pictures of infinity, so that kind of drew me in, and he thought that I should be there with pictures of infinity, so I wondered what what that was about, and so he offered to uh to meet with me on Zoom to talk to me more about it and why he thought I should be there and what it why why everything, and it's not something I would that would ever cross my mind, you know. I would think of Mipcom as a big commercial marketplace kind of place and not somewhere where where it would be appropriate for me to be with my film in progress. Uh, but he convinced me that that he inspired me so much, um, just the way it was very human, it was very personal, and it it he just made everything sound possible. And so um, so then I I remember speaking to you, and you and you agreed with me that it seemed like it might be something I should follow up on. And uh and then I I received the um Carol Dorothy Joyce Award, um, which made it possible for me to register for for Mipcom and to actually um start planning to attend, which was pretty amazing, and I was honored to receive it. Um and then the next thing that happened after I registered for Mipcom, I was invited to be a delegate for um the Quebec for Quebec filmmakers to be part of the Quebec team that was going to Mipcom. So what that so what that meant was that I had it, I had um an infrastructure to work with. So I had uh an actual physical location where I could organize meetings and have um there was a receptionist and there were people offering drinks and that sort of thing. So it was very, very um helpful to have um support like that. And also it was really um impacted the visibility of my project too, because uh then I could um there was a a place online to actually say what I'm looking for and where I am and that sort of thing. So that that there was a lot of visibility for the project because of that. Um so so then after registering, um there's an online platform that we have access to, and that's an incredible resource because you can um you know put information about yourself, about your production company, um, about your your projects and exactly what you're looking for. So, you know, we're all going to MIPCOM to find um resources for our projects, and uh, and we can ask for those online. We can make it clear what we're looking for, and and then it's possible to organize meetings because there's a huge list of all the um all the people attending, so all the companies and all the the um different people representing the companies. And so we we we can start contacting them and organizing meetings, and then at the same time we're being um up, you know, we're getting a lot of uh requests for meetings too from others who are interested in what we're doing.

SPEAKER_02 8:19

Well, that's great. Well, so people were interested in what you're doing because of your posting on the MIPCOM website. Yes, exactly. Did that bring you many people?

SPEAKER_01 8:31

It brought me a lot of people. In fact, it was far more than I could meet with, uh physically meet with during that time period because there's really it's a four-day event, but the there's the third there are three full days of meetings, and then the fourth day we can we can have, you know, we had second meetings sometimes, and also it was a time to to to schedule the ones that weren't possible during the three other the previous three days. But yes, there it I was just flooded with uh meeting requests.

SPEAKER_02 9:04

Well, give us an out uh a short description of your film, Pictures of Infinity, so we all understand uh the title and what's the focus is of your film.

SPEAKER_01 9:20

So it's a feature documentary about the um what Nikola Tesla called his greatest achievement. This is something that is unknown, mostly unknown. Um he discovered that the earth produces an unlimited reservoir of natural electricity, and he devoted the last part of his life to inventing a system to harness it. And uh this was his radical solution to the global energy crisis, which he anticipated more than a hundred years ago. And uh the film is uh a combination of dramatic scenes from Tesla's life that begin in childhood and right till the end of his life, but every scene in the film is revealing a new um principle of energy that he discovered, and um because his thinking was radically different than our common understanding of physics. And so that's an important part of the film because his it implies a radical new direction because he made he was very he produced outstanding results in his experiments. And uh, and so the film documents all of his um all of his discoveries and inventions to harness the natural electricity of the earth. So not only reproducing the experiments that he did to to um to make it vis to make it clear that this was possible to to do, but he um uh we're also reproducing the experiments of others who have um who are confirming that what Tesla did was was possible and real and exists. So um so they've um they've produced evidence that everything that he anticipated would would actually be possible using the instruments that they have now. And at the time that Tesla was working, and I mean there's many problems that Tesla encountered with um with having it, what he was doing be understood, but there's people now who who have um invented instruments that detect and measure the energy he was harnessing. So it's there's very convincing evidence that that it's possible is that his system was viable.

