Want to add your event or project to the FSDD Calendar Update?
Email us your information, links, dates, and all pertinent details: filmstackcalendar@gmail.com
NOW through Dec 30: Apply to be part of tepper’s Writer’s Room!
Ever wonder what it’s like in a writer’s room? Or want to flex your collaboration skills? Or want to meet new friends? Or want to try out a genre you haven’t dipped your toe in yet? For all these reasons and more, apply to tepper’s Second Quarterly Writer’s Room, Horror Edition. From the post:
If you want to dive into a real writers-room experience from blue-skying to breaking down episode beats and character arcs + help build a project from the ground up, here’s everything you need to know.
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Dec 21: Filmjourn Microcinema Screening
Swing by Filmjourn this Sunday at 1pm and see what all the hype re: microcinemas is about for yourself!
Downtown LA, 216 5th St Los Angeles, CA 90014
Free to attend, just show up!
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Dec 22: Penny Lane talks with Austin Kleon LIVE on Substack
Hopefully you are able to take the week off, and if so, what a great way to begin the week. If you can’t you just may need to lock yourself in the bathroom for an hour to listen to these two chat.
Dec 26: Deadline for your submission to FilmStack’s Top 10 Films Of The Year:
Read all about it here:
Dec 28: FilmStack Top Ten Films of 2025 Live Event—Now with a Raffle!
11 AM Pacific (LA)
2 PM Eastern (New York)
7 PM GMT (London)
Google Meet Link: https://meet.google.com/pbf-jgux-meo
Learn about the raffle here:
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Dec 30: FILMSTACKER #7
Part 4 of Sasha Santiago’s FILMSTACKER is coming up! Join the conversation! More info from Sasha here:
All December, FilmStackers is rolling out a four-part NonDē series of Zoom meet-ups to draft the 2026 action plan for building a real $10K filmwork. One month. Four sessions. No illusions. Just rubber-meets-the-road banter with people who actually intend to make something.
Join the conversation. Be a co-writer on the Substack post that comes out of it.
Space is limited. Zoom only. Let’s go.
Registration link: https://luma.com/p2bms3ip?utm_medium=email&utm_source=substack
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Jan 2nd: Application Deadline
“We’ve designed this programme for UK-based producers developing socially resonant, commercially ambitious scripted feature films. Over the course of 10 virtual labs, producers will refine their creative, business, and impact strategies leading up to a live pitch to financiers, philanthropic partners, and industry stakeholders in June 2026.”
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Jan 23-25: Union Docs presents IRL workshop in NYC
For more info: https://uniondocs.org/event/thinking-out-loud-voiceover-as-research-tool-2026-01-23/
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Festival Deadlines (Lifted from Filmmaker Magazine Newsletter!)
Rooftop Films
Regular Deadline: Dec. 5, 2025
Late Deadline: Jan. 23, 2026
Extended Late Deadline: Feb. 13, 2026
Event Dates: May 16 to Aug. 31, 2026
San Francisco Independent Film Festival
Final Deadline: Dec. 13, 2026
Event Dates: Feb. 5 to 15, 2026
Nitehawk Shorts Festival
Regular Deadline: Dec. 5, 2026
Event Dates: Apr. 8 to 12, 2026
Support a great film initiative: UNION DOCS ARTIST RESIDENCY
I got this note from my friend, filmmaker Tony Gerber. He and his wife Lynn Nottage brought Vanessa and I both into the Fall Of Freedom initiative last month. And now he’s doing something else to better this world, related to Union Docs Capital Project.
Tony wrote:
I’m excited to share some big news from an organization I care deeply about!
UnionDocs Center for Documentary Art (UNDO) is celebrating its 20th anniversary and preparing to launch a one-of-a-kind Artist Residency at its permanent headquarters in Ridgewood, Queens.
Construction is nearly complete, and we’re now at the final step. We need your support to make this space feel like home for the 200+ international artists and 15,000+ local visitors who will use it each year to collaborate and create groundbreaking documentary art.
We’ve built a Gift Registry
It allows our community to contribute to the items that will make this new home functional, welcoming, and artist-centered.Every item you donate to will be named by you, making you a part of UNDO history.
Glasses to toast future artists-in-residence
Coffee machines to fuel early-morning work sessions and late-night edits
Furniture to create spaces for rest, collaboration, and imaginationAs a board member I’ve had the privilege of watching UNDO remain resourceful and ambitious: moving from 18 years in Brooklyn to its first permanent home in Queens. For an organization that grew from pure grassroots/DIY energy, the opportunity to shape a long-term home in NYC is rare and deeply meaningful.
Warmly,
Tony
Here’s the campaign page: https://giftregistry.uniondocs.org/leader/recand3pU81GkjJcF
I have to say I find the campaign’s alignment with a wedding registry hilarious myself — but when you think of it, quite appropriate.
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