Virginia Bogert Message from the president, Virginia Bogert

Hello Everyone,

I was happy to see many members, old and new, at our annual membership meeting. You got to meet all the board and hear what each member does for this organization that is so vital in our community. WIF has made incredible advances and effected so much change over the passed several years and I have been proud to be the president. I feel good about leaving my post at the end of February 2011 because I've been so rewarded by what we have accomplished together, and we keep raising the bar. Thank you all. Together we will continue to support and advance each other and be true to our purpose.

I am also happy to announce Women in Film/Seattle's partnership with Fractured Atlas. As a WIF/S member you will receive automatic membership.
Fractured Atlas is a non-profit organization that serves a national community of artists and arts organizations. Our programs and services facilitate the creation of art by offering vital support to the artists who produce it. We help artists and arts organizations function more effectively as businesses by providing access to funding, low-cost insurance, education, and more, all in a context that honors their individuality and independent spirit. By nurturing today's talented but underrepresented voices, we hope to foster a dynamic and diverse cultural landscape of tomorrow. fracturedatlas.org

Please mark your calendars and attend the two great events WIF/S is offering:
On April 19 Nell Shipman films screened with live organ music! Something New and A Bear a Boy, and a Dog at The Admiral Theater in West Seattle.
Don't miss this event; it will be a HOOT!
And on May 15: Budget and Scheduling Workshop, for all serious professionals.
(see Events in left column for more info.)


Virginia

PS. Be brave, April 15 will come and go!



Women in Film/Seattle's Plans and Mission 2007-2008
The Education/Outreach Committee
Internships
One of Women in Film/Seattle’s goals has been to provide training and networking opportunities for future women filmmakers in the Seattle area.
Rachel Nussbaum, Chair of the E/O Committee will expand WIF/Seattle’s influence on aspiring filmmakers by generating internship opportunities for these young women students. The E/O committee will interview and select 2-3 interns who require internship work in the industry for college credit over the course of the year and place these women with WIF/S professional members and other Seattle production companies, providing the interns with pre-production and planning experience, set/location production experience, and post production knowledge and experience. This training and mentoring program will launch skilled filmmakers into the film & video business.
We have three interns working with us presently:
Carrie Lanza, JJ Frees, and Dawn McLellan who have so far worked with RedJet Films, Laughing Dog Pictures, Victory Studios, PAFF, and the WIF Board members.

Production
PSA Program
A traditional program of WIF/Seattle, the PSA program has been dormant for four years. Production Chair Rebecca VanPelt will organize a crew of WIF filmmakers who will produce from conception to completion, a PSA for a non-profit organization who provides a much-needed service for the community. The non-profit need not be female issue focused nor locally rooted however the Board is favoring selecting a local non-profit this year, The Moyer Foundation. The Foundation will be responsible for media placement and any in-kind assistance, however WIF/S will provide all other services to produce a 1x:60 and 1x:30 PSA for broadcast purposes.
The PSA fulfills another mission of WIF/S as a non-profit, providing a service to the community.

Post Alley Film Festival, (PAFF) now in it’s fourth year!
This festival is a venue for local, national, and international filmmakers. I had helped curate the festival in its infancy and took over that job for the 3rd annual event with the help of WIF member, Ilsa Spreiter, and then for the 4th annual PAFF and will again for the Fifth Annual festival in 2008. PAFF continues to be a popular, well-attended event in Seattle and a showcase for excellent filmmakers’ work. Additionally, PAFF provides an important community service for the Seattle Metropolitan area by helping raise awareness and funds for Pike Place Preschool and Childcare Center, which provides childcare services for low-income families and schooling for their children.

With the help of it’s sponsors, Post Alley Film Festival will continue to provide a venue for gifted filmmakers, access for the community to outstanding cinema, and funds for two worthy non-profits: Women in Film/Seattle and Pike Place Preschool and Childcare -- as well as attraction of the public to the iconographic Seattle historical location, Pike Place Market, a social and cultural Mecca.

Victory Studios has supported PAFF for the past two years, donating a day of editing to assemble the short films into presentation DVDs for screening; Unexpected Productions has provided the venue each year.

WIF/S Events
Chix Flix
As part of our events calendar, Women in Film/Seattle presents Chix Flix, a two-hour program of short films created by members of WIF. This year Chix Flix included two Seattle International Fly Films and several nominees and winners of the Nell Shipman 2006 Excellence in Production awards. The films played to a packed house, followed by a Q&A. The evening provides for an opportunity to introduce the work of female member filmmakers to the public; and the event attracts professionals from the Seattle Community, providing a meeting place and sharing of ideas. I inaugurated Chix Flix as VP in 2006 with the help of board member Cathy Wadley. Now it will be a semi-yearly event. This year, Events Chair, Alesia Glidwell amassed the films and hosted the evening and will continue the tradition.

Chix Flix is specifically designed for WIF/S members, a venue to screen their work, increasing their visibility and WIF’s as the professional organization representing filmmakers in the NW community. It helps increase membership and raise money for WIF to continue to provide the programs we are known for.

Other Events:
WIF will continue to mount events like these during each year: “An Afternoon with...” We will host/conduct an interview annually with an accomplished personality such as our chat with mega producer, Lauren Shuler Donner (2004) at The Henry Art Museum and Joan Allen at SIFF (2005)

Member Screenings
We will screen full-length documentaries or feature films each year. In recent years WIF screened Nell Shipman Best documentary winners, Quick Brown Fox by Ann Hedreen and Busting Out by Laurel Spellman Smith and Francine Strickwerda (in 2005, 2006) at The Henry Art Museum.

