AnnMarie E Parker

As the Producer and Owner of IVP Productions for the last 15 years. I started my career as a production assistant working my way up to producer  in film, commercials, &  documentaries. For the last few years  I have had the honor of teaching college students at Illinois Institute of Art - Schaumburg and North Central College. As a dedicated and passionate film & video instructor I offer extensive experience writing, producing, and directing award-winning films. Instruction focuses on: digital film production, cinematography, directing, acting, as well as critical and theoretical thinking. Skilled at developing and refining curriculum while serving as an academic mentor for students with in the program.

EDUCATION   M.S.: Computing and Digital Media                                B.A.: Media Communications
DePaul University, Chicago, IL                                            Alverno College, Milwaukee, WI
 
Digital Media & Documentary Filmmaking
​London Metropolitan University, London, England
SELECTED ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND FILM CREDITS 
Official Selection for Naperville Film Festival “I’m Fine” (teen suicide awareness and prevention film, 2016)
In post-production  wrote and produced  “Devil’s Near” (short film, 2018) Produced On-Air “Illinois Unites for Marriage” (PSA, ASGK, 2013); Edited International distribution “Best Birthing Practices” (USAID, 2011); Produced International Film Contest “Past It Forward” (short film, 2011); Produced 74 Hour film Contest “Viral” (short film, 2012); and Edited PBS special “Journey to America” (series of short documentaries, 2008 - 2011).
Earned Ad Council endorsement for the PSA “Star Campaign,” produced for the Washington, DC-based Wellness Community (2007).
Won a Silver and Bronze Polly Awards for two political campaign ads, involving 28 TV ads over 5 months, (2006).
Wrote, produced and directed award-winning international safety and social media videos for Cabot- Microelectronics Corporation. The videos were distributed in multiple languages across Europe, Thailand and Singapore (2012 to 2018).
https://vimeo.com/amparker

The Future oF Film


Somewhere in the world someone is following their creative instincts and taking the first steps to make a film. Some films will make it to festivals and some will find their way onto YouTube or other streaming media. As an independent filmmaker of low budget films, I have taken these first steps many times and met with struggles and successes. Throw a dart at a map and odds are that someone there is making a film. Every content creator wants his work seen and recognized for its merit. Outside of theatrical distribution, there’s the internet and streaming services. Technology has lowered the bar for capturing video and sharing it with the world. But has it made it harder for work of artistic merit to see the light of day? The past decade has brought an influx of people creating content because of consumer-friendly technology. Streaming media has opened up endless possibilities for filmmakers to self-distribute their films. Crowdfunding has opened an alternative path to traditional studio bankrolls or indie producers. Millions of people make no-budget video for YouTube or other platforms. Developing an audience has become more dependent on social-media mastery than on knowledge of filmmaking art and craft. It is easy for a filmmaker to become engrossed in promotion at the expense of storytelling. Many filmmakers successfully outsource social media work. But for the really little guy just starting out, the demands of making a film are hard enough already. It is important to prioritize quality over view-counts. YouTube only starts to generate revenue after 100,000 views. There are some four million videos uploaded to YouTube a day; how can you compete with celebrities, cat videos, and dumb human tricks? My first exposure to YouTube years ago was a video of an overweight girl falling out of a roller coaster seat, screaming in real terror, but presented as an object of ridicule. The video left a bad taste in my mouth, and I dislike YouTube to this day. Nevertheless, several short films of mine are on YouTube, because that is where all content is expected to reside. A common error of beginning filmmakers is to place too much faith in newly-affordable technology to carry a film in lieu of the traditional storytelling skills of writing, directing and editing. One of my last films, Devil’s Near, had all the technology a short-film budget could offer. The Blackmagic 2.5K, prime lens, full grip truck, but unfortunately poor sound and even worse direction. Despite some raw footage that is simple and lovely, in the edit suite there was no story, too many questions left unanswered. The director had lost track of the story he had started with. I find that often younger filmmakers think that a great camera will make up for an inadequate shooting schedule and underdeveloped script. Not everything can be fixed in post or with ADR! So, I currently have a film that has great visuals, but no audio, and we have to rewrite the story to fit the movement of the mouths of the actors. There is a lot to be said for planning, thinking through locations, production design, and costumes—even for a stationary camera and the actors moving around. When camera motion makes a viewer seasick, then the director and cinematographer spent too much time and money on equipment versus understanding their story. As an instructor, my number one rule is: have a good story and the equipment will support the vision—not the other way around. In documentary, too, technology can overwhelm storytelling. Recently I watched a 360-degree documentary on Al Jazeera about a small village in Africa that is recovering from an oil spill. The visuals were amazing. I spent so much of my time looking around that I lost track of the narration and had to rewind over and over. The filmmakers used dynamic before-and-after images and the kind of total immersion enabled by state-of-the-art technology, but lost focus on a really important story. Is technology hurting engagement?   An upside of technology is the opening of new avenues of commercial distribution, including Netflix, Hulu, Amazon and other streaming services. Films that may never make it to the theatres can still find both casual viewers and discerning audiences. On the other hand, streaming services have become the new Hollywood studios, increasingly dominated by big names with big budgets. Independent film festivals remain a crucial gateway for new films, but they are no longer the only way for an emerging talent to get her foot in the door and get the attention of a studio or distribution company. Distributors search online media for anything they feel can be sold to a wider audience.  By all means there are dedicated individuals creating original and exciting web-series and short films to entertain viewers on YouTube, Vimeo and other social media sites. Some of them will be the major video and film artists of tomorrow. (On the other hand, here in the USA there is a company whose main goal is to scout top-viewed videos and broker sales to talk shows and news outlets. An iPhone video of a roller-coaster mishap can sell for $10,000, with no particular filmmaking craft coming into play.)  As an independent filmmaker, I will continue to fight the good fight for a great story with diversity, interesting characters, great use of production design and solid camera work. Very little takes the place of seeing your creative endeavor on the big screen and experiencing the visceral reaction of an audience.