6Qs with Minna Packer of The Lilliput

Minna Packer is a successful filmmaker having already written and produced Back to Gombin in 2002.  Her latest project, The Lilliput, follows the life of a Jewish dwarf as he survives the holocaust by hiding in garbage cans.  The filmmaker from Hoboken, New Jersey has been able to assemble and international cast and crew, while using the latest innovations on the Internet to bring her project to life.

1.  What are the goals for your project, The Lilliput?

MP:  Ultimately my goals for The Lilliput are to make a movie that is riveting and complex. The main goal is to make a great film, of course.

2.  What tactics have you used for financing? Any advice?

MP:  I just returned from Poland, where I was based as an American Fulbright scholar. I was awarded a grant for research and that allowed me to work on the film with an affiliation to the University of Lodz. I also worked with the Lodz Film School in putting together a film crew. So the first step in financing was the Fulbright grant.Then the Gombin Society gave me grant which helped. Until my co-producer, Sharon Levy came on board, I was mainly financing this through grants and personal financing. Sharon handled much of our successful IndieGoGo.com campaign based in New York, and I pitched in from Poland. We raised $10,000. on IndieGogo, and were one of the first projects to raise that much, so early at IndieGoGo.com. Currently we are in talks with several studios in Poland, Israel, and in the US. We are also writing grants and planning a few fundraising social events in New York.

For advise I would say that having the sneak peek with such measurably beautiful production values from shooting in 35mm movie film, on location in Poland, is a great tool for opening doors with the people and studios who have shown interest in working on this.   

3.  How do you identify and reach the audience?

MP:  In my previous documentary, Back To Gombin, I chronicled the return to Poland by a group of  descendants and children of Jewish Holocaust survivors. This is now in distribution through the National Center for Jewish Film, and has been broadcast in Israel and in the US. This is how I initially identified the Jewish film festivals and Jewish audiences. With this project,
The Lilliput, identifying an audience began again with a Jewish audience, but this broadened to include a more varied audience including little people, young adults and a middle age demographic, as well.  I've shown the sneak peek to diverse audiences, that have included younger people in Poland, the US and Israel, of different religions and backgrounds. The fact that this is intended as a European- American co-production, gives this film access to different audiences in different countries.

4.  What role does the Internet and social media play in your DIWO (Do-It-With-Others) filmmaking?

MP:  In addition to our website at IndieGoGo.com/thelilliput, we have created a website for the film at http://www.thelilliputmovie.com. The sneak peek is also available on line at www.thelilliputmovie.com/sneak.html.

5.  Can you recommend resources for fundraising and promotion?

MP:  Both fundraising and promotion are a continual process. They consist of grant writing, inquiries and relationship building in the industry, with individuals and with producers and organizations! For promotion, I  recommend the web. I've used it to send out announcements the sneak peek, photos from the set, to my entire database.

6.  What is next on your radar?

MP:  My co-producer and I will be flying back to Poland for Camerimage in Lodz, which is the "academy awards" for cinematographers. It's a great networking event for filmmakers, in that part of the world. I saw Polanski there last year, and listened to Ang Lee in seminar, and made some excellent industry contacts. We have appointments with several studios there to discuss the project further and make plans for shooting the full film.