SPEAKER_02 11:56

And that is called a zero point field that uh that Tesla working with, right?

SPEAKER_01 12:02

It's it's in quantum physics it's called the zero point field. That's not what Tesla would call it, and it's not what other people would call it, but that's all it doesn't matter, it is it it's the same concept. So some people people have different names for it.

SPEAKER_02 12:19

Okay, it's basically an underlying field of energy, underlying field of energy that surrounds all of us, and that's right. Well, this is brilliant. Okay, so we'll get back to MIPCOM. So, in other words, they they contacted you, you decided to attend, uh Canada supported you by putting in with their a group, yes, by posting online, you found people to talk to and who were interested in your film.

SPEAKER_01 12:51

Yes, um, yes, and both well, I reached out to people and then I and I had people reach out to me, so it was back and forth.

SPEAKER_02 13:01

So this year MIPCOM was focused on the creator economy. So that shift opportunities for documentary filmmakers.

SPEAKER_01 13:11

Well, first of all, um I should say this is the first market event I've ever attended, so um, and it was a pretty incredible experience. But uh one thing I was aware of right away, so I don't know if this is different from previous years, but it it really felt like a level playing field. It didn't feel like they were the gatekeepers and the you know the filmmakers or whatever. It I just felt felt like we were all together doing what we're doing. And I don't know if it's because of that, but that's what what all the talks were were were about on some level is because um they say that YouTube is re has replaced television now, and that everyone in the world watches watches YouTube like as as they would watch television, but it's but the television, sorry, YouTube has replaced television.

SPEAKER_02 14:14

Uh YouTube has outperformed Disney.

SPEAKER_01 14:19

Okay. And they also, this was something I hadn't heard before uh being at that particular event, I hadn't heard that uh they said that um that long form content is very popular on YouTube. I always heard the opposite, but they insisted that it was. And um and so the the creator economy uh first of all they say, and I think other people may have heard this before, of course, from YouTube, but that anyone with a camera and a computer can now make content and um participate. You know, you don't there's no again, there's no traditional gatekeepers, and so you have direct access to YouTube and you can you can you you can actually make a decent living if if you devote yourself to um finding your audience and uh you know creating the the content and uh and bringing it to them on a regular basis.

SPEAKER_02 15:23

Exactly. And you've done that, you've built your Facebook page up to what is the number of followers you have now, about four years 27,000. Oh my gosh, that's magnificent. That that should bring interest from any possible distributor.

SPEAKER_01 15:41

That's marvelous, how yes, but actually, one thing I did in my meetings, I of course I had my phone with me, as we all do. Um, so I showed them when I was meeting with distributors and and streamers and talking about my film, um, because I'm you know I'm amazed by this. Um there's so much interest in Tesla and it's only growing. So I showed them, I had a a post from uh September where Tesla it's quotes Tesla, it's from an interview where he spoke about the future, and he said that in the future he that that people would be able to harness energy from all around them and um it that it could meet global energy needs. And that post got 32,000 reactions. Wow. 32,000. Yeah. That's I mean, that's how much people care about it. So um, so that that's something that I showed them, you know. I could I could it was easy to show them on my phone that that that that's what's happening, you know, when I when I post things, that's that's how much interest there is on in in this subject.

SPEAKER_02 16:58

This is good to know, and good to know about um YouTube. The there's a new documentary out, Helen, called The Grab, G-R-A-B. And it's a very interesting story about food and water, and how that is control, what the controls are around that, and how countries are using other countries to raise their food and with other people's water and bring it back home. And that is on YouTube and um Hulu. Uh, so yes, YouTube is taking over as a long-form uh player, Dennis.

