GET INVOLVED
For poets: Motionpoems partners with publishers and literary organizations to procure poems for each season. Poets retain the rights to their poems and sign a standard film contract with Motionpoems. Poems are selected from partnering publishers’ forthcoming titles and then offered to our network of filmmakers. We post occasional calls for submissions that are publicized in our newsletter and on social media sites. If you'd like us to consider your poems, contact your publisher or an institution you’re affiliated with, and subscribe here to learn about occasional open calls. Please note: we do not currently have an open call for submissions.
For filmmakers: Some video artists approach us. Others are approached by our season’s producer, which ensures a broad range of perspectives and aesthetics. Our film artists are offered a contract that protects their rights to their work. We offer them production oversight, collaborator facilitation, and audio supervision as needed. Film artists work from completed poems and are given free rein. A small stipend rewards video artists who complete projects on deadline and whose work is selected for screening. If interested, please contact us with links to past work. We’ll add you to our list of filmmakers who will get notified regarding future opportunities.
For publishers and institutions: We've worked with Alaska Quarterly Review, American Poetry Review, The Believer and McSweeneys, Cave Canem, The Center for the Art of Medicine at the University of Minnesota Medical School, Copper Canyon Press, Farrar Straus & Giroux, Graywolf Press, Milkweed Editions, The Poetry Foundation, Scribner’s annual Best American Poetry anthology, Tin House, The USC Film School, VIDA: Women in Literary Arts, Wave Books, Write Our Democracy, and many other partners for content and talent. If you're interested in a collaboration, please contact us.
For teachers: Want to use Motionpoems in the classroom? We offer lesson plans, prompts, and activities on a variety of subjects, which are free to explore and download here. Please contact us if you have a lesson plan you'd like to contribute to our growing curriculum.
For communities and venues: We’ve organized our 150+ poetry films into themed shows of 10 films each, available for rental at your next exhibition, festival, or community event! Themes include Black Lives, Gender/LGBTQIA+, Films for Children, and many more. Click here to learn more. We've also selected 30 of our best poetry films, available for public screening in three 30-minute a la carte programs. Contact us to rent this program for public presentation!