Why SLMBR PRTY Refuses to Sleep on Community

Initially a networking community, SLMBR PRTY was started in 2017 by Sarah Donnenberg and Kirstin VanSkiver (an agency producer and line producer respectively, by trade) as a way to get all of their director, producer and cinematographer friends into a room and collaborating. This informal group quickly grew a following through its events, industry panels, screenings, and live shows, and is now established as a commercial and narrative film production company with an emerging roster of directors and agency partners including 72andsunny, BBDO, Mekanism, The Martin Agency, Grey, and more.

Thanks to the relationships they formed early on, the roster is primarily female-identifying and the two women who founded and own the company are certainly proud of building and being the driving force behind a company that cultivates an encouraging, welcoming and honest community - not just for female creatives, but for everyone.

“Being a freelance filmmaker in any role can feel isolating,” says Kirstin. “It's our goal to make our community, as well as our company roster, feel like they have support.” 

Continuing this community philosophy even now as an official production company, Sarah says that the team hosts quarterly events, often inspired by the team’s own experiences. She says, “We intended to build a company and a brand that we ultimately wanted to see in the world and participate in daily. It was important to us to take the community aspect of our events and infuse that same energy into our production company and vice versa. We want SLMBR PRTY - our production company and community alike - to be a place where filmmakers can connect and share experiences, root for each other, and learn from each other.”

A recent event was titled ‘I Made a Feature… Now What?’ and involved a candid panel conversation about the topic with distribution partners, sales agents and other industry leaders. This was primarily inspired by SLMBR PRTY’s new director of film and community, Carly Reicho, who has previous experience in acquisitions, as well as the release of ‘Blow Up My Life’ - the debut feature from the company’s director Abby Horton.

Whether in the creative treatments they put forth or their production approach, SLMBR PRTY always strives to go one step further, with unique and novel ideas. Refuting the belief that a production company depends on securing a few prominent billing directors, Sarah adds that this ‘above and beyond’ approach also applies to their hiring practices. “We believe high tides raise all ships. We believe work begets work. Our directors are strong individually but stronger together as a curated roster. None of them have decades of work, but they all have a unique point of view and strong, clear voices as filmmakers. All of them are exceptionally smart, collaborative, and talented. The roster transcends tradition. We don’t have sell-offs, and we don’t specialise in one niche. Much like our community, when we put these filmmakers in one space - or on one roster - magic happens.”

When searching for ambitious directors to join the roster, the focus is all on the work. Sarah says, “Whether it’s a short film, music video, comedy sketch, or commercial, we want to say, ‘Only [x] could have made that’... We consider all the tiny intentional decisions the director makes that directly shape each piece of work. That is what we mean when we say, ‘we are devoted to craft’."

Highlighting some recent work that exemplifies this dedication to creativity, Kirstin picks out the company’s work for McDonald’s with director Victoria Rivera and creative agency Alma. Having just wrapped their fourth collaboration, Kirstin selects the ‘Viejos’ film as a particular point of pride, because of its clever script and how they cast a genuine group of McDonald’s-going ‘oldtimers’ (or ‘Viejos’) in the campaign.

“They knew that a real group of these ‘Viejos’ existed, but needed help trying to locate and contact them,” says Kirstin. This is where SLMBR PRTY came in. “We sent our production teams to multiple McDonald’s locations and eventually tracked down this group who we then cast in the spot,” she explains. “They had the time of their lives and that campaign is considered one of the favourites of the agency and brand.” 

Sarah adds, “We love getting the band back together on these jobs. We’ve developed such a good working relationship with the Alma team that, when we come together, it feels like a fun reunion. That’s one of my favourite parts about what we do!”

While not a “mission statement kind of business”, 2023 is providing opportunities for SLMBR PRTY to find its place as an established company. As its roster expands, Sarah says that the basics should remain at the forefront - simply making great work and experiences for their clients and agency partners. Keeping all of the doors wide open, Kirstin shares some more open-ended ambitions for the company, stating that the endless possibilities that lie ahead are a great motivator. 

She says, “We’ve spent the past year defining who we are as a brand and taking that to a new level creatively, and 2023 is the first year where we really get to implement that. We’ll also partner with like-minded organisations to expand our community programming this year, which we’re very excited about.” 

‘Expanding their community’ is an evergreen goal for the duo, who praise the interconnectivity within adland’s clients, creators and makers as “the best part” of the industry. Playing into this observation, Kirstin says that they recently hosted a ‘speed dating’ event to help people find professional matches. “Directors got to meet producers, DPs got to meet directors, etc. Networking doesn't have to be an exclusive or difficult thing to navigate. Start with your current group of friends or connections in your field and be the matchmaker.” 

“And don't be afraid to slide into some DMs!” Sarah jumps in, giving some advice to aspiring filmmakers who too crave the creative collaboration that comes with a developed network of like-minded people. “When reaching out to new potential collaborators or mentors, be specific about what you love about their work and why you want to connect. Nothing is more gratifying to filmmakers than to feel that their work resonates with others… but as a filmmaker, you already know that!”