SPEAKER_01 17:46

In fact, YouTube was was at the center of the whole um event this year. The focus the whole focus was on YouTube, and so it again with the creator economy. So they they gave examples like BBC Television had a series on Dr. Seuss, so I don't know all the details, but except that it was a long-term um regular series, and so they wanted to bring it to YouTube because that's of course the but the thing, I guess what they were what they were telling us is that they have all this content and now they can they're adapting it for YouTube. So so they hired um content creators from YouTube to um to adapt all their their series, their Dr. Seuss series for YouTube. And so that so the the content creators would would create little clips and and you know, and and it's all it all has to do with audience metrics and reactions, and then they develop it according to that, and then apparently they ended up even developing new content based on finding a whole new audience for this material and a whole new interest. So that was pretty incredible. And they talked about all the all the important things that you people can do with YouTube as content creators, even it stays with me for some reason, but they they spoke about the importance of thumbnails, that that's huge, you know, when you're when you're um attracting audiences and you're and you're putting things on YouTube that that the thumbnail is is something that really draws people in.

SPEAKER_02 19:29

It's very important, Alan. You're right, the thumbnail. You know, I've done a lot of videos, and you if you change the thumbnail, you can increase or decrease uh the number of plays. It's it is enforced, it's a marketing.

SPEAKER_01 19:49

Yes. So so they were saying that these things are so important, and uh learning these skills, how to how to do, you know, how to reach people that way. And then also uh imagine for filmmakers all the content that you have and how you can find different ways to communicate it. You might make little clips and or you might um find something that has educational value, and and so it was all about packaging, and you can package it endless in endlessly different ways for different markets. And so this was another big uh discovery of that from being at MIPCOM was and meetings with distributors, is that there was a lot of interest in my previous film, which I could not have imagined, but what's changed now, it seems, is that it's not it nothing has an expiry date. So it's um any content they can be interested in. It really doesn't matter when it was released, how old it is, that's all irrelevant now. It's all it's all content that that's possibly of interest.

SPEAKER_02 21:01

And YouTube wants more content. Oh my gosh, that's amazing.

SPEAKER_01 21:08

Yeah, but distributors too, they're they're looking, they're interested in in my experience. So my experience was that that they wanted to create a catalog of of whatever I'm doing, you know. So it wasn't they're they're interested in my present project, but they want to know what else I'm doing too.

SPEAKER_02 21:28

So that's a marketing side, right?

SPEAKER_01 21:30

Yeah, so that it's like a it's not just a one one project. It's it's um they're interested in filmmakers, in other words, and what they do, not just in whatever the content is that you're that you're dealing with at the moment.

SPEAKER_02 21:46

So they're interested in you, and uh so that means it's the content creator they're going after, right?

SPEAKER_01 21:54

That's right, yes. So it's not just a a single project.

SPEAKER_02 21:58

Wonderful. Well so let's talk about what funding opportunities emerge for you for you from NIPCOM.

