news

IFC Media Lab

There are more "amateurs" making films now than at any point in the history of humankind. As low-cost, high-quality video cameras become more and more available and desktop computers with video-editing software become more and more powerful and affordable, video (the moving image) is increasingly how average people are choosing to express themselves.

Media Lab was developed in direct response to the ever-increasing amount of video content being produced by "amateur" filmmakers. IFC's Media Lab is a web/TV integrated program that provides filmmakers a destination for posting their independent films online, offers viewers the chance to watch and vote on those films, and places the top, viewer-ranked films on IFC's air in a national broadcast and beyond.

Media Lab is a Community Builder

-Media Lab is an online hub for independent filmmakers
-Offering blogs, links, and filmmaking resources
-Creating community by providing exhibition for content that might not otherwise get seen
-Putting films in context by virtue of their popularity with viewers

Media Lab empowers audiences

-Media Lab is democratic programming at its best
-The films at the top will be put at the top by the audience themselves
-Filmmakers will make shorts about subjects that matter most to them, and viewers will elevate those stories that matter most to them
-Media Lab allows viewers to self-program: watch what they want, when they want it
-Content that makes it to air will be there because the audience wants it there, not because of a corporate agenda or political pressure
-Media Lab is Independent Media: Not programmed by corporate chumps beholden to the government or ad dollars

Media Lab is a Talent Finder

-Filmmaker outreach and development is one of IFC's core missions
-Media Lab provides a home for new, original voices in America
-Top Ranking filmmakers will be nurtured and cultivated by IFC on an ongoing basis

For more information check out: medialab.ifc.com