Film Forum West Midlands

Filmrats will be hosting its last event of the year this coming Wednesday 25th November. For those of you who have never been or know about it, the evening consists of live music from some great bands from in and around Birmingham and has some brilliant short film screenings too. If you love music and film this really is the best place to go to in Birmingham.

Filmrats is always looking for more Singer/Songwriters, Bands, Poets, Comedians, Performance Artists and short films. If you want to showcase your talent then please get in contact.

Filmrats is located at the Bristol Pear, Selly Oak. Entry is £1.50, so go along and remember there is still time to send in those short films on DVD format to: Filmrats,
 Flat 3,
 889 Bristol Road,
 Selly Oak, 
Birmingham,
 B29 6ND

If you have any questions or queries get in contact via their email: filmrats@hotmail.co.uk

Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/filmrats

Youtube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/filmrats

Facebook Event: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=199247954198&index=1

See you all there.

Hello!

Film Forum’s next meet up will be on Tuesday 10th November at the Victoria Pub on John Bright Street in Birmingham from 7pm.

The idea of these monthly meet ups is to get people from all aspects of filmmaking in the West Midlands together to chat and start building networks of friends and contacts. The entire evening is very informal so therefore it is really up to you if you approach it as a casual drink or an opportunity to network and get projects off the ground.

So, come along and say hello, tell us what you are up to and hopefully we’ll all benefit from some interaction.

Here’s the address: The Victoria Pub, 48 John Bright St, Birmingham, B1 1BN

Here’s the Facebook event: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=151732432083&index=1

See you there.

Saturday 7^th November 2009 (10am-5pm)

Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Centenary Suite

£50 (£40 concessions)

From the traditionally structured TV and film stories that attempt to appeal to wide audiences (which ITV controller Peter Fincham termed ‘3G’ – three generations watching together), to the 3D structures of games and online drama, this day-long course looks at new opportunities offered to writers by the rise of digital technologies.  Suitable for writers, film-makers and drama practitioners interested in looking at new ways of telling stories across screens of all sizes. Participants:

Graham Joyce is the author of fourteen novels and has won numerous awards for his writing, including five British Fantasy Awards and the 2003 World Fantasy Award. He has also written screenplays of his novels and has recently been hired by the creators of Doom 4 to help develop the storyline potential of the computer game.

Neil Mossey worked solely in television and radio before writing on Season 2 of the daily interactive web drama KateModern (storylining over 26 weeks, and scripting 74 webisodes). The series ended in July 2008 clocking up 66 million video views, the largest UK online production to date. As a comedy producer at the BBC he was responsible for developing new formats and drama in the Comedy Entertainment department with writers and performers. His freelance writer, script editor, and producer credits include My Parents Are Aliens (ITV1), Freefonix (BBC One), Blackout (Channel 4), SuperNormal (ITV1), The Worst Witch (ITV1), Hedz (BBC One), and The Morning After Show (Channel 4).

Claire Ingham is a producer and film and television script developer. She works on projects at all stages of development – currently ranging from the adaptation treatment of Eoin Colfer’s bestselling novel The Wishlist to the final draft of Helen Cross’ original feature Stratford Road. Claire has previously worked for a number of film and television companies in development roles. She was Head of Drama Development at Impossible Pictures for four years where she headed a small team, commissioning and developing a range of TV and film projects for all the major broadcasters, including Jed Mercurio’s contemporary retelling of Frankenstein and Michael Chaplin’s family film Pickles.

For booking and further information, please visit www.scriptonline.net/screen.html

Or email catherine.edwards@scriptonline.net

The event is presented by Script, the regional development agency for dramatic writers in the West Midlands, offering advice, training and mentoring via industry-led partnerships.

In addition to Moving Pictures’ Sunday film screenings at The Victoria Pub, they are also now screening locally made short films to accompany the night. Seems a very nice idea to mix a fun bit of film watching with some local exposure.

Send you films to:
Claire Goldthorp,
Moving Pictures,
The Victoria,
48 John Bright St
Birmingham
B1 1BN

Here’s their Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=110110192510&v=info&ref=ts

Bit of reposted news from More Canals Than Venice:

On Wednesday nights from 8pm, The Jekyll & Hyde pub will be screening classic black and white films in their gin parlour.

4th November: Brief Encounter (1945) A classic romantic drama set in 1945 during WWII in and around the fictional Milford Railway Station. Meeting a doctor, a married woman is tempted to cheat on her husband.

11th November: A Streetcar named Desire (1951) Set in the French Quarter of New Orleans during the restless years following WWII, this is the story of Blanche Debois, a fragile woman on a desperate prowl for some place in the world to call her own.

18th November: On the Waterfront (1954) Classic story of mob informers based in and around the docks of New York and New Jersey.

25th November: North by Northwest (1959) A New York advertising executive is mistaken for a government agent by a gang of spies. He gets involved in a series of misadventures and is pursued across the States by both the spies and the government.

2nd December: The Third Man (1949) An American pulp writer arrives in post WWII Vienna to discover the friend who invited him has died in mysterious circumstances.

9th December: To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) A lawyer in a racially divided Alabama town agrees to defend a young black man who is accused of raping a white woman.

All screenings are free and include free popcorn! The Jekyll and Hyde is located on Steelhouse Lane, spitting distance from Snow Hill Station.