FREE and Open to the Public!
THE CONSERVATION FILMMAKER WORKSHOP (CFW) runs concurrently with the 17th annual American Conservation Film Festival, featuring conservation-focused films, filmmaker interactions, subject matter experts, and much more. It takes place in vibrant Shepherdstown, WV, a sweet little town along the Potomac River just 70 miles west of Washington, DC.
Accomplished workshop instructors from National Geographic, Smithsonian Channel, Tangled Bank Studios, along with award-winning independent filmmakers.
Workshop sessions have included: The Power of Film for Social Change, Gear Show and Tell, Distribution 2.0, Navigating the Industry, Impact Video & Storytelling, Creative Funding Strategies.
The ACFF Filmmaker Workshop is held at the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Conservation Training Center, just 60 miles from Washington, DC in Shepherdstown, WV. The 533-acre campus includes instructional facilities, lodging, dining, and a social lounge, as well as outdoor patios and trails for observing local wildlife.
Learn more about the workshop»
While the two-day workshop is for registered participants only, the Pitch Panel and Keynote Address are FREE and open to the public.
FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC!
Pitch Panel & Keynote Address
KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Josh Murphy
2:45pm – 4pm at the National Conservation Training Center
Josh Murphy is an award-wining director and producer whose work includes commercials, branded content, television, short and feature narrative film and documentaries. He is the recipient of North American Snow Sports Journalist Association’s Bill Berry Award for Modern Media, the Harold Hirsch Award for Film and Broadcast, and was a finalist for the Kenneth Rainin Foundation Filmmaking Grant for narrative film.
His film Artifishal is the recipient of ACFF’s 2019 Green Fire Award.
Pitch Panel
12:30pm – 2:30pm at the National Conservation Training Center
This special workshop session gives documentary filmmakers of all experience levels the opportunity to present new projects with a verbal pitch (that may include showing a trailer or short sample) to a panel of conservation filmmaking experts for feedback and the potential to win project seed money, and for all attending to gain valuable insights and new connections that can guide their own filmmaking.
The public is invited to attend to watch the pitches and listen to the feedback from conservation filmmaking experts.
