So, some local film stuff going on right now-
(I plan on attending a lot of these events & i would love for anyone who is an amateur or aspiring filmmaker to come with me if you contact me beforehand & of course, if you live in the Tampa Bay area).
1. The Tampa Film Review (TFR) meets (in the International Bazaar at Ybor City, Tampa) at 7 pm on the 2nd Friday of every month (they might soon change their location). They've been getting a lot more involved & active lately with plugging into local film events & helping local filmmakers get VIP treatment at events. Theres also some workshop & training opportunities but it is mostly a place to show your work to local fellow filmmakers for free.
2. Pinellas Filmmakers Society meets on the 4th Friday of every month at 6pm at the Indie Studios (1776 11th Ave N., St. Pete). They are a more personable group who actually meet in a professional studio. They are hardcore & they like to train & give advice. If you bring something to show they will show it but expect an honest assessment of your work as they are keen on giving advice. Great place to network in my opinion & talk about yourself & your work.
3. St. Pete Creative Network meets once a month as well but the date & location is not the same every month. They are a group of Pinellas artists who want to network, to have fun, & to come up with ideas to help the community through their art. It is under-represented in the filmmaking department... a lot of graphic designers & ad people from what ive seen.
Recent Goings-on...
I have been working with a few people to discuss moving to NYC to do film up there & to expand into web design also (Flash). It isn't probably within this year but should be the beginning of next year. I just have to get our condo fixed up, on the market, sold, debts paid off, need to finish making Rebecca's "coming of age" short entitled "Antisocial Butterfly" & to get my short HD b&w film noir up & running ("The Dark Cinema") so I have some of my own personal work to shop around up there. I have been looking for opportunities to do this cheaper & with more indy artists who are more dedicated hardcore filmmakers at heart.
Its been hard as well as expensive- Ive had to work all kinds of jobs on the side to make artistic projects & to keep our studio open for business but with the right people I know we can do this thing- I have a few collaborative projects I have been shopping around- one called "Holy War" & the other an untitled zombie vs vampire short. Ive actually got a lot of different projects going on but the hardest part has been staying afloat financially.
Well either way local filmmakers can help each other out in so many ways & networking is one of the greatest, so bring along a stack of business cards & show up with me to one of these events!
Thanx all!
Jon
