No, it can’t be?

Have I been doing this for 2 years already? I guess the calendar doesn’t lie. In the Fall of 2007 I started a little website called IndyFilmNews.com, little did I know how many people I was reaching out too.

Things have changed tremendously since then.  When the site first started it was predominately a forum and secondly a News Site. The Forum users were mainly a group of people I had worked with on different projects over the years. The Forum continued to grow and attract others who had similar interests. It reached it’s peak in January of last of 2009.

Then Facebook took over.

Don’t get me wrong I’m as addicted to Facebook as the next guy. But, it seems to have killed online forums. I have started a Facebook Group and Fan Page to help spread the word about IndyFilmNews.com. There’s still traffic on the IndyFilmNews Forum and I hope it continues… but I don’t think it will get back to the level it was.

The funny thing is that traffic on IndyFilmNews.com has not dropped with the Forum post count. The number of visitors is up and the page views have stayed  level. Over time the Actor and Crew Profiles and News have really grown.  There are now over 100 Actors and Crew Members listed on the Profile pages. The number keeps rising weekly.

The number of filmmakers in Indiana is vastly larger than I ever imagined. I keep stumbling onto more and more. The fact that there were 30 teams completing in the 48 Film Project this year speaks volumes.  The major film festivals in Indianapolis are also doing a great job of pushing Indiana films. The Indianapolis International Film Festival and the Heartland have both featured tracks of Indiana based films. In February of this year I joined the voluntary board of the Indiana Filmmakers Network. This group was holding meetings with 6-8 attendees two years ago. The average meeting now is over 40. There are filmmakers of all levels attending.   From guys making low budget horror film with a cheap camcorder, to guys producing $500,000 Features, and everything in between. They all share a common love for the industry and want to see it grow here in Indiana.

Actors have also been making to the meetings, and I’m glad to see it. A few weeks ago I attended a Indy Stage & Screen meeting. this group meets the last Monday of the month downtown Indy at the Elbow Room. They are a group of professional actors that also care about growing the film community. In the northern part of the state the Mid-America Filmmakers are doing a great job helping each other make and promote films.

Erin Newell at Film Indiana is also doing a wonderful job helping filmmakers in any way she can. From tax incentives to location securing. I glad to we have someone like Erin on our side in the government. She loves this stuff as much as we do.

I want to thank everyone who has supported and added to IndyFilmNews.com, your interest is what keeps this site alive and ever changing.  The site is not going away anytime soon…I’ve already paid for the next 3 years of web hosting! I’m looking forward to see what happens next!

–chuck budreau

IndyFilmNews.com

The Indianapolis International Film Festival (IIFF) kicked off this year’s festivities with a bang! The Melody Inn hosted the IIFF Preview Party, Including two live bands and Bob & Tom’s Donnie Baker doing his stand up show. There were prizes, free drinks, and lots of film enthusiasts…who liked free drinks!

I was there to support two films I worked on. Both are up for the same award at this year’s festival, the Hoosier Lens Award. The award is devoted exclusively to Indiana Filmmakers. Kate Chaplin’s “First they Came For…”, Brian Pearce’s “Illusions of Life”, Dan T Hall’s “America On Wheels: Model T”, and Jon Moisan’s “Free Wall” will compete for this year’s award. I was the sound recorder on both “Illusions of Life” and “First They Came for.’ This gives me a 50% chance of being on the winning ticket! or a 50% chance of loosing twice in the same race… depending on that whole glass is half full or half empty thing.

Kate Chaplin and Chuck Budreau

Kelli Safford, Dan Hall, and Dorothy Henckel

Kate Chaplin, Brian Pearce and Dan Hall were all at the party enjoying the the fact that anyone of them could win and they would all be happy about it.

Michael Tressler and Craig Mince

The staff of the IIFF put on a great meet up. The Melody Inn is a wonderful mixture of a true rock bar and a quiet beer garden… in case you actually want to talk while the band is rock’n out. The festival starts next Wednesday (July 15th) and runs through July 25th. The Indianapolis Museum of Art is hosting the festival this year.  More info on the festival can be found here…

http://www.indyfilmfest.org

photos by Chad Richards

Checkout  Chad’s blog of this event…

http://www.onlinemediajunkie.com/indy-film-fest-preview-party-at-the-melody-in