filmmakers – Memphis Flyer

The Memphis chapter of Film Fatales, a national professional organization for women filmmakers, is hosting the first installment of its new quarterly speaker series at Crosstown Arts on Monday, Febuary 1. The inaugural speaker will be Deputy Film Commissioner Sharon Fox O’Guin of the Memphis and Shelby County Film and Television Commission.

Sharon Fox O’Guin, Deputy Film Commissioner for Memphis and Shelby County

The Film Fatales describe themselves as “a global network of women filmmakers who meet regularly to mentor each other, share resources, collaborate on projects and build a supportive community in which to make their films.” The organization was started in 2013 by New York filmmaker Leah Meyheroff. The Memphis chapter started meeting last year, and currently boasts 10 members. The new speaker series is being developed in association with Indie Memphis and Crosstown Arts.

O’Guin will address the resources available to independent filmmakers in Memphis, and will include the latest on the Tennessee tax incentives for film. The program, which is free and open to the public, begins at 6:30 with a meet and greet, with the workshop to begin at 7:00.

At an event in Midtown Monday night, Indie Memphis announced that the 2015 edition of the film festival would be held in Overton Square on November 3-10.

The 18th annual festival, the first held since the recent departure of Executive Director Erk Jambor will be spread out over an entire week to allow festivalgoers an opportunity to see more films. For the past several years, the festival has been a one-weekend affair with more than 40 features spread out over as many as 6 screens at once, often creating impossible choices for audiences. The festival date has also been moved away from Halloween weekend, which has hurt attendance in the last two years.

“We want to give our audience more opportunities to see these great independent films. The extended festival will give people more options to enjoy the festival on both the weekend and weeknights. It also reduces the number of simultaneous screenings for our dedicated members who want to see a bunch of the films,” says Indie Memphis Board President Ryan Watt.

The call for entries to the features competition this year is open only to filmmakers from the Mid-South area. There is no entry fee for hometowner films submitted before July 17, thanks to a grant from ArtsMemphis. The shorts competition will be open to films from all over the world. National and international feature films will be chosen to screen at the festival on a curated basis.

For the second year, the Indie Grants program will award two Memphis filmmakers $5,000 each to produce a short film for the 2016 festival. Two additional grants for $500 will be offered to first time filmmakers from the Memphis area. Filmmakers can apply for the grants at the Indie Memphis website.

Watt also announced a national search for a new executive director.