NFFTY
Didn’t get enough Oktoberfest? Join NFFTY on Saturday, October 1st from 2-6pm at the Nectar for the Audiosocket Oktoberfest Benefiting NFFTY. Enjoy local beer (Deschutes Brewery, Fremont Brewery, Paulaner, American Brewing), local indie bands (The Wandas, And And And), and Meat Muffins (you’ll have to come and try them for yourself). All proceeds from the festivities will go to NFFTY.
REELGRRLS
Reel Grrls is a Seattle-based nonprofit that strives to empower young women to realize their talent in the world of media by providing hands-on workshops related to every aspect of filmmaking. Reel Grrls is seeking an inspirational and visionary leader with a passion for film, digital media and the empowerment of young women to fill The Executive Director position. The Executive Director provides strategic leadership, direction, and guidance to Reel Grrls, oversees all organizational functions and programs and forges strategic partnerships with funding sources, governmental agencies, partner organizations and all stakeholder constituencies.
Happy Hour
Miss us? We know you did. Happy Hour returns this week with a new look and format. Now the Film, Music and Interactive Happy Hour, we will continue to host our event at Spitfire in Belltown on the last Wednesday of the month from 5-7 pm. At 6:30 pm, a special guest speaker will give a presentation in the private black box theater in the back of the venue. This Wednesday, we welcome UW Associate Professor Margaret O’Mara, who wrote the tech-focused book Cities of Knowledge: Cold War Science and the Search for the Next Silicon Valley. For those who want to continue mingling at the bar, we’ll broadcast the presentation on the monitors located throughout Spitfire. Join us on Wednesday, September 28 for the exciting re-launch of Happy Hour! Presenting partners of this event are Washington Filmworks, The Pacific Northwest Chapter of The Recording Academy, Geekwire, Art of Institute of Seattle, and Spitfire.
Seattle Met
Local filmmaker Megan Griffiths (The Off Hours) began shooting Eden, her newest feature film, this month. The production was seen filming in Ellensburg last week, and this week the crew filmed some scenes in Belltown and White Center. The film is based on the true story of a young girl who survived domestic human trafficking and sex slavery. Jamie Chung (The Hangover II, Sucker Punch) leads the cast, which also includes Beau Bridges (The Fabulous Baker Boys) and Matt O’Leary (Fat Kid Rules the World, Brick).
Seattle Chamber
Every business in the Seattle region is encouraged to participate in the Greater Seattle Chamber’s Job Sector Survey. This is currently the only comprehensive assessment of conditions for employers in Seattle and the Puget Sound region. The 10-minute survey, which will help the Chamber of Commerce collect the information they need to guide elected officials, policymakers and community leaders when making decisions that impact the local economy, is an opportunity for your voice to be heard. This is a great chance for those in the entertainment and music industries to speak up, so act fast. The deadline has been extended to this Friday, August 26.
Washington Filmworks
The Washington State Legislature failed to renew the state film incentive earlier this year. Washington Filmworks Chair Becky Bogard recently issued a response letter, assuring supporters that funding has been secured through June of 2012. She also laid out the future budget activities of Washington Filmworks and plans to resubmit the incentive program for renewal next year. Click the link above to read the whole letter and find out how you can get involved.
SSG Music
More than five years ago, Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Inception, 500 Days of Summer, 3rd Rock from the Sun) launched a production company. The beginnings of this collaborative online community was fueled by the straightforward creation of a website called hitRECord.org. Today, hitRECord is a “professional open collaborative production company” that connects filmmakers from all over the world. The grassroots company proves that if the online world is utilized in a collaborative and purposeful manner, a creative synergy can exist and new media and film can flourish. Tonight, Gordon-Levitt (self-coined “average Joe”) will amuse a captive audience at the Neptune Theater when he brings hitRECord to Seattle. It will be a night of performances, short films, story readings, and RECordings, all in time for next month’s release of the first anthology of collaborative projects.
The Seattle Times
With a heavy heart, Queen Anne’s Uptown Theater closed its doors last November. Enter SIFF, which announced today that it will take over the Uptown’s lease for the next five years. The organization will move operations of SIFF Cinema (currently occupying a leased space at McCaw Hall) to the saved theater and rename it SIFF Cinema at the Uptown. Deborah Person, managing director of SIFF, described the decision as a move to keep up with the type of programming SIFF wants to entertain. “We have more interest than we have capacity right now for use of SIFF Cinema,” said Person. “A lot of individual filmmakers or groups want to show films and we can’t currently accommodate all the people who are interested.”
KOMO News
Four feature films are finishing up production in Seattle this summer. KOMO News reports that these might be the last big movie projects our city sees if lawmakers do not renew the state film incentive. Efforts to renew the incentive died in the state legislature earlier this year. KOMO‘s Elisa Jaffe talked to members of the creative team behind the film Fat Kid Rules the World, which just wrapped filming around Seattle last week. They agreed that the film incentive brought this project to Seattle, and that the lack of an incentive program will push future work over to Portland or Vancouver, B.C. Washington Filmworks, the state’s nonprofit film office, will lobby again to renew the incentive during the 2012 legislative session. “This program gave out $14 million, actually got $54 million in direct spending in this state,” said Amy Lillard, executive director of Washington Filmworks. “So the return on the investment is very clear.”
City Arts Festival
Last week, City Arts Festival released the lineup for its second annual celebration of music, dance, theater, literature and the Seattle art community. Wristbands for the event, which takes place October 20-22, are on sale today. Headliners include Ryan Adams, Robyn, Built to Spill, Ozomatli, and Crystal Castles. A slew of local artists make up the rest of the impressive lineup, including Mudhoney, Fastbacks, The Long Winters, Fences, Campfire OK, USF, Allen Stone, Yuni in Taxco, Seapony, Grand Hallway, Fly Moon Royalty, and many more. Also expect dance workshops, poetry readings, film screenings, a tribute to The Replacements, visual art exhibits, comedy, and some other unconventional performances taking place at 20 different venues around Seattle.
