Filmmakers Open Studios 2003 - Greater Boston Film and Video Community Opens Its Doors to the Public!!

For one FREE weekend, April 12 and 13, 2003, members of the Boston film and video community will be offering demonstrations, screenings of their works and interacting with the public about the art and business of filmmaking. Visit www.filmmakerscollab.org and click on Filmmakers Open Studios for details!

PRESS RELEASE

EVENT: Filmmakers Open Studios, April 12-13, 2003
CONTACT: Bonnie Waltch or Karen Kane, Filmmakers Collaborative
PHONE: 781-647-1102
E-MAIL: fos2003@aol.com
WEB SITE: www.filmmakerscollab.org

Filmmakers Open Studios 2003 - Greater Boston Film and Video Community Opens Their Doors to the Public

Now in its fourth year, Filmmakers Open Studios is an annual citywide cultural event, free to the public, that takes visitors behind-the-scenes of the film and video community in Greater Boston. For years, visual and fine artists have been opening their studios to the public to showcase their work and demonstrate the processes they employ; since 2000, Filmmakers Open Studios has been giving the public an inside peek at the wide array of work taking place in the film and video industry and celebrating the experimental and traditional subjects explored by this diverse range of artists and studios.

Visitors can attend two panel discussions; see demonstrations of filmmaking, animation, editing, and new technologies; learn about options for fiscal sponsorship for their own projects; and connect in an entirely new way with this active and growing independent and commercial community. What makes Filmmakers Open Studios unique is the extensive experience and accomplishments the participants bring to the event, their willingness to open their doors to the public, and their eagerness to educate, stimulate, and share their ideas, work, and techniques with interested visitors.

Bostons leading filmmakers and studios are represented in this broad-reaching event and this year include such notables as Lucia Small (My Father the Genius), Tom Curran (Adrift), Randy MacLowry (A Brilliant Madness), Tracy Strain (The Donut Movie), John MacNeil (The Gift of the Game), Eric Stange (Murder at Harvard), FilmShack (Squeeze), and Scout Productions (Session 9, Errol Morris First Person television series).

New this year is a Silent Auction, with film and video equipment, services, tickets to local performances, and other exciting items to be auctioned at four different locations throughout the weekend. Items include a one-day camera package from Rule Broadcast, a one-day lighting/grip rental from Screenlight and Grip, and 100 VHS dubs from Video Transfer. The event web site will have a complete list of items and locations.

Please log onto http://www.filmmakerscollab.org and click on Filmmakers Open Studios for updates about this years event and to view our five-minute promotional video.

Highlights on Saturday include:

• "Music in Film" panel at Berklee College of Music, 1140 Boylston Street, Lawrence and Alma Berk Recital Hall 1A (first floor) -- 10:00am - 11:30am.
Come and learn first-hand about the film scoring process and the people involved, as well as artistic choices, music rights, and composing vs. existing music. Panelists include, Mason Daring, composer for John Sayles films; Sheldon Mirowitz, composer for PBS' Evolution and the Farrelly Brothers Outside Providence; Claudio Ragazzi, composer for Next Stop Wonderland and The Blue Diner; and Jay Sweet, music supervisor for independent Boston filmmakers. Moderator is Judy Laster, Director of Woods Hole Film Festival and the Reel Blues Festival. A tour of the Berklee filmscoring facility will follow the panel.

• Video Transfer, Inc.s 2nd annual VTI Short Film Festival, where compilations of shorts will be screened throughout the day and the winners film will be encoded, authored, and replicated on DVD.

• Future Media Concepts in Cambridge and BF/VF in Allston are both offering free workshops (pre-registration required at FMC).

• The Coolidge Corner Theater video screening room will be showing films from the Balagan Experimental Film and Video Series.

Highlights on Sunday include:

• Activist Filmmaking" panel at Pulse Media, 205 Arlington Street, Watertown -- 11:00am - 12:30pm.
How can film be used to effect social change? How do filmmakers creatively address social and political issues? How do activists use films to make a difference? Join local filmmakers Margaret Lazarus, John Gianvito, Liz Canner and Bestor Cram along with Karla Capers, Creative Director of Infact, to discuss these and other issues pertaining to films that make a difference.

• Moody Station Studios in Waltham will be offering a hands-on animation workshop.

• The Frame Shop in Newton invites visitors to bring still photos or flat artwork and their own tape stock and theyll perform an actual video photo-motion session.