Quick Focus

by Karen Director
March 1998

User Groups

Existing Groups
Sacramento Amateur Movie Makers (SAMM)
3330 McKinley Blvd.
Sacramento, CA 95818
Contact: Brad Geankoplis
Pho

ne: 530-635-4466
Meetings: 2nd Thursday of each month, 7:30 p.m.

Law Enforcement/Emergency Services Video Assoc.
P.O. Box 126167
Fort Worth, TX 76126-0167
Contact: Jim Padar
Phone: 817-249-4002
E-mail: leva@leva.org
Website: www.leva.org
Meetings: annual conference in October

Peninsula Video Makers
P.O. Box 336
Los Altos, CA 94022
Contact: Bill Sedlacek
Phone: 415-948-1161
E-mail: sedlacek@webtv.net
Meetings: 2nd & 4th Fridays, Redwood City Senior Center

Seeking Group or Will Organize
Cho Hok Poon
1971 44th Ave.
San Francisco, CA 94116

Gene Bjerke
312 Cary St.
Williamsburg, VA 23185

P. Franklin
4137 S. Maryland Pkwy., #26
Las Vegas, NV 89119

User Groups: let us know you're out there. For inclusion in our listing, submit your request to "User Groups," c/o Videomaker, P.O. Box 4591, Chico, CA 95927. Seeking a User Group? For a list of existing user groups and/or video enthusiasts seeking or willing to organize a group in your area, send an SASE to the same address.

New! User Group Home Pages. Expand your user group's horizons by posting your home page on the Videomaker website. For information, send e-mail to dtaylor@videomaker.com

Web Watch
http://dfilm.mpl.net/menu.html
D.FILM Digital Film Festival
The goal of this video/film festival site is to actively inform and inspire people about how to make films themselves. It carries out this mission by providing information on upcoming screenings, venues, info and QuickTime clips from films in the festival. You'll also find directions on how to submit your work to D.FILM.

Entry Deadlines
Videonics is now accepting student-produced videos for its fourth annual "Thoughts & Dreams" competition. Winning schools will receive awards ranging from a Grand Prize of $2000 and a Videonics Editing Studio to an MXPro Digital Video Mixer and a TitleMaker 3000 as runner-up prizes. Productions will be judged on how well they communicate the thoughts and dreams of the student producers. Short videos (under five minutes) are eligible and they must be received by March 16. For more information and to request an entry form, call 800-338-EDIT.

The Environmentally aware Photographic Image Competition (EPIC) is an underwater photo/video competition dedicated to the preservation of the marine environment. Before videos are judged on their artistic and technical merits, they must first pass a panel of conservation judges who will disqualify entries which exhibit destructive diving practices. Only videographers earning 40% or less of their income from the sale of their underwater videos are eligible to enter. The entry deadline is March 15. For more information, call 408-455-2000; write to EPIC, 17675 Riverbend Road, Salinas, CA 93908; or visit www.epicphotocontest.org.

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Reality Video Alert
Dennis Lofgren Productions is looking for videos of extreme weather disasters for a TBS special that will air this summer. Winners of the nationwide competition for footage will be flown to Los Angeles to appear on the TV show. Other winners will be paid $10 per second for footage used in the program. Send your 30-minutes or less VHS tapes (non-returnable) to Killer Weather Contest, Dennis Lofgren Productions, 712 N. Seward St., Hollywood CA 90038. Tapes should be labeled with the videographer's name, address, phone number and type of weather situation captured (tornado, flood, etc.). Call 213-462-5330 or e-mail kweather@pacbell.net for more information.

Short Film Showcase
Move over America's Funniest Forgettables; make room for the Short Film Showcase. The developing series is the brainchild of producer Bruce Gillies, a filmmaker with a mission to "celebrate the medium" of short film and video. He's preparing a series of 13 episodes (a complete season) to pitch to broadcast networks this Spring. The shows will be designed as hosted one-hour programs, with complimentary Internet content, dedicated to short films and their makers. Special segments will spotlight Oscar and festival winners and nominees, documentaries, "Qwik Flix" (one minute and under), silent shorts, experimental, animations and student shorts.
Gillies' goal is to establish a vehicle for short films and videos but he's quick to point out that he's not looking for funny scenes from wedding videos. "I want to bring short dramatic stories to a wider audience through the ubiquitous medium of television," he explains. "Since 1932, the Academy of Motion Pictures has been awarding Oscars to short films, but when was the last time you saw a winning short film in a theater?"
Gillies is seeking all videos--any format, any genre, any production year--35 minutes and under. "I don't care if it was shot on film or video," he says, "as long as it has motion." He will negotiate payment with producers of any video which he broadcasts. For consideration, send VHS NTSC tapes, press kit, production notes, stills and contact information to: The Short Film Showcase, P.O. Box 1148, Hermosa Beach CA 90254-1148. For more information, visit http://shortfilmchannel.com.

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