Workshops
We have several ideas in this area and are still brainstorming. We would love your feedback.
  • We will co-sponsor teaching workshops with brother/sister organizations in Seattle.
  • We’d like a yearly weekend workshop involving many of the community industry professionals in the creation of a short film from planning to post to screening.
  • We may launch a series or 2-3 hour Saturday workshops (one per quarter) on topics such as:
    1. The One-Minute Pitch
    2. The Evolution and Flow of a Production
    3. The Best PA in Town
    4. TBD
We are curious as to what our members want. Frankly it is tough to get y’all out!
Please let us know!

Bowl-er-ama
Our Events Diva, Alesia Glidewell will bring back the ever popular Bowling Event this year. It’s an opportunity for the film community to join forces and team play.

First Tuesday
This is a monthly networking session for WIF members and other filmmakers in the community and interested film enthusiasts. It is a “contact-making” meeting. It is also an opportunity for women to get together with their colleagues in a non-work atmosphere. Allot of trading of information goes on at these events, shoots get crewed-up, inside information is passed around, and knowledge is shared.
Films are also screened at out meeting place, Solo, on Roy Street.

Communications Committee
Our Communications Chair sends out newsletter the beginning of each month that keep us abreast of what’s going on. The Chair person will also post to all members any time-sensitive information that our membership would like to announce, such as a film screenings, awards, job ops, etc. She is the information disseminator. Just get her the info. She also makes sure we all get E-vites to all our events, most notably First Tuesday at Solo.

Membership Committee
Following in the footsteps of our Membership Diva, Sue Feil Erwin, Laura Jean Cronin will continue to establish new relationships and re-secure established members of WIF/S. The goal is to continue to increase membership and focus on adding professional members. It is through you professionals that we grow stronger.

We will also develop a roster for each member with information about what you do, along with your contact info. Long time member Carol Freeman has suggested taking on this job.

The Nell Shipman Awards
The community agrees that The Nell Shipman Awards was one of the most exciting, successful, glorious industry events that Seattle has ever witnessed. No kidding!
Although WIF/S would like to launch The Nell Shipman Awards each year, the event is an enormous undertaking. We expect to throw this party every 24 months. The next Nell Shipman Event will take place in 2008.

This is a big event which requires lots of committee help. Please offer your time and services to this and other committees.

The Nell Shipman Scholarship
Each year Women in Film has provided a $1000 scholarship to a female student enrolled in or about to matriculate into a college or university majoring in cinema studies. The funding for this has traditionally come from monies raised by WIF/S membership dues. For the past two years GM Alliance has provided the scholarship in the amount of $1500, a happy bonus.

Seattle Film Institute/WIF Seattle Grants
Two years ago I formed a partnership for Women in Film with Seattle Film Institute who grants two scholarships through WIF/S, one to be used for a weekend workshop seminar at Seattle Film Institute ($500) and another ($1000) to be applied toward the 40 week full immersion film study course offered each year at SFI. I encourage members to take advantage of this opportunity.

Fundraising and Grant Writing
WIF will apply for more grants in 2007 and 2008 and will have one fundraising event each year.
(More about the fundraiser later.)
If you have grant-writing skills, please use them to help WIF acquire more grant monies for our operation and continuing educational programs. As an educational non-profit we could be entitled to funding. Please contact me if you are interested. virginia@laughingdogpictures.com

Community Respect
Throughout the year WIF members are asked to participate on film industry related judging panels, mayoral panels, and to speak at various film events, festivals, colleges and universities. I am pleased that our organization garners respect this from the community.

Women in Film Participation and Presence in the Film Community
WIF and SIFF
WIF/Seattle continues to partner with Seattle International Film Festival and again this year will host events at the Festival. WIF is one of the arts organizations who were asked to recommended Fly Filmmakers this year; we are also one of the sponsors of the NW Market and sponsor a SIFF Forum with Sarah Lash, Director of Acquisitions, IFC Films whose first film job was as acquisitions intern/reader at October Films. She worked at Cinepix Film Properties, which ultimately became Lions Gate. At Lions Gate, Lash started out in regional publicity then gravitated toward full-time acquisitions.
WIF will also brand a feature film by a female director as well as host other events for our filmmaker members.

WIF has solid co-supportive alliances with the WA State Film Office and the Mayor’s Office for Film and Video and plans to forge new alliances in 2007 still keeping our sister/brother relationships with NW Screenwriter’s Guild, The FilmSchool, and 911 Media Arts.

I hope that Women in Film fulfills you as it does me by being a part of a group of extraordinary and creative women. Thank you all and my best to you.
Virginia


P.S. from Virginia
Suzy Kellet I am sorry to see my colleague, WIF/S member, and friend to the filmmaking community leave her post at the Washington State Film Office. Suzy Kellet is one amazing woman who guided us to becoming an inspired center for film in the nation.

It is no mean feat to continually champion the cause of filmmaking in our state, to provide we filmmakers with guidance and service, and to lure and welcome Hollywood productions so that our crews actually make some dough and Seattle gets on the filmmaking map.

Thank you Suzy, for all your work; you hold your post with style and grace and back it up with wit and dedication to the art of making movies. Thank you and all the best to you on your new adventures after January 31.