SPEAKER_01 22:11

So um I can't speak in specifics. I had a lot of exciting developments, um, but every partnership that you have, because it's it's important in the new way that things are working, I think it's more and more important to have um partnerships with different um people. And it's not necessarily a single distributor anymore. So um you can have distributors who who cover certain territories, like let's say Paris and Hong Kong, and and you would negotiate rights with them for those territories, and then you might negotiate rights with someone else for other territories. And when you have co-producers, um they represent different territories too. So let's say you have a co-producer in the UK, and then you that opens doors for funding that's that's specific to that territory. Oh, good. Yes, and that's what works is that and that's what people that's in fact how films are being funded now at least at MIPCOM is through these these partnerships which open open doors to to other it expands the possibilities with every partnership okay so the partnerships could be with a distributor or it could be with a production company yes and streamers too oh yeah yes okay yeah so it and the streamers I was speaking a bit with Claire about this before the interview but I I was just saying I can't keep track of them all there's so many streamers it's it's changing so quickly now and they have different focuses but what what the what it's doing for film is that it's it it means that films now have a much longer lifespan in terms of being distributed being seen and being um acquired I guess by distributors and streamers and and they can and they can be in different forms as I said so you can do that on YouTube but but the streamers are doing something similar to they're packaging thing prop uh content in different ways for different markets for different audiences yes and I spoke to Tom Malloy recently and he was he's um you know he had a distribution company and he sold that and it's now part of a larger distribution company and Helen he said that by the time your film is is finished we will have it on 30 different streaming platforms. I didn't there were that many right exactly yeah so so there's and there's all these different forms it seems every time you turn around there's a different forum of of um streamer different platform different um you know uh monetized in different ways too some of them are um you know subscription based and some of them are um uh ad revenue that sort of thing right well it's wonderful to stay on top of that so um so get tell go back to the meetings and tell me what kind of meetings you had and how let's talk to the audience about how you prepared for the meeting and what went on what results came out of them so I prepared for the meetings by again once registering for the event um it gives us access to the digital platform so it's very very important to or I think it I would say that that it's probably the most important thing is that you make it clear what you're looking for and uh and you put that out there. And then um I also prepared a one sheet for the film and that's it because everyone's really um overloaded with all the all the things all the information and so I just stuck to to one sheet and the one sheet had active links on it. So if they wanted more information it linked to uh the trailer to teasers and um a sizzle reel and uh other documents on Google Drive so um and so that's that's what I did. That's all I I didn't actually give it to them I I just linked it they had a link to it. Well tell me what did you say when it says make you're saying make it clear what you're looking for so how did you describe your film and what you're looking for oh I I said that I'm looking for um co-producers broadcasters and distributors um to help to to uh complete my film and bring it into the world great yeah actually I have the exact text here I said seeking co-production distribution and broadcast partners to bring pictures of infinity a feature documentary about Nikola Tesla's blueprint for a sustainable energy future to audiences worldwide so that was what I said great and uh how how were the results of your meeting were they positive oh they were incredible so I was really surprised and I was also surprised that um I think I always felt a bit apprehensive about um the business part of filmmaking and I just found it so um easy uh on the some level to to meet with people and to talk to them and uh it was people from all over the world too and there just seemed to be so much common ground and um so the meetings yeah that so so it was very inspiring and um I received um a lot of positive developments as a result so I'm in discussions with um co-producers distributors and streamers right now wonderful well Helen see you overcame the fear of going into the corporate world because you're the carrier of the story this is your film and you know it and that uh knowing it's in your DNA and people feel when they talk to you there's no doubt you will feel this film and that's what they want to hear they want to hear your own confidence and definitely you have that from your uh connection to this film yes well I I wouldn't yeah I wouldn't know that that was exactly what it was but I do know that uh that I was surprised at how comfortable I felt everywhere and uh it it didn't you know there there wasn't anything um challenging about it on that level you were comfortable yes totally and I looked forward to every day I wasn't you know it was it was just um it it could have been I I again I I can't begin to describe it but just so many people from so many different countries and all being so open to new possibilities and um interested in well there we again uh there's a lot of interest in this subject so I really felt that and it's it is a global subject and uh Tesla is known everywhere wonderful and and known as as something other than the name of a car company exactly well just tell us how attending MIPCOM influenced your funding strategy for pictures of infinity well it opened it up um so again I and this is something I'm still learning more and more about but think in terms of again meeting with distributors and they represent certain territories and so they can they can cover those territories and and you can make um make deals with distributors over you know for particular territories and then with others that cover other territories and the the um agreements can be made over periods of time that that make sense for the film. I'm still learning about this part of it. This is really important and but it it opens doors and and in Canada for example I know it's not it's different in the US but um it opens doors for for funding that that need where you need an agreement with with you need partners and so the so it opens the doors but then it opens also opens the doors because of whoever you're partnering with and what and what what resources are available to them. Right so it's it's expanding your resource base let's put it that way and not using just one person for all rights.

