Is it that time already?

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

---

Posted by admin on October 23rd, 2009 :: Filed under IndyFilmNews Site Related
Tags :: Chuck Budreau, erin newell, heartland film festival, indiana filmmakers network, Indianapolis International Film Festival, indyfilmnews.com

---

This past Saturday I spent the day with filmmakers from across North America. The 1st Annual River Bend Film Festival in South Bend Indiana, is a continuation of the IU South Bend Independent Video & Filmmakers Festival. This year the festival starts it’s new life off campus and in the heart of South Bend. The venue was Century Center, South Bend’s premier convention and events facility. By separating from the University festival chairman Tim Richardson says they have received much greater support from the community at large.

This was the first time I have setup a table at this kind of event to promote IndyFilmNews.com. The reactions were great. The number of people that already knew of and frequent the site was very reassuring. At the time I confirmed my table I had let Tim know I was available for any panel discussions that he thought would be appropriate. As things turned out one of the main guests, Stephen Susco, had some travel problems and couldn’t make it to the festival. This made them pull together a panel of filmmakers to fill the time slot. I was very pleased with how the panel worked out.

The Panel covered many of the hurdles of Indie films. Financing, Copyrights, Distribution, Budgets, etc. The panel consisted of Myself, Kate Chaplin(Karmic Courage), John Klein, Cole Simon and Mike Molenda(all from Glass City Films), Scott Dokey( President of Mid America Filmmakers) and Moderated by Festival Charman Tim Richardson.

For an impromptu panel it went really well. The room was packed with filmmakers and would-be filmmakers. They had lots of questions. we swapped war stories and all seemed to agree on most of the points. Even though I had never met most of the panel we go along great. Kate’s Karmic Courage productions is based out of Indianapolis and I have worked closely with Kate on many projects.  Glass City Films is based in Toledo Ohio, though they spend a lot of time in Chicago and South Bend.  the Mid America Filmmakers is a group of filmmakers that help each other with their projects, they were the sponsors of the festival.

The evening session had a great turn out. it featured films from the Mid America Filmmakers and several foreign shorts. The Festival main event was the showing of Stephen Susco’s latest film “Red”. They managed to setup a video link via Skype and Stephen Susco was able to introduse thefilm as well as do a Q&A session afterwards. It worked out really well.

The Mid America Filmmakers are a great group and I look forward to working with some of them in the future. They put on a festival that was fun to attend and even better to be a part of. I’m sure I’ll go back to next year’s River Bend Film Festival.

---

Posted by admin on May 3rd, 2009 :: Filed under Film Shoots
Tags :: Cole Simon, Glass City Films, indyfilmnews.com, John Klein, Karmic Courage productions, Kate Chaplin, Mid America Filmmakers, Mike Molenda, River Bend Film Festival, Scott Dokey, South Bend, Stephen Susco, Tim Richardson

---

Well… It’s been a year since I sat down and started designing a website for Indie Filmmakers in Indiana.

It has been a very rewarding task. I have met some really great people and made some good friends. My goal from the outset was to create a community gathering place. A place where Filmmakers, Actors, and those interested in our projects could share ideas, experiences, and our work with each other.

I owe a great deal of thanks to everyone in this community who have put aside their personal differences to make this site positive. I want to thank everyone who has helped to spread the word and make IndyFilmNews.com “the site” to promote your films and meet other filmmakers. I could start a list of names, but that would take way too much space… and I’m not organized enough to ensure that I would include everyone. But if you’re reading this… I’m thanking you.

IndyFilmNews.com has been growing in both visitors and content. I wanted to include as much useful information as possible.

The latest features…include this Blog, where I will ramble on about what ever has happened that I think is worthy of me rambling on about.
I have also started using a content management engine. Basically this will allow you to submit articles under several Topic headings. I will then be able to review them and with a simple click post them to the site. This should make the site more interactive.
It will also allow you to post comments on the articles you find on IndyFilmNews.com.

I will also be doing some interviews with local filmmakers and industry supporters.
If you would like to be added to the list of interviewees, please shoot me an email
chuck@indyfilmnews.com

There will be more new features and content as we move into the second year. I am always looking for suggestions. I want you to consider this site “your site”. If you find it lacking something please let me know.

In the past year I have seen several projects who have benefited greatly from networking that started on IndyFilmNews.com. These filmmakers have worked together and raised the production value of their films… that’s what this is all about.

Thanks everyone,

–chuck budreau
IndyFilmNews.com

---

Posted by admin on September 13th, 2008 :: Filed under IndyFilmNews Site Related
Tags :: indyfilmnews.com

---