Movie Makers to meet Oct. 14
Champaign Movie Makers meets at least once a month to afford area filmmakers and talent an opportunity to discuss and join forces on the making of independent cinema in the area. CMM gladly makes its meeting notes available to the general public so the community can learn about what we do. If you are interested in being more “in the loop” if not directly involved with CMM-related productions, please visit and join our Yahoo! Group.
The text after the jump summarizes the Champaign Movie Makers meeting held on September 9, 2008. The next meeting will take place tonight, Tuesday, October 14, 8 p.m., at Shatterglass Studios, 803 Kettering Park Rd., Urbana, IL.
~ Jason Pankoke
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Champaign Movie Makers
September 9, 2008
8 p.m. @
Shatterglass Studios, Urbana, IL
Attendance:
Anne Shivers, Bill Kephart, Eric Sizemore, Gordon Underwood,
Jason Pankoke, Jimi Jones, Joey Burgess, Jorge Cazares,
Leila Ramagopal, Luke Boyce, Mike Boedicker, Ron Torregrossa
This is CMM’s first meeting at Shatterglass Studios, a multi-media production company run by Luke Boyce, David Fendley, and Brett Hays.
First, we introduced ourselves round-robin because we had several first-time attendees. As host, Luke explained the background of Shatterglass Studios and their goal for making quality Hollywood style films with independent means. Then, we revisited the concept of Champaign Movie Makers and discussed its overt purpose for people interested in visual media in our area as well as its potential for fostering a wide range of activity.
Then, we fielded ideas for short-term activities that would be useful to members of Champaign Movie Makers. For instance, we revisited such previous thoughts as scheduling guest speakers and public shows. Jimi discussed the option of organizing short filming exercises that would take place during weekend afternoons or evenings, two to four hours maximum, during which members could try out different production roles in a non-stress environment and see first-hand where their strengths and interests lie. Jason discussed the concept of CMM hosting occasional “public auditions” during which local talent would provide resumes and head shots as well as agree to tape an on-camera personal introduction and line readings for future group reference.
Then, Joey and Anne took the floor to discuss their experiences as members and president/vice president of University of Illinois student group Illini Film and Video, to which attendees responded with questions regarding organization, member retention, education, and workshops. Anne and Joey recalled how IFV started with a bang in 2000 but almost burnt itself out until fresh blood and successful group projects restored its vitality on campus.
Then, we discussed personal objectives and goals as members of Champaign Movie Makers. For instance, Leila talked about her primary interests in acting, production assistance, and script supervision. Jimi explained his desire to “use the right side of my brain for the first time in a while.” Luke said that connecting with people is the main virtue he sees in CMM and that he’ll take “any chance I get to just commune and talk about film.” Ron admitted in jest that “I’m looking for a 12-step program … I’m looking for therapy,” having been a professional news cameraman in the past. Bill offered the concept of CMM hosting script workshops and read-throughs.
Then, Mike took the floor to discuss progress on his feature-length black comedy, REVOLTING, about a struggling playwright whose characters seemingly come to life. Mike said that production was scheduled to last from October to November and that he had already organized cast read-throughs and begun script breakdowns. He also said that he would be shooting REVOLTING with a Panasonic HVX 200 HD camera. Attendees then brainstormed ideas with Mike about potential C-U locations for certain scenes in the script.
Then, we elected to discuss the establishment of formalized member roles in Champaign Movie Makers starting with the next meeting. We also encouraged members to start formulating short written scripts or synopses that could be brought regularly to CMM as an “idea stockpile” for our group exercises.
Then, Luke officially called the meeting to a close and offered attendees an opportunity to look over Shatterglass Studios’ Red One 4K camera first-hand. Finally, Luke played the Shatterglass short film PRELUDE for remaining members.
~ Jason Pankoke
Contact:
Johnny Robinson
johnny [at] johnnyrobinson [dot] com
585.278.8864
Jason Pankoke
cuconfidential [at] gmail ]dot] com
217.352.1312
Web:
http://movies.groups.yahoo.com/group/champaignmoviemakers/
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