SPEAKER_02 31:49

That's exactly that's very very important in fact it's critical yes i hear many filmmakers who are so totally disappointed in their um distribution company they are locked into an all-exclusive uh and and the distributor is doing nothing for them and they can't get out so short that's terrible broader description of what you want to achieve and times uh Peter Broderick suggests you get the shortest agreement possible so that you pull out if they're not doing a good job.

SPEAKER_01 32:30

Yeah I've heard that too um but also for everyone I would say if you have a subject you know if your film is exploring a subject or a theme or um has some connection to other locations then think about partnering with people who would also be interested would share your passion for whatever you're doing.

SPEAKER_02 32:54

Excellent so tell us tell us a moment at Mipcom that surprised or inspired you something that filmmakers might learn from um there were many but I think I think it was right at the beginning I mean it it's just it was completely overwhelming in a good way it's just a whole sea of people it's really it's a mob scene you know and there's so many um uh different countries you know people from everywhere and it's it's just this exhilarating feeling of entering um a global ecosystem of um film funding let's say or of of people making films and uh I've never experienced anything like it before and I would not have anticipated that at all that feeling this is good news well if you had to sum up your Mipcom experience give us a a sentence or two to tell us what that would be a single sentence um I think it would just be um the experience of of entering um a global ecosystem with your film and I and the importance of that I think it's really important now and that's what I had at NIPCOM was that experience. So it opened you up to realize that this isn't just for the a small part of the world this can explode and be seen all over the world yes and and not only that but everyone well I should I shouldn't say everyone but there's there's a general there's there's such an openness right now that I experienced there to um to everything it felt like um so just you know thinking of of a global context well that's really good advice because a lot of the filmmakers that I work with are only thinking about the United States how do I distribute it who can see you're saying elevate your thinking totally elevate it yes yes well done so what is your intent what are your goals for the next six months Alan what are you working on um well I'm continuing of course to work on uh everything I need to do to complete Pictures of Infinity so um yeah so I'm I'm working of course now I'm working I'm actually working with some of the people I met with at NIPCOM so we're already making progress wonderful and would you go back I would absolutely go back and I'd go back to other events too um that were if if there were opportunities and I would really recommend that so it's really worth filmmakers to put it in their budget save up and go experience this international concept of and new creator content funding. I really believe it is and I remember when um the person who um who who started this um whole process where I ended up there um Daniel Cortez from RH Global which is the company that manages and organizes Mipcom and so in in the Zoom meeting with him he was talking about how um like in my situation I was I was um with with the other delegates from Canada so um but people can I I I looked for an equivalent for American filmmakers and I don't think there's an exact equivalent but you can actually rent stands at Mipcom and if you have a catalog of films and and you know they they speak in terms of brands so you're there representing your brand and you can and I I think it's an extremely valuable opportunity to to um to reach a large audience of people whatever you're looking for but to find uh buyers um commissioners whatever um that way you know by by being there and is is it only for documentaries oh it's not for documentaries at all it's for audiovisual content i it's the the most open there's no genres there oh great it's everything it's absolutely everything and that's why it's the largest global market for audiovisual content so anything and anything you've ever done you could bring it there because now as I said it's not time sensitive if you if you have something you've done 20 years ago it's not it shouldn't be sitting on the shelf you can bring it to MIPCOM is good news great yes good news well thank you Helen it's just been very enlightening to hear all these ideas and uh so we'll check back with you in six or eight months and see where you are thank you I would love to come back great so thank you for listening and I hope today's conversation encourages you to think differently about markets like MIPCOM about the creator economy and how your film might fit into this evolving landscape. So if you'd like to learn more about fiscal sponsorship film funding strategies or how From the Heart Production supports filmmakers through every stage of development please visit us at wwwfromtheartproductions and as always keep listening keep telling stories that matter from your heart thank you.