Can't wait to see you there !!

As 2009 approaches, many are concerned about job security, economic opportunity, and the economy in general.  We face many challenges.  New legislation is pending in Jeff City which will affect film production in the state.  There have been layoffs, and some of our colleagues are looking for work.  We do have things to look forward to, including St. Louis Cinematheque, Cinema St. Louis'  Filmmakers Showcase and St. Louis International Film Festival, monthly gatherings of professionals at the MCA meetings, and the George Clooney movie shooting here in January and February.  In response to the economic concerns and equally to the good news, the MCA will focus this year on increasing the networking it has always emphasized.  I want this to be the year that the MCA reaches out to other media-related organizations and to more media producers and production companies, corporate communication departments, independent producers, union members, technical specialists, and all who work in film, media, communication, and broadcasting in the St. Louis region, including those in Southern Illinois. 

By being proactive, we can effect political change.
By encouraging productions to come to or to stay in St. Louis, we can improve our business community.
By working together, we can increase opportunity and can continue to thrive and to grow even in tough economic times.

Please participate in this networking initiative by forwarding the MCA newsletters to other media professionals you know and encourage them to come to both the MCA parties and the educational presentations and to sign up for the newsletter, which does not require joining the international organization. 

Happy Holidays and Best Wishes for a Prosperous New Year!!

 

Walter Gunn and the staff at the St. Louis Cinematheque asked me to pass along the information below to our membership, and I have decided to do so because the St. Louis Cinematheque offers some much needed optimism for, as the St. Louis Cinematheque employees say, "the creative class."  Also the St. Louis Cinematheque emphasis on the importance of digit media in the future ties into the MCA's January meeting.

According to Andy Cohen, Office Managerat Cinematheque, the database of creative professionals establishing membership on www.STLCinematheque.com is growing at a moderate pace, and they are ready to move into the next phase.  Furthermore, Cohen states, "Fiscal sponsorship has to make its way onto our civic agenda somehow in order to stabilize and support growth for the economic infrastructure of our creative class.  St. Louis Cinematheque is a project designed to help us establish a fiscal sponsorship office for the St. Louis region - a resource that exists for many of our major-market competitors (from San Francisco to New York, Chicago to Omaha, Denver  to Austin, and many more) but not here." 

This project will certainly be a boon to the St. Louis media community, and I included the majority of the St. Louis Cinematheque's press release below because it is in keeping the upcoming meeting on the transition to digital broadcasting, and it is in keeping with the spirit I hope we can embrace in 2009.

Following several years of in-depth planning, St. Louis Cinematheque is poised to give a significant economic boost to the St. Louis regional arts community. The result of this two-year civic project will be a St. Louis region that competes head-on for jobs in the digital content market and offers more related jobs in the arts than ever before.

With the Regional Arts Commission as its Fiscal Sponsor, St. Louis Cinematheque has an ambitious yet conservative mission based on a fundamental premise: film (the only lasting medium able to contain all art forms), in the right context is a viable financial enterprise capable of delivering a sustainable economic surge.

The mission of St. Louis Cinematheque is to make St. Louis a go-to city for digital media production and related creative arts by employing the high caliber of creative professionals from here or currently practicing their craft here as visual, musical, digital, literary and performing artists. These creators along with our world class cultural institutions and host of businesses that support both non-profit and commercial creative services will, for the first time as a whole, collaborate on a single project.

According to a World Association of Newspapers report, 50 percent of media consumption was digital in 2007. By 2010, that number will rise to 66 percent and to 80 percent by 2020. That 60 percent increase in digital-based media over a 10-year period along with the demand for original programming and the depth of St. Louis talent is a sound reason for St. Louis to invest time, talent and money in this growth-industry.

Made up of short films ranging from 15 seconds to three minutes long (156 minutes in total), St. Louis Cinematheque will result in an attention-getting digital film collection. Locally, beginning in 2010, three minutes of new film will appear each week on St. Louis Cinema's 12 screens at The Moolah, Chase and Galleria theaters. By the end of 2010, St. Louis Cinematheque films will have reached more than one million in general audience attendance alone. The film collection will go on to help the St. Louis region advance its standings when compared with all the cities that compete to be on the short-list for original digital-media content and related creative work.

