Hopefully all our Fresno DVXUsers will be out there! I know I will! Here's the press release...
Fresno takes steps to draw film and television production to the city
Fresno, California, October 3, 2008 –California’s sixth largest and fastest growing
city, Fresno, is hosting a conference in October to continue to establish itself
as a resource for film and television production. The Fresno Filmmakers
Forum on Saturday, October 25 at the city’s famous and refurbished Tower
Theatre will address the issues of how to pitch a script, shoot a film, and
finance a movie. The all-day event is open to the public and tickets are
available online at www.FresnoFilmmakersForum.com
Ray Arthur, Fresno’s Film and Entertainment Commissioner, announced the
slate of prominent speakers for the event.
“We’ve just confirmed that the Miller Brothers will be there,” said Arthur.
“They successfully completed their film ‘Touching Home’ which stars Ed
Harris, and will tell us how they did it.”
Arthur announced the entire line-up of speakers for the event. In addition to
Logan and Noah Miller, they are Dean Shull, who produced the feature film
“Waiting…” distributed by Lions Gate; Marty Shindler, whose entertainment
business expertise includes years of management positions at major studios
and accounting firms; Peter Maris, who has produced and directed over
thirty movies and interactive computer games; Alexis Fish of SAG Indie
with information about how to get actors for projects; and documentarian
Kevin White, founder of Filmmakers Collaborative.
A meet-and-greet party will follow the Fresno Filmmakers Forum conference
that evening at Fresno’s popular Palomino’s restaurant adjacent to the
theater. Conference attendees will be able to meet the speakers and network
with others in the entertainment business.
“This is our second conference,” noted Christine Autrand Mitchell of
Entandem Productions, one of the founders of Fresno Filmmakers Forum.
“About one hundred people attended last year, and the enthusiasm was so
high, we expect two to three times as many people will attend this year.”
Regional areas vie for film and television production because the
entertainment business is a low-impact industry that creates jobs, helps
invigorate an area’s economy (productions require food, transportation,
laundry, props, and other local services), and boosts civic morale and pride.
“This is a growing and important segment of our City’s economic
development that continues to move forward with new projects, job
opportunities, and new revenue that circulates throughout Fresno,” added
Arthur.
Collaboration between the City of Fresno, local non-profit organization
Creative Fresno, and Fresno-based production company Entandem
Productions created Fresno Filmmakers Forum in 2006.
“We saw the obvious short-term and long-term economic benefits of bringing
out-of-town productions to Fresno,” notes Creative Fresno’s Suzanne Bertz-
Rosa. “However, the benefits I’m most excited about are the opportunities
for local creative professionals to make a living while growing our own indie
film discipline.”
The second annual Fresno Filmmakers Forum conference will be Saturday,
October 25, 2008, at the Tower Theatre, 815 East Olive Avenue, Fresno,
California, from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. A meet-and-greet mixer will follow at
Palomino’s restaurant adjacent to the Tower Theatre.
