In My Backyard: Year 2
One year ago, this modest proposal marked the beginning of a little venture called C-U Blogfidential, the only Web site dedicated to filmmaking and movie viewing in downstate Illinois. I’ve actually had a great time building it up during Year 1, creating something way more comprehensive than I could ever do in the occasional pages of MICRO-FILM, and I’m ready to embark on a Year 2 that’s even more fulfilling than the first.
My primary goals are to make CUBlog more interactive and to begin filling the vacant Pages on the right with archival material. You simply have no idea how many photos, graphics, anecdotes, factoids, and ultra-obscure goodies I’ve piled up here at the Secret MICRO-FILM Headquarters with no place to go! We’ll see what I can make available to illustrate the history of the local motion picture centered here in Champaign, Urbana, and the cities beyond.
These are some of the improvements I think might be valuable:
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Clean Slate, the monthly “open post” feature introduced earlier this month where select topics pertaining to film production and promotion can be discussed;
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A Newsgroup dedicated to constructive “shop talk” between film artists, technicians, promoters, students, journalists, and critics in the area;
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The aforementioned Archival Postings that will document creative film/video/multi-media made in the area;
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A wave of Link Additions and Design Adjustments to improve the breadth and aesthetics of the Weblog;
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A companion mini-magazine, C-U Confidential, geared towards introducing “our scene” to the sizeable audiences of the Boneyard Arts Festival and Roger Ebert’s Overlooked Film Festival every spring!
Now … in order for the above to heighten CUBlog‘s effectiveness, it will certainly take more than myself to make it happen. I challenge each and every one of you reading these words to dig in and to encourage all of your friends and associates interested in Film & Video to do the same. Some initial suggestions:
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Please rush-rush and bludgeon that poor, neglected February Clean Slate with comments. (I basically left the gates open for you folks to pimp your stuff on my site. And, you didn’t. What’s the hesitation?! Go for it!!!)
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Plan to post more interesting responses when the next Clean Slate appears this Thursday, March 1. (You can do it!)
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Request an invitation to join the Newsgroup in the near future once I set it up. (This can easily become a lively pipeline to other people in the area interested in film/video work.)
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Let me know if you have interest in contributing to the content or design of CUBlog proper, or collaborating on promotional schemes to help make this puppy known far and wide!
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Contact me right now about how you can help make C-U Confidential #1 a reality in 2007. (Indeed, it means that I’m asking you to invest in the public presence of CUBlog via advertising, sponsorships, volunteerism, and collective positivity.)
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Link to this site, early and often. (Trust me … I’ll look for it!)
I’ve been pursuing a reasonable manifestation of my indie film interests for nearly a decade, and I think I’ve hit upon something unique that’s worth sustaining in C-U Blogfidential. And now, without further ado, I call … action.
~ Jason Pankoke
p.s. ~ Thanks to C-U Blogfidential agent “Kill” Bill Kephart for wishing us well on our second trip ’round the calendar year, even before I had a chance to post this jovial tirade. Whatta guy!
C-U Blogfidential: Year 1
Posts: 101 ~ Comments: 15
Interviews: 3 ~ Reviews: 2 ~ Links: 207