Stephanie Fritz is director of programs for the Macon Arts Alliance. 

“You deserve, as an artist, to make a good living, because you do great things for society and for your communities,” Joe Winter told a group of filmmakers in Macon, Ga. last month.

Winter is the deputy director of C4 Atlanta, a nonprofit group that specializes in “the business of being creative” and helps Atlanta-based arts entrepreneurs build successful careers. He was in Macon leading a one-hour workshop hosted by Amplify, a professional development program for artists and creative entrepreneurs run by the Macon Arts Alliance.

Similar to the work that C4 does in Atlanta, Amplify’s mission is to build and support a community of creative entrepreneurs in central Georgia by offering resources, experience, skills, collaboration and connections.

Winter’s lesson on fundraising for filmmakers was one of several workshops offered during the four-day Macon Film Festival, which celebrates independent films while promoting filmmaking for entertainment, inspiration, education and economic development. Amplify teamed up with the festival because collaborating with local organizations is a great way to get new creatives involved in Amplify and thinking about themselves as entrepreneurs.

The ultimate goal of Amplify is for creatives to make a living and a life doing what they love to do. Bringing Winter in from Atlanta to speak on fundraising was one way of trying to help filmmakers achieve this.

“I hope the people that attended got some really good tips on how they can raise funds for films,” Winter said. “Whether we are talking about film or any other creative industries, people’s talents can get undervalued. We all have to fight against that.” 

An array of filmmakers ranging from novice to experienced attended the Amplify workshop.

“I teach film, so usually when I go to other workshops, there are a lot of little nuggets I like to take away. Working with a 501(c)3 and fiscal sponsorship is the most helpful information I walked away with,” said David Smith, a filmmaker and educator.

“This is important to me because I have students who want to be the next Quentin Tarantino. I like to have this information that can be available to them,” Smith added.

Amplify is a program of Macon Arts Alliance, which received a grant from Knight Foundation to support professional development workshops for artists. The Macon Film Festival is also a Knight Arts grantee.