Mid America Filmmakers presents “Gorilla Filmmaking in Hollywood”
Tuesday, April 3 at 7:00 p.m.
Free event
Cellar Door restaurant below The Grand Magnuson Hotel in the Chase Building at 213 W. Washington Street South Bend, IN 46601

This free and open to the public presentation will take place immediately following our regular monthly Mid America Filmmakers meeting which begins at 7:00 p.m. You are welcome to join us for both.

Filmmaker Vinnie Bilancio will show trailers from his movies “Blood Gnome” and “Werewolf in a Women’s Prison” and then briefly talk about the making of these films, from concept to completion and then answer questions anyone may have about  the process.

Vinnie Bilancio started his career in 1984 as an Actor in Rodger Corman’s “Sorority House Massacre”and since then has worked both behind and in front of the camera: as a director, producer, set designer, writer and editor. Vinnie has had the opportunity to work on large and small budget productions. With name actors like William Shatner and Harry Hamlin, to films with no names, he worked as a prop maker on the SCi FI series “Babylon 5” for its entire run on Fox Television. He has appeared in and helped with over 20 independent horror films such as “Blood Gnome”, “Magus”, “Werewolf in a Women’s Prison” and “Bioslime” which will be playing April 14 at the River Bend Film Festival in South Bend

This is part of a monthly series of “Making Movie Magic” workshops. Please visit our website at www.midamericafilmmakers.org for updates and additional workshop listings.

The 4th Annual River Bend Film Festival will be held April 11 – 14, 2012 at three different venues in South Bend. The four day event is sponsored by Mid America Filmmakers and Downtown South Bend, and is made possible by an Indiana Arts grant. One-hundred local, national and international independent films in a wide variety of genres will be shown throughout the festival.

The kick-off screening is Wednesday, April 11 from 7 p.m. – 11 p.m. at Merriman’s Playhouse at 1211 Mishawaka Ave. South Bend, IN 46615 with short films and a presentation by award-winning local and L.A. director Devi Snively, an alumnus of the American Film Institute’s Directing Workshop for Women. The evening concludes with a documentary 7 Years Underground:A 60’s Tale on Café au GoGo, a New York café that was home to great performances of ’60s legends like Jimi Hendrix.

Our annual free Thursday night screening is 7:30 p.m. – 11 p.m. in room 1001 in Weikamp Hall at Indiana University South Bend, which is sponsored by the Ernestine M. Raclin School of the Arts.  View some work by the college’s New Media students, a variety of shorts, and the feature Finding Xanadu: The Life & Films of Samuel W. Truss, a student-produced mockumentary chronicling the life of an Indiana filmmaker.

The main festival takes place at the lower level of the Century Center on Friday, April 13 and Saturday, April 14.  It opens Friday night from 7 p. m. – 11 p.m., starting with an introduction by keynote speaker John Hancock, the director of Bang the Drum Slowly, Weeds, and the locally-filmed Christmas favorite Prancer.  Following a wide variety of shorts, the evening showcases the award-winning feature Separation Anxiety, produced by Notre Dame graduate John Klein of Glass City Films.

Saturday’s daytime events run from 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. where five simultaneous screening rooms assure there is always something amazing to be seen. Highlights include local and regional films The Autopsy of Sleeping Beauty, Door to Door, Leah, Not Leia, and the feature Currency, as well as a block of Notre Dame Student shorts. Brilliant national and international films abound, including …und Exitus from Germany, where a suicidal man finds himself on a supernatural journey with his own personalized, cynical Death sporting a clown costume.  A new feature this year is the inclusion of 3fest , which screens films 3-minute or  less, including general shorts, and films by and for children, all of which are family friendly. IU South Bend New Media students will also have a display of video art throughout the weekend lining a main hallway.

During Saturday morning and afternoon, festival-goers will have the opportunity to learn more about film production, directing, visual effects, editing and acting through five different workshops.  Actors may pose on-site for professional head shots provided by Glass City Stills for the fee of $25, plus the cost of a weekend or day pass – which must be ordered online in advance. Hancock will host a 2-hour seminar on his experiences in television and Hollywood productions. His company FilmAcres is based in LaPorte, IN.

Saturday night’s program is 7 p.m. – 11 p.m. and includes some fun animation with Floyd the Android, the experimental Mugs with morphing celebrity mug shots, and The Perfect Skate with spinning wheels and teenage love.  The feature Weeds stars Nick Nolte and will have an introduction and Q&A by Hancock.