Ultimately, proceeds from the project (DVD sales, merchandising, licensing etc.) will establish a fiscal sponsorship office for St. Louis-a funding mechanism that exists in every city St. Louis competes with as suppliers of creative services, talent and technology.

Look at any tough-times civic success story: it is not a matter of a person or a party magically triumphing over economic adversity. Rather, it is a matter of recognizing opportunity in adversity and coming together to seize that moment.

To find out more about how St. Louis Cinematheque wants to seize the moment for our creative professionals in the literary, performing and visual arts, filmmaking, music, digital-media, marketing and the industries that support them in the St. Louis region please visit: www.STLCinematheque.com

In a bid to promote local filmmakers, local media, and local creativity, Thing One|Thing Two Productions (owned by Kathryn Leep) approached St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay's re-election committee with the idea of using St. Louis talent to create short "commercial" spots for his web site.  The Mayor loved the idea and is eager to see what can be accomplished.

We are hosting a Juried Competition where filmmakers will create a single 30-second commercial spot and compete for prizes, awards and bragging rights. The spots will be judged by local advertising and media professionals.  The top three winning entries will receive cash prizes ($1,000, $500, and $400).  Another four "category" winning entries will each receive $250.  All qualified submissions will be part of a publicized public showcase and posted on the Mayor's web site, www.mayorslay.com. 

We are calling this the "St. Louis Win-Win Competition."  By participating, filmmakers win with rare and total creative control over a 30-second spot displayed before industry professionals, the Mayor, and the public. Advertising and media professionals win by getting an inside look at local creative talent.  And if all goes as planned, Mayor Slay wins the election and can continue leading St. Louis into a bright future. 

Similar to other competitions, teams will be given specific elements around which to create the spot and have two (2) weeks to produce the commercial. 

We want everyone to have fun with this, so there is no registration fee or arduous registration process.  We are not going to make you explain why you should be chosen to participate or what meaningful purpose will be accomplished by your submission.  Just send us an email letting us know you are interested.  We'll email you an R3 packet (Registration, Rules and Releases).  Return your registration form and show up for the Kick-Off Party on January 6, 2009.  It's that easy.

Kathryn Leep and Matt Corrado

Thing One|Thing Two Productions

 

The MO Motion Media Association (MOMMA) is gearing up the the first-ever Missouri Film Summit and Annual Conference. It will be held in Columbia, February 26 and 27 to coincide with the widely-acclaimed True/False Film Festival. Some of the conference highlights:

-- Keynote speaker, Josh Wattles, is one of the top intellectual property attorneys in the nation. Josh was the former acting general counsel for Paramount pictures. He was the lead attorney in Buchwald vs. Paramount involving the Eddie Murphy film, "Coming to America." Josh has also drafted talent deals and agreements for the services or works of Jerry Bruckheimer, LucasFilm and George Lucas, John Hughes, Sylvester Stallone, John Travolta, John Grisham, Robert Stigwood, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tim Rice, and the estate of Duke Ellington. His current work focuses on the intersection of Internet distribution and entertainment content.

-- Kelly Baker, known as "the angry filmmaker," because of his "subversive" style of filmmaking. Although his own feature films ("Birddog," "The Gas Cafe," and "Kicking Bird") have been shown around-the-world, and on PBS, Canadian television, Australian television, he's best-known for working with other people. He was sound designer for six of Gus Van Zant's feature films, including "My Own Private Idaho," "Good Will Hunting," and "Finding Forrester," as well as Todd Haynes feature film, "Far From Heaven."

-- Hand-on demonstrations of the RED camera.

-- A free ticket to one of the True/False films.

-- The opportunity to network with filmmakers and industry folk from around the state, as well as around-the-world.

And after the conference sessions you can catch a performance by Sonic Youth, playing at Columbia's famed Blue Note. Or you can just kick-back in one of The District's , 70 bars and restaurants. YouŽll find plenty to do. The District's 43 not-so-square blocks in the center of Columbia are packed with music, exceptional eateries, coffee houses, boutiques, art galleries.

Conference registration is only $79 for MOMMA members! That covers your conference fee, one full breakfast and two lunches! Not a member: You can register for just $40 more and that includes your membership at a 20% discount!

To register, go to: http://www.regonline.com/builder/site/Default.aspx?eventid=685523

 

For more information about MOMMA, go to www.mommaonline.com