We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jon Fitzgerald a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Jon , thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

While I support filmmakers on their festival and distribution journeys, my passion is to share socially relevant movies with audiences. I see social impact filmmaking as a great tool to create change, the greatest form of mass communication.

Having run and programmed for many film festivals, I gravitated towards this subgenre. I then went on to direct and produce a handful of documentaries, before conceptualizing a new book on the subject – Filmmaking for Change: Make Films That Transform the World. The second addition is currently in print and available in stores and on Amazon.

Thanks to Participant Media, the Lear Center and a number of film projects, studies show these movies can move the needle.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

During a summer break from USCB, I went through a trauma. My therapist suggested the story be written as a screenplay, primarily as an exercise. I picked up Syd Field’s Screenplay book, and enjoyed the process. When I returned to school, I took an introductory film course and fell in love with the medium. I felt like it was a combination of the arts, from writing and storytelling, to design and photography. Of course, I was already a moviegoer, but had not thought of it as a career.

After graduating with a Film Studies degree, I went through training program at an agency, moved on to development and eventually worked on a number of big studio movies as a Production Assistant. All the while, developing my script, and raising funds. I then directed the movie (Self Portrait) in 1994 and submitted to Sundance. When it didn’t get accepted, I joined two other filmmakers to start the Slamdance Film Festival.

So I fell into a festival director role, leading this event the next two year before taking over as Festival Director for the prestigious American Film Institute. From there I went on to run many other fests, and consulted to hundreds of filmmakers helping them map out their festival strategies.

As I mentioned above, I had gravitated towards social impact films and transitioned back to filmmaking making a number of documentaries, starting with The Back Nine. This was about chasing a dream in golf.

Then I had Filmmaking for Change published.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Early in my filmmaking career, when Sundance rejected our film, we still wanted to be part of the Park City events. Deciding to start our own film festival demonstrated commitment to getting our films seen.

We would become the cinderella story of Park City and there was enough demand to return. The Festival still succeeds in supporting the discovery of emerging filmmakers. We have been fortunate to support the first films of many major directors (Russo Brothers, Christopher Nolan).

This festival directing path opened up many interesting doors for me. I learned how important these events could be in the launch of a film and career. This elevated my experience in acquisitions, which I have done for several companies.

I have also been able to create successful film courses (Film Festival Mastery, Filmmaking for Change, Distribution Revolution), sharing my experience with emerging talent.

Can you talk to us about your experience with selling businesses?

There are so many great opportunities to be entrepreneurial these days, regardless of your business category. You just have to leverage the internet, your experience and niche be able to provide a business solution.

I was doing that with a company I started in 2019, called iGEMS.tv (internet Guide to Engaging Movies and Series). I was curating movies and TV series, helping audiences discover quality content, and telling them where they could stream the titles. This caught the attention of a Canadian company that was trying to build a unique studio for independents. They were in the process of acquiring two other companies and seemed poised to really make a difference. After a year of negotiations and meetings with partners, we sold our company to them.

Unfortunately, the company was not as transparent as they should have been, and did not share their financial challenges. What seemed like a terrific partnership and path towards a great collaboration and future growth, they failed to meet their contractual obligations to me and iGEMS in less than a year. I had no choice but to resign. Very unfortunate.

One of the lessons learned is to really take the deepest of dives when seeking investors or buyers. Check references, and spend time with the players. Ask all the right questions, and know how stable the team is around you. The team that brought me into the fold, for example, was fired 6 months after my closing. The management from that point forward was very disappointing, leading to a breach in my agreement.

I used this as an opportunity to pivot, and transition back to Cause Pictures, my consulting and production venture. I decided to expand, adding Cause Cinema, as a recommendation engine for social impact titles; and I added Cause Changes, as a division to support Impact Campaigns related to movies produced to make a difference.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.causepictures.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/causecinema/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jon-fitzgerald-causepictures/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@hollywoodonthegreen