Wednesday (7 p.m. – 11 p.m.)  – $10 regular, $8 student/senior (Limited ticket, purchase ahead online)
Thursday (7:30 p.m. – 11 p.m.) – FREE
Friday (7 p.m. – 11 p.m.)  – $10 regular, $8 student/senior
Saturday (9 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.) – $5 regular, $4 student/senior
Saturday (12:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.) – $10 regular, $8 student/senior
Saturday (7 p.m. – 11 p.m.) – $10 regular, $8 student/senior
Saturday Day Pass (9 a.m. – 11 p.m.) – $20 regular, $18 student/senior
Weekend Pass (Friday 7 p.m. – 11 p.m.) – $30 regular, $25 student/senior

For detailed information regarding the festival schedule, listings and description of films, workshops, and purchasing tickets please visit the website at www.riverbendfilmfest.org.

Mid America Filmmakers presents “The Producer – What Does He Do?”
Tuesday, March 6 at 7:30 p.m.
Free event
Cellar Door restaurant below The Grand Magnuson Hotel in the Chase Building at 213 W. Washington Street South Bend, IN 46601

Film producer Brian McLaughlin will present an overview of the little understood job of producer; the program manager of a film, as well as gardener, mother hen, cheerleader, drill sergeant, counselor, and eternal optimist. With a moderate emphasis on low-budget narrative films, the presentation will examine the tasks of selecting or developing projects, attaching talent, securing funding, overseeing production, and reaching the audience. Overarching subjects such as leadership and helpful personality traits will also be covered.

Brian McLaughlin is a film producer and president of Emerald Elephant Entertainment with over ten years of film experience and over 25 years of international experience. He has produced four feature films, all acquired for worldwide distribution. He was the Media Production Advisor of the Counterinsurgency Advisory and Assistance Team at Headquarters, International Security Assistance Force – Afghanistan. He is a member of the Producers Guild of America and a visiting professor in the film department of the University of Notre Dame and was previously an adjunct instructor at The Art Institute of Tucson. His films have won several awards, including two Accolade Awards of Excellence. He is also a member of the Screen Actors Guild and does stand-up comedy. He spent 20 years in the U.S. Army and Army Reserve as an Infantry officer, most of that time assigned to Special Operations Command Europe, with call-ups for Bosnia and Operation Enduring Freedom, and other assignments as an Airborne Pathfinder commander and general’s aide. He has a bachelor degree in Business Administration from Notre Dame and an MBA from Boston University. Brian was recognized by Notre Dame as an Exemplary Asian Pacific Alumnus and has been a three-time president of the Independent Film Association of Southern Arizona.

This free and open to the public presentation will take place immediately following our regular monthly Mid America Filmmakers meeting which begins at 7:00 p.m. You are welcome to join us for both.

This is part of a monthly series of “Making Movie Magic” workshops. Please visit our website at www.midamericafilmmakers.org for updates and additional workshop listings

Tuesday, February 7 at 7:00 p.m. – Open meeting starts

7:30 p.m. – MAF presents “Systems As Thought: Building Custom Video ‘Effects’”

Free event

Cellar Door restaurant below The Grand Magnuson Hotel in the Chase Building at 213 W. Washington Street South Bend, IN 46601

This presentation will help filmmakers with creative thoughts for non-traditional, experimental effects editing. From the presenter: “I look for points of inspiration while playing with the creation of custom video “effects.” Once I find these points, I look for what the visuals might be communicating on their own terms. The processing of the image or system is equal to the process of thought. Each of my projects grows out of this conversation. I will be presenting these explorations of thought and systems that have taken place over the past four years, while discussing the creative potential of the graphical programming environment MAX/MSP and Jitter.”

Eric Souther is a time based media artist and Assistant Professor of New Media and Informatics at IU South Bend with his MFA in Electronic Integrated Arts (IEA) at Alfred University, and his BFA in New Media from the Kansas City Art Institute. Eric has worked on many collaborations including The Life of the Techno Buddha, where he worked with engineers to develop an interactive brain wave cap to control video and sound. He has also worked with dancers, musicians, and other artists in developing interactive multi-media performances. His own work develops modes of information flow in which he can control and reinterpret code in order to create electronic forms. Eric has shown his work nationally and internationally including New York, Chicago, Beijing, Barcelona, Italy, and South Africa. His upcoming group exhibitions include a show at the Mint Museum of Craft + Design Sept. 2012 and the Museum of Art and Design (MAD), Feb. 2013.

This free and open to the public presentation will take place immediately following our regular monthly Mid America Filmmakers meeting which begins at 7:00 p.m. You are welcome to join us for both.

This is part of a monthly series of “Making Movie Magic” workshops. Please visit our website at www.midamericafilmmakers.org for updates and additional workshop listings.