Association of Independent Video and Filmmakers
Ezine Number 64, February 12,
2004
Highlights of Feb. 10 AIVF Jefferson
County Salon meeting
A few attendees arrived early so with the Westminster Dog
Competition on a cable channel we talked about our pets we have which,
oddly, turned out to be mostly cats.
Some routine items discussed;
-three more places for the Salon meeting were not usable
or booked up,
-information about the web site and new
features were demonstrated,
-grant information was presented,
-Talentscouts handled a NASCAR
promotion,
-a production that will starting here in a couple of
months,
A couple of the people had scripts they were working on
and was referred to the Feb.19th meeting of the Script Development
Workshop.
A film contest had some missing information as
released at this point by the organizers. Another contest by the same
organizers has a lot of conflicting information about the judging. A review
of the 2002 contest and judging was discussed. A contest in California
was discussed as being valid.
A big topic was the Tuesday Feb.10, 2004 Birmingham
Post Herald article about the Birmingham Film Commission. Apparently, now,
Councilman Bert Miller has reversed his
position, or rather, reversed some of his statements made last month about
participation on the commission. After the furor by local industry
professionals, the City Council will expand the Film Commission to include four
additional positions. Discussion about the dynamics of the situation
followed.
A couple of concerns emerged. Would residency within
Birmingham city limits or maybe Jefferson County be a factor? Would a
person who travels from out of the county have the same focus as a person who
lived locally? Would a business owner have a conflict of interest? If a movie or
film is being made and his or her production company always seems to have a
lion's share of the contract, would that be an ethics violation?
The other big topic discussed was a Film
Incentive Package for Alabama. With the recent information from
Louisiana and our neighbors in Georgia about their packages for filmmaking the
discussion was on a model built on the Canadian content points plan.
(Editor's note: two new pages)
Something like this, coupled with some other
legislation, would involve more of our Alabama talent with out of state
productions and at the same time encourage the home industry.
This topic along with other film incentive models will be
discussed at later Salon meetings.
We ran out of time to watch "Stukas Over
Disneyland"
AIVF Jefferson County
Salon meeting
The next meeting of the AIVF Jefferson County
Salon will be 7:00 p.m. Tuesday March 9, 2004 at the Irondale Public Library.
Details at the Salon web page http://www.reelscene.com/jeffcosalon.html
. The meeting is free to the public.
Cine Latino, DC Independent Film Festival and
the AFI/Silver proudly
present
February 17
/ Meet & Greet: 5:30pm/ Film: 6:35pm
Film: "Bar `El
Chino'" directed by Daniel Burak (Argentina)
Location: AFI Silver
(Corner of Colesville Avenue & Georgia Avenue)
Cine Latino - A
Project Of the DC Independent Film Festival at The AFI Silver Theatre To
Showcase On A Monthly Basis the Best Of Latino Film. Screenings will continue on
the third Tuesday of every month.
About the film:
"Bar `El Chino'"
"Bar `El Chino'" is a
feature film that blends fiction and documentary. It is the story of a filmmaker
(Jorge Costa) (played by Boy Olmi), who resumes his work on a project he has
left unfinished: a documentary about a bar rooted in the origins of tango, El
Chino Bar. This symbolic place and its characters represent values and ideals,
... Details at the link above.
Errors and
corrections
There was a mistake with the address of the Grants
page, just one letter off. I've made corrections so you should be able to click
to it now.
If you would like to respond with any
comments, updates, announcements, blurbs, quips, jibs, exhortations or advice,
you can contact,