Real Talk.
What happened at Filmstack UK's IRL meetup #2
Something new.
Something old.
Something micro.
The New.
Filmstack UK meetup #2 was undeniably about real talk and real life.
Experienced, boots on the ground filmmakers generously helping those who are in their infancy looking to start.
Raw experiences and advice from filmmakers who have been in the trenches, made sacrifices for their art and have the battle scars to prove it.
The topics covered:
The commitment and drive necessary to make your first feature.
How can we move the conversation and actions off platform, and find audiences outside of our silos.
The importance of filmmakers experiencing real life.
Special thanks to Paris Zarcilla, who’s first feature Raging Grace won the Narrative Grand Jury Award at SXSW:
And to Poppy and Nick O'Hagan for sharing their experiences making the Nondē feature Think Of England, the first British film in 6 years to compete in Tallinn where it won Best Production Design.
I have rarely witnessed such a generous level of honesty when it comes to filmmakers discussing their filmmaking.
The Old
There seems to be a theme appearing at these meetups, that is ripe for the t-shirts:
“So what can we do to help you?”
This familiar refrain from meetup #1 could be heard scattered in and amongst the stories and wisdom, encouraging each of us to take action towards our own projects this year, whether that is setting up a network of cinemas for filmmakers (see below), our journey towards our first feature films/animated sitcom or just seeing where the wind takes us next.
Above all it served as a warm reminder that we were no longer alone in our pursuits.
Microcinemas
We went in with a clear goal:
Where Should We Host Filmstack UK's first microcinema?The debate was hot and spicy.
In the lead up to the meetup Daniel Harper and James McLoughlin had already done much of the leg work, identifying possible venues, along with an early action plan.
But 2 important questions were raised immediately:
What is Filmstack UK’s long term vision for this Microcinema?How will it serve filmmakers?In the pursuit of an answer we heard examples of those who are already building cinema based communities:
Poppy and Nick O'Hagan’s Made for Cinema initiative - a network of cinema’s across the UK for Nondē filmmakers to tap into:
Milktea - A non-profit that tours East & Southeast Asian films across the UK
Dalies - A pop-up cinema curated around different themes.
Whilst we cannot say we reached a consensus, what was clear was the importance of support networks for non-dependent filmmakers. The current UK institutions that are set up to support British filmmakers are failing. And these grass roots movements are imperative for the survival of British filmmakers and the health of British Film.
But - baby steps - for our small pop-up cinema with the purpose of hosting Filmstacker Screenings, Q&As and community building events:
We now have a shortlist of possible Pubs, Bars and independent screens that we will whittle down over the next week or so.
We will then book one.
And host our first screening.
Sign up to stay in the know.
Next Steps
We are looking forward to going deeper into how to build the Micro into a sustainable distribution path on Fri 16th Jan at 9.00pm GMT when jake S. weisman and Taylor Lewis officially launch their Microcinema project.
Register for that below:
WELL DONE EVERYONE.
And so…
THE NEXT FILMSTACK UK IRL MEET UP WILL BE:
WHEN: Wednesday 11th Feb
WHERE: The Backstage Cafe and Bar @ the Old Vic.
TIME: 6.30pm -
Can’t wait to see you there.
Huge thank you once again to:
FilmStack Daily Digest, Sara's Soliloquies , Jon Stahl for the support.
And jake S. weisman, Avi Setton, Taylor Lewis and Daniel Harper for inspiring the microcinema conversation.
All the attendees who shared their stories, ideas and wisdom.
Some resources that were recommended in convo:
Books:
Articles:
A detailed report into how to run a pop up cinema
Read the most recent posts of all our members who were in attendance:
Subscribe and follow them to stay up to date with what’s happening in our little community - all the incredible projects and the cool ideas they are working on are just the Salt and Vinegar crisps:
Improvements
It was brought to our attention that it is still very hard to discover the Uk’s Filmstack community, despite everyone’s best efforts.
We will be looking for new ways to help people find us.
If I have missed anything out here, anyone who attended, do keep me honest in the comments and/or message me.
Boomtown.
Amazing!